COMPOSERS: Hans Kennel
LABELS: Hat Hut
ALBUM TITLE: Hans Kennel
PERFORMER: Hans Kennel (alphorns, etc)Plus various musicians
CATALOGUE NO: 648
There’s a distinctly montane feel to How It All Started, a compilation of two early ’90s albums by Hans Kennel and the group Mytha, champions of the Swiss alphorn and its smaller but no less flatulent cousin, the büchel.
Confined to a limited, untempered scale, they nevertheless hold an archaic charm with their strange harmonics. With the odd bit of yodelling and round-singing, the material ranges from traditional to avant garde and is surprisingly soothing.