Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
Saudi singer Msylma & Egypt’s Ismael are two musicians who come from the rich Middle Eastern electronic music scene. Msylma’s rich, mournful and introspective voice gives depth and emotion to the electro music produced underneath. I have to admit, though this isn’t the kind of music I normally listen to, it’s so appealing to my ears that I’ll have to see what else these fine folks have produced in the past.
Infinite respect to Éditions Appærent for publishing this fine album.
Puscha is an Australian sound designer and film composer who hails from Australia and his music ranges from deep, cinematic ambient dub to cold, icy minimal techno. I’ve been out of the techno world far too long, as this release is astounding, and it’s making me wonder what else I’m missing these days.
The beats remind me of something like Cinematic Orchestra and Monolake colliding. As both are legends of electronic music, Puscha is using some fine reference points to create his music.
From the legendary Canary Records Bandcamp site:
From the 1910s through the 1950s, immigrants released 78rpm discs marketed to their own language / ethnic groups, and that practice survived for a century well into the era of the 33rpm, 45rpm, cassette, and CD era. But from the mid-50s though the mid-70s some Greek, Armenian, and Lebanese-Syrians capitalized on the bellydance fad by issuing their recordings to a broader American public. While many of those recordings drew straight from the repertoire of pre-existing bands, some of the resulting LPs represented ad hoc groupings of performers that were unique and, in retrospect, interesting. (See the Canary albums The Cleopatra Record and Marko Melkon – HiFi Adventures in Asia Minor.)
Uzu Noir is the monicker used by Finnish audio engineer-mixer-producer (having worked with Richard Dawson & Circle, Brian Eno, The Tindersticks, These New Puritans, Ulver, Natacha Atlas, Pharaoh Overlord, The Utopia Strong, Cyclobe, Old Man Gloom, etc) Antti Uusimäki. With such an incredible résumé, one would expect that his debut EP would cover interesting sonic terrain. I’m happy to say that he does!
Though he identifies the release as ‘ambient’, a buzzword I’m beginning to dislike only because of the lack of consistently about what ‘ambient’ actually is, I’d say that his ambient music is something along the lines of the Berlin School, being comparable to music like acts like Tangerine Dream and Coil (which was a pleasant surprise) meeting soundtrack composers like Graeme Revell.
Roger Doyle, like his equally talented countryman (and friend) Daniel Figgis, doesn’t get his fair shake inside of his home country of Ireland, yet is better regarded in the U.K. and the European continent as a master of electroacoustic music. This version of Oizzo No is a reworking of the original album (which you can hear here) and it has a rather fascinating back story:
“Originally part-recorded and subsequently aborted when the would-be label vanished without trace overnight, Oizzo No was shelved indefinitely until a scholarship at the prestigious Institute Of Sonology at the University Of Utrecht in Holland afforded Doyle not only the opportunity to partially revise his humble opus in their state of the art studios (as well as those of the EMS Studios in Stockholm) but also the money to press a limited run of 500 copies and help further cement the foundations of his future status as one of Ireland’s leading and most versatile contemporary composers.”
Cecilia Ann are an indie-rock group out of Granada, Spain, who have a wonderful jangly pop sound which reminded me of acts like Biff Bang Pow! The production is crisp, the sound is garage-friendly and the label they’re on, Elefant, produce a lot of amazing music.
As the world is in a state of free-fall at the moment, it is nice to take some time to listen to something mellow, perhaps saccharine to some tastes, but calming nonetheless. Mattia Cupelli’s release is an appropriate one to share today considering the album’s title, most recognized as the date where Roman emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Cuneiform Records has a great program where they announce that an album in their back catalogue gets offered at half-price, and as I had been wanting to hear this band (they feature drummer, composer and friend Lukas Ligeti) for a long time, I decided to risk it. It was well worth it.
From the release’s Bandcamp site:
“The Austrian five-piece band, Kombinat M, was founded in 1987 by Walter Hollinetz, Andreas Leikauf, and Erwin Redl. The group’s members, all of whom are trained in music or visual arts, share an interest in rock and jazz-based music, classical minimalism, and fine arts.
One of the great Cuneiform ‘one and done’ ensembles, Kombinat M used an unusual combination of two electric guitars, violin, reeds & drums. The compositions vary in length from under a minute to over 10 minutes. Their approach combines aspects of the Glenn Branca guitar wall of sound approach with a touch of The Ordinaires & other “downtown” groups, but mostly their own style.
“Kombinat M have absorbed myriads of influence into their vivacious & powerful music [and] have much to commend them.” – Audion“
Finland’s Pelkkä Poutanen provide one of 2022’s best World Music albums, combining a wild combination of Scandinavian folk, drone, throat-singing and, if you can believe it, a very light touch of tango.
Kalí Rodriguez-Peña is a Cuban-American trumpeter who is one of the leading lights of New York’s modern salsa scene. Salsa isn’t a genre that normally gets caught by my radar, but recently I’ve had the chance to explore the works of artists like Johnny Colón, Hector Lavoe and Willie Colón, so finding non-commercial salsa has been a real treat.
The album is dark for Cuban music, and I love the energy it emits. It’s far more smoky and the music references Rodriguez-Peña’s heroes like Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. Brilliant.