• Music

    Susumu Yokota – Baroque

    August 7, 2022 - By 

    Modern Obscure Music out of Barcelona, Spain, is making Baroque available for the first time ever on vinyl.  This disc was one of them many treasures the late Japanese composer Susumu Yokota released before his passing in 2015 at the age of 54.  The album presents some of the most listenable and engaging techno I’ve ever heard, making warmth out of electronic processing.  Though it’s sad to know he is no more, it’s wonderful to know that labels like Modern Obscure Music are doing their part to make sure Yokota’s work is never forgotten.

  • Music

    Shapoval Sextet – Kobzareva Duma, 1976

    August 6, 2022 - By 

    Ukrainian saxophonist Olexandr Shapoval performed a gem of a jazz concert that was lost for 45 years is now available to hear.  From our friends at Soundohm’s website: “In winter 1976, a few years before Olexandr Shapoval headed up the well-known band Vodogray, a jazz band called Shapoval Sextet recorded three pieces “Kobzareva Duma” in live at the Donetsk Jazz Festival. The tape has been lost for almost 45 years, until now. The most radical, experimental and psych jazz recording from the Ukrainian Soviet-era found to date. Composed and arranged by, flutes, saxophone: Oleksandr Shapoval Trumpet: Oleg Anapolsky Electric organ, piano: Oleg Kosko Guitar, spoken words: Igor Kruchinenko…

  • Music

    Ophtalmologist – Julius Vernus Explorator

    August 5, 2022 - By 

    It’s quite a rare thing for music titles, especially instrumental tracks, to actually match the music produced.  A case in point was a four-album noise release whose name I happily forgot trying to reference a classic of literature.  No need to embarrass the artist or the writer, but it seemed that the choice of subject wasn’t appropriate for the music (at least to my humble ears).  This is not such a case.  Ophtalmologist is the artistic name of Theodoros Hernandez, a Greek-Mexican composer who might be working out of France. He specializes in what I would assume is ambient drone,…

  • Music

    Various Artists – REQUIEM: Klaus Schulze Tribute

    August 4, 2022 - By 

    This release, procured by Aural Films, is a tribute to Krautrock and Berlin-School legend Klaus Schulze, who passed away in April of 2022, and who would have been 75 years old today, far too young to have left us.  From the compilation’s Bandcamp site: “Over a year ago, Jack Hertz approached me with the idea of following up his popular Klaus Schulze tribute compilation IN LOVE WITH THE MOON (2018) with a sequel. I suggested waiting a little longer and to focus on Klaus’ upcoming 75th birthday. Jack thought it was a great idea – who could have guessed that…

  • Music

    Jeff Gburek – The Perfect Storm: Collected Acousmatic Works with Voice 2020​-​2022

    August 1, 2022 - By 

    Our friend Jeff Gburek continues to release astounding experimental music, with this release being a collection of scattered acousmatic works which flow together surprisingly well. If you can imagine John Cage’s Roaratorio, calm spoken word and field recordings which make you forget you’re in front of your stereo rather than enjoying the sounds of nature in some Eastern European lake area.  You feel a sense of sublime calm, with a guide and friend, your own Virgil,  perhaps, chatting with you as you walk in the fields rather than into the bowels of the inferno.

  • Music

    Igor Vasilev Novogradska – Bikini Moon (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

    July 31, 2022 - By 

    If Andrei Tarkovsky had Edward Artemiev as his soundtrack specialist and early Roman Polański had Krzysztof Komeda, then it stands to reason that Macedonian auteur Milcho Manchevski would have his in Igor Vasilev Novogradska. Parts of this new soundtrack are filled with dirge-like qualities befitting this movie, but what truly impressed me were at the end of the album.  Chessboard sounds like it would fit somewhere in the Fourth World period of Jon Hassell’s early work, and on the ninth and final track, if you go to about 07:26 into it, you will hear a song so blatantly new wave…

  • Music

    Les Rencards – Les Rencards

    July 30, 2022 - By 

    Les Rencards are a band based out of France which produce a garage rock-meets-yé-yé sound, made up of a Frenchman, a Brazilian and two Catalans, released by the erstwhile Groovie Records out of Portugal.  Their sound is raw and authentic.

  • Music

    The Traffic – Fire​/​Bangarang

    July 29, 2022 - By 

    The first thing that came into my mind hearing The Traffic was that they have mastered the psych-soul formula to a tee.  The first track, Fire, is a Jimi Hendrix cover where the flute takes the place of Hendrix’s legendary guitar playing, and it sounds damn solid.  The second track, Bangarang, sounds like something that would have fit in well with a hip Blaxploitation soundtrack, with a heavy funk element to the track.

  • Music

    Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns – Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns

    July 28, 2022 - By 

    repsychled Records out of Peru are known for releasing scorching garage rock from their native country, but they have dipped their fingers until the shimmering pools of South Korean psychedelic music as well. Shin Joong Hyun is considered South Korea’s ‘godfather of rock’, and he has been comfortable working not only with psych but with folk-rock, pop and soul.  This particular album with done with Yup Juns, his backing band, and you can hear influences from blues rock to Jimi Hendrix in this disc.

  • Music

    417.3 – 47

    July 27, 2022 - By 

    417.3 appeared on my radar about 7-8 years ago when I was trying to explore more about Russian post-rock.  They are a heavy instrumental band, but not overly “mathy” or anything like this. 47 is a one-track single with the sort of shimmering guitar playing that one would expect from post-rock bands, as it seems to be the calling card of the non-metal end of the genre’s spectrum.