Maâlem Mokhtar Gania & Bill Laswell – Tagnawwit: Holy Black Gnawa Trance

Maâlem Mokhtar Gania & Bill Laswell collaborate on bringing Gnawa music up-to-date in the 21st Century.  There have been a good number of Gnawa-related recordings which have come out over the past few decades, but having Laswell’s thundering bass supporting Gania’s instrumentation makes for quite a pairing.  

Capricorni Pneumatici – Witchcraft

I don’t ever recall using the word haunting to describe the sound of a record on this blog, but Witchcraft by Capricorni Pneumatici deserves that adjective.  There is a horrific, claustrophobic vibe to the album, as though it were made for a movie so frightening that it would give viewers Continue Reading

Loren Connors & David Grubbs – Evening Air

What an absolutely sublime record performed by two legends, released on one of the best labels in operation today.  From Room40’s Bandcamp site: “Evening Air is the result Loren Connors and David Grubbs’s first trip to the recording studio in the two decades since their first duo album, Arborvitae (Häpna). Continue Reading

Bèlènou – Emosyon Tambou​-​a

Today’s release is quite a stunning little gem out of Martinique that mixes both a creole jazz element with a sound reminiscent of Afrobeat in some way.  From the band’s Bandcamp site: “In the early eighties, Edmond Mondésir, professor of philosophy and Léon Bertide, trade unionist, founded the Bèlènou group. Continue Reading

Various Artists – Future Sounds Of Kraut Vol. 3 – Compiled by Fred und Luna

Our friends at Compost Records have the third release in the series Future Sounds of Kraut, but it comes on the heels of some heartbreaking news.  May good Rainer Buchmüller rest in peace.  He has left quite a legacy behind.  From Compost’s Bandcamp site: “Chapter 3 of the successful compilation Continue Reading

Hybrid Rain and Liquid Paper by Hans Castrup + James Hill – Each Star Pulses Two Colours

Imagine a gorgeous trumpet and piano sound immersed inside of electronic blips and beeps.  It’s eerie, sounding something like a film-noir film soundtrack as performed by improvisational or experimental musicians (think Jon Hassell or Toshinori Kondo).  That is what you have with this collaboration by Hybrid Rain and Liquid Paper.  Continue Reading

Deficit – Elämä Toisesta Paikkasta (With Marcelo Diaz / Mads Records)

Deficit is a project of Vyacheslav Ismagilov, an author of electronic experimental music from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, so says his Bandcamp site.  The drones are rather gentle for noise music and made for a fascinating listening experience.  This is one you want to use your headphones for. His collaborator, Marcelo Diaz, Continue Reading