• Music

    Ani Zakareishvili – Fallin

    December 29, 2022 - By 

    Ani Zakareishvili has produced a work of genius – something that feels like it would have fit in the classic movie The Shining, with its surreal, hazy feel to it.  From Warm Winters Ltd.’s Bandcamp site: “Tbilisi, Georgia-based artist Ani Zakareishvili joins the Warm Winters Ltd. roster with a hazy, phantasmic EP titled ‘Fallin’. Centred around crackling piano loops and edited snippets of Eartha Kitt’s interview from 1982, Zakareishvili ponders on the meaning of “falling in love” and reveals a deeply resonant layer of her work. This is hypnagogic, hushed music, untroubled yet profound, which somehow waltzes past you in…

  • Music

    Pete Swinton – The Book Of Chuang-Tzu, Ch. 18

    December 21, 2022 - By 

    Zhuang Zhou is the pinyin transliteration of Chuang Tzu, the Chinese taoist philospher who lived some time during the 4th century B.C. during the Warring States Period, and was part of a movement where Chinese philosophy enjoyed an explosive period of development.  He is the subject of the album being reviewed, and it’s nice to have composer Pete Swinton bring his name up after such a long absence. Why he is mentioned in relation to the music is a mystery, as the first six tracks, according to Swinton himself, are meant to imitate insect sounds.  After a deep listening, I…

  • Music

    Bahía Mansa – Costa Documental

    December 15, 2022 - By 

    From Bahía Mansa’s Bandcamp site: “Bahía Mansa is the sound project of musician Iván Aguayo. He has released a series of albums emphasizing the textural exploration of ambient minimalism from an ecological perspective, using electronic instruments and field recordings. At the beginning of 2022, Colony Collapse contacted Bahía Mansa and, given their mutual interest in each other’s art, the idea of collaborating from their respective disciplines was born. Thus, “costa documental”, a collaborative piece of music-sculpture created by the musician Iván Aguayo and the sculptor Justin Pape, was born from their interest in exploring ecology in a sustainable way. “This…

  • Music

    Lackluster – One​-​Offs EP

    December 13, 2022 - By 

    From the Bandcamp site: “Monotonik is very proud to present an exclusive 6-track EP from Finland’s Lackluster, aka Esa Ruoho, an artist we’ve been releasing (as Distance) since way back when we were putting out .MODs, and have seen go from the limited-edition “CDR#2” on Monotonik (our only physical release ever) to critical acclaim through his 12” and album releases on the UK’s DeFocus Records, and more recent vinyl and CDs put out through Rikos, Merck, and U-Cover, to name but a few.” Enjoyably dark, somewhat glitchy, and filled with crunchy lo-fi beats. I like this quite a bit.

  • Music

    Methuzelah (Jeff Gburek & Pete Swinton) – First Album

    December 1, 2022 - By 

    Today is an auspicious day, as I’m proud to say that this is the 700th consecutive post this blog has produced since January 1, 2021.  The release is one I held onto for such an occasion, as Jeff Gburek, heavily featured on my site for the astounding quality of his work, pairs with Pete Swinton, a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Java, Indonesia.  The music has a hazy, lo-fi psychedelic rock quality to it, and the pieces on this album feel alive.  You get the sense that you’re not only listening to the album, but it’s crawling inside of you. …

  • Music

    Niobe Poitier – Poemas Perdidos (To J. L. Borges)

    November 28, 2022 - By 

    Today’s wee sonic adventure comes from a Berlin-based composer called Niobe Poitier.  What fascinated me about this release was that she was using the voice of my favorite author, Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, his voice and his works as his source material.  The feel of the tracks, especially The Other (El Otro), are otherworldly.  Some of the most satisfying headphone listening I’ve had in a good, long while.

  • Music

    Santiago Fradejas – Montages, Volume Two

    October 24, 2022 - By 

    What a joy it is when a friend releases a new album!  Argentine composer (now residing in England) Santiago Fradejas offers an experimental music album composed on an 8-string electric guitar and loops, making a soundscape album that is, at times, Fripperesque.  It’s dark, but not foreboding, and gently flows in and out of consciousness.  A headphone album for sure.