• Music

    The Gaslamp Killer meets The Heliocentrics – LEGNA

    This collaboration between Los Angeles’ The Gaslamp Killer and Britain’s funkiest band, The Heliocentrics, is one of those lucky finds you stumble into every now and then, and I say this as someone who isn’t too big a fan of hip-hop.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “The stars would align a few years later, as The Heliocentrics would go on to tour with the GLK Experience as his backing band. This laid the groundwork for a monumental collaboration that was recorded at Quartermass Sound Lab, and would take many years to complete. The resulting album is a testament to the…

  • Music

    Vadims Dmitrijevs Quintet – Integration!

    Though the price is a bit steep at 17 Euros for a download, this one might be worth it.  Vadims Dmitrijevs is an up-and-coming trombonist from Latvia, and this slab of hard bop swings mightily.  Currently there are two tracks made available to sample.  The whole album will come out on May 23, 2024, so you have a chance to save your pennies now.

  • 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.