• Music

    Thelonious Monk – Mønk

    December 6, 2023 - By 

    Thelonious Monk will need no introduction from my readers.  He is the quintessential jazz pianist, and this unreleased album comes from a 1963 Danish recording session.  It is Monk playing at his peak.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Hot on the heels of Impulse’s recently unearthed Coltrane number one hit album comes another beauty from Jazz’s ‘Holy Trinity’. This is a previously unreleased, precious lost treasure from Monk’s most critically acclaimed line-up; Charlie Rouse on saxophone, John Ore on double bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. The music was recorded live in Copenhagen in 1963 at the peak of Monk’s…

  • Music

    Brion Gysin – Junk

    December 5, 2023 - By 

    Never, ever did I expect this artifact of Beat weirdness, cut-ups and free improv to get reissued, but then again, how many record labels are as brave in their choices as Wewantsounds is? From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Brion Gysin’s cult avant funk album produced by Ramuntcho Matta in the early 80’s. The hugely influential Gysin who, with his friend William Burroughs, was revered by the likes of David Bowie, Brian Jones, Laurie Anderson, Genesis P-Orridge, is accompanied here by Matta – on his return from a two-year spell in New York – and French…

  • Music

    Shūko No Omit – 秘密の回顧録 (Secret Memoir)

    December 4, 2023 - By 

    Ramble Records out of Australia have published a unique album here – one that should be seen as a modern psychedelic rock masterpiece.  From their Bandcamp site: “Shūko No Omit, the name of the band, featuring Yonju Miyaoka on guitar and Vocals, his older brother Taiju Sugimori on bass and chorus,and his cousin Yuya Yamazaki on drums and chorus, is a mix of Japanese and english. Yonju told me he came across the word omit while reading an old English dictionary. Shuko (終古) is old Japanese. A word no longer used. One lost to time. The characters 終 + 古mean…

  • Music

    Jewel Ackah – Electric Hi-Life

    December 3, 2023 - By 

    Barely Breaking Even (BBE) Records continue showcasing some crucial releases which came out in the 1970s and 1980s in West Africa.  This one, by singer Jewel Ackah, combines Ghana’s highlife sound with disco and funk with a wildly danceable groove.  Incredible, but no surprise coming from BBE.

  • Music

    Fabiano Do Nascimento – Mundo Solo

    December 2, 2023 - By 

    The indubitable Far Out Records have produced what might be my favorite record of 2023, a guitar album by Brazilian guitarist and fellow Los Angeleno Fabiano do Nascimiento.  I’ll let the label’s crack promo team describe this absolute beauty of a record below: “Adopting Hermeto Pascoal’s concept of Universal Music, a rejection of nationalistic tendencies in order to express all of one’s musical influences all at once, Fabiano avoided leaning too heavily on any particular musical language, without denying his own musical roots. After studying classical piano as a child, the Rio de Janeiro native discovered the guitar aged 10.…

  • Music

    Pyroclastic – Life is an Illusion

    December 1, 2023 - By 

    Pyroclastic is the brainchild of former member of the Los Angeles Das Bunker Collective Ryant Takai, who was one of the few musicians promoting genres like Industrial Dance, Electronic Body Music and Power Noise.  From main member Ryant Takai’s Bandcamp site: “The second coming album focuses on the continuing of Power Noise/Rhythmic Noise roots, pays tribute to Indigenous tribal rhythms of North America, and blends in a hybrid of Dark Techno vibes. Ryant Takai is well versed in percussion and experiments in a diverse array of Bass kicks without sticking to any particular 909, 808, or any other typical digital…

  • Music

    Roedelius & Arnold Kasar – Zensibility

    November 28, 2023 - By 

    On December 1, the maestro will again collaborate with Arnold Kasar (whom he paired with on a Deutsche Grammophon release 5 years ago) on a new album of piano and electronics.  Judging by the two tracks available for listening, this will be perfect winter music to meditate to. From the Bandcamp release site: “Five years after their first and critically-acclaimed collaborative work in the form of their full-length album “Einfluss” (Deutsche Grammophon), Roedelius & Arnold Kasar now release their second album “Zensibility” on the Berlin-based label 7K!. This new work encompasses eight collaboratively composed instrumental tracks, eight modern call-and-response pieces…

  • Music

    Cristina Godoroja – Ciob​ă​naș Cu Oile: Songs From Moldova and Romania

    November 27, 2023 - By 

    Antonovka Records, once based in Russia but now ensconced in Moldova, continues to release some of the most seminal music to ever come out of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, and their reach seems to keep expanding.  This album covers the work of traditional singer Cristina Godoroja, an ethnomusicologist and singer based in Moldova’s capital, Chișinău.  The works hail from Bessarabia and also feature Romanian-language songs.  A worthy addition to any world music collection.