• Music

    Yoyogi Koen 代々木公園 – Hyakki Yako 百鬼夜行 ひゃっきやぎょう

    September 1, 2021 - By 

    Hong Kong’s 4’33” Records (named, of course, for American avant-garde composer John Cage’s most notorious composition) specialize in experimental music which crosses into drone and ambient fluidly.  This release is by Yoyogi Koen (Yoyogi Park) and though reference information isn’t listen anywhere, I would assume them to be also out of Hong Kong, though I’ll publish a note if I am in error. The music is really dubby for experimental music, something I wasn’t quite expecting.  There are folkloric sounds which mesh incredibly well in said genre, and the inspiration for this album comes from Japanese folklore.  If you’re familiar…

  • Music

    Align In Time – On A Spiral

    August 31, 2021 - By 

    This release came out in 2020, and Align In Time’s John Boles sent this to me during a time I was flooded by a wave of emails that I’m still, after all this time, going through. Align In Time are an American post-rock band out of Providence, Rhode Island.  The band’s sound reminds me of impressive post-rock bands like Caspian, We Lost The Sea and other instrumental rock bands.  Surprisingly, I can hear a touch of Fugazi in here as well, at least in some of the guitar playing.  It’s mellow, sumptuously recorded and a generally fine listen.

  • Music

    John Coltrane – Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings

    August 30, 2021 - By 

    As the Bandcamp site states, 1958 was John Coltrane’s breakout year, coming into his own after partnering so successfully with pianist Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, though his heroin addiction slowed his progress up considerably.  He is in fine condition musically in this 8-LP collection of his first recording session with Prestige Records, and it would be the beginning of an creative explosion for both Prestige and then Atlantic Records before moving on to Impulse! Records.  2019 marked the 70th anniversary of the launch of the legendary imprint, and the 60th anniversary of this session, so this beautifully-remastered collection sparkles.

  • Music

    Cousin Silas – Dreamsville

    August 28, 2021 - By 

    Cousin Silas is one of my favorite guitarists, and I can’t think of many who are better at making such mellow soundscapes.  This is one of his latest albums, and his massive body of work is consistently good.  Really consider looking him up on Facebook and following his massive release schedule on Bandcamp.

  • Music

    Florian Arbenz, Hermon Mehari, Nelson Veras – Conversation #1: Condensed

    August 27, 2021 - By 

    Swiss drummer and percussionist Florian Arbenz was featured on our previous website, A Miscellany of Tasteful Music, some time in 2020 on a record he did with American saxophonist Greg Osby.  This album is equally as engaging. This slightly unusual line up of guitar, trumpet & drums might, at first glance, miss a bass instrument. But despite the challenges, the creativity of the musicians involved, as well as Florian’s addition of custom percussion instruments covering this range, make for a fascinating listen which moves from hard-swinging soloing to dreaming soundscapes. Imagine making an album which swings, yet has no bass…

  • Music

    Wilfried Hanrath – The Sweet Scent of Dreams

    August 26, 2021 - By 

    This album has to be one of the more intriguing releases I’ve heard this month.  Wilfried Hanrath is a composer based in Wuppertal, Germany (home, if I remember correctly, to free jazz legend Peter Brötzmann as well), and grew up surrounded by some of the most radical music imaginable: Krautrock, jazz fusion, early German electronic music and perhaps a large dose of progressive and psychedelic rock.  The album showcases his influences in a stunning way, though I understand this album is more a reinterpretation of the works of others rather than a purely original album.  He crafts each song as…

  • Music

    Jeff Gburek – Diaphragmata

    August 25, 2021 - By 

    This release allows me to kill two birds with one stone.  First, it’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to review music by Jeff Gburek (one of the several venerable composers who always manage to find a welcome home on these pages), and this is a strikingly quiet and meditative album.  Second, I have sampled some of the wares of Muteant Sounds, a fine experimental label out of Florida in the United States, but I believe this might be the first album from that label I’ve had the change to listen to in full. Jeff explains the concept…

  • Music

    trajedesaliva – Mima Blanca

    August 23, 2021 - By 

    My friends from trajedesaliva gifted me one of their older albums recently, and as I had some spare time to listen today, I indulged in Mima Blanca. It took me a moment to figure out what this reminded me of, but then it dawned on me – several incredibly good influences, or they’re on the same wavelength If you’re a fan of Tuxedomoon (especially the solo projects by Steven Brown or Blaine L. Reininger), Daniel Schell & Karo, or some of the projects on the Made To Measure series of albums on Crammed Discs, you’ll find a quirky experimental experience…

  • Music

    Roman Stolyar – Right Back from Bosnija

    August 21, 2021 - By 

    I’m delighted to share a piece from my old friend, the Siberian composer and multi-instrumentalist Roman Stolyar.  This nearly 20-minute improvisation was recorded live on July 30, 2021 at the MMMESSS studio in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  The piano-playing is quick, sharp, with each keystroke coming at you like waves of noise.  A great example of Russian free jazz.