• Music

    Mora-Tau – Der Golem (2012)

    April 14, 2022 - By 

    What a gem this one is from our friends at The Church of the Noisy Goat Records.  I’ll let them explain the work here: “Listen to the album Der Golem (2012) continuing the series of rarities re-released by this net-label covering the beginning of the very rich career of the masterful Japanese composer and improviser mora-tau aka Takenori Iwasaki who occupies a prestigious place in ours and in the best and most varied virtual shelves of Bandcamp because I know that we love to collect unusual music and totally free from aesthetic shackles. Conceived as a subjective soundtrack for the…

  • Music

    Jos Smolders – Four Elegies For України

    April 13, 2022 - By 

    There is a large outpouring of grief over the war from many artists I know on both sides.  My friend Jos Smolders has made his contribution as well.  From his Bandcamp site: “A small album of improvisations that I recorded to express my disgust about the war in Ukraine. All of the money I receive from sales will be donated to organizations that help the Ukrainian people. I hardly ever infuse my music with politics, but this feels different. Please buy a copy of the album and help those poor people. The music was produced primarily with Blippoo and electric guitar.”

  • Music

    Mansur – Minotavrvs

    April 6, 2022 - By 

    Bassist Jason Köhnen has a deep pedigree in the world of darkjazz.  He was a member of the profoundly interesting Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble out of The Netherlands, and he’s now participating in a new project with Dimitry El-Demerdashi (ex-Phurpa) and Martina Horváth on vocals. As noted on Mansur’s Bandcamp site: “‘Minotavrvs’ is Mansur’s first live improv recording. An ambient journey. A musical homage to the mythos of the Minotaur. The minotaur as a mirror of self reflection;  the fear of confronting one’s inner monster. ‘Minotavrvs’ is a sonic voyage through subterranean ruins and labyrinths, evoking spirits from past echoes of Minoan…

  • Music

    Eclectic Maybe Band – Again Alors?

    April 4, 2022 - By 

    Bassist GS was once a member of the legendary rock-in-opposition band Univers Zéro, and he has continued on his incredible music journey with a new project, the Eclectic Maybe Band. From the Discus Records Bandcamp site: “Again Alors? is the third release by the band, which brings together detailed studio work with the creativity of real time improvisation. Using different groupings from within a large ensemble cast, which includes many well-known names, Guy has created an album where half the tracks are drawn from live improvisation in the studio and half are created from the ground up with players adding their composed…

  • Music

    Stick Men – Tentacles EP

    April 2, 2022 - By 

    It’s hard to imagine a more technically proficient power trio than the Stick Men. Tony Levin, Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto are all King Crimson alumni or associates, and each bring their superlative talents to their instruments of choice. It’s the band’s first new music in six years. Amazing work.

  • Music

    Blood Rhythms – New Illusions

    March 28, 2022 - By 

    “A massive, oppressively brutal wall of sound.”  That was the first impression that popped into my head after listening to Arvo Zylo’s project, Blood Rhythm’s latest release, New Illusions. Think of ritualistic noise with some sense of structure, like Z’ev meeting Merzbow’s more restrained and focused works.  This is bleak, claustrophobic, ugly, and fitting with the zeitgeist of our current time.  A heavy listen, made much better and more engrossing with headphones.

  • Music

    Orphan Sound System – Tantric Tantrums

    March 22, 2022 - By 

    Experimental music isn’t a genre that avails itself to the power trio.  In this case, however, Jeff Gburek, John El-Manahi and John Palumbo should be given such a venerable title.  The music they produce as Orphan Sound System is reminiscent of vintage progressive rock bands like Faust or Cranioclast but with production input by the Gyuto Monks.  This is sitting on the nexus point of psychedelic music, post-Industrial and experimental.  Challenging listening, but ultimately rewarding, as the listener will feel as though they’re being transported on a not-unpleasant tour of Saṃsāra. Lineup: Jeff Gburek: electric guitar, bassic guitar, microfreak, drum machine,…

  • Music

    Uzu Noir – Zo!

    March 18, 2022 - By 

    Uzu Noir is the monicker used by Finnish audio engineer-mixer-producer (having worked with Richard Dawson & Circle, Brian Eno, The Tindersticks, These New Puritans, Ulver, Natacha Atlas, Pharaoh Overlord, The Utopia Strong, Cyclobe, Old Man Gloom, etc) Antti Uusimäki.  With such an incredible résumé, one would expect that his debut EP would cover interesting sonic terrain.  I’m happy to say that he does! Though he identifies the release as ‘ambient’, a buzzword I’m beginning to dislike only because of the lack of consistently about what ‘ambient’ actually is, I’d say that his ambient music is something along the lines of…

  • Music

    Roger Doyle – Oizzo No

    March 17, 2022 - By 

    Roger Doyle, like his equally talented countryman (and friend) Daniel Figgis, doesn’t get his fair shake inside of his home country of Ireland, yet is better regarded in the U.K. and the European continent as a master of electroacoustic music.  This version of Oizzo No is a reworking of the original album (which you can hear here) and it has a rather fascinating back story: “Originally part-recorded and subsequently aborted when the would-be label vanished without trace overnight, Oizzo No was shelved indefinitely until a scholarship at the prestigious Institute Of Sonology at the University Of Utrecht in Holland afforded…

  • Music

    Nick Sudnick – Opera of the Fifteenth Hour

    March 10, 2022 - By 

    24 Rush Hours is a series done by Zga composer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Sudnick, and this is #15 of 24.  The two long pieces are a pastiche of art-rock (think Rock-In-Opposition like Art Bears or the composers Alfred ’23’Harth and Heiner Goebbels).  Add an element of Bertolt Brecht-like lyrics for theater and you have a fine series of avant-opera Sudnick keeps producing..