Helen Svoboda – The Odd River
Helen Svoboda is a Finnish-Australian composer, double bassist and singer whose work reminds me in some way of Laurie Anderson’s work, but perhaps denser and more lush. This makes for a pretty phenomenal listen.
Kassyus Clay – Kassyus Clay EP
Kassyus Clay come to us from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and sound nothing like samba or bossa nova. Instead, they bring a brutal instrumental sound that crosses post-rock with Sonic Youth.
Scanner – Alchemeia
Prepare yourselves for January 19, ten days from now! The legendary Scanner (Robin Rimbaud in real life) has a new album out, “…a tribute to the early 1960s library music culture, applying crude techniques of electronic composition, using a mix of hardware and software. It explores a kind of musique concrète, electroacoustic character, in an otherworldly cinematic fashion.” This will be a departure from his more experimental work, and should be a joy to listen to. It will be released on Alltagsmusik, “a new label to release Scanner albums.”
Divertissement Сhamber Orchestra, Sergey Kuryokhin – Re:SEASONS
Sergey Kuryokhin was as fine a composer as he was an improvisor. The Divertissement Orchestra, led by violinist Ilya Ioff, reinterprets one of Kuryokhin’s finest compositions from his album The Sparrow Oratorium. Well-played, indeed.
Alisa Ten: vocals [1, 2, 4]
Vera Chekanova: vocals [2, 3, 4]
Lidia Kovalenko: violin [1], viola [2, 3]
Mikhail Blekher: honky-tonk [1], celeste [2], piano [3, 4], harpsichord [4]
Vladimir Volkov: double bass [4]
Ivan Chernobaev: percussion
Ilya Ioff: violin [1, 3, 4], drums programming [3]
For God is with us (Appalachian Orthodox chant)
Merry Christmas to my friends on the Julian Calendar! This version of “For God Is With Us,” is done in an Appalachian choir style. I can’t think of anything more American or more Orthodox that this organic piece of work.
Trio Mandili – Psalm 50
There will be no reviews either today or tomorrow as Orthodox Christians observe Christmas Eve and the Nativity on what was always the Ecumenical Church Calendar until the devising of the modern Gregorian Calendar, so for those who hold to the Councils, today is December 24. We wish you a Merry Christmas (again), and leave you with today’s selection, a hymn of wailing by Saint King David by the Georgian folk group, Trio Mandili. Be well.
Adam Majdecki-Janicki – Cellos et Ghosts
Adam Majdecki-Janicki (a.k.a. Adam Kaufmann) is one of the leading lights in the Polish neo-psychedelic rock music scene. This album serves as a good introduction to the broad palette of his work.
Chris Karrer – The Mask
Sad news to report today, as former Amon Düül II guitarist, oudist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Karrer passed away on January 2, 2024. We honor him by sharing a North Africa-influenced work of his from 2018 called The Mask. The back story is rather interesting, and that story can be read by clicking the link here.
Death Of Heather – Death Of Heather
We haven’t featured a band from Thailand in quite a few months, so it’s time to rectify this. Death of Heather are from Bangkok and offer a really well-done take on dreampop.