• Music

    Sarah Belle Reid – MASS (Extended + Remastered)

    Thanks to the magnificent blog a closer listen, I was introduced to the work of a fellow Los Angelino Sarah Belle Reid.  I was intrigued by postrockcafe’s description of the album, and after hearing it this morning in between teaching duties, I have to say that the description is apt.  Shades of early Industrial music with a more academic bent (don’t let that scare you!), a modern, sharper and cleaner take on experimental music, and bits and bobs of something that could pass for soundtrack music underpinned by a subtle, harrowing trumpet underneath, make this an absolutely worthy listen.

  • Music

    The Land Of Yrx – Termination Point

    The Land of Yrx are (were?) a charmingly weird band staffed by members of Audion, perhaps the most important magazine of my youth.  The Freeman brothers would wax on about albums I wouldn’t have the chance to hear in full until I was in my 20s working at a record shop, but their description of said albums always piqued my interest. The most curious releases were ones released by friends.  The Land of Yrx was mentioned a few times, and this was the first time I had the pleasure of actually hearing one of their albums in full.  This one…

  • Music

    Romowe Rikoito – UKA

    This is the latest from Prussian/Russian neofolk band Romowe Rikoito.  The music is heavy, based on the neofolk paradigm, of course, but what sets this apart is the reconstructed Old Prussian lyrics, something the band is passionate about transmitting.

  • Music

    Bahareh Fayazi & Asareh Shek – Nasim-e Sahar

    From the Little Axe Bandcamp site: “Nasim-e Sahar (The Breath of the Dawn) by Asareh Shekarchi (on tombak and āvāz), and Bahareh Fayazi (on tar) is a reinterpretation of works by master Iranian singer Reza-Qoli Mirza Zelli (1906 – 1946). This recording features a variety of modal divisions of Iranian music with poetry that speaks of both earthly and mystical love stories. Sparse and powerful, Nasim-e Sahar showcases the technical virtuosity and improvisational mastery of these two artists. By reinterpreting the masterpieces of a male singer, Bahareh and Asareh, two young women, promise the dawn of a new age in…

  • Music

    Rudy Adrian – Reflections On A Moonlit Lake

    Rudy Adrian has been at the forefront of New Age music since the early 2000s, and shamefully, I lost contact with his releases.  It’s quite nice to catch up with him on his latest release, a collection of relaxing ambient music to soothe your mind a bit, but also to enjoy as proper electronic music.  Rudy remains a craftsman.

  • Music

    Chapovski – Fogged, Encased

    Bleak and morose, this is the debut recording (as far as I know) of Alexander Chapovski, related to the Čapovski clan of musicians from North Macedonia.  There’s a thread of Tindersticks, Leonard Cohen and Swans in this piece, perhaps a neofolk influence as well.  I look forward to hear his style develop.

  • Film & Television - Music

    Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Music To Be Murdered By

    A note of thanks to one of the great oddball reissue labels, Vreemde Opties Records, who operate out of Belgium.  Apparently, they have taken the time to license used-bin treasures like this and remaster them well enough to sound spectacular on your computer (or however you choose to listen to these). This one, of course, comes the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television show.  It’s a collection of music which appeared on said program many years ago, and I never thought I’d see this gem reissued.  Bravo.

  • Music

    Novoselie, Questa Musica – Requiem

    A sublime, baroque look at the requiem on Fancy Music.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Requiem (from Latin requies – “rest”) is a high genre of concert sacred music, a kind of mourning oratorio. Even the above phrase is little understood by the general public, not to mention the names and meaning of the Latin psalms of the canonical Requiem. As for people who are knowledgeable, for example by virtue of belonging to the Catholic Church of the Latin rite, even for them, I am sure, these texts are devoid of the burning apocalyptic meaning with which they were filled…

  • Music

    Willebrant & Williamson – Night Daze

    I was introduced to a project new to me coming from Australia.  From Karl Willebrant’s Bandcamp site: “Night Daze blends immersive textures and emotive expanses that invites the listener to conceive a visual experience through soundscapes and drones utilizing bass, trumpet, field recordings, and improvised performance. The album evokes themes of time and place moving in congruent motion. ‘Night Daze’ Full performance interpretation with special guests Peggy Lee (cello) and Dylan van der Schyff (drums) viewable here – www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQgYvLem3lY “Each track feels like a seemingly large area in which the sounds of the bass and trumpet echo around luxuriously. I…