Category: Music

Rettward von Doernberg – Night Drive

Because this isn’t a Bandcamp release, and because I should be exploring more sites so that readers can enjoy an ever-widening array of music, I am happy to offer for your ears a track by Berlin-based composer (and an alum from the Musician’s Institute in my home town of Los Angeles), Rettward von Doernberg. Though […]

ShooDja-ChoDja – Shooldyrak

Our beloved comrade in World Music, Christian Pliefke, releases another gem on his label CPL Music.  This new release by the band ShooDja-ChoDja from comes from the region of Udmurtia, populated by people of Finno-Ugric stock, and having traditions far different from their fellow Russian citizens. The music is played on a mix of traditional and […]

Zeena Parkins, Mette Rasmussen, Ryan Sawyer – Glass Triangle

Relative Pitch Records is making a great case for becoming a favorite label of mine.  There are so many great releases covering the best of improvisational and free music that I’ll probably go broke trying to purchase all of them. It’s fitting to make my first review that of avant-harpist Zeena Parkins, whose work should […]

Various Artists – Compost Records: Digital & Rare Vols. 1 & 2

Compost Records have released two exquisite CDs covering the best of downtempo electronica.  Familiar names include A Forest Mighty Black (featuring Rainer Trüby) , Peter Kruder (of Kruder & Dorfmeister), Funkstörung and Minus 8.  These comps cover a lot of ground and show the depth and diversity of the label.

Daniel Casimir – Safe (Part I) (feat. Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Al MacSween & James Copus)

Bassist Daniel Casimir is a young lion of London’s jazz scene.  This is a one-off composition in preparation for a full album coming out later this year on Jazz re:freshed, and it features some of the best instrumentalists active today.  Observe the names on this track.  Each is leaving a huge mark on music these […]

Andrew Paine & Richard Youngs – Bonus Disc

This has to be one of the most charmingly weird, frankly unclassifiable discs I’ve heard in a while.  Andrew Paine & Richard Youngs manage to pull together a collection that should sound like a mess, yet it’s a rather enjoyable one.  The music goes from lo-fi disco tracks (which for some reason, remind me heavily […]

Clara Engel – A New Skin

Clara Engel is based in Toronto, Canada.  Her work has been described as “Folk-Noir” or “minimalist holy blues,” and who am I to disagree?  This takes the best elements of neofolk, stripped-down to just voice, cigar box guitar, electric guitar, melodica and harmonica, and it sounds like a rare self-pressed release worth thousands one could […]