Expand your taste in music. Based in Beijing, China.
A post-punk/ethereal gem has been bestowed upon us by our friends at Lost Tribe Sounds. Arrowounds tie together influences from bands like, “Can, Bark Psychosis, Young Gods, Slowdive, Durutti Column, Seefeel and much of early 4AD,” according to the band bio, but there is an element that makes this band something apart. Noise-rock, post-rock, and a more eerie feeling than their influences betray sets the band apart.
Though this album is a decade old now, it’s so incredibly well-done that I thought it worth sharing if you like experimental music melded together with field recordings. Jeff Gburek’s sound art is organic and engaging, the recording was handled so masterfully that one gets the feeling of sitting in the locations listed on the liner notes as Jeff’s Bandcamp site.
Longtime friend of the blog Hector Javier Ayala collaborates with saxophonist Christophe Rieger to produce a slow, languid jazz album which has reference points in spaghetti western soundtracks and bossa nova, as well a touch of music from Mexico.
Russian band Okolo Poludnya produce a very good retro-inspired EP influenced by new wave, synthpop and post-punk.
ruò tán are China’s more organic answer to old post-Industrial/cassette-culture bands like Germany’s Cranioclast. The music is eerie, yet so utterly engaging. Probably the best reference to this music is for those of you who remember not only the aforementioned band but the early works of projects like O Yuki Conjugate out of Great Britain. Not at all music to meditate to, but it did make for engaging music to lay back to and simply absorb.
This is simply a masterpiece. Joe Williams was one of the most lauded voice in the big band era, and worked with legends like Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. From Nagel Hayer’s Bandcamp site:
“Simply one of the greatest Jazz or even Blues vocal albums of all time. Joe Williams is smooth and yet authentic. The recording quality is sublime.Play it at the beach, the pool, the bar, for a barbecue, a romantic dinner or with a sundowner in your hands viewing the setting sun over the dune sea in the west.
Among the highlights are “I Don’t Know Why,” “Aren’t You Glad You’re You,” and last but not least “Have You Met Miss Jones.”
Joe Williams did his best to de-emphasize the blues (he wanted to be known as a well-rounded singer), instead choosing to uplift and personalize standards.
This is definitely the right stuff for a perfect summer feeling, wherever the road may take you.”
From Light In The Attic Records, this is perfect Sunday listening:
“With Pacific Breeze 2: Japanese City Pop, AOR & Boogie 1972-1986 we dig deeper into those sounds of bubble-era Japan. From the proto-City Pop funk of Bread & Butter and Eiichi Ohtaki to the crate-digger favorites Eri Ohno and Piper, the latest entry in Light In The Attic’s Japan Archival Series brings another set of sought-after tunes, most of which have never before been available outside of Japan. Tomoko Aran and Anri, also included in this compilation, are just a few of the artists who have gained popularity in recent years thanks to Vaporwave, the meme-genre that heavily samples Japanese City Pop to create its particular aesthetic.”
Finland’s Timmion Records has released Chicano-soul rocker Jonny Benavidez who provides a radio-friendly (for 1965) soul cut that sounds so authentic that it takes you back at least two generations, which seems to be a specialty for the record label.
A brilliant single from the always-impressive Mr. Bongo Records by London-based Kit Sebastian. From the band’s Bandcamp site:
“‘L’addio’ saw the band perfecting their production and orchestration, with strings, horns and double bass, and an Italian synth found in a French dump. The music was greatly influenced by Italian soundtracks and Italian female singers, such as Mina or Rita Pavone. The track announces itself with a break that is guaranteed to get samplers twitching. The tone of the melody and lyrics is heartfelt and aching. It has a beautiful, intimate sadness like the closing scenes to a love affair, and it exquisitely rides over the slow, psych-funk-dramatic backing track. The lyrics are inspired by a flat opposite Merve’s window that’s occupied by drug addicts, with many guests coming in and out every night. Merve elaborated “Being both neighbours and strangers, and with the boredom of a post-tour everyday domestic life and a pinch of urban voyeurism, it was hard not to wonder what was happening in that flat. The words imagine an addict before her/his golden shot as if it’s a love relationship between them that comes to an end.””
There are two very short tracks on this release by They Came From Hell, one of the many fine side projects of composer Philippe Gerber, but the music is so oppressively dark are foreboding that it would make for stellar soundtrack music.