Cristina Quesada seems to be the missing link between Italo-Disco, Debby Harry, France Gall and indie-pop. She appears on Elefant Records, one of Spain’s finest independent record labels, and this album absolutely floors its competition. It’s perhaps the funnest record I’ve heard in months, with the energy of a power-pop disc. Worthwhile!
Sad news to report today. Julee Cruise, who served as the muse for the David Lynch-directed TV series (and movie) Twin Peaks, and who had a massive hit with the song Falling, which was composed by Angelo Badalamenti, has passed away at the age of 65. She had been suffering from lupus since at least 2018, when she announced her condition. I had the pleasure of saying a few words to her during my earlier Facebook days, and she struck me as being a kind, unpretentious person. Rest in peace.
Azu Tiwaline and Al Wootton could not come from more different places on Earth. Azu’s roots are from Tunisia, while Al’s roots are from London’s urban sprawl, yet they manage to collaborate on a kind of dub informed by pulsating trance and Berber-influenced rhythms. Dark, sparse and pleasant.
The 1200 Line is an expert reissue label bringing some amazing African music to the masses with meticulously recreated cover art and remastering. This release is from Upper Volta, and it features cumbia rhythms, rhumba, Cuban son and yé-yé blended into a joyful mix. From the Bandcamp site: From the landlocked tropical savanna of Upper Volta, an ever-evolving cast of musicians brought the world’s rhythms to the streets of their native Bobo-Dioulasso. Combining Congolese rhumba, American R&B, French yé-yé, Cuban son, and regional Senufo and Mandingo traditions, Orchestre Volta Jazz was at the epicenter of the West African musical explosion…
Quite a tasty album here. Lalalar are not some common Anatolian Rock ripoff. Rather, they do use the venerable genre as a reference point, but you can hear influences such as post-punk and darkwave seep into the stew.
Pogus Records has released a treasure from Belgian electroacoustic composer Leo Kupper, who is finally being recognized as a master of his field.
This is something of a revelation for me! The music produced by the Ellipsis Quintet, led by trumpeter Vasilis Nalbantis, mixes traditional Balkan, Greek and Levantine melodies inside a framework that would appeal to fans of the avant-progressive and Rock-In-Opposition genres. Theirs is a prog-world-jazz stew that’s one of the freshest things I’ve heard come out of Austria in a long time (barring electronic music, of course).
The Mossad have been featured here before, but this new two-track single blends sounds that would feel familiar to fans of both Fad Gadget and the On-U Sound catalog stripped down to it’s Industrial undergarments.
Sometimes it’s an absolute pleasure to take a stroll down memory lane. My friend Ryant Reeleyes, who worked with Los Angeles legends Jugend Staat many years ago, never gave up the aggro-Industrial-techno bug, and has kept the spirit of bands like Skinny Puppy and Front 242 alive. The album is harsh, ugly at times, cavernous and it makes for a brutal listening experience.
Though the soundtrack to Sander Joon’s animated film Sierra won’t be officially available until August of 2022, Misha Panfilov has graciously shared several very mellow, almost vibraphone-inflected tracks he used to design the cartoon’s soundscape.