• Music

    Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo – Só Não Toca Quem Não quer (1987) – Remastered

    July 14, 2022 - By 

    Brazil’s finest living export (to my ears, anyway) has been quite active over the past few years, but it’s nice to see some forgotten releases getting some exposure. The personnel on this album plays some wonderfully, uniquely Brazilian fusion. Hermeto Pascoal: Bandola, Piano, Teclados (Keyboard), Flugelhorn, Harmonium, Flauta Baixo (Bass Flute), Craviola, Acordeom (Accordion), Bombardino, Clavinet, Piano CP-80 Jovino Santos Neto: Piano, Flauta (Flute), Piccolo, Harmonium, Piano Rhodes Itiberê Zwarg: Baixo (Bass), Tuba Carlos Malta: Flauta (Flute), Piccolo, Sax Soprano, Sax Tenor, Sax Alto, Sax Baritone Marcio Bahia: Bateria (Drums), Percussão (Percussion) Pernambuco: Percussão (Percussion)

  • Music

    Kosta T – крип

    July 13, 2022 - By 

    Kosta Trokai is a Russian violinist whose work I’ve followed for several years now.  He has a massive catalog behind him and it straddles comfortably between classical music and free improvisation.  

  • Music

    Al-Qasar – Who Are We?

    July 12, 2022 - By 

    The bad news about the release of Al-Qasar’s new album is that there is currently only one track available to hear at the moment.  The good news, however, is that it features Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo as well as Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. From the band’s Bandcamp site: ““Al-Qasar was born in the Barbès neighbourhood of Paris,” explains band leader Thomas Attar Bellier. “I’ve lived in Los Angeles, Paris, New York, Lisbon… I wanted to start a project that was in tune with the daily life of people living in these international cities, something diverse, radically colourful, with…

  • Music

    Savvas Metaxas – Music for Dance Performance

    July 10, 2022 - By 

    Greek experimental composer Savvas Metaxas has scored music for a choreography project that sounds more like a very relaxed version of electroacoustic music.  It’s sumptuous headphone listening, I have to say.  From his record label Noise Below’s Bandcamp site: “Savvas Metaxas’s music for the choreography/action ‘who knows where time goes – potential destination #1’, slightly modified for this release without losing the sense of experiencing its first steps and its ongoing development, making the listener feel like they are participating in the action. With a cover photo from Sofia Tolika’s amazing ‘mundus’ photobook, that toys with stasis/motion, and artwork by…

  • Music

    Naujawanan Baidar – Khedmat Be Khalq

    July 9, 2022 - By 

    N.R. Safi is the leader of the band psychedelic rock/drone band The Myrrors, yet this side project goes off on into a rather personal trajectory for him.  This particular release combines the drone and rock he’s mastered, but it’s also layered with tapes from Afghanistan, where his roots are.  Imagine Throbbing Gristle and Amon Düül II jamming in the outskirts of Kabul with local musicians, and maybe you’d get close to the vibe this album is giving.

  • Music

    Borut Kržišnik – Lightning

    July 8, 2022 - By 

    I have a proud history with Slovenian composer and guitarist Borut Kržišnik.  Many years ago, I ran a small record label of note called Falçata-Galia, and I launched the label with his album Stories From Magatrea.  He has continued to make amazing music since then, and is currently exploring the point where contemporary classical music and soundtracks collide.  This release is from 2013.  I wish him continued success.

  • Music

    Otomo Yoshihide (大友良英) – We Insist?

    July 7, 2022 - By 

    I had the pleasure of watching Otomo Yoshihide perform live about 30 years ago in Los Angeles, and his turntable wizardry made me a lifelong fan.  It pleases me to see that labels are still carefully releasing his body of work, and this album is among my favorites.  The album is full of short snippets, records mixed together, sound samples layer one on top of the other, blended, stirred and shaken to make one of the best experimental music albums of the late 1990s.  A must for turntablists.

  • Music

    Tewksbury – Brutes

    July 6, 2022 - By 

    Douglas Tewksbury is an ambient musician out of, I believe, Canada.  I am quite impressed with the spacious and elegant nature of his music.  From his record label, HushHush’s Bandcamp site: “‘Brutes‘ serves as a follow-up Tewksbury’s debut album ‘Paths.’ Released by the boutique Dutch label Geertruida Records in June 2021, Paths signaled Tewksbury’s initial intersection of music with his full-time work as a professor and researcher. Currently teaching at Niagara University in Lewiston, New York with a specialization in the media’s role in interpreting and affecting the debate on climate change, Tewksbury’s academic work has taken him on travels…

  • Music

    Donny Vegas – Pharmakós

    July 5, 2022 - By 

    It seems like Donny Vegas has been listening to all the right post-punk records for my taste.  One can hear influences of early Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, a touch of Throbbing Gristle, and yet, by some odd miracle, it sounds both fresh and lo-fi.  A quirky release, but I like this. Thanks to Filip of Z Tapes for the magnificent suggestion.