Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
The LENsemble Vilnius, conducted by Vykintas Baltakas, won my attention because of their astounding interpretation of their interpretation of Osvaldas Balakauskas‘ composition Rain for Cracow (1991) for violin and piano. A worthy release.
Had I not known the previous (impressive) works of both Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann, I would have happily believed that this was a lost psychedelic music gem long forgotten about in a basement studio recorded during Soviet times. While the tones are dulcet, you never really get a chance to get into a groove. The music shapes and shifts, making you ever aware of its presence and demanding that you pay attention (particularly hard to do as I’m grading papers at the moment). The introduction to the album at Ramble Records’ Bandcamp site is one of the most elegant I’ve read in a while:
“JazzIsthmus is the spontaneous nomination of a surreal podcast from two dolphins once swimming the lochs of Berlin un-bump-into-able until another quasi-human life incarnation, in nearby Poznan, where they skimmed palms at some music event in 2016, realized they bore the stigmata of guitarism and poetry. Their various hermetic preoccupations kept them adrift until the Man from Atlantis & his Ramble Records began to publish their solo projects independently. Sharing a label caused Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann to push their tables together, jam a bit, swap sounds and begin the collaboration that you can witness with a few clicks.
There’s more than guitar going into this mistura. First track bears psychedelic jazz ceremonial organ, careening space-cadet theremin glissandi, spiced guitar shards. Track two features Jeff’s soundscaping hydrophone recordings, VLF receiver, radios & Adam’s minimal ghostly tricky synth-like guitars. Thirdly comes Doof Tram, the very first live meeting, which remains exactly as it was recorded (except for the parts we changed, of course). Like Jerry Garcia meets Bern Nix. Gratefully Undead for this Halloween 2023. Further on down the road there’s some real synth and, you guessed it, more guitars. Meandering, nimble, somewhat melancholy at times. This is just a description, not a review.”
From Mike Benoit’s Bandcamp site:
Shane Beck & I are here once again here to bring you the next Forgotten Magus album. We both hope you enjoy this as much as we do, and thank you for listening…it means the world to us.Forgotten Magus is Mike Benoit & Shane Beck, the last American poet. Be sure to look into Shane’s many other projects as he can be found all over the bandcamp world and is well worth listening to. Shane is an amazing poet and I am honored to work with him.
Here is something rather magnificent coming out of Macedonia in the form of Kristo Rodzevski’s latest album through Defkaz, a great Greek label. There is hope for the Balkans yet! From the Defkaz Bandcamp site:
“Black Earth has eleven traditional Macedonian songs infused with African aesthetics, including Gnawa undertones, Congo rumba, and African field recordings. The core of the traditional Macedonian harmonies and rhythms was developed over the centuries from the Ancient Greek and Roman Empire’s lyricism, Byzantium’s chants, and the Ottoman Empire’s classical music progressions, by way of multiple migrations, storytelling, wars, myths, tribalism, reconciliations, etc.) In a nutshell, Black Earth is a filtrate of the trans-generational transmission of resilience, trauma, love, and naivete.”
What is special about this disc is the quality of musicians appearing as guests here. Guitarist Dominic James, bassist Josh Werner, percussionist and sintir player Adam Rudolph, and the legendary Bill Laswell all supplement Kristo on this album. This is a proper supergroup.
Those of you who have been friends and readers since 2012 know about my old blog, A Miscellany Of Tasteful…, where I used to point readers to music, movies, books and art of interest until Facebook decided it was spam and shut down my ability to share the site. Apparently, that block was lifted, so, although posts will be infrequent, I will begin sharing whatever I find of interest, as well as Youtube videos you may well enjoy!
One of the great joys of my vocation is discovering musicians I would probably never otherwise encounter. Enter Corrado Maria de Santis, courtesy of our dear friends at Lost Tribe Sound:
“Corrado Maria De Santis, an Italian guitarist, skillfully combines the raw spontaneity of improvised guitar with computer-generated sounds, crafting captivating sonic landscapes characterized by ambient drones and glitch-infused textures. Having contributed to various notable music labels, he now presents his inaugural album on Lost Tribe Sound.
‘Over a Long Time,’ is a deeply personal collection for Corrado, capturing an extended and challenging period of life surrounding the passing of his father. Through this recording Corrado was able to journal some of the pain, confusion and emptiness he experienced because of this loss. The sound palette of raw, churning noise, buried rhythms, and minimal classical inflections can be intense, but also quiet life-affirming. At LTS, there is a focused interest in how repetitive noise and low frequencies seemingly have the ability to cut through or alleviate the poisonous cycles our minds often fixate upon.
‘Over a Long Time’ is a brilliant example of low-end droning and rhythmic noise can hold both structure and a sense of musicality in equal standing. Corrado has done a great service to this music, allowing it to be both searing, heavy, and abysmal, while still offering some hope and some catharsis, which allows for new life to take root in the charred soil.
The more recent and crushingly gorgeous works of Rafael Anton Irisarri come to mind while listening to ‘Over a Long Time,’ as well as some of the raw, gritty arpeggio-based sound of Jon Hopkins. The album was a hard-fought effort, from the subject matter to finding the right texture or ear-feel for the final sound. A lot of subtle decision making and deep listening lead to the creation to this entrancing work.”
From Vampi Soul’s Bandcamp site:
“Elia y Elizabeth Fleta were two Colombian girls who recorded a handful of songs between 1972 and 1973, acompannied by Jimmy Salcedo and his group La Onda Tres, mixing soft-pop with a touch of tropical-pastoral funk, singer-songwriter sweetened by the subtle perfume of Caribbean music and psychedelia.”
Charming, sunny music for a very cold Beijing day.
