• Music

    Mong Tong 夢東 – 台灣謎景 Music from Taiwan Mystery

    November 14, 2021 - By 

    Mong Tong are one of the most profoundly interesting bands operating out of Taiwan these days, and their work would compare favorably to psychedelic giants like Ghost or even quieter aspects of Acid Mothers Temple. From WV Sorcerer Productions’ Bandcamp site: Mong Tong is brothers Hom Yu, Jiun Chi (they also play in ​Prairie WWWW​ 落差草原 WWWW & Dope Purple) and 仝. They listened to what they describe as “Dianziqin music 電子琴音樂” along with video game soundtracks, vintage Asian movie samples and psychedelic music. These inspirations combine with Taiwanese folklore and a love of conspiracy theories to form what they…

  • Music

    Marika Politissa – All Parts Dark

    November 13, 2021 - By 

    Much respect to Mississippi Records out of Chicago, Illinois for releasing this magnificent artifact! The back story is explained in great detail on the label’s Bandcamp site: Marika “Politissa” Frantzeskopoulou was a Greek singer from Constantinople, reknowned for her precise, fluid and graceful performances and depth of feeling. Backed by some of the best musicians of the era on lyra, violin, oud, kanonaki and guitar, Marika’s repertoire and techniques drew from Byzantine and Ottoman musical traditions. She possessed an ability to devastate her audience through her expressions of grief, exile, and tragic love, running the gamut of cafe aman, torch…

  • Music

    Breizh Napoli – Démo

    November 12, 2021 - By 

    Two places I have been enamored with for at least half of my life are Brittany in France and Naples, perhaps my favorite Italian city.  Breizh Napoli, as the name clearly indicates, combines both Breton and Neapolitan music seamlessly.  This is a fine demo of choral music that brings out the best of both cultures, and it’s my hope that the band continues to mine this particular strain of folk music.

  • Music - Qobuz - Spotify

    Alexei Aigui & Arkady Marto – DA

    November 11, 2021 - By 

    This should be a breakout year for Alexei Aigui, who has released his fourth album of the year in collaboration with pianist Arkady Marto. The album is absolutely sublime. Each track has a gentle touch, balancing violin and piano perfectly. The cornerstone of the album for me is this track, Nocturne No. 0: It is a tango that would have made Ástor Piazzlla proud. The whole album is engaging, and would have made for perfect music for a dramatic film (something Alexei has been making for several years now, with great success). As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, if you…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Pyramid Pieces 2

    November 10, 2021 - By 

    This is a comp we won’t have to wait too terribly long for.  The Roundtable is a record label out of Melbourne, Australia which documents some phenomenal jazz from down under.  Apparently, the first installment of Pyramid Pieces was a tour-de-force of Australian spiritual jazz, and the comp sold briskly, introducing the world to Jazz Co/Op, the Brian Brown Quintet, the Alan Lee Quartet and others.  In this installment, new names such as Allan Zavod (whose track is the only one available to sample currently), The Charlie Munro, Out To Lunch and several others.  My limited exposure to Aussie jazz…

  • Music

    Giedrius Kuprevičius – Erotidijos

    November 9, 2021 - By 

    Giedrius Kuprevičius is a Lithuanian composer with roots in theater music.  Erotidijos has a rather long history, originally being released on cassette in 1994, but the latest release adds around 30 minutes of music, and is available on vinyl as well as download. From his Bandcamp site: Erotidijos is a haunting yet hypnotic tableaux Kuprevičius originally created for a Stanislovas Rubinovas theatre play staged in 1994 in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Lithuanian composer was one of the founding members of the pioneering electronic pop outfit Argo and has written dozens of scores for stage and film over the past several decades, imbuing…

  • Music

    Jelena Glazova – Bardo Thodol (Eliane Radigue Tribute)

    November 8, 2021 - By 

    I came to the work of Latvian noise musician and composer Jelena Glazova originally through her collaborations with the legendary Russian noise maestro Alexei Borisov. This four-track album is a paean to the work of French soundscape artist and composer Élaine Radigue, perhaps the foremost sound composer operating today.   Glazova used processed voice, her laptop and controllers to sculpt these works.  They were recorded and mastered in Riga between 2016 – 2019.  The drones wash over the ears magnificently.

  • Music

    Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian – Songs of Horaman

    November 6, 2021 - By 

    Mohammad Mostafa Heydarian is a Kurdish tanburist who hails from Kermanshah, in the Iranian region of Horaman.  His playing reminds me of a lot of the instrumental music coming out of the Sahel, blended, naturally, with Kurdish rhythms and adding a psychedelic haze to the music. Though I’m not keen on paying €1,000 for a download, the cassette version is certainly worth a purchase.  It would probably do Radio Khiyaban, the magnificent label who released Heydarian’s work, to consider making these recordings available for upload once the cassettes go out of print.

  • Music

    Old Time Relijun – Musicking

    November 5, 2021 - By 

    Though I’ve followed his work for years, this is the first chance I’ve had to review Arrington Dionyso’s vast body of work, specifically his more rock-based project, Old Time Relijiun. From the first note, it felt like getting hit by a block of cement (in a quite good way).  The first track, Break Through, sounds like a mighty clash between the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Can during its rawer and weirder freak-outs.  Bionic Trunk provides thunderous drums that would compare well to mid-60s garage-rock smashers like The Monks and introduces a bit of throat-singing, of all things.  The cornerstone…

  • Music

    D^mselfly – DF​/​C30​-​RW

    November 4, 2021 - By 

    From Hreám Recordings‘ website: Originally released as a double-header with St James Infirmary’s ‘Apport’, here now on it’s own and sporting a batch of new jelly-green shelled and cased cassettes…. DF/C30-RW features six re-imagined and re-worked tracks from the first three Damselfly albums. Focussing on some of his more delicate arrangements, Damselfly’s 2020 versions breathe new life into the original soundscapes, where neoclassical meets ambient drone to serve you up an alternative sonic taste of his beloved home county of Sussex. I have to say that this release by D^mselfly is one of the most pleasant ambient discoveries I’ve come…