Zoon (Zoongide’ewin) the musical work of songwriter, composer and activist, Daniel Monkman is reflecting back today, with a new remix of their 2022 Big Pharma EP track, “Astum” (Yonatan Gat remix) before moving ahead to play a final set of music this year and celebrate their current record, Bekka Ma’iingan (Bay-Ka Mo-Een-Gan). Zoon has toured with The Zombies, Jeremy Dutcher and The Rural Alberta Advantage,

“Astum” spotlights the contribution and vocals of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson that were more elusive in the original. Of the new remix, Daniel says “I had the privilege of connecting with Yonatan and the Stone Tapes crew over the last few years, getting together with other Indigenous artists has been a dream of mine, I’m truly grateful for the work that Stone Tapes has done to lift up Indigenous voices. Yonatan is a force and when he got excited about ‘Astum’ and remixing I knew that it was going to be something special.”

To create the full-length album, Monkman recruited Polaris Music Prize inaugural winner Owen Pallett to compose sweeping string arrangements, then performed by the FAMES Orchestra. Michael Peter Olsen, who is a regular in Zoon’s live band, played on the new record as did Zoon’s drummer Andrew McLeod/Sunnsetter. Mark Lawson mixed the album, and in a burst of creative collaboration, after meeting in Montreal, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo played on album track “Niizh Manidoowig (2 spirit).”

Zoon
Bekka Ma’iingan
Paper Bag Records

All Around You
Brave New World (Without You)
Care
Dodem
Niizh Manidoowig (2 spirit)
Awesiinh (A-Way-See)
Manitou
A Language Disappears
Gaagige
Ashes in a Vase

order Bekka Ma’iingan by Zoon HERE