It boggles the mind that Marcos Valle, who is close to having a sixty-year career making music, can still come up with sounds that are so fresh while referencing the past. One can still hear bossa nova, a genre he helped make popular, sit inside a stew that includes funk, Continue Reading
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Burial Beyond The Sea – Smoldering Remains
The Last American Poet, Shane Beck, collaborates on this album with stoner/doom band Burial Beyond The Sea. I’m pleasantly surprised to see how well spoken-word balances with doom.
Keiji Haino – Black Blues
I have to tip my hat in respect to Room 40 Records. The catalog is normally known for it’s shimmeringly gorgeous soundscapes and ambient music. This is, at least to my recollection, the first time I heard them delve into the weird, murky world of Keiji Haino. Slow, screamy, and Continue Reading
Heinz Becker Group – Pan-Vielleicht Tau
The legendary Free Music Production (FMP) Record Label is reissuing some classic free jazz these days. This particular release features trumpet player Heinz Becker on a record from 1983.
Ketoret – Delusions
Ketoret are out of Israel and produce a sludge-laden doom. This release has only one track, but it’s a slow, lava-like 10 minutes of heavy rock.
Morgan Fisher – Cracks In The Wall
Former Mott The Hoople member Morgan Fisher never stopped making great music. This is a recent release from August of this year intended to help fund Morgan Salon, his studio in Japan. It is, indeed, a worthy cause.
Various Artists – Canary Records: Hellenic Hinterlands: Independent Greek-American 78rpm Discs from Baltimore, Boston, and Cleveland ca. 1953-57
From the Canary Records Bandcamp site: “When middle-class Americans in the 1950s found that they could get access to a tape recorder and a microphone, it then became possible for them to make recordings that they could pay to have pressed into discs. One didn’t need to go to dedicated Continue Reading
Matryoshka – Laideronnette
Matryoshka are a band from Japan who play a nearly heartbreaking version of post-rock topped with gentle, almost drowned-out vocals. This adds to the character of the record. It’s one of the saddest albums I’ve heard in a while, but achingly so.
Doltz – Koquu
This release by Doltz, a Japanese band released on the South Korean record label Huinali Recordings, came to me by sheer good fortune. The music is far more interesting than most ‘ambient’ or techno music these days namely due to it being played on what sounds like a combination of Continue Reading
Mulatu Astatke & Hoodna Orchestra – Tension
From Mulatu Astatke’s own Bandcamp site: “Formed in 2012 on the south side of Tel Aviv, the 12 member Hoodna Orchestra is a collective of musicians and composers who initially bonded over a shared love of Afrobeat. They have gone on to incorporate psychedelic rock, hard funk and soul, jazz, Continue Reading