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    [The Spirit Of Progressive Rock] CD Review – Be Bop Deluxe – Life In The Air Age (Box Set)

    July 26, 2021 - By 

    While doing a bit of research pertaining to my new position at a school in China, I took a bit of time to read a great review over at The Spirit Of Progressive Rock on a box set I’ll have to purchase before I leave the States. Be-Bop Deluxe were one of the premier art-rock bands of the 1970s, and its frontman, Bill Nelson, is still making music.  This box is massive, spanning at 16 discs (15 audio, 1 DVD)!  Why am I fascinated with this record?  TSOPR explains: This legendary live album was released in July 1977 and here’s…

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    ΠϢΑϪЄ – Sleep (שֻׁנָּה)

    July 25, 2021 - By 

    I have a feeling that this Israeli psychedelic release is a hoax, and the label, ΠϢΑϪЄ (That Word), seem to admit the same.  However, on the music’s merits, it’s a pretty interesting slab of Middle Eastern-influenced psychedelic rock.  Eventually, the mystery of this album will be solved, but it’s nice to just enjoy the music and let it melt all over your brain for the time being.

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    The Ambient Drones of Bill Baxter – Dreamscape One

    July 24, 2021 - By 

    I can’t say that I’m able to find any hard information on who Bill Baxter is, but he releases an almost ridiculous amount of music.  Amazingly, the quality is consistently high.  The tracks are very long, but they’re quite engaging on a pair of headphones.  If you want to learn more about this mysterious figure, you can check out his Facebook page.

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    Arthur Lyman – Island Vibes

    July 23, 2021 - By 

    The ever-brilliant Aloha Got Soul Records is about to release a lost masterpiece of exotica. Arthur Lyman played vibraphone and marimba, and with these tools, nature sounds and some fine musicians backing him up, he managed to conjure up images of life in the South Pacific and Hawaii, which had just become our 50th state in the United States. This album was originally recorded on Broad Records in 1980, but it seems to have been forgotten, which is surprising given the explosion of exotica, easy listening and lounge music which occurred during the 1990s. As of today (July 23, 2021),…

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    Taennya – Natural Serenity

    July 22, 2021 - By 

    Taennya is Tatyana Maslova, an ambient music composer from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.  The city is home to some of my favorite musicians (including Roman Stolyar and Sergei Belichenko among others), and it looks like I have another musician whose works will be on my playlist for some time to come. The tracks are instrumental, with big, cavernous washes of sound.  As far as ambient music goes, this gives off a warm, calming feeling without being saccharine.  You will hear beats and voices here and there, and these help to guide you deeper into this enveloping sound.  A very engaging release.

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    Various Artists – Cameroon Garage Funk

    July 21, 2021 - By 

    Analog Africa produces yet another astounding compilation.  Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a while for this one, because the release date is scheduled for September 3, 2021.  Still, considering the high quality of pretty much everything this label has produced, I’m expecting some fine music. Over on the Bandcamp release page, a question that had been in mind for a while has been answered.  How could Cameroon, with a rich musical history, be so poorly represented?  As it turns out, there was no infrastructure so speak of, so promotion outside the country would have been impossible in those days. From…

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    Harald Grosskopf & Ramón Amezcua – Quetzalkrautl

    July 20, 2021 - By 

    ¡Demasiado kosmiche…!  Two absolute legends in electronic music grace these pages with a combination whose name cracks me up, but whose music entinces.  Ramón Amezcua is best known under his nom de plume Bostich and is known as the godfather of the Nortec scene which combines hard electronic music with Norteño music and banda into a radically different form of the sort of electronica produced either Stateside or in Europe.  Harald Grosskopf played drums for progressive rock bands like Wallenstein, Ashra and appeared on quite a few albums by Klaus Schulze, as well as releasing Synthesist, which is today considered…

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    Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel 1 (Car)

    July 19, 2021 - By 

    It’s safe to assume that the vast majority of my friends and readers know who Peter Gabriel is.  I don’t think there’s been a more important pop singer in the last 40 or so years, and it’s really a pleasant surprise to see him put the whole of his catalog on Bandcamp. This album is my favorite of the back catalog, as it was his first after leaving the band Genesis.  Car is a collection of songs that sound like Gabriel was undergoing a creative explosion, mixing heavy rock, progressive, and you could hear a strong imprint from guest musicians…

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    TienYinMen – Between Clouds (雲峽)

    July 18, 2021 - By 

    TienYinMen are a collection of composers and musicians based in Hong Kong who release a lot of thematic soundtrack music played on traditional instruments and electronic instruments.  They have a healthy body of work to choose from, and I found this one to be the best out of a great lot.  I can see why they would be in demand for scoring TV programs as well as theater.

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    John Tejada & Ulrich Krieger – Silversonic

    July 17, 2021 - By 

    Two legends from rather different backgrounds collaborate on this EP. Austrian-American DJ John Tejada is a legend in electronic music as has thrived in the scene as a sought-after remixer.  I had the pleasure of meeting him several times while working at a record shop in Los Angeles during the 1990s, and it pleases me to no end how far his career has taken off. Ulrich Krieger is a composer, improviser and experimental rock musician from Germany whose work you may have heard either as a composer or interpreter of contemporary classical music with Zeitkratzer/ or as a member of…