Johanna Juhola – A Brighter Future

What a joyous release this is!  Accordion-based music out of Finland is just what the doctor ordered for our chilly Beijing day.  Johanna Juhola is one of many incredible artists on the Nordic Notes imprint who have blown my mind this year.  Imagine a collection ranging from traditional music melded Continue Reading

Jonathan Sharp – Divided Time

Castles In Space are a label whom I just stumbled into over the past few days, and I’m liking what I’m hearing from them a lot.  This particular piece of hauntology comes from Jonathan Sharp, a composer who is, like me, a child of the 70’s.  He split his time Continue Reading

Deena Abdelwahed – Jbal Rrsas (جبل الرصاص)

Deena Abdelwahed is an artist and DJ who hails from Tunisia and cut her chops in the music in the capital of Tunis before relocating to Paris, France.  Her sound is brutal, slow, mixing a nearly tribal Industrial sound with authentic music from her homeland.  Brutiful, if I can beg Continue Reading

Various Artists – Magnificent Sounds Records: A Chant About the Beauty of the Moon at Night: Hawaiian Steel Guitar Masters 1913-1921

Magnificent Sounds Records is a record label out of Buffalo, New York, and they specialize in rare archival recordings and remastering music from a century ago in a lot of cases.  From this magnificent compilation of Hawaiian music, you can read the promo quote on the label’s Bandcamp site. “A Continue Reading

Disen Gage, Alexei Borisov, Misha ‘MOX’ Salnikov, Eugene Voronovsky – Bionika

Russian experimental band Disen Gage have collaborated with some of the country’s most notorious experimental musicians.  Alexei Borisov, for instance, has been featured on these pages before.  MOX and Voronovsky are new names.  The music is an impressive mix of early-era Tuxedomoon-influenced music supported by a avant-prog bass, drums and Continue Reading

Thelonious Monk – Mønk

Thelonious Monk will need no introduction from my readers.  He is the quintessential jazz pianist, and this unreleased album comes from a 1963 Danish recording session.  It is Monk playing at his peak.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Hot on the heels of Impulse’s recently unearthed Coltrane number one hit Continue Reading

Brion Gysin – Junk

Never, ever did I expect this artifact of Beat weirdness, cut-ups and free improv to get reissued, but then again, how many record labels are as brave in their choices as Wewantsounds is? From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Brion Gysin’s cult avant funk album produced Continue Reading