Eromoscape is an ambient artist from Syria, but not the kind who implements pulses (as opposed to beats, which is, as I understand it, against the original principle of ambient music) which are dark, somewhat foreboding, and thoroughly enjoyable.
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Yggdrasil are a Faroese project led by multi-instrumentalist Kristian Blak (whom I had the pleasure, many years ago, of meeting in Varna, Bulgaria) and a host of local musicians along with singer Vera Kondratieva from Siberia. You would expect to hear a melding of Scandinavian and traditional Siberian music on Timent Areh, but this also adds elements of jazz, rock and maybe just a touch of post-punk. It’s a fun album, not too terribly dark, sung beautifully and supplemented by a rather tight backing band. Tutl Records, the record label Blak has run since the 1970s, has released another gem. …
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Unless one thinks of the ever-amusing singer Kinky Freidman, I can’t say I’m terribly familiar with Brooklyn Jewish people being heavily involved in country music. Enter charming Brooklynite Mimi Roman, whose voice was among the early pioneers of rockabilly. It’s a large collection at 35 tracks, but it’s worth every penny.
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Severine Day hails from Belgium, and she produces an post-punk sound that brings up memories of bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, French cold wave bands like Clair Obscur, and even a touch of Nico, but with a sound that is as modern as it is authentic. It’s a thrill to hear such music still being made for those of us who grew up during the genre’s heyday.
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Though it is always with great sadness that modern record labels who release spectacular vinyl editions don’t offer such releases on digital formats for sale, it’s a forgivable sin, as our dear friends at WeWantSounds continue to impress with their choices of artists they so lovingly reissue. Abdel Halim Hafez is at the peak of his powers at this point of his career, and Mawood is a shining example of the quality of Egyptian music during the early 1970s. The good folks at WeWantSounds explain further at their Bandcamp site: “Famously sampled by Jay-Z on “Big Pimpin'” for one of…
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Though he have nearly 20 years under his belt with this band, I have to admit that I never heard David Schmidt’s music until this evening. Sula Bassana’s latest release, Nostalgia, is a gloriously slow wade into space rock. It’s heavy, sludgy, and exactly the sort of thing that I want to relax my mind to at the moment. Dense, but rewarding, listening.
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This has to be one of my favorite psychedelic folk releases since the heyday of bands like Charalambides. Merit Medrano is an Austin-based guitarist and leader of Sound and Voice, which is, apparently, his latest musical project, implying that he’s been a busy soul for some time now. The music has a raga-esque feel to it, the guitar work is cosmic in scope, and if you like the works of such legends as Sandy Bull, this release will definitely appeal to you. Australian record label Ramble Records is responsible for releasing this hazy slab of vinyl, and now I’ll need…
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Iranian poet and balladeer Hushang Ebtehaj passed away on August 10, 2022, but left an incredibly rich body of work. This compilation, released by Tehran-based record label Khosousi, brings together Ebtehaj’s best interpreters, such as Mohammad Reza Sharjarian and his son Homayoun,as well as Alireza Eftekhari, Hossein Ghavami, Mohammad Motamedi and Alireza Ghorbani. Each is a legend in his own right, and they do justice to the poetry of a bona fide maestro.
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Belarus is not what one would think of as a Brazilian music hotspot, though, if my friends in the country could enlighten me to the local music scene, I would really appreciate it. Still, Soyuz, led by singer Alex Chumak blend a Brazil-meets-Santana-meets-funk beat and this album engages you quickly, making the listener want to sway with the rhythm. From their Bandcamp site: “SOYUZ (which translates as ‘union’) is a creative collective from Minsk, Belarus, led by composer, arranger, and singer, Alex Chumak, multi-instrumentalist, Mikita Arlou, and drummer, Anton Nemahai. SOYUZ’s previous albums explored and reimagined the legacy of jazz-oriented,…
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The Dirty Three are Mick Turner, Jm White and Warren Ellis, and between them, they have worked with a who’s who of alternative music like P.J. Harvey, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Nick Cave among others. What’s most impressive about their sound, however, is that they can sew together angular post-rock with a charming, nearly folkish sound. This is the band’s best album in my estimation, and that’s saying a lot considering the quality of their work, but please do give it a listen and enjoy one of Australia’s finest instrumental bands.