• Music

    Sailcloth – Woodcut

    May 29, 2021 - By 

    A pleasant find.  Alex Luquet, the aforementioned Sailcloth, is an American composer based in Pennsylvania who works with a double bass, synthesizers and guitar which, in turn, produce engaging drone-scapes.  The tones are rich, easy to get lost in (you might be picking up on a theme in that I really enjoy letting my mind wander to music – it is the best sort of music for me), and he’s joined by musicians who really seem to be in sync with his playing.  The personnel include: Alex Luquet: upright bass, keyboards, synthesizers, guitars Felicia Vee: drums on Red Woods, guitar…

  • Music

    Samo Salamon & Hasse Poulsen – String Dancers

    May 28, 2021 - By 

    Musicians never cease to amaze me.  Despite the horrible conditions which have led to worldwide lockdown, artists like Samo Salamon, a guitarist out of Slovenia, and Hasse Poulsen, originally from Denmark, manage to weave together an acoustic guitar-only album of improvisations that don’t sound like what you normally associate with “improv.”  It’s a mellow album, and though there was a distance between the two musicians, they ping-ponged tracks back and forth to each other, growing and molding each tune until the final product was crafted.  It’s a stunningly relaxing album.  Those words should not go together under normal circumstances, but…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Haute Culture: A Rough Guide To Russian Contemporary Jazz Music

    May 27, 2021 - By 

    Dave Summer penned an article on the state of Russian jazz today, and one of the featured releases was a compilation of artists featured on the Rainy Days record label.  This is a great way to explore these innovators, including saxophonists Azat Bayazitov and Andrew Krasilnikov, bassist Makar Novikov, drummer and percussionist Sasha Mashin and pianists Evgeny Ponomarev and Evgeny Sivtsov.  The jazz is hot, never boring, and will be a welcome addition to those of you who are wondering what’s worth exploring in the genre.

  • Music

    Nick Sudnick – Opera Of The Eleventh Hour

    May 26, 2021 - By 

    St. Petersburg, Russia-based composer Nick Sudnick has had a storied career as the main protagonist of the of the art-rock group Zga.  I had the pleasure of working with him for one reissue in another life. He is still very much involved with music, and has been releasing an incredible series of albums recently.  As I understand it, he’s creating operas based on each hour of the day.  The latest installment is for the Eleventh Hour, and base material for this project include motifs derived from pharmacies, medical encyclopedia, online mental health forums and so on. This will appeal heavily…

  • Music

    UUTAi – Dope

    May 25, 2021 - By 

    Some years ago I had the pleasure of coming across a Sakha (Yakutia)-based singer called UUTAi who left me a bit stunned and gobsmacked, as I had never seen such a wild performance with wailing and Jew’s harp.  Going forward a few years, one of my dear colleagues and friends in Siberia, Daryana, presented this album to me, and it’s a more focused, restrained and quirky affair. I would think that a label like Real World would be quite interested in this, as it definitely presents Yakut music in a favorable light, but it supplemented with electronic music that actually…

  • Music

    Valerio Orlandini – Syntagmata

    May 24, 2021 - By 

    Valerio Orlandini is a sound designer and composer from Firenze, Italy whose work reminds me of that of artists like French electroacoustic music composers like François Bayle or Michel Chion.  It is, of course, dark, nearly claustrophobic, music.  Yet it has a nice cinematic feel to it.  He’ll be worth watching and listening to as the years pass.

  • Music

    UBURGRUND – Dionelos

    May 23, 2021 - By 

    At least as I am able to understand it, UBURGRUND is a graphic artist and composer who hails from Băicoi, Romania.  This release is inspired, in part by the Romanian modern surrealist author Mircea Cărtărescu and his magnum opus, Solenoid. I have not had a chance to read the book yet, but from what I am hearing from a dear seraphim in Bucharest, he is as worthy as read as he is weird. You can read more about this work here. This album was released by our friends at Kalamine Records, and, as expected, it maintains their high standard of…

  • Music

    Noisesculptor & God Cancer – Wanderers In The 4th Dimension

    May 22, 2021 - By 

    Noise music is something you are either passionate for. or you loathe to the depths of your soul.  I say this because too many artists not only sound far too similar, it almost sounds like they insult the audience by turning on a vacuum cleaner and try to call that “music.”  It’s trash, nothing more.  That trick only worked once with Duchamp, and all his followers merely pose, tarnishing anything good in art. However, there is another angle to noise.  That of the sculpted, patiently crafted sturm und drang which allows for musical or cinemtic influences to further enhance their…

  • Music

    Fellirium – Changes

    May 21, 2021 - By 

    Yet another great listen from Russia.  I have plenty more coming down the line. Fellirium produce a neofolk that stays away from the more pretentious parts of the genre, and sticks with fine, gentle instrumental soundscapes.  One can hear hints of the Incredible String Band, perhaps a more acoustically based Legendary Pink Dots, and some rather ambient bits which blend together quite well.

  • Music - Youtube

    (Video) When Dusk Meets Dawn – A Journey Through Baltic Music

    May 21, 2021 - By 

    I have a deep love of Baltic culture which kind of makes sense since my maternal line has roots in what is today Kaliningrad, Russia, but was, for centuries, German and Baltic (Old Prussian) soil. The music in the region possesses a magical quality to it, quite unlike any other region in Europe. ARTE.tv produced a nice documentary featuring Andris Nelsons, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, Paavo Järvi, Gidon Kremer and Arvo Pärt talking about what makes the region of the music so special. Special thanks to Chris Morley, whose wisdom and taste in music mirrors and surpasses my own. I am indebted…