• Music

    Robert Scott Thompson – Through Circle and Shadow

    July 8, 2021 - By 

    It’s been a while since I had the pleasure to feature Robert Scott Thompson on our blog, though you will be seeing releases from a label he plays a large role in, Aucourant Records, in the future. Through Circle and Shadow is a 7-and-a-half minute piece of gentle ambient music which is dark and reminiscent of some Berlin School-related artists, and others like Robert Rich and Steve Roach.  There’s something more cosmic in this release, however, and it sounds magnificent on a set of good headphones.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Anthology Of Post Industrial Music From Balkan Region

    July 6, 2021 - By 

    The first of two releases related to our friend Raffaele Pezzella (who performs under the name Sonologyst) for today. This release from Unexplained Sounds Group is part of a series of compilations of experimental and dark ambient music concentrated in different regions.  This one is particularly special to me as, though my birth city is Los Angeles, those who know me well know that the Balkans has served as a second home to me over the years.  Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania all seem to be well-represented, and musically, each track is up…

  • Music

    Tomáš Vrana – Therapy

    June 29, 2021 - By 

    We’re on the road today in Las Vegas, Nevada, but listening to music never ceases. Today we share a Slovak dark ambient composer called Tomáš Vrana. His style is very cinematic, and you can hear references to composers like Ryuichi Sakamoto, Hiroshi Yoshimura and Abeoji (아버지) among others.

  • Music

    RHaD – Metamusic

    June 19, 2021 - By 

    It’s one thing when you’re the impresario of a record label who consistently delivers astoundingly good quality.  It’s quite something else when you make music yourself that is as solid as any of the releases you so lovingly curate. RHaD (Research for Historical Audio Documents) is a side project of Raffaele Pezzella (better known as Sonologyst), and head of so many incredible boutique record labels.  This collection of tracks pulls together influences like radio transmissions, telephonic conversations, hi-fi test signals, old and forgotten documentaries, unknown field recordists, and threads these bits together into wonderfully coherent compositions made for late-night black-and-white…

  • Music

    Biliana Voutchkova – Seeds Of Songs

    June 14, 2021 - By 

    This release is a double introduction of sorts for me; first, for the chance to finally delve into a full recording of the work of Biliana Voutchkova, an interdisciplinary artist, violinist, performer, composer, improviser and curator from one of the countries I most enjoy visiting, Bulgaria (though she is based in Berlin these days). Second, it is nice to see that Café OTO in London have opened a record label called Takuroku. Considering that the venerable café has hosted so many musicians of exquisite quality throughout the years, it seems fitting that they would give a platform to someone as…

  • Music

    Ferran Fages – Llum Moll

    June 12, 2021 - By 

    I’ve had the pleasure of reading about Farren Fages‘ work for at least 20 years now, but I never had a chance to fully explore his work.  I’m happy to say that I regret not diving into his catalogue earlier.  It’s impressive, to say the least. This particular album, Llum Moll, is a 41-minute audio sculpture which was originally released in 2012.  According to his notes on the Bandcamp page hosting this release, “The composition was made in two parts. The first was to record and then select fragments with different lengths, pitches and textures. The second was to re-adjust…

  • Music

    Makoto Kawabata, Richard Pinhas, Manongo Mujica, Juan Luis Pereira, Hiroshi Higashi – Alturas

    June 3, 2021 - By 

    What we have here is an experimental music supergroup.  Makoto Kawabata and Hiroshi Higashi of acid-psych lords Acid Mothers Temple team up with the legendary guitarist Richard Pinhas (famed as the leader of the band Heldon, and still very much active under his own name).  Joining them are two musicians from Peru in Manongo Mujica and Juan Luis Pereira who fill out this psychedelic soundscape. For some context regarding this release, read these notes for the band’s Bandcamp site: When Acid Mothers Temple and Richard Pinhas visited Lima for the first time, in November 2017, to participate in the experimental…

  • Music

    Nick Sudnick – Opera Of The Eleventh Hour

    May 26, 2021 - By 

    St. Petersburg, Russia-based composer Nick Sudnick has had a storied career as the main protagonist of the of the art-rock group Zga.  I had the pleasure of working with him for one reissue in another life. He is still very much involved with music, and has been releasing an incredible series of albums recently.  As I understand it, he’s creating operas based on each hour of the day.  The latest installment is for the Eleventh Hour, and base material for this project include motifs derived from pharmacies, medical encyclopedia, online mental health forums and so on. This will appeal heavily…