• Music

    Sound and Voice – That Which is Unknown

    This has to be one of my favorite psychedelic folk releases since the heyday of bands like Charalambides.  Merit Medrano is an Austin-based guitarist and leader of Sound and Voice, which is, apparently, his latest musical project, implying that he’s been a busy soul for some time now.  The music has a raga-esque feel to it, the guitar work is cosmic in scope, and if you like the works of such legends as Sandy Bull, this release will definitely appeal to you.  Australian record label Ramble Records is responsible for releasing this hazy slab of vinyl, and now I’ll need…

  • Music

    Various Artists – Blackford Hill: Transmissions / Volume One

    Welcome to the first proper release promotion of 2022, and it’s quite a lovely way to begin the year.  Blackford Hill is a record company out of Edinburgh, Scotland, and they offer up a compilation of ethereal independent music from bands like Ultramarine, Emily Scott, Kate Carr, Jake Tilson and a host of others, providing 31 tracks. From the Blackford Hill Bandcamp site: The prospect from Blackford Hill is wide-ranging and far-reaching. This recently established label, curated by designer/publisher Simon Lewin, is based in Edinburgh and shares its name with a prominent topographical feature of that city. This compilation, ‘Transmissions…

  • Music

    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 the story below, courtesy of their Bandcamp site: ‘Built Upon a Fearful Void‘ was an album seemingly fated to never be completed. For the last 8 years the album had been recorded and either lost or discarded three times; a leak that water logged and ruined most of the half…