As we celebrate Holy Saturday, we offer this, perhaps my favorite liturgical chant, for you, the reader, courtesy of Les Grandes Voix Bulgares.
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No reviews today, as I will be celebrating Easter weekend (for those who are confused, it is because most Eastern Orthodox celebrate Easter using the Julian Calendar) with my friends. To honor Good Friday, I offer to you Tatar-Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s magnum opus, Sieben Worte for cello, bayan and strings. It is a composition dedicated to the last words of Jesus Christ during His passion. For those who celebrate today, Είθε ο Θεός να μας δείξει έλεος.
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Another Akashic Records masterpiece. This imprint never fails for me. Jeff Gburek works with Italian composer, researcher and poet Ilaria Boffa to make a hazy, deeply psychedelic piece of musique concrète. The three works on this album are sonic storytelling, layering voice on voice, and is perhaps the best way I can describe this release. Sublime, but I expect no less from the parties involved.
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Khara is an Old Slavonic word meaning “the smile of God.” Truly, God must have been smiling to allow such a weirdly joyful music to come together. Mandragora brings together a bardic style of rock & roll infused with traditional music from their native Khakassia, whose native inhabitants share a lot of cultural affinities with the Kyrgyz people. Other influences in this record include Tuvan throat-singing by Alexey Khovalyg, a talkbox expertly handled by band leader Alexander Medvedev, and Alexander Pakhtaev adding such as the morin khuur or horse-head fiddle common in this part of Russia and Central Asia. This…
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Sounding like a band crossing the energy of American garage surf gods The Lords Of Altamont, French punks Les Thugs with the legendary Motörhead, Frau Blücher combine a poppy, but aggressive garage-punk with hints of metal. The band name comes from a running gag from the movie Young Frankenstein, and you can read about the history of the name here. Gags and comedy aside, Frau Blucher make great power pop.
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We have quite a treat tonight. The Lamplight Club was a six-piece band out of Essex, England who produce a sound that fits comfortably between 60’s garage-psych, gothic folk and touched with a noir country tinge to it. You can stream their songs via Spotify here. If there are more honorable streaming services to recommend, please do so.
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For those of you, my friends, who were avid readers of my previous blog, A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music, among the musicians I was proud to champion was Destruktionsanstalt, whose works were featured at this link. I’m pleased to say that Per Najbjerg Odderskov has a fresh release under that monicker, splitting it with a project which is new to me in Cyanosis. The first two tracks from from Destruktionsanstalt, and unlike many noise bands, there is a nearly surgical focus on both tracks. The pummeling noise fest has a vibe utterly indebted to the masters, especially early period-Throbbing Gristle…
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Though there are heavy tensions at the moment between the governments of Japan and the People’s Republic of China (sic), this compilation proves that there is peace through psych. Psychedelic music is the medium both the legendary guitarist of Acid Mothers Temple, Kawabata Makoto and Chinese acid-folk musician Baisong Wu, and their collaboration bore the fruit of dulcet, meandering, gentle washes of lightly LSD-soaked bliss. This is music for the cloudy day we’re currently enduring in the Greater Los Angeles area, and it fits perfectly with the clouds. A stellar piece of work.
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Julia Hülsmann is a pianist from Bonn, Germany who has recorded quite a few stellar albums for the legendary record label ECM. This particular song is a fine rendition of This Is Not America, originally performed by David Bowie and Pat Metheny as part of the soundtrack to the film The Falcon and The Snowman.
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This has to be one of the more elegant releases I’ve had the pleasure of spending my evenings with in a few weeks. Ombra are a quintent, as I understand it, based in Barcelona, Spain. This sumptuous release blends everything from jazz, a touch of waltz, Arabic and Balkan music with vocals sung in a myriad of languages including Ladino, spoken today in Israel and parts of the Balkans. This is true ethno-jazz, fusing together music, scales and traditions together seamlessly. For further information, consider visiting their promotional page at Tejo Milenario. Personnel: Andranik Muradyan — Klarinet Albert Pintor —…