Magicien Blanc – End The Beginning

A fellow expat, Christian Locke (Magicien Blanc) has come up with one of the best prog rock albums I’ve heard in a while.  There are some cues from French and Italian prog bands from the 1970s and 1980s, some influence of bands of the Berlin school and Goblin, and it Continue Reading

Nasim Khushnawaz – Songs From The Pearl of Khorasan

Worlds Within Worlds in an Australian record label releasing music from Iran, Afghanistan and India.  This album features rubab (or rebab) player Nasim Khushnawaz.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “As a master of the Afghan rubab, Nasim Kushnawaz hails from one of the most important musical lineages in Afghanistan. The Continue Reading

Shono – Kolkhozoy Traktor

Our dear friends at CPL-Music will be releasing some solid music from Buryatia in Eastern Russia.  From the bio sheet: “Unheard sounds from Buryatia: Shono revive the ancient rituals of the vast Eurasian grasslands. The autonomous Russian Republic of Buryatia is located in the far east of the country, bordering Continue Reading

Ayako Shinozaki – Music Now For Harp

Great news, yet again, has been provided to us by our dear friends at Wewantsounds!  From their Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to announce the first international reissue of Ayako Shinozaki’s hard to find LP “Music Now For Harp” released in 1974 by Nippon Columbia. The LP was released on Continue Reading

Yuri Vikharev / Juris Āķis / Einārs Raibais – The Lost Latvian TV Studio Sessions 1967

This archival recording is a swinger released from Latvian specialty label Jersika Records.  It consists of pianist, jazz journalist and and record collector Yuri Viharev, paired with bassist Juris Āķis and drummer Einārs Raibais.  This was the cream of Latvian jazz, and it’s a massive event to see this label Continue Reading

Christian Fiesel – Avant Que Nous Soyons Tous Partis Pour Toujours

Hail! to our friends at Kalamine Records in France for producing yet another fine dark ambient/drone/post-Industrial masterpiece.  There’s a lot of drama and pathos in this recording by Christian Fiesel, sounding very much like it would be a fine updated soundtrack to any good expressionist film of the early 1920s Continue Reading