Another day, another unsolicited album, and another absolutely pleasant surprise! Bohmig are an Austrian band who produce a novocaine-like fuzziness housed in a dream pop vibe. This is a lo-fi affair, but with gentle vocals, a wispy guitar and, as mentioned, just enough buzz to give this an edge. Fine work.
From Radian’s Bandcamp site:
“Radian’s visionary approach to composition speaks to lifetime working in forward-thinking music. Brandlmayr, Siewert and Norman share an unconventional, wildly imaginative approach to sound. The trio’s collective experience finds an expansive and egoless outlet in Distorted Rooms, uncovering new sonic universes. After nearly 30 years of making music together, their excitement for sonic experimentation is palpable.“
On December 1, the maestro will again collaborate with Arnold Kasar (whom he paired with on a Deutsche Grammophon release 5 years ago) on a new album of piano and electronics. Judging by the two tracks available for listening, this will be perfect winter music to meditate to.
From the Bandcamp release site:
“Five years after their first and critically-acclaimed collaborative work in the form of their full-length album “Einfluss” (Deutsche Grammophon), Roedelius & Arnold Kasar now release their second album “Zensibility” on the Berlin-based label 7K!. This new work encompasses eight collaboratively composed instrumental tracks, eight modern call-and-response pieces where Roedelius plays the grand piano while Arnold Kasar contributes the electronic elements.”
Though the birthday was absolutely dour, I managed to cheer myself up with a release of experiments done by Hans-Joachim Roedelius, the beloved magus of ambient music. These were sketches, apparently, that he would record, analyze, and then turn into new ideas. Comfortable listening.
Stoner rock is a genre that always surprises me (in a good way, mind you). Dead Gallery, for example, are a heavy stoner/psychedelic blues band out of Austria, and the music they make reminds me of really old rare hard rock albums you would find in collector fairs (think of bands like Black Widow as an example).
Musically, the guitar playing is great, the vocals are raw and loud, and the production is surprisingly clean without sacrificing the power of the tracks.
From his days as a member of the seminal A Forest Mighty Black to collaborations with the who’s who of downtempo music (think Kruder & Dorfmeister, Jazzanova and so many others, Rainer Trüby has been of Trip-Hop’s finest tastemakers. We can celebrate today that after 20 years, there is a new installment, courtesy of the legends at Compost Records, of the Glücklich series. This one features a lot of latin-tinged marvels that will make you want to explore both Rainer’s back catalogue and Compost Records‘ release schedule much more deeply.
Our dear friend Roman Stolyar has released a new live solo recording with him performing on the piano and recorder from a show recorded literally last weel in Gleisdorf, Austria.
This has to be one of the cooler psychedelic folk albums I’ve heard in a while. There’s something Balkan in black (w)hole’s music structure, where I can imagine the Incredible String Band jamming with old Greek or North Macedonian shepherds in the hills. Brilliant.
This is something of a revelation for me! The music produced by the Ellipsis Quintet, led by trumpeter Vasilis Nalbantis, mixes traditional Balkan, Greek and Levantine melodies inside a framework that would appeal to fans of the avant-progressive and Rock-In-Opposition genres. Theirs is a prog-world-jazz stew that’s one of the freshest things I’ve heard come out of Austria in a long time (barring electronic music, of course).
Cuneiform Records has a great program where they announce that an album in their back catalogue gets offered at half-price, and as I had been wanting to hear this band (they feature drummer, composer and friend Lukas Ligeti) for a long time, I decided to risk it. It was well worth it.
From the release’s Bandcamp site:
“The Austrian five-piece band, Kombinat M, was founded in 1987 by Walter Hollinetz, Andreas Leikauf, and Erwin Redl. The group’s members, all of whom are trained in music or visual arts, share an interest in rock and jazz-based music, classical minimalism, and fine arts.
One of the great Cuneiform ‘one and done’ ensembles, Kombinat M used an unusual combination of two electric guitars, violin, reeds & drums. The compositions vary in length from under a minute to over 10 minutes. Their approach combines aspects of the Glenn Branca guitar wall of sound approach with a touch of The Ordinaires & other “downtown” groups, but mostly their own style.
“Kombinat M have absorbed myriads of influence into their vivacious & powerful music [and] have much to commend them.” – Audion“