• Music

    Various Artists – Pierre Barouh and the Saravah Sound

    As I’ve been stewing over this release for well over a month now, it’s exciting to finally announce that today, this scorching compilation is finally available on vinyl and download from our friends at WeWantSounds.  In fact, the only depressing thing about this gem is that I can’t hear it on vinyl yet as I’m currently in Belgrade, Serbia, waiting to see where I move to next before settling down back in the Czech Republic. Normally, I’ll either place my own personal thoughts about a music, or use clippings from a press release, but the Saravah story needs a bit…

  • Music

    Yamila – Visions

    Mexican composer Yamila produces music similar to Rock-In-Opposition legends like Art Zoyd, Univers Zéro and fellow countrymen Decibel. The music is heavy, brooding, and dense. From her label, Umor Rex’s Bandcamp site: “Her voice and music –sometimes torn and others buoyant– could resemble the score for a biblical passage (ie. visions of the Apocalypse), for they are overflowing with physical ecstasy and sounds that one can touch. Visions is composed of different forms and rhythms. Pieces like “Visions V” evolve intensely with sharp and systematized hits ––powerful layers that bring us closer to Alessando Cortini’s Forse era. “Visions II”, for…

  • Music

    Y Bülbül – Fever

    What a charmingly weird discovery this is!  Yiğit Bülbül is a London-based musician whose roots are in Turkey, and this mini-album combines the experimentation of artists like Holger Czukay with the dulcet sounds of Serge Gainsbourg’s backing band in their calmer moments.  A surreal release this one…

  • Music

    noemienours – The Dry Path

    It’s hard for me to make out the influences of this album, but I can say with certainty that listening to this rather weird album was a pleasure.  From noemienours’ Bandcamp site: ““The Dry Path”, noemienours’ 5th LP, developed around a Gobi Bear narrative of barren edge conditions as an access point to supra-natural realities, is definitely a turning point in the noemienours discography, notably because of its introduction of harpsichord in the noemienours instrumentarium, but also because of its recourse to a widened approach of its lo-fi musical approach, by creating a new musical form somewhere between Swedish post-black…

  • iBroadcast.com - Music

    iBroadcast.com

    No review today because I’m out this evening, but I did want to let my friends know about a platform called iBroadcast.com.  I have collected thousands of FLAC and mp3 files over the years, but they serve no purpose sitting in a collection of disc drives.  The site has been a breeze to use, and if you choose the subscription option, you hear your files in their original format, rather than the standard 128 kbps.  It’s worth a look.

  • Music

    Rodion G.A. – Misiunea Spatiala Delta (Delta Space Mission)

    This gem is from one of Romania’s strangest composers.  The music sounds made by Rodion Roșca range from a more industrial-era Cabaret Voltaire and Suicide to the wilder music of Giorgio Moroder.  He passed away in March of 2021 at the age of 68, but he left a truly unique body of work behind, including this wonderful record.  Derek Anderson of Derek’s Music Blog wrote a long and deep tribute to Rodion, and Derek was responsible for helping get his name out to the international public.  A commendable article and truly, a commendable record.

  • Music

    Various Artists – The Dystopian World of J​.​ G​.​Ballard

    Our dear friend Raffaelle Pellezza has curated another masterful compilation of dark ambient music focused on the British writer J. G. Ballard.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “In April 2009, J. G. Ballard died at the age of 78. By the end of his life he was recognized as one of the greatest British writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. The acclaim his work has garnered stems from its unsettling ability to describe the present in collision with near but unexpected futures. His narratives operate according to the temporalities of car crashes, epidemics, and physiological shocks. The…

  • Music

    Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo – Só Não Toca Quem Não quer (1987) – Remastered

    Brazil’s finest living export (to my ears, anyway) has been quite active over the past few years, but it’s nice to see some forgotten releases getting some exposure. The personnel on this album plays some wonderfully, uniquely Brazilian fusion. Hermeto Pascoal: Bandola, Piano, Teclados (Keyboard), Flugelhorn, Harmonium, Flauta Baixo (Bass Flute), Craviola, Acordeom (Accordion), Bombardino, Clavinet, Piano CP-80 Jovino Santos Neto: Piano, Flauta (Flute), Piccolo, Harmonium, Piano Rhodes Itiberê Zwarg: Baixo (Bass), Tuba Carlos Malta: Flauta (Flute), Piccolo, Sax Soprano, Sax Tenor, Sax Alto, Sax Baritone Marcio Bahia: Bateria (Drums), Percussão (Percussion) Pernambuco: Percussão (Percussion)

  • Music

    Kosta T – крип

    Kosta Trokai is a Russian violinist whose work I’ve followed for several years now.  He has a massive catalog behind him and it straddles comfortably between classical music and free improvisation.