Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
The French band Ghost Rhythms live up to their name. The beats are pretty wild on this one.
This release sets between avant-progressive, Canterbury, and some of the freakier excursions of late-period King Crimson. Perhaps Samla Mammas Manna and their side-projects could also make good reference points.
Very engaging listening, especially if you like time changes.
I would never have come across Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, a Guadalajara, Mexico-based band without the help of my new friend, Ali, whose taste in music is absolutely impeccable. There is something wonderfully retro about the band, who reference a lot of bands like the Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, and even Joy Division in the track Unificado. A worth release.
Santiago Fradejas is an experimental musician based currently in Spain, though he hails from Argentina. He is also a friend whose work I have been honored to champion for several years now, along with the work of his wife, A.M Ferrari Fradejas.
In this release, the two pair up with Diego Mamani Di Giuseppe and Coco to make bleak, dystopian guitar and moog-scapes. Considering what a horrible year 2020 was, and what disasters wait for us this year, this may well serve as a perfect soundtrack to the mess awaiting us.
A good remix album should have the same song remixed by several pros and not sound a thing like the original. I think Nigel & Derek of Tunnelmental have pulled it off in this three-track album. The original track is a bouncy raver with the sampled refrain, “Life is a state of mind.” I can agree with that. Track two is remixed by Tony Byker, whose previous remixing work I’m not familiar with, but he ups the bpm to make this into something actually dancefloor-ready. The final track is a house-style reworking by Derek which closes the EP quite well.
κτίρια τη νύχτα (Buildings At Night) release an album of mostly instrumental music, though vocals peek through now and then, complementing the shower of guitars that mixes shoegazer, lo-fi, and, believe it or not, a touch of the 4AD Records sound.
It’s a subdued, dark album, maybe not something I would listen to everyday, but it may well serve as a soundtrack to a dark, quiet evening.
At its heart, Jeff Gburek’s latest release on Bandcamp, Twin Oscillators, presents itself as astoundingly good experimental music. I had the pleasure of writing about his works (13 mentions, the most, I believe, of any artist whose work I checked out) at my now-defunct blog, A Miscellany of Tasteful Music. The quality of his work never wanes.
In a just world, he would be recognized as one of the foremost improvisers to come out of America in decades, and perhaps as time passes, his work will become more widely recognized. This is one of the reasons I write about the releases of friends, colleagues and composers whose work I respect, to give them some sort of platform for others to hear their works.
The music speaks for itself. It is, in part, electroacoustic music which would make pioneers like Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry proud. What really attracted me to this album was what I felt was the Kosmische Musik vibe in the first two tracks which left me in awe. The closest thing I could reference to this release, besides the two French masters I wrote of earlier, is the German Krautrock band Cluster, and their French counterparts, Fille Qui Mousse. Nothing feels wasted on this album.
The flow is smooth from one track to another, hypnotizing by the time we reach Dharma Bums Gamelan (Remix), and is perhaps the most enjoyable experimental music release of 2021 for me.
Though I know Thomas Jackson Park’s work in its more experimental form, this new release is a nice surprise as the dub influence is obvious, and a pleasant distraction from all the brutal noise I’ve been going through today.
Easily one of the best collections of rare or hardly-known garage rock bands. The track listing reads as follows:
00:00 The Enfileds – I’m for things you do
2:28 The Choir – In Love’s Shadow
5:05 Danny & The Counts – Ode to Wind
7:39 The Odes & Ends – Never Learn
10:23 Squires – Wonderin
12:50 The Illusions – Little Girl
15:10 Dark Knights – Send Her to Me
17:44 Young Tyrants – She Don’t Get The Right
20:39 Mystic Tide – Stay Away
22:54 Avenger VI – Heartbeat
25:02 The Malibu’s – Cry
27:14 The Nomads – Please Don’t Hurt Me
29:35 The Jades – You Have to Walk
31:58 The Hangmen – The Girl Who Faded Away
34:40 Outer Limits – Alone and Crying
37:14 The Outsiders – Sun’s Going Down
39:52 Cool Stove – Big Sensation
42:29 Vanguards – I Know a Girl
44:17 Us Too Group – I’ll Leave You Crying
46:43 Good Feelins – Shattered
48:59 Fugitive Five – (I ain’t gonna give up) My Way of Life
51:30 Blue Boys – I Know
54:13 Tides In – Trip With Me
56:54 Dominions – I Need Her
59:37 Young Men – A Though For You
01:02:35 The Endless – Tommorows Song
01:05:05 The Briks – It’s Your Choice
01:07:59 Dagenites – I’m Gonna Slide
01:10:38 The Trodden Path – Keep Me Hangin’on
Much respect to the curator of this video, mod elo! He has a Spotify playlist also worth checking out here.
Soundtrack music is always welcome in my inbox, especially if it is quiet, brooding and sets a heavy mood for an indie film. I can’t say I know too much about Daniel Thomas Freeman, but now that we are in contact, I look forward to hearing more albums which blend ambient, experimental and soundtrack music together so seamlessly.
If you want to delve further into Daniel’s music, consider checking out his Spotify page. The music here is less atonal, but a pleasure to hear nonetheless.
Today’s choice, Cernichov, bear cover art on their album, The Mold Legacy, which would fool one into thinking that this was some sort of black-metal release. Far from it. It’s actually a very well-balance pairing of noise and ambient music. It’s as if a post-punk band were working with the noise and ambient aesthetic, so this sounds far more musical and stable than many of the amateur bands who sound like they’re simply flipping on the vacuum switch. Quite nice.