Our comrades at German’s finest psych label, The Lollipoppe Shoppe, release a wild album of heavy-duty psychedelic rock by The Cosmic Kangaroos that sounds more like a 1960’s California (West Coast) indie monster rather than a gem recorded in the 1990s. This label has a knack for absolutely incredible rare gems!
I grew up with Electronic Body Music during my high-school years when my little brother and I would go clubbing in Hollywood, and the music has stuck with me for well over three decades. Spain’s Spammerheads have made a sound that would compliment early Front Line Assembly, the harsher vocal aspects of Front 242, and a recording technique that was compressed just enough to make me feel like I was dancing around in my old iron “Mad Max” boots over at Club F**k! back in the day. Well done!
Once an Industrial music icon during his time performing in Cabaret Voltaire (pre-disco), Chris Watson now records natural sounds with such skill that he makes something that goes well beyond ‘ambient’ music. As a tribute to his work, Touch Records commissioned several artists, including recently reposed ones like Philip Jeck and Mika Vainio, and supplemented by Fennesz, Biosphere and Watson himself.
This track by Seah and Mykel Boyd (working together as post doom romance) is part of an elegant series of sound art made in their local area. Mellow and very engaging music.
Esa Ruoho is a project out of Finland who works with really long, sinewy drones and atmospherics to get lost in on a headphone trip. Fine ambient music, something rare in a time when the term is so badly abused.
Duke Ellington’s Shakespearian masterpiece, Such Sweet Thunder, is the first album I bought for its typography alone. I had heard older releases by him, had classic discs like Money Jungle, but this album caught my eye because I had had a deep interest in typography around 1994-1995. The text on the right was so crisp despite its size, and of course the iconic photo of Duke meditating on the piano with big block capital letters made the album look more like an artifact. The music is, of course, sumptuous, but if you have a Spotify account, you can enjoy it…
What a tribute from Irmán, a composer from Portugal. From his Bandcamp website: “Für Eline is a love song, a testimony to my relationship with my wife. We’ve been together for over 20 years, we have a beautiful daughter and we’ve been through many things, both good and bad. Since mid-2020 my wife has been a champion, guiding me and our house while I’m physically unable due to depression. This song is my gift to her.”
L’Orange are a band led by the drummer Nelson Schaer, and they produce a sumptuous jazz that is a heady mix of acid and downtempo. It’s relaxing, but intriguing, listening.
Robert Scott Thompson is yet another friend of our blog who has graced our pages with a new single. From his Bandcamp site: An experimental track from the sessions for “From a Language of Light,” imagined for release near the close of 2022. Features Sarah Lock on vocals and percussion performed by Stuart Gerber. As is noted on the page, “this is a special mix from the title track and will not be on the official CD release,” so this is a one-off with an elegant sound.
The legendary Habibi Funk will be releasing another scorching release on October 10, 2022. The release will feature a singer called Maha, who hails from Egypt and who worked with Salah Ragab’s Cairo Jazz Band as their main vocalist. There is an amazing backstory you can find on the release’s Bandcamp site, but the most important paragraphs can be read below: Some years ago, we had released “Al Massrieen,” music which is the passion project of their composer, Hany Shenoda. Most of the music of this band was released by the Sout El Hob label and after our reissue they…