Even in the midst of war and apocalypse, you should find ways to feel a sense of joy. Hope trumps all, and Ghanian music, like that of Vis-A-Vis, makes for a good remedy. Cheerful vocals, lo-fi production and a pulsing beat cures many ills.
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Politics is loathsome. Human beings, however, can be beautiful. All of them, not just your favorites. If you can help out those in need from all points in this disgusting war, I’m sure the labels, the artists, and most of all, the people who could use the funds to survive, would appreciate it. Even if Bandcamp Friday dips into the well too much these days, at least they’re trying to help, so kudos to them. Here are three that caught my attention, so look, enjoy, and support if possible.
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In January, we had the pleasure of reviewing a track called Ćilim from Bosnian ethno-folk band Divanhana, and now, it’s our pleasure to bring you the rest of the album! Zavrzlama is a collection of sevdah tracks which have a darker, more minor-key quality than what I’m used to from the genre. For my ears, it gives the music an even more sensual tinge than normal. There is a muted joy in tracks like Peno, my favorite song, which reminds me why the Balkans is the place I love more than anywhere else in this world despite the challenges they…
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Beefy, gritty, nasty funk. That’s what you will hear from this monster by DJ Daniele Baldelli. There are elements of tribal funk, Afrobeat, and soundtrack music that wouldn’t be out-of-place in old German or Italian krimis or Poliziotteschi. Calibro 35 would be the most apt comparison to Daniele’s work, but this feels more dance-floor-ready.
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We had the pleasure of reviewing an album by Bay Area guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante in January, and now, we can introduce you to Vacilando, a collection of instrumental tracks recorded on guitars, oud and banjo. The material is comprised of Ernesto’s composition, none of which exceeds six minutes in length, but feel packed with sounds which drone and mutate swimmingly. Effects-laden, and all the better for it. A good night-listening disc.
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Thanks to a bit of luck and our friends at Sahel Sounds, I was fortunate enough to obtain an album by Nigerien (no, not Nigerian) troupe and stars of the local wedding music scene, Etran de L’Aïr (or Stars of the Aïr region). From their Bandcamp site: “Recorded at home in Agadez with a mobile studio, their eponymous album stays close to the band’s roots. Over a handful of takes, in a rapid-fire recording session, “Agadez” retains all the energy of a party. Their message too is always close to home. Tchingolene (“Tradition”) recalls the nomad camps, with a modern…
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Ángel Ontalva is a Spanish guitarist who spends a great deal of time working in Russia whom we’ve featured here in the past, and he surprises us with a release of an album full of Rock-In-Opposition and chamber-rock influences. From his Bandcamp site: “The origin of this album is in the Rock In Opposition Festival 2014. For our participation I wrote new arrangements for some of the group’s compositions that, due to the difficulty of the scores and the lack of time to prepare them properly, were discarded. During these years I have fantasized about the idea of recording these…
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Igor Vasilev, working under the nom de plume Novogradska, has produced music in various genres, including darkwave (with Alexander Veljanov of Deine Lakaien), Mizar and his own solo work in electronic music. He has also become a sought-after soundtrack composer. This particular work, for the Dina Duma-directed Sisterhood, has an air of tension that would make it music appropriate for a David Lynch soundtrack. There is an ominous foreboding in each track, which, to my ears, seems to be affected by everything from Hans Zimmer to easy listening music with a noir underpinning. The highest compliment I can give this…
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David J should need no introduction, but if you’re new here, he made his name as the bassist of Bauhaus and the leader of both Live and Rockets and Tones On Tail. This new album, What The Patrons Heard, was 34 years in the making. He combines his post-punk roots with a singer-songwriter vibe he has mastered since his early solo releases on record labels like Situation Two and Glass, among others.
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Wabjie are a Swiss trio made up of singer Soraya Berent, pianist/composer Michel Wintsch and drummer Samuel Jakubec who produce a sound that references Thom Yorke, Bobby McFerrin and Betty Carter at their most experimental, but perusing the promo sheet, one name was left off that hit me very hard when listening to the album (which will be fully released on February 25): Laurie Anderson. That gentle, experimental but ever-so-pleasant way Anderson has of speak-singing is matched quite well by Berent, whose voice flows effortlessly on top of rhythms that sound as if Björk had a date at The Knitting…