Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
Italian artist Lorenzo Bracaloni composes under the name The Child of A Creek / Fallen, and this release on ROHS! Records is quite a treat for fans of ethereal music. It reminds me deeply of when Harold Budd collaborated with the Cocteau Twins, but in an instrumental form. A truly calming release.
After coming across an interview over at The Quietus with the London based composer Flora Yin-Wong, I wasn’t quite sure of what to make of her work. The new album they discussed, Holy Palm sounded fascinating, less so by the interviewer’s rather tepid questions but more so by the evocative answers Flora was giving. I cannot say that she is or isn’t a religious woman (though as a rationalist, perhaps she would enjoy the works of the Cappadocians), but her fascination with sacred spaces adds something interesting to this album, where drone, field recordings, and a warm take on something that reminds me of electroacoustic music flow elegantly into each other. It’s an astounding release from a new name for me. Treasures like this are why I love sharing music.
This is one I’ve been waiting to hear for some time, and it did not disappoint.
American poet Shane Beck (who happens to be a very old friend) paired up with British electronic musician Dave Onley as Oceanic Vibrations to join their worlds together elegantly. Beck’s voice lends itself to the soundscapes Onley produces, melding a clear, heartfelt and pensive poetry draped on top of music that reminded me of early-period Tangerine Dream or even Cosmic Jokers in the more pulsating parts.
Alejandra Salinas and Aeron Bergman have been working together as sound and multimedia artists since at least 1997, and perhaps farther back, though their prodigious corpus vitae isn’t so clear on when, exactly, they began recording together. One can surmise that they have been collaborating on CD since 1998, if this compilation is anything to go by.
What do we find from their oeuvre? Electroacoustic music that has a hazy, dreamlike quality to it. There are gentle rumblings, drones and bits of electronic music that have a nearly magical quality to them. It’s pleasant music with which to daydream – experimental without being overly academic.
Sunday is going to be hectic, so today, I wanted to impart to you an album by The Myrrors, easily one of America’s finest psych bands. The music is all instrumental and sounds like the outtakes of a more relaxed Blue Cheer or some of the modern drone composers like Terry Riley. I never would have thought would be referenced by a psych band, but has been done so perfectly). Let the hot Arizona winds flow on top of you today. This album is worth your time.
Our dear friends at Kalamine Records have surprised me with yet another fine release. This album comes from the project Lezet, which is the working name of my friend Igor Jovanović.
It is fair to say that this is true experimental music, or perhaps it’s better to call this sound art. The album is, as Igor puts it, “an album of assorted sounds made in mic’s physical interactions with various surfaces and other accidental sounds recorded during these interactions.”
We had the pleasure of reviewing a soundtrack by former Art Zoyd composer Thierry Zaboitzeff in August, and now we’re happy to announce that he has a 20-minute EP now available to peruse.
The title track, Pagan Dances, will sound somewhat familiar to Art Zoyd fans, but he has added much better recording. The spirit of avant-progressive rock, dark and brooding, enriches the track. There is Zaboitzeff’s trademark cello work all over the piece, and this work would have fit well in a rescoring of The House Of Usher starring Vincent Price. Creepy, yes, but engaging. The second track, La Légende de NaYmA, adds vocals to the mix, something I can’t quite remember hearing in his past work. I liked how well the voice blends with the instrumentation. A solid EP.
We’re lucky to have so many talented musicians and composers in Los Angeles covering all genres. One of the most intriguing I’ve come across lately is Yann Novak, who hails from Wisconsin originally, but who is, like myself, a Southern Californian. Yann has recorded with labels such as 901 Editions, Dragon’s Eye Recordings (which I believe may be his own label), LINE, Room40, and Touch, among others. His credentials are impeccable.
This release on Room40 (all praise to Lawrence English for running a fine imprint) has as its cornerstone the composition The Ecstasy of Annihilation, which is 7:30 in length. There is a sublime, rather gentle buildup the gradually makes one feel like they’re scaling the heavens ever upward. It’s a fantastic piece, but the same track is modified quite nicely by several artists, including Siavash Amini, Bethan Kellough and Lawrence English himself.
I’m in the process of witnessing both birth and death in my life at the moment, so, as painful as it is to watch people enter the great beyond, and as joyous as it is to welcome new life into an ever-evolving world, this album provides quite a pleasant soundtrack to witnessing these happenings.
Bravo, Yann. This is stunning.
The London-based record label Far Out Recordings is killing me a little these days! I was honored to receive tracks from Alex Malheiros’ new album, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be picking it up on disc, but I loathe having to wait too long such treasures to come out. Still, an album of this magnitude is worth the wait, trust me. November 21st will come quickly, judging by how fast 2021 has blown by.
For those of you who know something about Brazilian jazz, especially of the fusion variety, Alex Malheiros is not going to need any introduction. For those of you who are new to this name, you’re in for a pleasant experience.
Malheiros is one of Brazil’s most influential bassists and one third of the legendary fusion band Azymuth. His music transcends genres, and his bass playing has graced the albums of such luminaries as Jorge Ben, Milton Nascimento, Roberto Carlos, Marcos Valle and Mark Murphy, and he’s performed and toured with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Chick Corea. You’re not going to find a much better corpus vitae from any other living bassist.
Tempos Futuros is his vision of a radiant Brazilian funk-futurism, and it is as freshly innovative as anything Far Our Recordings has published over the past few years, while also giving a nod to the past, cueing not only Azymuth, but some legendary fusion and funk albums.
The production value is mind-blowing as well. Daniel Maunick, who has worked with Marcos Valle, Azymuth, Terry Callier, and Ivan Conti, gets the most out of Alex and band, and there is a deep history I was absolutely unaware of. According to the Bandcamp release information, “Daniel’s father Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick and Alex Malheiros shared a reciprocal stream of influence throughout the 80s, between London and Rio; Azymuth and Incognito; brit-funk and samba-funk. But just as with Azymuth’s music, you can also hear the influence of stateside jazz-funk masters like Roy Ayers, Weather Report, Lonnie Liston Smith, Mtume and Pleasure.”
I’m particularly pleased to hear Sean Khan’s saxophone playing on this album. His album with Hermeto Pascoal was incredibly sumptuous listening, and he adds a rich dollop of funk to this tasty musical soup.
The legendary uilleann piper and leader of The Chieftains, Paddy Moloney, is no more. He passed away yesterday at the age of 83. This is a big loss for the world of folk music.
In his honor, we post a track that is near and dear to me. The Chieftains toured China many years ago, and this is one of the tunes they brought back from the Middle Kingdom.
May Paddy rest in peace. You can read NPR’s obituary here.
UPDATE: The Chinese title of this tune is “Xi Yang Yang” (喜洋洋) by Liu Mingyuan (刘明源, 1931-1996).