From the Upupayāma Bandcamp site: Upupayāma is the musical persona of Alessio Ferrari, an Italian multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who lives in a small mountain village above the city of Parma. In addition to playing guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums, Ferrari himself also incorporates a number of other instruments into his work, Continue Reading
Rosie Turton – Expansions and Transformations: Part I & II
Rosie Turton came to my attention a while ago with her EP Rosie’s 5ive, which served as a stellar introduction to her work, but this latest album shows how incredibly expressive a trombone-led band can be. So many players in London’s Nu-Jazz scene are leaving a mark that there will Continue Reading
Hualun (花伦) – Wuhan Wuhan (武汉武汉)
It’s a shame that Hualun, and electronic music artist from Wuhan, China, has only one track available to peruse on his latest CD. By the sound of it, the album is going to rival the slew of Japanese New Age reissues that have been coming out recently on various labels. It’s Continue Reading
miserable.noise.club – Frost Confinement
miserable.noise.club is a collective of incredibly talented musicians based in Jordan, China and the US + other collaborators in East Asia and the Middle East. The music they make is, by some miracle, a solid blend of experimental music, a paean to post-punk and lo-fi psychedelic rock. It’s hazy enough Continue Reading
Mong Tong 夢東 – 台灣謎景 Music from Taiwan Mystery
Mong Tong are one of the most profoundly interesting bands operating out of Taiwan these days, and their work would compare favorably to psychedelic giants like Ghost or even quieter aspects of Acid Mothers Temple. From WV Sorcerer Productions’ Bandcamp site: Mong Tong is brothers Hom Yu, Jiun Chi (they Continue Reading
Marika Politissa – All Parts Dark
Much respect to Mississippi Records out of Chicago, Illinois for releasing this magnificent artifact! The back story is explained in great detail on the label’s Bandcamp site: Marika “Politissa” Frantzeskopoulou was a Greek singer from Constantinople, reknowned for her precise, fluid and graceful performances and depth of feeling. Backed by Continue Reading
Breizh Napoli – Démo
Two places I have been enamored with for at least half of my life are Brittany in France and Naples, perhaps my favorite Italian city. Breizh Napoli, as the name clearly indicates, combines both Breton and Neapolitan music seamlessly. This is a fine demo of choral music that brings out Continue Reading
Alexei Aigui & Arkady Marto – DA
This should be a breakout year for Alexei Aigui, who has released his fourth album of the year in collaboration with pianist Arkady Marto. The album is absolutely sublime. Each track has a gentle touch, balancing violin and piano perfectly. The cornerstone of the album for me is this track, Continue Reading
Various Artists – Pyramid Pieces 2
This is a comp we won’t have to wait too terribly long for. The Roundtable is a record label out of Melbourne, Australia which documents some phenomenal jazz from down under. Apparently, the first installment of Pyramid Pieces was a tour-de-force of Australian spiritual jazz, and the comp sold briskly, Continue Reading
Giedrius Kuprevičius – Erotidijos
Giedrius Kuprevičius is a Lithuanian composer with roots in theater music. Erotidijos has a rather long history, originally being released on cassette in 1994, but the latest release adds around 30 minutes of music, and is available on vinyl as well as download. From his Bandcamp site: Erotidijos is a Continue Reading