• Music

    ‘t Geruis – Slow Dance on Moss Beds

    Our dear friends at Lost Tribe Sound start the year with two powerful releases, though I’ll concentrate on one today (with the other in the next week or so).  This one is by Belgian composer ‘t Geruis (a rather unusual name, which, in Dutch, means “The Noise” or “The Murmur“).  The album, at least the four rather remarkable tracks available to hear, have a grainy, organic quality to the loops which build and collapse in a still-life manner.  The music has more in common with graphic art or experimental film than it does with cold, staid experimental music.  Quite an…

  • Music

    Esmez – Drifting

    From July of 2021 we have a release from the French ambient project Esmez.  The gentle, dulcet sounds of each of these four tracks have made for very pleasant Sunday listening, and would really appeal to fans of Brian Eno’s earlier ambient works. For Esmez’s motivations on making the album, consider visiting their Bandcamp site.

  • Music

    Atli Örvarsson – Wolka

    Iceland is one of those countries who seem to produce musicians at an incredible rate in comparison to the size of its population.  Atli Örvarsson is one of a handful of gifted soundtrack composers to hail from the island nation, and is the first one I can think of who doesn’t originally come from the capital, Reykjavik.  He is now a Los Angelino pursuing a career in composition, and is becoming well-known for his scores. The standout track for me on this album is one titled Anka & Robert, which reminds me of a meaty slab of post-Industrial ambient.  The…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Remain Alone (A Disciples Compilation)

    Many years ago, I was enthralled with the music of 4AD artist His Name Is Alive, but lost track of what they were doing.  That’s a shame, as Warren Defever has continued to be involved in great music, and this one has to be one of the most interesting I’ve seen in a while, as it’s a paean to Roky Erickson and The Thirteenth Floor Elevators. Defever isn’t the only star on this compilation, however.  Also featured are Phew (best known for her work with Can in the West) and Model Home, a band out of Washington, D.C., who left…

  • Music

    Jeff Gburek – Gendhing Rebaban

    As we near the close of a challenging 2021, we’re graced with a release by composer Jeff Gburek which features a rebab, a spiked fiddle.  It’s an instrument he studied in Indonesia under Pak Suhardi, blended with synthesizers and electronic bloops and bleeps which left me feeling like I was listening to some remarkable sound experiments out of the old BBC Radiophonic Workshop.  Jeff mentions below that there is no tradition of rebab-playing in Western electronic music, so he should be congratulated on consistently breaking new ground in this release. From his Bandcamp site: There aren’t many traditional compositions (if…

  • Music

    Bérangère Maximin – Land Of Waves

    Land Of Waves, the 6th album by French electroacoustic composer Bérangère Maximin, came out in June of 2020, and when I first heard it, was was left utterly impressed, but I have not had a chance to review it until today.  Maximin has an incredible talent to blend together nature, minerals, plant life, animal life, city life, and make it speak in one warmly organized opus.  I will have to check if she has released something since then, but, as this is the latest work I can find from her, I can say with some measure of confidence that she’s…

  • Music

    Robert Farrugia – Between Being Asleep and Awake

    Though this is a one-track release clocking in at over three minutes, it gives a nice taste of the music of Maltese electronic music composer Robert Farrugia.  There are some similarities to his work and that of, say, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Harold Budd, but he is equally comfortable in working in a post-rock frame.  Impressive.

  • Music

    Perila – How much time it is between you and me?

    Perila i(Alexandra Zakharenko) s a composer from Berlin of Russian roots releases one of the heaviest and, frankly, bleakest albums of the year.  I spent today trying to unwind a bit as the snow looked pleasant, but after watching Juraj Herz’s The Cremator, hearing this album left me in a somewhat dark place. The sounds are deep and cavernous.  It is, in fact, my favorite style of ambient music, as it becomes easy to get lost in the sonic abyss the artist is projecting through her lens.  There are two standout tracks on this album; Vaxxine, with gives me the…

  • Music

    E.U.E.R.P.I. – Timid Memories

    We have a new band to follow, and they’re out of Bulgaria.  E.U.E.R.P.I. produce a sonorous and pleasantly dark ambient music that sounds heavily influenced by the works of Steve Roach, Matthias Grassow, or even Lustmord.  E.U.E.R.P.I. have proven to be as masterful at using field recordings, blending them into their live performance as documented on this record.  One to watch out for.