Sad news to report. Yabe Tadashi of United Future Organization, one of the best nu-jazz bands of the last three decades, has passed away. This is one of his finest moments, collaborating with singer Monday Michiru. Memory eternal, Yabe-san. HT: Rocco Pandiani
Our friends at Wewantsounds have dug deep for this one, and of course, they have found gold. This album, available from the label as a vinyl-only release, sits in a strange apex of electronic music, soul, pop, jazz and the avant-garde, which is the first genre I would have associated with Steve Beresford. This is an album you can don your smoking jacket for. Swanky, well-produced and an elegant listen. You can purchase the album here.
“Last American Poet” Shane Beck collaborates with the Dutch electronic music project Phrozenlight as Tears of the Sun, an album of spoken work and Berlin School electronics.
“The Last American Poet” Shane Beck collaborates with Japanese experimental composer mora-tau for an album of spoken-word-laden soundscapes.
Our friend Cousin Silas and his cohort Michael Brückner offer a relaxed ambient two-disc album album which floats between fusion and the Berlin School.
I have not had the pleasure of hearing Oval, Markus Popp’s microsound project, in ages. It’s good to see Markus still releasing glitchy music.
I don’t remember Somewhere in Time as being a classic movie, but the film was enjoyable and starred Christopher Reeve (of Superman fame) and Jane Seymour. It’s fun to hear a much darker take of the soundtrack coming from composer Scott Lawler. This would have made the film a much more emotionally gloomy affair.
One of my good friends presented this breakbeat treasure to me a couple days ago. It’s published in Spain, and here are some notes from their Bandcamp site: “With his latest EP, It’s Cancelled, featuring diffused electronics on the A-Side and menacing drum infestations on the B-Side, Serge Geyzel keeps pounding beats and bass into oblivion. Adepta Editions expertly compiles these recordings onto vinyl and digital media, emphasizing timeless limited editions. While “Take Your Time And Be Mine” deftly walks the line between Plaid-infused melodics and Clark’s shuffling rhythms, “Before the Silence Came” features fuzzy electrical sound fields that eventually…
Sometimes experimental music can produce either dour listening or tie itself to miserable cover art showing the worst of humanity in some sort of fetishistic way. Not so with this release! London-based Chinese composer Li Yilei’s album concentrates more of a happy, carefree childhood, where, as she puts it, “…learn[ed] about fear and fearlessness, love and despair, grief and glee, curiosity and mistakes.” Sitting back and listening to this after hearing my own Chinese geography students caterwauling for nearly two hours is balm for the soul. A gentle listen that deserves a more appropriate tag than “experimental,” as much as…
The End of Eternity offer an Italian take on the Berlin School genre. A very engaging album!