Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
Fred und Luna have just dropped one of the most enjoyable albums of the year so far. If you are a fan of Krautrock or motorik beat (think Neu!), you’re going to absolutely love this disc. These two mannequins are no dummies!
This wonderfully weird album from a composer called Jantra is a bit of a challenge to describe. Best to let the magnificent Ostinato Records lay out their case for this gem, as written on their Bandcamp site:
“Near the border of Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, a disputed area called Fashaga is home to one of the most raucous, hypnotic, addictive, and celestial dance musics being made anywhere in Africa, perhaps the least known to the wider world of them all. Far from the townships of South Africa or the cities of Nigeria, this sound belongs to people intimately tied to their land, deep in the rural areas of Sudan.”
…
Jantra has no songs. He simply freestyles a combination of his melodies incessantly for hours on end, acting as a live producer and DJ for emphatic crowds in compact spaces, where the energy of his 155-168 BPM music is known to inspire the odd gunslinger to raise his pistol in the middle of the dance floor, ready to fire away a few shots into the air when the build up reaches climax. “
We received news from friends and from Far Out Records‘ press release that legendary drummer and a founding member of jazz-rock icons Azymuth, Ivan “Mamão” Conti, passed away yesterday at 76. He had been prolific over the past few years, and his passing comes as quite a shock. In honor of his passing, we bring you Azymuth at their finest. Rest in peace, Mamão.
The Finns are noted for not only being great musicians, but are masters at cultural adaptation. They make tango even more melancholy than their Argentine friends do, and now, I guess I have to admit that they’re more than holding their own in soul and R&B if this latest album by guitarist Bobby Oroza is anything to go by. The sounds are pure, sweet, deep soul with production that would make Smokey Robinson and many a Motown band smile. Damn near perfect, this one.
George Macreyannes (Γιώργος Μακρυγιάννης) was a violinist active during the early part of the 20th century. Some of these archival recordings are nearing 100 years old, so it is quite nice to get a glimpse of music that has such a remarkable history. Respect to 1tracktape for a job well done in remastering and declicking these recordings.
Today’s selection, as we end the Harrowing of Hell and prepare for Pascha this evening, is from Raushan Orazbaeva, a dombra player from Kazakhstan. This is pure music from the Central Asian steppes, mournful, solitary and strikingly beautiful.
We celebrate Eastern Orthodox Holy Week and today is Good Friday according to the Julian Calendar. May your Paschal season end peacefully. Thanks to St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the wonderful and timely hymns.
Two of Italy’s best dark /ritual ambient projects, CHAIGIDEL and NERATERRÆ, have joined forces and created a deeply evocative ritualistic opus rich in various aural elements and sceneries. The title “Lamaŝtu” pays tribute to the Mesopotamian mythological malevolent goddess, the most terrible of all female demons, daughter of the sky god Anu and lover of Pazuzu.
CHAIGIDEL is Mattia Giovanni Accinni, devoted to the most evocative side of music; sonic offerings for Qliphotic rituals from the depths of occultism and the left-hand path. On his fourth release on Cyclic Law, Alessio Antoni’s NERATERRÆ joins compatriot CHAIGIDEL on this trance-like-state inducing aural experience, seeking for knowledge by unearthing the roots of all evil.
Black mantras, organic drones, tuvan throat singing, tibetan bells, doumbek, balaban, maaponim, shofar and ritual drums are the earthly tools chosen to cut through the soil of human beliefs and comprehension, and to reach for the purest and obscure states of being.
It is an incredibly dark album, but engaging nonetheless.
This Moment Records is a record label, “… which is dedicated to producing and promoting field recordings from around the world, in addition to crafting innovative soundscapes for relaxation and meditation,” at least according to their Bandcamp site. As we have never reviewed any music from Gabon before, I looked forward to what I would be hearing, and was, of course, not at all disappointed.
Again, from the Bandcamp site:
“This collection of music comes from the Missoko Bwiti tradition of Gabon, a spiritual path that includes five different branches, spanning over a thousand years in equatorial Central West Africa. Central to this oral tradition is the use of root bark of the psychoactive shrub Iboga (tabernathe iboga), which is used in a variety of ceremonies. Within this tradition, it is said that Iboga taught the Bwiti how to construct the instruments they play, in addition to conveying the musically rich language utilized to awaken the connection to the spirit world. The recordings presented in this collection were made by Tenali Hrenak and Kristen Blinne in 2018 in Gabon whilst they underwent full initiations into the Missoko Bwiti tradition with 10th generation Bwiti Shaman, Moughenda Mikala.”
Seah is an experimental music artist from Bradley, Illinois who produces long, sweeping ambient drone. There is an organ-like elegance to the compositions, especially with the first track, Unfurling, which meanders in a way that would fit in an old 1920s soundtrack of walking on the tundra. Many thanks to Somnimage for sending me this evocative gem.