No, unfortunately, this is not from Zanzibar or Tanzania, but from Russia. Metalhead From Zanzibaria bring a cold, claustrophobic retro experimental sound to fore. Those of you who remember cassette-based artists like Cranioclast will find a lot of good memories with this music.
Month: March 2021
Gruvi & CVTKVC – Pandora EP
It looks like Colombia has a rich techno scene, and the record label Psicodelica are spearheading it. Gruvi seem to be based in Romania, and produce a very rich, bass-heavy minimal techno sound. It is both dubby and danceable, and the B-track is even more stripped down with a remix by Serbian DJ CVTKVC.
James Lindsay – Torus
April 23, 2021 is a bit of a long way from today, but waiting three and a half weeks for what is a very impressive album is a small price to pay. James Lindsay is a Scottish folk musician who absolutely transcends the genre. Having had the pleasure of hearing some of these tracks in […]
Der Finger – Le Cinque Stagioni
Russia has a pretty remarkable history with jazz. Even during the Soviet times, everything from Dixieland to hard bop was represented rather well, and free jazz is no exception. Der Finger are the trio of Anton Efimov (bass), Evgenia Sivkova (drums & saxophone) and Edward Sivkov (bass clarinet, saxophone and bass-domra). They make a racket […]
Rettward von Doernberg – Night Drive
Because this isn’t a Bandcamp release, and because I should be exploring more sites so that readers can enjoy an ever-widening array of music, I am happy to offer for your ears a track by Berlin-based composer (and an alum from the Musician’s Institute in my home town of Los Angeles), Rettward von Doernberg. Though […]
ShooDja-ChoDja – Shooldyrak
Our beloved comrade in World Music, Christian Pliefke, releases another gem on his label CPL Music. This new release by the band ShooDja-ChoDja from comes from the region of Udmurtia, populated by people of Finno-Ugric stock, and having traditions far different from their fellow Russian citizens. The music is played on a mix of traditional and […]
Zeena Parkins, Mette Rasmussen, Ryan Sawyer – Glass Triangle
Relative Pitch Records is making a great case for becoming a favorite label of mine. There are so many great releases covering the best of improvisational and free music that I’ll probably go broke trying to purchase all of them. It’s fitting to make my first review that of avant-harpist Zeena Parkins, whose work should […]
Various Artists – Compost Records: Digital & Rare Vols. 1 & 2
Compost Records have released two exquisite CDs covering the best of downtempo electronica. Familiar names include A Forest Mighty Black (featuring Rainer Trüby) , Peter Kruder (of Kruder & Dorfmeister), Funkstörung and Minus 8. These comps cover a lot of ground and show the depth and diversity of the label.
Manne Skafvenstedt – Archway
This was a happy surprise. Manne Skafvenstedt is a Swedish pianist, composer and producer who works in the fields of jazz, ambient, electronics and sound design. His latest album, Archway, is a calming experience. There is a sort of sweetness to this music, where the listener actually feels good enjoying these sounds. It’s not the […]
Secret Agent – Mata Hari EP
Combining surf rock, garage rock, touches of psych and having a generally lo-fi vibe to it, Mexico City’s Secret Agent combine a couple of cool instrumentals with two sung tracks, including the title track, Mata Hari, featuring Vince Montes Rivera, which you can listen to below: