Before Afrobeat became such a massive influence across Africa, Congolese music seemed to be the pride of the continent. A joyous mix of merengue, rhumba and local music would influence a great deal of West African popular music until James Brown and others came over to topple over the previous Continue Reading
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Various Artists – Inner Peace: Rare Spiritual Funk And Jazz Gems
As I have to stay home due to a nasty cold, I thought I’d explore some older releases. Our dear friends at Wewantsounds released this compilation of spiritual jazz in 2017, and it sounds as fresh as ever. Some of the giants featured on this album include Harold Land, Roy Continue Reading
Will -O-The Wisp – Will -O-The Wisp
Led by guitarist Takis Barbagalas, Will-O-The Wisp are a Greek psychedelic rock band from the late 1990’s whose Hammond organ-infused rock sounds as authentic as anything from the late 1960’s to early 1970’s.
Krivitsky – Sovexport Funk
Krivitsky is/are a project out of Israel that meld funk together with a fusion vibe stamped with a quasi-Soviet aesthetic.
Allysen Callery & Mother Bear – Witch’s Hand
This massively heavy release by Allysen Callery collaborating with doom monsters Mother Bear is appropriate for Halloween. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “”Creep here with me, keep it close and you might see…the little things that glow…and they all have teeth…” Something spooky this way comes! Allysen Callery has joined Continue Reading
Various Artists – Sounds for the Soul: Dark Ambient Compilation 3
Something perfect for Halloween, this soundtrack released by Sounds For The Soul should be enough to either scare trick-or-treaters away or leave the more interesting ones intrigued by the dark and heavy sounds coming from this album.
Rüüt – Kiriküüt
Rüüt hail from Estonia and offer an incredible take on Estonian ethnic music, modernized for the 21st Century, taking in elements of jazz. The band describes their music this way: “The band is characterized by mystical atmosphere, intricate harmonic, melodic and rhythmic combinations, precision and a common feel. This is Continue Reading
Michał Aftyka Quintet – Frukstrakt
Though there are only two tracks currently available to listen to on this album, Frukstrakt, a new ethno-jazz album by Polish bassist Michał Aftyka and his quintet is as cool as anything ECM Records has released that would qualify as Nordic jazz.
Ясный-Svetly – Песни (Songs)
There is such a gentle lilt to the voice of Nata Boundriver of Ясный-Svetly that I can imagine this being what Kate Bush or Hope Sandoval sounding like if either had fronted post-rock era Mark Hollis or some band specializing in ethereal, ghostly music. A sublime listen.
Isiliel – 月虹創聖記
It’s not often that I run into a combination of black metal and shoegaze music (blackgaze), but Japan’s Isiliel is such a beast. For black metal, the vocals are rather elegant and symphonic. Interesting and well done.