Posts

Posted on

László Hortobágyi – Music from Fomal​-​Hoot al​-​Ganoubī 1994​-​2023 [Re​​​-​​​Mix Mastered Version Series Vol. 3]

László Hortobágyi is perhaps the best known electronic/experimental music composer to ever come out of Hungary.  Our dear brothers at áMARXE Records have released Music from Fomal​-​Hoot al​-​Ganoubī, a 1991 release, as a remastered edition.

From the áMARXE Bandcamp site:

“Fomal-hoot al-Ganoubī is a mythological Arabic constellation.

It is the planet whose warm milky-mist landscapes are home to the ethereal body-incarnations of deceased Muslim saints and dervishes.

When in the XXII century the white man reached the moons of Jupiter and there transformed himself into a floating changeling to populate the stratosphere of Jupiter, in the same way the souls of the dead Muslim saints and dervishes moved a thousand years earlier to the galaxy of Fomal-Hoot al-Ganoubī, where they found the real great umma, i.e. the world of heaven (jannat), leaving at the same time the earthly realm of jahannam, i.e. Hell.”

The notes for this release are extensive, so it is recommended to go directly to the Bandcamp page to get more of a feel of what this album is about. áMARXE continues to release crucial progressive music!

Posted on

Igor Yalivec – Etudes

Igor Yalevic has produced some of the most gentle and relaxing field recordings and ‘ambient’ music to come out of Ukraine in recent memory in his latest album, Etudes.  From his Bandcamp site:

“Etudes is Yalivec’s sophomore album. His 2021 album Still Life came out on Polar Seas Recordings and has long since been sold out. Yalivec’s more esoteric electroacoustic project with guitarist Sergey Yagoda is called Gamardah Fungus and exorcizes a more cosmic and heavier consciousness. Etudes is remarkable in it’s ability to walk a middle path between the overtly melodic and arpeggiated Still Life and the heavy duty experimentalism of Gamardah Fungus.

An etude, in musical language, is generally a short exercise designed to improve the player’s skill. The skill, it seems, that Yalivec is improving here is his ability to see clearly. Not ahead into some unknown future, but to see clearly into the present – a present, that on good days, is full of the chirping birds and prairies alive in some kind of eternal autumn afternoon that are full of life. And perhaps, no matter what happens, there will be artists like Igor Yalivec – capturing those moments and stretching them into eternity.“

Posted on

Mayssa Jallad – Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels

A haunting release, this one.  Imagine dark experimental music mixed with war-ravaged architecture in what was one of the most beautiful cities in the world during the 1970s, Beirut.  This is the terribly beauty Mayssa Jallad offers. From Ruptured Records’ Bandcamp site:

“The album comprises two parts. Part A: Dahaliz, is a stroll in the city, where Jallad tries (and fails) to follow an old map. Musician Youmna Saba is a companion in this journey of remembering the once winding corridors (“Dahaliz”) of the city, destroyed by new developments since the 1960s. Empty skyscrapers propel her onto a past filled with the violence of snipers, and a present filled with the glamorous injustice of empty luxury real estate endorsed by powerful warlords-turned-politicians.

In Part B: Maaraka, Jallad inhabits the building of the Battle of the Hotels, as its events unfold. She calls the fighting militias the Blues and Reds, respectively the Lebanese Front (Christian Nationalists) and the Lebanese National Movement (Pro-Palestinian leftists), leveling the playing field, and drawing a map of the battle through songwriting. Sary Moussa produces the conclusion of the battle in “Holiday Inn (March 21 to 29)”, which ends with the ultimate severance of the city of Beirut.

The music caters to post-war youth who have never been taught this difficult history. Once we consider the “Battle of the Hotels” as our common heritage, it provides an opportunity to teach the value of civil peace. It is also a call to protest for the renewal, rather than the recycling of the political class that has once destroyed the country and holds us, to this day, hostage of its violence.”

Posted on

Various Artists – D​-​Day: A Grateful Dead Tribute from Krautland

Although the bands themselves on this comp from our dear friends at the Lollipoppe Shoppe might play Kraut-influenced music, this comp is definitely NOT Krautrock.  I can’t say that the music is perfectly straight-ahead covers of some of the Grateful Dead’s finest work, but to hear these songs in a more modern setting is rather refreshing.  The tunes maintain their psychedelic heart, even if there is a touch of Kraut (a welcome addition, mind you) imbued into these tunes.

