• Music

    Sarah Belle Reid – MASS (Extended + Remastered)

    Thanks to the magnificent blog a closer listen, I was introduced to the work of a fellow Los Angelino Sarah Belle Reid.  I was intrigued by postrockcafe’s description of the album, and after hearing it this morning in between teaching duties, I have to say that the description is apt.  Shades of early Industrial music with a more academic bent (don’t let that scare you!), a modern, sharper and cleaner take on experimental music, and bits and bobs of something that could pass for soundtrack music underpinned by a subtle, harrowing trumpet underneath, make this an absolutely worthy listen.

  • Music

    Rudy Adrian – Reflections On A Moonlit Lake

    Rudy Adrian has been at the forefront of New Age music since the early 2000s, and shamefully, I lost contact with his releases.  It’s quite nice to catch up with him on his latest release, a collection of relaxing ambient music to soothe your mind a bit, but also to enjoy as proper electronic music.  Rudy remains a craftsman.

  • Music

    BlindººCoyote – Mycelium Sonora Outtakes

    From my friend, the rather legendary Drem Bruinsma‘s project, BlindººCoyote manages to expertly weld together wild electronic music with a relaxed back beat, making the music adventurous but, ultimately, pleasant to listen to.  From BlindººCoyote’s Bandcamp site: “This 33-piece album consists of a deep reflection on a period, albeit a difficult one, from Covid and Confinement to hospitals and surgery, from treatment and opiates, from chronic pain to hope and fear, from social isolation to remaining in touch with the outside world by being online. With this album ends a chapter, a period with a very demanding character. I hope…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Alex from Tokyo presents Japan Vibrations Vol.1

    From the World Famous Records Bandcamp Site: “Dive into the exhilarating era of Japan’s electronic dance music scene from the mid ’80s to the mid ’90s with Japan Vibrations Vol. 1. The hand-picked collection by DJ and musical storyteller Alex from Tokyopays homage to the trailblazers and innovators who shaped the landscape. […] Experience the vibrations of pioneers Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yasuaki Shimizu. Of culture-shaping forces Hiroshi Fujiwara, Kan Takagi, Susumu Yokota, Silent Poets, Mondo Grosso and Kyoto Jazz Massive. And of new-generation artists CMJK (C.T. Scan), Mind Design, Okihide, and Hiroshi Watanabe. The evolution of a scene,…

  • Music

    Mich Gerber – Shoreline

    Thanks to one of my friends for turning me on to the works of Swiss bassist Mich Gerber.  From his Bandcamp site: “Instrumental album with Andi Pupato (perc, drums), inspired by music that has been played during the blue hour concerts along shorelines. Mich Gerber plays the double bass as a lead instrument, layering tracks over tracks.”

  • Music

    Steve Roach and Robert Rich – Waves of Now

    From the legendary duo’s Bandcamp site: “We present this soulful 30 year reunion between two stalwarts of Ambient-Electronic music in its entirety, exactly as it occurred. Steve and Robert answered the urge for unification after a very long orbit and 40 year friendship, reuniting and engaging their collective creative process, fueled with decades of individual innovations, genre defining releases and worldwide concerts. Recorded live to a sold-out audience on December 5, 2023 at the Club Congress, Tucson Arizona. The set flowed through solo and duo passages, culminating in pieces from the classics Strata and Soma. The energy was electric throughout…

  • Music - Podcast - Soundcloud

    The Drone Pilots #054 – Ghazal

    Our friend, the erstwhile lad known throughout Beijing and parts of Western Europe as The Drone Pilots, presents a fine podcast as we begin the wrapup process for 2024.  As he so eloquently describes: “Ghazals are a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a repeating refrain word or phrase, originating in 7th century Persia; though starting as poems, ghazals were adapted in Indian classical music to become a unique genre of semi-classical song, with lyrical couplets with musical accompaniment and rhythm. Trainspotters will relish the multiple samples of Peter Gabriel as a tribute to his Real World efforts to…

  • Music

    Jonathan Sharp – Divided Time

    Castles In Space are a label whom I just stumbled into over the past few days, and I’m liking what I’m hearing from them a lot.  This particular piece of hauntology comes from Jonathan Sharp, a composer who is, like me, a child of the 70’s.  He split his time between Cumbria and London, and the music reflects his memories of those years long gone by.