As the world is in a state of free-fall at the moment, it is nice to take some time to listen to something mellow, perhaps saccharine to some tastes, but calming nonetheless. Mattia Cupelli’s release is an appropriate one to share today considering the album’s title, most recognized as the date where Roman emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Cuneiform Records has a great program where they announce that an album in their back catalogue gets offered at half-price, and as I had been wanting to hear this band (they feature drummer, composer and friend Lukas Ligeti) for a long time, I decided to risk it. It was well worth it. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “The Austrian five-piece band, Kombinat M, was founded in 1987 by Walter Hollinetz, Andreas Leikauf, and Erwin Redl. The group’s members, all of whom are trained in music or visual arts, share an interest in rock and jazz-based music, classical minimalism, and fine…
Finland’s Pelkkä Poutanen provide one of 2022’s best World Music albums, combining a wild combination of Scandinavian folk, drone, throat-singing and, if you can believe it, a very light touch of tango.
Kalí Rodriguez-Peña is a Cuban-American trumpeter who is one of the leading lights of New York’s modern salsa scene. Salsa isn’t a genre that normally gets caught by my radar, but recently I’ve had the chance to explore the works of artists like Johnny Colón, Hector Lavoe and Willie Colón, so finding non-commercial salsa has been a real treat. The album is dark for Cuban music, and I love the energy it emits. It’s far more smoky and the music references Rodriguez-Peña’s heroes like Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard. Brilliant.
Australian jazz continues to impress! To my ears, Delay 45 combine a tinge of Chet Baker and early trumpet-laden Durutti Column with the improvising abilities of fellow Aussies The Necks, and the results make for a free fluid, and even somewhat sensual experience. This will be seen as a classic in the genre in the next few years.
24 Rush Hours is a series done by Zga composer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Sudnick, and this is #15 of 24. The two long pieces are a pastiche of art-rock (think Rock-In-Opposition like Art Bears or the composers Alfred ’23’Harth and Heiner Goebbels). Add an element of Bertolt Brecht-like lyrics for theater and you have a fine series of avant-opera Sudnick keeps producing..
Because I could Not Stop for Death... is a quote from poet Emily Dickinson, and listening to JOHN 3:16 interpret it is a pleasant experience, as the music on this one-track single is sweeping and cinematic, a touch different from his other work.
If you have come across the landslide of reissues of stunningly sublime Japanese new age music composed by the likes of Hiroshi Yoshimura, Haroumi “Harry” Hosono (of Yellow Magic Orchestra fame) or Midori Takada, I have a strong suspicion that JUST, just released today by Chinese composer and synthesizer/guitar player Liu Ying is going to appeal greatly to you.
Bigg Hogg are a Scottish progressive rock band who remind me of old Canterbury Bands like Caravan and Soft Machine. Really mellow and charming prog.
Marcus Webb is a sound designer and composer based out of New Jersey in the United States who creates “foreboding soundscapes and craters of bass and noise serving as the constants within alternating conceptual constructs of city life and drones wrapping around cavernous spaces with clearly defined tones from his modular synths.” Truth in advertising, as he makes great use of his studio to produce a sound that has the vibe of old ritualistic ambient cassettes of the early 1990s.