Atli Örvarsson – Wolka
Iceland is one of those countries who seem to produce musicians at an incredible rate in comparison to the size of its population. Atli Örvarsson is one of a handful of gifted soundtrack composers to hail from the island nation,…
Jeff Gburek + George Christian – Thrown Extremes
During the next few weeks, I’ll be catching up on releases I could not get to in 2021. This one is really a gem that I’m surprised I didn’t get to earlier, but thanks to Jeff Gburek reminding me of…
Balkan Taksim – Disko Telegraf
This gem, released by Buda Musique, came out on May of 2021, and it’s simmering! From the label’s Bandcamp site: Balkan Taksim is the corduroy-clad brainchild of Bucharest-based multi-instrumentalist/artist Sașa-Liviu Stoianovici who, along with his electronica producer companion Alin Zăbrăuțeanu,…
Dorota Barová – Dotyk
Czech vocalist and cellist Dorota Barová is a new name for me, but her rather glorious voice brings up memories of Portuguese singers like Teresa Salgueiro, who you might remember as the lead singer of Madredeus. Barovà has had an…
Ernesto Diaz-Infante – Saca Los Cuernos al Sol
My fellow Californian Ernesto Diaz-Infante provides us with a warm, shimmering work of nine instrumental pieces composed solely for guitar. Each track is warm, not only by experimental music standards, but in terms of pure music listening. My particular favorite…
Various Artists – Remain Alone (A Disciples Compilation)
Many years ago, I was enthralled with the music of 4AD artist His Name Is Alive, but lost track of what they were doing. That’s a shame, as Warren Defever has continued to be involved in great music, and this…
Autumn Tears / Zeresh – Widowing / Possessing
What a strikingly good album this is. Autumn Tears is a collective of musicians from Billerica, Massachusetts who make an ethereal sound that blends the best of bands who would have fit well on 4AD Records during their 1980s heyday…
Samo Salamon – Dolphyology: Complete Eric Dolphy for Solo Guitar
Our friend from Maribor, Slovenia, the fine guitarist Samo Salamon, graces our blog with a new release. This one is just him alone playing the works of Eric Dolphy accompanied by his guitar and, apparently, his cat adding in a…
Choir Of Beirut – Al Yaoum Youladou Mina Al Batoul
In honor of celebrating Christmas according to the Julian Calendar, we will not be posting reviews today, so we wish to all of you, the faithful, and to our beloved friends, a wonderful Nativity season, a placid Eid and a…
Various Artists – Discember: Hear Xmas, See Xmas, Say Xmas
As we observe Christmas Eve and the Nativity today and tomorrow based on the Julian Calendar, we share an avant-garde take on “Christmas” music. The French experimental record label Camembert Électrique have released a 94-track comp of some rather interesting…