Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
Our dear friends at CPL-Music have done it again! This 60-track album by Saucejas is an ethnographer’s dream if you’re into Latvian music, and there is an organic feeling to this album. Nothing too terribly processed, nothing added that didn’t need to be there. The album is appropriately titled, as Dabā is Latvian for “in nature.” This is simply beautiful choral traditional music from one of my favorite regions of the world.
Doomed & Stoned is a series of compilations covering the best of doom metal and stoner rock all over the world. This comp covers the scene in Chile, which is surprising rich. There are 99 tracks of surprising variety, including one that left me mystified:
It’s a track by Heraldica de Mandrake and perhaps the only way to describe it is Gregorian doom. It’s actually quite pleasant.
A friend of our blog, Zoltan from JuffBass, has released a rather fine bass-dominated instrumental progressive rock album worth your attention. It’s a mellow release, rather atmospheric, and would definitely appeal to those of you who like the more chilled-out end of the post-rock spectrum. Quite nice!
Every now and then, a crunchy, loud, nearly abrasive (but pleasantly so) release is needed to shake me out of having too much calm in my day. Our dear friends at Porto Alegre’s finest experimental label, The Church of Noisy Goat have released another heavy release full of rough post-Industrial sound remixed and chopped into oblivion. It features friends and those I admire, such as Bode, SRVTR, Wilfried Hanrath and RAUPPWAR among others.
Readers who visit frequently know that I have a few artists and labels who I am happy to champion because they never let me down in terms of quality of music or their curating abilities. I’m happy to add another label to this list: Lost Tribe Sound.
The label is based out of Wisconsin, and if you enjoy rich, resonating dark ambient music which blends field recordings seamlessly into their compositions, this label is going to keep your attention for a good long while. The label releases music by such luminaries as Seabuckthorn, William Ryan Fritch and Tony Dupé, and now, they offer a series of releases via subscription. Take this one seriously, as the music is stunningly rich.
The Salt and Gravity Series is a bundle of eight albums slated for release in October 22, 2021. This sampler gives you a taste of what to expect. As I understand it, water seems to be a running theme in this album. The sounds on each track are rich, but as it stands right now, this particular track stood out for its musical ambience: Stilaan by Belgian composer ‘t Geruis:
The price for the bundle is about $40, but you receive:
• Instant download the songs previewed here
• A Subscription Discount of 10% off our retail price (Normally $50)
• Bandcamp DL codes for all 8 releases (emailed day of release)
• Discount code for 10% off all backcatalog and future releases through the end of 2022.
The curation of this label is phenomenal. I look forward to hearing much more.
It has been a while since Bandcamp has offered one of its (formerly) monthly Bandcamp Fridays. It’s quite a trying time for those who rely solely on music, so today may be a good time to support your favorite artist or try purchasing a new album who has piqued your interest.
Read more about Bandcamp Friday here.
Dario Elia, working under the name Megamozaki on this release, is an old friend who makes some very impressive industrial rock with elements one normally wouldn’t think to put together. Starting a capella, one would get the impression you would be hearing Sardinian chant, but it melts seamlessly into a very pleasant mix of heavy industrial-rock and prog.
As a cellist, bassist, composer and former member of Art Zoyd, I’d venture to say that Thierry Zaboitzeff needs no introduction. However, what I didn’t know about him over these past few years was that he has been active making soundtracks.
This particular one is for the movie Winds of Sand, Women of Rock, which is a film about a group of Tubu women traveling the Sahara Desert selling dates in Agadez, Niger. The film looks fascinating, but the music is equally so, bringing to mind a lot of modern minimalist composers (the usual suspects, like Philip Glass and Michael Nyman, of course, but it would be appropriate to add Wim Mertens to this list as well).
The music on this album is a world away from Art Zoyd, definitely.
Denmark’s SteepleChase Records has a brilliant catalog worth exploring, featuring not only homegrown talent like Niels-Henning Ørsten Pedersen and Pierre Dørge but also internationally known stars like Lee Konitz, Cedar Walton, Sun Ra and the inimitable Chet Baker among others.
This particular album is led by pianist Duke Jordan, and it is one of the smoothest sounding albums I’ve heard in a while. This is going to be playing a lot on the turntable this winter.
A reissue specialist label called Rarità Tradizionali have published a fine collection of music from Lebanon and Iraq from 1972, and it sounds brilliant. This album was apparently never released, and it’s surprising considering the quality of the musicianship of these instrumentalists from Iraq and Lebanon (including buzuk player Matar Muhammad), back when both places were far safer to explore than they are today. There’s no doubt that this comp will be seen as welcome to those who appreciate Arab music.