To call what DakhaBrakha does "folk music" completely misses a world of inspiration and sound, both here on Earth and perhaps elsewhere. The mostly-acoustic, utterly unique Ukrainian band mixes traditions from its homeland, but goes wide too, with West African rhythms and Indian drones to create a wild, thrilling texture (especially live).
Late at night, we asked DakhaBrakha to bring its cello, keyboard, accordion – and tall, wool hats! — to the balcony of the Hilton Austin hotel overlooking Austin, Texas. They played "Kolyskova" from 2010's Light, but the band only ever calls it "Lullaby." It's a quiet, contemplative song that the band says is a "connecting of several lullabies" with "philosophical lyrics that [say] we have time for everything — time to laugh and cry, time to live and die."
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Producers: Bob Boilen, Mito Habe-Evans; Director/Videographer: Nickolai Hammar; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Photo: Nickolai Hammar; Executive Producer: Anya Grundmann.
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