The last week I was in the United States before heading off to China, I watched MEV (collecting Alvin Lucier with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, may their names be ever remembered) and Kayhan Kalhor the weekend before. It was an incredible week of music before heading to more surreal Continue Reading
CMC – CMC/Now
Hungarian band CMC have been recording albums since 1989, and, had they received their fair due during the heydey of post-Industrial Electronic Body Music (EBM), they would have been recognized as competitors of such luminaries as Front Line Assembly and Front 242, but with a darker groove. The band’s main Continue Reading
Russian World Music Chart 2021
I’m proud to have been asked to participate in helping to decide which albums would top the Russian World Music Chart. Here is a press release on this event: Russian World Music Chart 2021 Making Russian world music visible to the world In October 2021, Russia’s first world music chart, Continue Reading
Sofiyum – Kung Kung Go (I Will Spread My Wings And Fly)
I’ll be taking a day off for health reasons, but I thought I would leave you this pleasant Sunday with some music of the Lepcha people of India (also represented in Nepal). The band, Sofiyum, have a very pleasant, joyful sound, reminding me, curiously, of Celtic music. May it carry Continue Reading
Perila – How much time it is between you and me?
Perila i(Alexandra Zakharenko) s a composer from Berlin of Russian roots releases one of the heaviest and, frankly, bleakest albums of the year. I spent today trying to unwind a bit as the snow looked pleasant, but after watching Juraj Herz’s The Cremator, hearing this album left me in a Continue Reading
Nurbek Serkebaev – White Swans Fly: Kyrgyz Music from Bishkek
Nurbek Serkebaev is a well known Kyrgyz folk musician who plays virtually all Kyrgyz traditional music instruments. The venerabl Antonovka Records have released yet another fine album of traditional music.
E.U.E.R.P.I. – Timid Memories
We have a new band to follow, and they’re out of Bulgaria. E.U.E.R.P.I. produce a sonorous and pleasantly dark ambient music that sounds heavily influenced by the works of Steve Roach, Matthias Grassow, or even Lustmord. E.U.E.R.P.I. have proven to be as masterful at using field recordings, blending them into Continue Reading
Various Artists – Lèspri Ka : New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010
This compilation released by Time Capsule Records is going to be stunningly good. From the release’s Bandcamp site: The innovative, radical soul of Guadeloupe explored across thirty years of contemporary gwoka music, released by Time Capsule and Séance Centre. As Guadeloupean vocalist and composer Marie-Line Dahomay writes in her liner Continue Reading
Cut Chemist – Adidas To Addis/Povo De Santo
Cut Chemist is an institution in Los Angeles. I first came across his work as a member of Jurassic 5, and it seems he still has the skills of a groove surgeon. Both tracks are bangers, but the first one is my favorite, as it’s a keep originally recorded by Continue Reading
Luneta Freedom Jazz Collective – Slaves and Masters
Quite an impressive band out of the Philippines, courtesy of Mahorka Records out of Bulgaria. Some info from their Bandcamp site: Luneta Freedom Jazz Collective is an experimental jazz group from Manila, Philippines. Their first studio album “Ethos”, was recorded and released in April 2015. The group would go on Continue Reading