This Z Tapes release left me floored. Rapt are a folk band out of London who have an ethereal sound which reminded me of musicians like Nick Drake fronting a band on 4AD. Think, perhaps, of a more airy-sounding This Mortal Coil gone neofolk. The sound is folky without being stale, Continue Reading
Downloads
Roy Montgomery – Roy Montgomery 40th Anniversary 2021 LP Series
I think it’s impossible to overestimate the important place Roy Montgomery has in the annals of New Zealand’s experimental rock scene. Thanks to his work on labels such as Kranky Records and Drunken Fish, he has quite a high international profile, and it helps that the music he’s produced for Continue Reading
William Ryan Fritch – Built Upon a Fearful Void
Soundtrack composers don’t seem to need films to cue inspiring, haunting scores anymore. Take, for example, the new double album by Californian composer William Ryan Fritch. The story that goes along with this fabulous artifact is as impressive as the music is. We let the label, Lost Tribe Sounds, tell Continue Reading
Santiago Fradejas – The Light Through The Springs
The guitar, all by itself, can serve as tool for making a haunting orchestra’s worth of sounds. My good friend Santiago Fradejas, now resident in Kent, of all places (!) presents a mini-LP’s worth of brooding, swelling, lilting soundscapes. There is a menacing element tying the album together, as though Continue Reading
Igra Staklenih Perli – Igra Staklenih Perli
Igra Staklenih Perli were one of the greater monster progressive/psychedelic rock bands to come out of Yugoslavia (the band themselves were Serbian) during the late 1970s and early 1980s, and though some of their work could be seen as taking cues from legendary western groups like Pink Floyd, I hear Continue Reading
Amid The Ruins 1453 – Dyerwave Trilogy (All Dyerwave Tracks)
Dyerwave is a stand-alone genre sitting inside of synth-wave, which has produced a number of appealing artists who bring 1980s visual imagery and marry it to dystopian visions of the future. The artist responsible for this release, Amid The Ruins 1453 is a Serbian composer and fellow Orthodox Christian who Continue Reading
JOHN 3:16 – Yoldath Aloho
I have to catch up and see what has been going on with our friends at Alrealon Music. This release is two tracks of a horrifying soundscape that conjures up images of characters like Pinhead from the classic horror movie Hellraiser. Though the movie had no effect on me (I Continue Reading
The Hauchzart Ensemble – Hauchzart Momentum Vol. I
What a remarkable work this is. The Hauchzart Ensemble includes our dear colleague Wilfried Hanrath, who plays guitar, bass, drums, beats, synth and electronics on this album, along with Matt Getchell, who also provides electronics, synthesizer and beats. This album takes quite a journey, starting off with a track that, Continue Reading
Various Artists – Canary Records: Let’s Add Raki to Wine: Women in Istanbul ca. 1931-46
Canary Records are the kings of shellac-era reissues, and this is one of their most fabulous. It’s a collection of female singers who were active in Turkey’s cultural capital, and Ian Nagoski, musicologist and venerable head of the company, has made these recordings sound as clear as possible, despite being Continue Reading
The Striking Chamber – Tomás Luis de Victoria: Collected Works
Although there are some phenomenal classical musicians represented on Bandcamp, I didn’t expect to hear any work by the Counter-Reformation-era priest and composer Tomás Luis de Victoria. This cassette tape, released by The Striking Chamber, came as a pleasant surprise. It’s only 13 minutes long, and it’s released here as Continue Reading