Posted on

Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann – Jazzisthmus

Had I not known the previous (impressive) works of both Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann, I would have happily believed that this was a lost psychedelic music gem long forgotten about in a basement studio recorded during Soviet times.  While the tones are dulcet, you never really get a chance to get into a groove.  The music shapes and shifts, making you ever aware of its presence and demanding that you pay attention (particularly hard to do as I’m grading papers at the moment).  The introduction to the album at Ramble Records’ Bandcamp site is one of the most elegant I’ve read in a while:

“JazzIsthmus is the spontaneous nomination of a surreal podcast from two dolphins once swimming the lochs of Berlin un-bump-into-able until another quasi-human life incarnation, in nearby Poznan, where they skimmed palms at some music event in 2016, realized they bore the stigmata of guitarism and poetry. Their various hermetic preoccupations kept them adrift until the Man from Atlantis & his Ramble Records began to publish their solo projects independently. Sharing a label caused Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann to push their tables together, jam a bit, swap sounds and begin the collaboration that you can witness with a few clicks.

There’s more than guitar going into this mistura. First track bears psychedelic jazz ceremonial organ, careening space-cadet theremin glissandi, spiced guitar shards. Track two features Jeff’s soundscaping hydrophone recordings, VLF receiver, radios & Adam’s minimal ghostly tricky synth-like guitars. Thirdly comes Doof Tram, the very first live meeting, which remains exactly as it was recorded (except for the parts we changed, of course). Like Jerry Garcia meets Bern Nix. Gratefully Undead for this Halloween 2023. Further on down the road there’s some real synth and, you guessed it, more guitars. Meandering, nimble, somewhat melancholy at times. This is just a description, not a review.”

Posted on

Forgotten Magus – The Demon Host

From Mike Benoit’s Bandcamp site:

Shane Beck & I are here once again here to bring you the next Forgotten Magus album. We both hope you enjoy this as much as we do, and thank you for listening…it means the world to us.

Forgotten Magus is Mike Benoit & Shane Beck, the last American poet. Be sure to look into Shane’s many other projects as he can be found all over the bandcamp world and is well worth listening to. Shane is an amazing poet and I am honored to work with him.

Posted on

Kristo Rodzevski – Black Earth

Here is something rather magnificent coming out of Macedonia in the form of Kristo Rodzevski’s latest album through Defkaz, a great Greek label.  There is hope for the Balkans yet!  From the Defkaz Bandcamp site:

“Black Earth has eleven traditional Macedonian songs infused with African aesthetics, including Gnawa undertones, Congo rumba, and African field recordings. The core of the traditional Macedonian harmonies and rhythms was developed over the centuries from the Ancient Greek and Roman Empire’s lyricism, Byzantium’s chants, and the Ottoman Empire’s classical music progressions, by way of multiple migrations, storytelling, wars, myths, tribalism, reconciliations, etc.) In a nutshell, Black Earth is a filtrate of the trans-generational transmission of resilience, trauma, love, and naivete.”

What is special about this disc is the quality of musicians appearing as guests here. Guitarist Dominic James, bassist Josh Werner, percussionist and sintir player Adam Rudolph, and the legendary Bill Laswell all supplement Kristo on this album. This is a proper supergroup.

Posted on

A Miscellany Of Tasteful… Is Reactivated

Those of you who have been friends and readers since 2012 know about my old blog, A Miscellany Of Tasteful…, where I used to point readers to music, movies, books and art of interest until Facebook decided it was spam and shut down my ability to share the site.  Apparently, that block was lifted, so, although posts will be infrequent, I will begin sharing whatever I find of interest, as well as Youtube videos you may well enjoy!

Posted on

Corrado Maria De Santis – Over a Long Time

One of the great joys of my vocation is discovering musicians I would probably never otherwise encounter.  Enter Corrado Maria de Santis, courtesy of our dear friends at Lost Tribe Sound:

“Corrado Maria De Santis, an Italian guitarist, skillfully combines the raw spontaneity of improvised guitar with computer-generated sounds, crafting captivating sonic landscapes characterized by ambient drones and glitch-infused textures. Having contributed to various notable music labels, he now presents his inaugural album on Lost Tribe Sound.

‘Over a Long Time,’ is a deeply personal collection for Corrado, capturing an extended and challenging period of life surrounding the passing of his father. Through this recording Corrado was able to journal some of the pain, confusion and emptiness he experienced because of this loss. The sound palette of raw, churning noise, buried rhythms, and minimal classical inflections can be intense, but also quiet life-affirming. At LTS, there is a focused interest in how repetitive noise and low frequencies seemingly have the ability to cut through or alleviate the poisonous cycles our minds often fixate upon.

‘Over a Long Time’ is a brilliant example of low-end droning and rhythmic noise can hold both structure and a sense of musicality in equal standing. Corrado has done a great service to this music, allowing it to be both searing, heavy, and abysmal, while still offering some hope and some catharsis, which allows for new life to take root in the charred soil.

The more recent and crushingly gorgeous works of Rafael Anton Irisarri come to mind while listening to ‘Over a Long Time,’ as well as some of the raw, gritty arpeggio-based sound of Jon Hopkins. The album was a hard-fought effort, from the subject matter to finding the right texture or ear-feel for the final sound. A lot of subtle decision making and deep listening lead to the creation to this entrancing work.”