Although tagged as dark ambient or even Industrial, I see the work of Christian Fiesel a bit differently. His sound does have the hallmarks of a more rhythmic ambient music, but it also has the feeling of mid-era Tangerine Dream as well. It pulses and throbs in all the right Continue Reading
Various Artists – Arborescence: Bouquet Sauvage
This compilation, curated by the composer Aborescence, includes several of the leading lights of ambient music, including Robert Rich, Rudy Adrian, Alio Die as well as newer names (at least to me) like Robert Davies and Roy Mattson. From Arborescence’s Bandcamp site: “Bouquet Sauvage is a curated compilation comprised of Continue Reading
Your vinyl records aren’t as “analog” as you think—and that’s okay
I’m not sure I like that, to be honest, as I would expect that new records would go through analog mastering, but we live in a digital world now, so I guess we’re stuck with what we have. How-To Geek has an article to the contrary, which you can read Continue Reading
Taqbir – Taqbir
I haven’t heard a decent punk record in years, so finding a Moroccan band this raw was a pleasant surprise. From Taqbir’s Bandcamp site: “Musically TAQBIR walks a thin line joining some of my favourite qualities in punk music. The aggression of fuckwave originators DISKOLOKOST, the nastiness of THE COMES Continue Reading
Muriel Grossmann – Plays the music of McCoy Tyner and Grateful Dead
From Muriel Grossman’s Bandcamp site: “On the surface, Tyner and the Dead appear to come from different galaxies. But listen deeply, and it becomes clear: they were orbiting the same planet. Tyner’s playing was all about shape. He built modal infrastructure—riffs and voicings sturdy enough to ground the music, malleable Continue Reading
HJ Ayala – Wesserling En Direct
It’s wonderful to welcome back an old friend of the blog, Hector Javier Ayala, a guitarist hailing from Mexico and living in France. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this is a very song-focused album, featuring a couple of genuinely Mexican guitar tunes and the beautiful jazz classic, Days Continue Reading
Kaleikia – Makali
Some heavy progressive rock from Galicia, one of my paternal ancestral homelands: “Makali (from the Bubi Makálé/Makòlé) was a drill born free in the jungles of Bioko, in Equatorial Guinea. He was captured by humans and sold to Galician sailors who took him to Meaño. There he lived with his Continue Reading
Francesca Marongiu – Still Forms in Air
Mexican record label Umor Rex has released an album by Italian composer Francesca Marongiu, which is heavily influenced by some spectacular Japanese New Age/Ambient releases from the mid-1980s. This was a wonderful time for ambient music in Japan, and Francesca captures the spirit perfectly while adding her own spin.
Alphaxone – ARCHIPENOM.II
From the Alphaxone Bandcamp site: “A continuation of fractured atmospheres, slow-moving tension, and submerged emotional weight. This chapter dives deeper into erosion, distance, and the quiet violence of time.” Iranian artists could use a hand at the moment, as do all good souls suffering in their war-torn homes.
Valgeir Sigurðsson – Architecture of Loss
Going through my archives, I came across a release from 2012 by an Icelandic composer named Valgeir Sigurðsson. I remembered that this was one of the first purchases I made on Bandcamp. 16,481 releases later, I can still come back to this release, a quite experimental one.