Because I could Not Stop for Death... is a quote from poet Emily Dickinson, and listening to JOHN 3:16 interpret it is a pleasant experience, as the music on this one-track single is sweeping and cinematic, a touch different from his other work.
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Politics is loathsome. Human beings, however, can be beautiful. All of them, not just your favorites. If you can help out those in need from all points in this disgusting war, I’m sure the labels, the artists, and most of all, the people who could use the funds to survive, would appreciate it. Even if Bandcamp Friday dips into the well too much these days, at least they’re trying to help, so kudos to them. Here are three that caught my attention, so look, enjoy, and support if possible.
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Wabjie are a Swiss trio made up of singer Soraya Berent, pianist/composer Michel Wintsch and drummer Samuel Jakubec who produce a sound that references Thom Yorke, Bobby McFerrin and Betty Carter at their most experimental, but perusing the promo sheet, one name was left off that hit me very hard when listening to the album (which will be fully released on February 25): Laurie Anderson. That gentle, experimental but ever-so-pleasant way Anderson has of speak-singing is matched quite well by Berent, whose voice flows effortlessly on top of rhythms that sound as if Björk had a date at The Knitting…
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According to Midori Hirano’s Bandcamp site, “this album was initially released on staaltape by Rinus Van Alebeek in 2015 as a very limited edition of cassette tape.” It’s a gem of experimental music because Hirano’s background blends a classical music, a commercial music background, and what would end up being termed as “Japanoise,” the beautifully violent experimental music which exploded in Japan and worldwide throughout the late 80s and early 90s. Hirano crafts 24 sound vignettes on this album, and the end result is something akin to John Cage going mushroom hunting with Aki Takahashi while listening to Hijokaidan on…
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Our friend and one of our perennial favorites at this blog, Jeff Gburek, comes to us with a mini-LP’s worth of meditative guitar music supplemented with an electro-acoustic bass berimbau, pine cones, and field recordings. There is an element of twangy, echoey, lo-fi music in these recordings which reminded me of the primordial, primitive guitar stylings of Robbie Basho or John Fahey blended with touches of American psychedelic folk as heard by bands such as Texas’ acid-folk legends Charalambides.
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One of the most remarkable things about the series of compilations released by our friends at Unexplained Sounds Group is the great number of new artists they come into contact with, and serve as a launching board for. Of all the artists on this compilation, only Ryo Murakami’s work rings a bell. Masayuku Imanishi’s work sounds like a newsroom printing press staffed by Throbbing Gristle and Hélène Sage. USG continue to release the finest in post-Industrial music.
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This acousmatic gem by French composer Benjamin Aït-Ali was released at the end of 2020, and it’s as engaging as anything I’ve heard this year. There are many electroacoustic and acousmatic composers active today, including in my old hometown, who are of stunning quality, but Benjamin offers something a bit different to my ears. There’s a nostalgic sound involved, almost as if he were cutting and splicing these sounds together by hand. I don’t know his compositional or recording technique, of course, but there are warm pops and cracks throughout the recording. It’s truly cinema for the ears.
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Zoharum are one of Poland’s longest-lasting experimental, ambient, minimal and industrial/dub/illbient labels. On January 30, they released a comp of musicians who are critical in Poland’s underground music scene. Among familiar names, of course, are Jeff Gburek, Hubert Heathertoes and Mike Majkowski, but the new names I’m hearing on this release are equally as intriguing. Zoharum have done sterling work documenting the current goings-on of their local scene.
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Moscow’s ПИР (in English, Peer) Records offer a compilation of grimy techno, house and experimental music, something they’ve been offering in great quality since 2019.
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Though his bio on Bandcamp calls him a superlative jazz pianist, I would have to add that Chris Conway handles modern classical music with as much aplomb. He has also worked with some stellar musicians, including Guy Barker, Andy Sheppard, Stan Sulzman, Martin Speake and the legendary Finnish sax player Sakari Kukko (leader of Piirpauke) amongst others. This album, released today, I believe, is a collection of improvisations and ambient electronic music he gathered while working with the United Isolation Ensemble, of which he is a member. How ECM Records hasn’t signed such a prodigious talent is beyond me, but…