虚极 (Bliss-Illusion) – 森罗万象 (Shinrabansho)
虚极 (Bliss-Illusion) are a band based in China who have caused quite a sensation all across the world of Black Metal. The music is a combination of the aforementioned Black Metal but adding a twist by mixing post-rock, straight-ahead metal,…
Vàli – Forlatt
Vàli are a neofolk band out of Norway whose music shows references to bands like Ulver and Empyrium. It’s a rather gentle album with acoustic guitar and fiddle, reminding me of the American folk-rock band Changes and the Chinese neofolk…
Reptilicus & The Hafler Trio – Designer Time
Continuing on the Industrial (and post-Industrial) theme, this album was sent as a promo album to me while I was a buyer for Aron’s Records, the best record shop in Los Angeles before Amoeba steamrolled the competition (and are now,…
Throbbing Gristle – Throbbing Gristle’s Greatest Hits
In 1984, I was introduced by the luck of having a few weird friends in high school to the world of Industrial Music. This album was the first of many I would end up buying, not only from Throbbing Gristle,…
Jake Xerxes Fussell – Hills Of Mexico
Xerxes is not a name one comes across regularly in English, so when I saw James Xerxes Fusssell’s name pop up on my dashboard, I thought I’d give his music a listen. I’m glad I did. This is a one-track…
Doll Klaw – Thorns EP
As a more-or-less native Los Angeleno who grew up running around clubs in the late 1980s and early 1990s in clubs like Club F**k, DAS Bunker and the like, hearing synth-pop like this makes me feel a sense of nostalgia….
Various Artists – Color De Tropico Vol 2 Compiled by El Drágon Criollo & El Palmas
Spanish imprint El Palmas Music has released this compilation of music from Venezuela that covers reggae, salsa, soul, cumbia and joropo music. There are two tracks available to listen to until the release date of May 14, 2021, but judging…
Alostmen – Kologo
Ghanian band Alostmen are bursting with energy and come with a sound mixing highlife with a guitar style that reminds me, slightly, of Tuareg playing one could hear with bands like Tinariwen. From the band’s website: Formed by Stevo Atambire…
Archbishop Samuel David – You Are the Light of the World: Antiochian Byzantine Hymnody in Toledo, Ohio ca. 1940s
In times of deep anguish, I’ve relied on the hymnody of the Orthodox Church to find peace. It is where I place my faith, and it has never failed me once. A lot of that comes from my devotion to…
Yu Su – Yellow River Blue
Chinese-Canadian composer Yu Su produces an album that left me pleasantly surprised by. Though I found this download under “ambient” music, it turns out that it may have more to do with the motorik music of Neu! quietly subdued by…