Liu Ying (刘英) – JUST (抓时)

If you have come across the landslide of reissues of stunningly sublime Japanese new age music composed by the likes of Hiroshi Yoshimura, Haroumi “Harry” Hosono (of Yellow Magic Orchestra fame) or Midori Takada, I have a strong suspicion that JUST, just released today by Chinese composer and synthesizer/guitar player Continue Reading

Marcus Webb – sPaCeS pLaCeS

Marcus Webb is a sound designer and composer based out of New Jersey in the United States who creates “foreboding soundscapes and craters of bass and noise serving as the constants within alternating conceptual constructs of city life and drones wrapping around cavernous spaces with clearly defined tones from his Continue Reading

Bandcamp Friday and Help For Ukraine

Politics is loathsome.  Human beings, however, can be beautiful.  All of them, not just your favorites. If you can help out those in need from all points in this disgusting war, I’m sure the labels, the artists, and most of all, the people who could use the funds to survive, Continue Reading

Divanhana – Zavrzlama

In January, we had the pleasure of reviewing a track called Ćilim from Bosnian ethno-folk band Divanhana, and now, it’s our pleasure to bring you the rest of the album! Zavrzlama is a collection of sevdah tracks which have a darker, more minor-key quality than what I’m used to from Continue Reading

Daniele Baldelli – Back My Funky Side

Beefy, gritty, nasty funk.  That’s what you will hear from this  monster by DJ Daniele Baldelli.  There are elements of tribal funk, Afrobeat, and soundtrack music that wouldn’t be out-of-place in old German or Italian krimis or Poliziotteschi.  Calibro 35 would be the most apt comparison to Daniele’s work, but Continue Reading

Ernesto Diaz-Infante – Vacilando EPs

We had the pleasure of reviewing an album by Bay Area guitarist Ernesto Diaz-Infante in January, and now, we can introduce you to Vacilando, a collection of instrumental tracks recorded on guitars, oud and banjo.  The material is comprised of Ernesto’s composition, none of which exceeds six minutes in length, Continue Reading

Etran de L’Aïr – Agadez

Thanks to a bit of luck and our friends at Sahel Sounds, I was fortunate enough to obtain an album by Nigerien (no, not Nigerian) troupe and stars of the local wedding music scene, Etran de L’Aïr (or Stars of the Aïr region).  From their Bandcamp site: “Recorded at home Continue Reading

Ángel Ontalva – October Equus Guitar Project Vol. 1

Ángel Ontalva is a Spanish guitarist who spends a great deal of time working in Russia whom we’ve featured here in the past, and he surprises us with a release of an album full of Rock-In-Opposition and chamber-rock influences. From his Bandcamp site: “The origin of this album is in Continue Reading