The Drone Pilots are a rather secretive collective I encountered by chance here in Beijing. They specialize in long-form trance mixes, and this particular one uses, of all bands to choose from, the Electric Light Orchestra as base material. From the project’s Soundcloud site:
“”I have a message from another Time” – Prologue
Tribute to the legendary Electric Light Orchestra who first industrialised the synth/strings combo. Namecheck: Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy,, Reinhold Mack and remembering Kelly Groucutt, Louis Clark, Musicland Studios (RIP), Vocoder 2000 and the orchestral cast of thousands following on from Mik Kaminski, Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale with commiserations to ELO Part II/ The Orchestra (Eric Troyer, Parthenon Huxley et al)
“Time has the final word” – Yours Truly, 209500:00 The Drone Pilots – The Drone Pilots Intro
00:15 Electric Light Orchestra – Prologue
01:20 Electric Light Orchestra – Eldorado Overture
02:21 Deeparture, Run Rivers – Electric Light
03:30 Guven Toktas, Greendoxyn – Psychotica (Greendoxyn Remix)
04:42 Bynomic – Space Diamond
05:36 Kay-D, J.P. Velardi – Generation Spiral (J.P. Velardi Extended Remix)
06:17 Simon Gregory – Arpeggiator (Extended Mix)
07:06 Jonas Saalbach – Marvelous Light
07:46 Simon Gregory – Gonna Be Better (Extended Mix)
09:43 Darren Tate – Ark (Extended Mix)
10:28 Martin Cozar – Call Me When You Are Sober
12:12 Orjan Nilsen – 9910
13:10 Chicane, Moya Brennan, Ilan Bluestone – Saltwater (Ilan Bluestone Remx)
14:43 Orjan Nilsen – 9910
15:41 Soft Analog – KAÇ
16:59 ARTY – Listen to Me
17:49 LKX – Silver Lining
18:35 Matija, Richard Elcox – Penguin Roadtrip
19:11 Rodrigo Deem – Southern Sky (Extended Mix)
19:37 Nick Schwenderling, Tube & Berger – Daft Disco (Extended Mix)
20:51 Swedish House Mafia, Mau P – Ray of Solar (Mau P Remix)
21:37 LAR – Breathe
23:20 Jason McMullen – Freedom (Original)
24:53 Think Deep – Fallen
26:40 Travis Jess, Chrisstrat, Erich LH – Between Us (Erich LH Remix)
27:38 Sinan Arsan, Paul Hamilton – Halycon (Paul Hamilton Remix)
28:08 Alican – 42nd Floor
29:10 Alex H, Ranj Kaler – Sip Your Poison (Ranj Kaler Remix Edit)
30:57 UNWA, VIBE BESIDE, Soursop – Twinkling Lights (Soursop Remix)
31:17 NAAK – Phambili
32:22 Influence (IN), Matt Oliver – Quintessence (Matt Oliver Remix)
33:39 Influence (IN) – Mood
34:12 Lightning Effect – Mythology
35:29 Nitrous Oxide – Division (Extended Mix)
36:32 Cubicore, Ava Silver, Don Rize – Strangers (Den Rize Extended Mix)
37:21 Spada, Melodi Hristov – Nummer Eins (Melodi Hristov Remix)
38:01 Charlie Clouser – Blood Board (Edit)
38:22 Montw, Anton Borin (RU), Fabri Lopez – Obsidian (Fabri Lopez Remix)
38:39 Gav Easby – Reconcile
39:30 FAWZY, Nour, Cafe de Anatolia – Ya Leil (Extended Remix)
40:01 MIchael A, Cream (PL) – Ignitiona (Cream (PL) Remix
40:30 Sound Fusion – Cobalt
41:17 Kay-D – Lambda Code 11 (Extended Mix)
42:50 Fractal Architect, Around Us – Aurora Borealis (Around Us Remix)
43:09 Duran Duran – DANSE MACABRE
44:50 Rokka – Operator
45:43 HAAB – Dark Road
46:34 The Advocate, 88Birds – For You (Extended Mix)
47:19 Neuralis – No One
47:38 VegaZ SL – Vibjooshitham
48:44 Mr Mind – Serendipity
49:17 MEDUZA, Em Beihold, Sam Tompkin, GENESI – Phone (GENESI Remix)
50:00 Jeff Ozmits, Robert B, EMME – Your Lights
50:56 Spaceship Commanders, Enlusion – Dark Space (Enlusion Remix)
51:23 Dan & Dan, Daniela Rhodes, Mind of Us – Worthy Of Your Love (Mind Of Us Remix)
51:40 Diego Galloso, Noam Garcia, Cafe De Anatolia – Cry of Forbidden Love
54:50 Gru V, Rockka – Sunsets on Jupiter
55:20 Batikan Tanrikulu, Monnarsh, Several Definitions – Haunted (Several Definitions Remix)
56:50 The Blizzard, Mattt Fax – Kalopsia (Matt Fax Remix)
57:55 Nifra, Leo Reyes – Humanoid
58:39 Eximinds, Lyd14, Ramsey Westwood, SICKCODE – Paper Heart (Ramsey Westwood & SICKCODE Extended Remix)”
Before Afrobeat became such a massive influence across Africa, Congolese music seemed to be the pride of the continent. A joyous mix of merengue, rhumba and local music would influence a great deal of West African popular music until James Brown and others came over to topple over the previous pop idols. Respect to Planet Ilunga out of Belgium for producing this gorgeous artifact.
As I have to stay home due to a nasty cold, I thought I’d explore some older releases. Our dear friends at Wewantsounds released this compilation of spiritual jazz in 2017, and it sounds as fresh as ever. Some of the giants featured on this album include Harold Land, Roy Haynes and Shelly Manne, but each track is solid.