I wish to thank my friend Slava, who is based in Kazakhstan, for introducing me into this avant-prog treasure. The Onségen Ensemble are a Finnish group who have a rather open personnel, which is in keeping with their mission statement. The sound is a mix of heavy progressive, psychedelic rock and a bit of raw, old-school metal. I think a band like this would feel at home with American labels like Cuneiform Records, but they want to forge their own path, and it’s a very, very loud one.
It seems the one place in the world where the dreaded term “World Music” is doing well is Russia, though my friends at Xango Music Distribution do a stellar job of selling some amazing artifacts. This project, Staritsa, hail from Prokhorovka, near the dead center of the country. They, like other Russian bands I’ve had the pleasure of recommending, produce fine traditional folk which seems to be having a Renaissance of sorts. Between this, the incredible improvisational and classical music scenes and the wonderful Orthodox hymnody being produced these days, I’d say Russian music is in good hands. Kudos to…
DidJaws is a French lo-fi IDM producer who works with his compositions in an absolutely stripped-down manner, without the overproduction and cute tricks that some IDM-related artists rely on. This feels raw, and the ideas coming out of these songs feel fresh. Not a bad release at all, and it makes me wonder what work he could do with full production capability. Let’s see how his work develops.
It looks like Mute Records are beginning to put more effort into their Bandcamp page, adding a lot of classic albums from their catalogue including licensed material from CAN, the legendary Krautrock band whose members all went on to do wonderful projects on their own. Though most readers here will have a favorite album they would rather feature (mine is Monster Movie), I’m posting this concentrating on my Chinese friends today so that they can sample what CAN were all about. The Singles is a decent introduction to their material.
This is perhaps the coldest of cold wave releases I’ve ever had the pleasure of reviewing. Venus Berry is the nom de plume of Anouk Allard, who is not only a musician but has a background in visual art. Her style covers not only the aforementioned cold wave which the French seemed to dominate during the 1980s, but also aspects of modern synthwave, electro and a weird sort of avant-pop that reminded me of Isabelle Antena. She is joined on this album by Antoine Sapparrart on bass and Jules Méli on guitar. Quite an enjoyable album.
Today, thanks to a busy schedule, no reviews will be put up (one will be edited), so I bring for your viewing pleasure the Catalonian maestro, Jordi Savall, and his troupe, Hespèrion XXI performing Lachrimæ Caravaggio. Audiophile Audition has a great writeup on the album here.
Few inside of the world of avant-garde music will not have heard of composer and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp. He has one of the most impressive bodies of work in experimental music. This release is a very pleasant surprise for me, though, because, despite the wonders of Sharp’s music on its own merits, having actor and experimental theater veteran Steve Buscemi reading William S. Burroughs’ works just adds to the fun. From their Bandcamp site: Actor Steve Buscemi and composer/multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp collaborate on a new CD based on texts by William S. Burroughs. Two significant figures in the formation of…
Emil Biljarski has had a storied career, first as keyboardist of the seminal Hungarian psychedelic rock band Korai Öröm, and who continued the psychedelic, world music and even post-punk stylings in bands such as Fókatelep and Meszecsinka. His pedigree is impeccable. He graces our blog with a new album which is a projection of music best described as a mish-mash of well-crafted pop songs, interludes which would be reminiscent of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, Bowie-esque prog-pop, ethnic music from Southeast Europe, and on occasion, the bass playing on this track reminds me of a mid-period Killing Joke. Well crafted, well…
I’ve been looking forward to hearing Selen Gülün’s latest release, and to say I’m not disappointed would be an understatement. I had spent the day listening to John Cage after lunching with my priest, and then this record came on. The first track, Ah, Tu Dici!, blended into Cage’s Three Easy Pieces as naturally as could be, though Selen’s track is both better recorded and slightly darker, which makes it that much more favorable to my ears. The second track, Cicli E Punti, lets saxophonist Dario Fariello and cellist Stellan Veloce run wild. I’d expect this sort of improvisation on…
There’s not a lot more to say about the legendary Curve that I could add to, save for most of the 1990s, they were among the best shoegaze bands, and it could be said that maybe only My Bloody Valentine were more highly esteemed, yet the members never seemed to stop working. Dean Garcia maintained a great career as a session musician and even playing in a band with his daughter called SPC ECO (Space Echo), while lead singer Toni Halliday started two other projects called Scylla and Chatelaine, as well as appearing on a track with the American band…