I don’t do top-ten lists, and I don’t ever plan on doing that in the future, but things can change at any moment. Still, if I had to nominate a favorite record label at this moment, there’s no doubt it would be Italy’s Unexplained Sounds Group. Each compilation is a tour guide of experimental music…
Tag: Avant-Garde
IO – ∀LICE
I have a particularly strong attraction to Porto Alegre, Brazil. I have a few friends from there, one in particular who was a charmer, and it seems that everything from jazz to progressive rock seems to do well there. This is the breeding ground of IO, a visual artist, scenographer, fashion designer, performer and musician…
[Youtube] Sofia Gubaidulina – Sieben Worte for cello, bayan and strings
No reviews today, as I will be celebrating Easter weekend (for those who are confused, it is because most Eastern Orthodox celebrate Easter using the Julian Calendar) with my friends. To honor Good Friday, I offer to you Tatar-Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s magnum opus, Sieben Worte for cello, bayan and strings. It is a composition dedicated…
Jeff Gburek with Ilaria Boffa – Reifications // Minimal Animal // Reanimations
Another Akashic Records masterpiece. This imprint never fails for me. Jeff Gburek works with Italian composer, researcher and poet Ilaria Boffa to make a hazy, deeply psychedelic piece of musique concrète. The three works on this album are sonic storytelling, layering voice on voice, and is perhaps the best way I can describe this release. …
Steve Buscemi & Elliott Sharp – Rub Out The Word
Few inside of the world of avant-garde music will not have heard of composer and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp. He has one of the most impressive bodies of work in experimental music. This release is a very pleasant surprise for me, though, because, despite the wonders of Sharp’s music on its own merits, having actor and…
Orphan Sound System – Layered Seed Water
My (Western) Easter listening happens to be an avant-garde recording put together in the mid-nineties in Italy and just now being released. Imagine works being recorded nearly a quarter-century ago still sounding fresh and relevant. This is the sound of Orphan Sound System. The project features the talents of Jeff Gburek, John El Manahi and…
Jeff Gburek – Three New Albums
We have the tremendous pleasure of announcing three new albums by composer Jeff Gburek. The first album is in collaboration with his partner Karolina Ossowska, who plays violin, ocarina and kalimba on this release. Gburek performs on zither, mandolin, miniature bandura and something called a blue-sky instrument, something new to me. The music is quiet,…
Joseph Benzola – When You Get to Saturn, Make a Left.
I cannot think of any genre of music percussionist and composer Joseph Benzola doesn’t sound comfortable working in. There might be some bizarre concoction lying dormant in the underground somewhere, but it’s not worth wasting one’s time thinking much about. This collection puts together what sounds something similar to Balinese percussion on the first track,…
Maja S. K. Ratkje – Corona Lockdown Concert For TUSK Festival 2020
Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje is perhaps the most important active composer in Norway’s experimental music scene. The Trondheim native not only works with avant-garde music, but with contemporary classical, choral, experimental, electronic and even rock music. She provides a new release which clocks in about 30 minutes of vocal improvisation which goes from quiet blips…