Koma Stark – Kelesho
Antonovka Records have had an astounding year releasing not only music from Russia’s hinterlands and Central Asia, but even from places like Georgia. This album documents music by Kurdish-speaking Yezidis, …
Evgeny Ponomarev Quartet – Clockwise
I can’t say for sure if Evgeny Ponomarev’s 2021 release, Clockwise, counts as spiritual jazz, but it is holding it’s own as one of the best jazz releases of the …
Bérangère Maximin – Land Of Waves
Land Of Waves, the 6th album by French electroacoustic composer Bérangère Maximin, came out in June of 2020, and when I first heard it, was was left utterly impressed, but …
Robert Farrugia – Between Being Asleep and Awake
Though this is a one-track release clocking in at over three minutes, it gives a nice taste of the music of Maltese electronic music composer Robert Farrugia. There are some …
Baligh Hamdi – Instrumental Modal Pop of 1970’s Egypt
Sublime Frequencies never ceases to amaze me with the gems they dig up. From their Bandcamp site: Sublime Frequencies finally unleashes it’s ESSENTIAL compilation from 1970’s Egypt. Modal instrumental tracks …
Nkom Bivoué – Zeun Ya Yop
This one came as an unsolicited pleasant surprise. I love Afrobeat and am slowly developing a healthy respect for Afro-House, and if I delve further into the genre, it’ll be …
Jeff Gburek – Trans Beskid Radio Volume 4 Extended
The last week I was in the United States before heading off to China, I watched MEV (collecting Alvin Lucier with Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, may their names be …
CMC – CMC/Now
Hungarian band CMC have been recording albums since 1989, and, had they received their fair due during the heydey of post-Industrial Electronic Body Music (EBM), they would have been recognized …
Perila – How much time it is between you and me?
Perila i(Alexandra Zakharenko) s a composer from Berlin of Russian roots releases one of the heaviest and, frankly, bleakest albums of the year. I spent today trying to unwind a …
Nurbek Serkebaev – White Swans Fly: Kyrgyz Music from Bishkek
Nurbek Serkebaev is a well known Kyrgyz folk musician who plays virtually all Kyrgyz traditional music instruments. The venerabl Antonovka Records have released yet another fine album of traditional music.