Avant-progressive chamber rock has great appeal to me. Mexican quartet Culto Sin Nombre were among the best at it, though they always suffered from poor production quality. It’s a shame, really, as they should have been held in the same esteem as Univers Zero and Art Zoyd.
Music
Internal Fusion – Conte de la pensée dernière
Our dear friends at Mahorka Records bestow us a fine album of frighteningly good electroacoustic music, brutal in its tenor. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Eric Latteux aka Internal Fusion is a dark ambient artist, born in 1964, based in Britany (France). He has been active since the early ’90s Continue Reading
Saba Alizadeh – Rituals Of The Last Dawn
Being an insomniac has some advantages. As is normal for me, I stayed wide awake until 4 a.m. listening to music. While doing so, I came across an album by kamancheh maestro Saba Alizadeh which was so eerily beautiful that I had to suggest it for your perusal. The avant-garde Continue Reading
L’Ham de Foc Cor de Porc
L’Ham de Foc is a band that I have always hoped would get a proper reissue of their classic album. The Valencian band is a prime example of the quality of ethnic music that dots Spain. So many regions deserve their local traditional music to be either better exposed or Continue Reading
Various Artists – MaAuLa-o-rama Vol.01 “Exotic Viennoiseries”
“10 French bands play music from the World. The new “French touch?” says MaAuLa Records. Check out the release’s Bandcamp page for an introduction to the bands appearing on this comp.
Fr. Dionysios Tabakis – Paradise Metal
Eastern Orthodox priests and monastics can be pretty cool at times. There are quite a few instances of monks who are or were musicians, balancing that world with the Christian one. My first monastery visit in (North) Macedonia many years ago included a stay at St. Dmitrij Markov Monastery, where Continue Reading
Jeff Gburek – Nowruz 26
After the stresses (and occasional joys) of 2026 so far, I have a feeling that I may have found my favorite album of the year. Jeff Gburek has made a sublime album that nods at the direction of De Lucía and the Romero family, all while putting his own mark Continue Reading
Dar Disku – Dar Disku
From the Dar Disku Bandcamp site: “The debut album from Bahraini-born, British-based musical duo Dar Disku is a celebration of their Arabic heritage and multicultural influences that melds golden age West Asian and North African sounds with a contemporary dance floor focus. Recorded between the UK, Algeria, Turkey and Tunisia, Continue Reading
Lia Bosch – Ever Expanding
Lia Bosch, as I understand it, is a sound composer from Italy who has made an album that feels like the soundtrack to my mind these days. It’s quite a dark listening experience, mixing drones, a sort of 1950s B-movie soundtrack vibe, and post-industrial menace. Quite powerful listening, if a Continue Reading
Messer Chups – Visiting the Skeleton in the Closet
This is a release I owe to my brother, a connoisseur of fine garage rock, among a slew of other genres. Messer Chups come from Saint Petersburg, Russia, and have a sound the brings together garage rock, rockabilly and surf in a campy, lo-fi way.