We’re lucky to have so many talented musicians and composers in Los Angeles covering all genres. One of the most intriguing I’ve come across lately is Yann Novak, who hails from Wisconsin originally, but who is, like myself, a Southern Californian. Yann has recorded with labels such as 901 Editions, Dragon’s Eye Recordings (which I believe may be his own label), LINE, Room40, and Touch, among others. His credentials are impeccable. This release on Room40 (all praise to Lawrence English for running a fine imprint) has as its cornerstone the composition The Ecstasy of Annihilation, which is 7:30 in length. …
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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…
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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…
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I can’t say that I’m able to find any hard information on who Bill Baxter is, but he releases an almost ridiculous amount of music. Amazingly, the quality is consistently high. The tracks are very long, but they’re quite engaging on a pair of headphones. If you want to learn more about this mysterious figure, you can check out his Facebook page.
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Taennya is Tatyana Maslova, an ambient music composer from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia. The city is home to some of my favorite musicians (including Roman Stolyar and Sergei Belichenko among others), and it looks like I have another musician whose works will be on my playlist for some time to come. The tracks are instrumental, with big, cavernous washes of sound. As far as ambient music goes, this gives off a warm, calming feeling without being saccharine. You will hear beats and voices here and there, and these help to guide you deeper into this enveloping sound. A very engaging release.
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At least as I am able to understand it, UBURGRUND is a graphic artist and composer who hails from Băicoi, Romania. This release is inspired, in part by the Romanian modern surrealist author Mircea Cărtărescu and his magnum opus, Solenoid. I have not had a chance to read the book yet, but from what I am hearing from a dear seraphim in Bucharest, he is as worthy as read as he is weird. You can read more about this work here. This album was released by our friends at Kalamine Records, and, as expected, it maintains their high standard of…
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Noise music is something you are either passionate for. or you loathe to the depths of your soul. I say this because too many artists not only sound far too similar, it almost sounds like they insult the audience by turning on a vacuum cleaner and try to call that “music.” It’s trash, nothing more. That trick only worked once with Duchamp, and all his followers merely pose, tarnishing anything good in art. However, there is another angle to noise. That of the sculpted, patiently crafted sturm und drang which allows for musical or cinemtic influences to further enhance their…
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Gradual Hate Records has had a stream of excellent releases this year, but this album by HIEMIS, an artist out of Spain, is the best of the bunch. This is dark, gothic (in the original sense, not the bad makeup sense), ethereal and would compare well to artists who made their mark with labels like Projekt Records, Cold Meat Industry or 4AD (think Dead Can Dance). What pleases my ears the most is the heavy, almost liquid-like sound that resonates so deeply in my speakers that I feel like I’m inside of a cave enjoying almost pure isolation. It’s quite…
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First, a debt of thanks goes to Dimitris Tsironis who took the time to send me this compilation for review. His label, 1tracktape, is doing a great service exposing Greek experimental and avant-garde music to the world, and the quality of this compilation is superb. What’s more, the label is unique in that it releases albums every New Moon and (most of) Full Moon dates. I can’t say I’ve heard of any other labels maintaining such a specific schedule, so each moon that pops up will be an opportunity to check out what new releases Mr. Tsironis has in store for…
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I don’t do top-ten lists, and I don’t ever plan on doing that in the future, but things can change at any moment. Still, if I had to nominate a favorite record label at this moment, there’s no doubt it would be Italy’s Unexplained Sounds Group. Each compilation is a tour guide of experimental music from select parts of the world. This one is near and dear to me, as China was and shortly will be my home for quite a while, and Raffaele Pezzella does yeoman’s work documenting what is happening in the Middle Kingdom experimental-music-wise. Here are some…