• Music

    Brion Gysin – Junk

    December 5, 2023 - By 

    Never, ever did I expect this artifact of Beat weirdness, cut-ups and free improv to get reissued, but then again, how many record labels are as brave in their choices as Wewantsounds is? From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue Brion Gysin’s cult avant funk album produced by Ramuntcho Matta in the early 80’s. The hugely influential Gysin who, with his friend William Burroughs, was revered by the likes of David Bowie, Brian Jones, Laurie Anderson, Genesis P-Orridge, is accompanied here by Matta – on his return from a two-year spell in New York – and French…

  • Music

    Jeff Gburek – The Radio & The Sea

    November 25, 2023 - By 

    Jeff Gburek’s latest album is not a departure from his carefully crafter work, but a continuation of his honing sounds together, weaving them in a way that the early musique-concrète composers could not have imagined.  Drones, pulses and the sounds of Burgas, Bulgaria, are blended to produce an immersive soundscape.  Yet another fine work.

  • Music

    Sonologyst – Shortwave Spectrum

    November 24, 2023 - By 

    It has been far too long since I’ve had the pleasure to review albums by Sonologyst, perhaps the finest dark ambient project to come out of Italy in the last decade and impresario of Unexplained Sounds Group, who have introduced dark music from all over the world. This album offers lush drones that wrap themselves around your ears.  Best to let Raffaele explain further: “The new Sonologyst “sonic documentary” delves into the secretive realm of shortwave transmissions; a chronicle of clandestine shortwave transmissions culled from a span of nearly four decades (1982-2021). These mysterious transmissions – repetitive voices, signals, sound…

  • Music

    Mirt – More Tarutao Recordings

    November 18, 2023 - By 

    Mirt, a Polish experimental artists, offers up sound recordings from Thailand.  From his Bandcamp site: “This is another part of an ongoing series of recordings made on Tarutao island. This time, the entire album focuses on the overall soundscape of the island and is a collection of random recordings I made during last trip to Tarutao National Park. Tracks 1 and 3 are recorded from a drop rig with no human presence on site and seem particularly interesting. Although these are not binaural recordings, I recommend listening with headphones.”

  • Music

    Oleg Karpachev – Sputnik (Dir. Egor Abramenko) O​.​S​.​T.

    November 17, 2023 - By 

    I have never heard of Oleg Karpachev, a Israeli soundtrack composer, but thanks to the fine folks at the legendary Cold Spring Records, I can spend this day blown away by this soundtrack which melds together Hans Zimmer and In Slaughter Natives in some fashion.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Released for the first time on any format, we proudly present the soundtrack to the 2020 sci-fi horror film ‘Sputnik’ (directed by Egor Abramenko). The bleak and hauntingly atmospheric film is accompanied by an impressively heavy soundtrack from Oleg Karpachev, who uses bombastic percussion, stirring strings, and otherworldly synths to…

  • Music

    Mayssa Jallad – Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels

    November 13, 2023 - By 

    A haunting release, this one.  Imagine dark experimental music mixed with war-ravaged architecture in what was one of the most beautiful cities in the world during the 1970s, Beirut.  This is the terribly beauty Mayssa Jallad offers. From Ruptured Records’ Bandcamp site: “The album comprises two parts. Part A: Dahaliz, is a stroll in the city, where Jallad tries (and fails) to follow an old map. Musician Youmna Saba is a companion in this journey of remembering the once winding corridors (“Dahaliz”) of the city, destroyed by new developments since the 1960s. Empty skyscrapers propel her onto a past filled…

  • Music

    Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann – Jazzisthmus

    November 10, 2023 - By 

    Had I not known the previous (impressive) works of both Jeff Gburek and A.J. Kaufmann, I would have happily believed that this was a lost psychedelic music gem long forgotten about in a basement studio recorded during Soviet times.  While the tones are dulcet, you never really get a chance to get into a groove.  The music shapes and shifts, making you ever aware of its presence and demanding that you pay attention (particularly hard to do as I’m grading papers at the moment).  The introduction to the album at Ramble Records’ Bandcamp site is one of the most elegant…

  • Music

    Forgotten Magus – The Demon Host

    November 9, 2023 - By 

    From Mike Benoit’s Bandcamp site: Shane Beck & I are here once again here to bring you the next Forgotten Magus album. We both hope you enjoy this as much as we do, and thank you for listening…it means the world to us. Forgotten Magus is Mike Benoit & Shane Beck, the last American poet. Be sure to look into Shane’s many other projects as he can be found all over the bandcamp world and is well worth listening to. Shane is an amazing poet and I am honored to work with him.

  • Music

    Kristo Rodzevski – Black Earth

    November 8, 2023 - By 

    Here is something rather magnificent coming out of Macedonia in the form of Kristo Rodzevski’s latest album through Defkaz, a great Greek label.  There is hope for the Balkans yet!  From the Defkaz Bandcamp site: “Black Earth has eleven traditional Macedonian songs infused with African aesthetics, including Gnawa undertones, Congo rumba, and African field recordings. The core of the traditional Macedonian harmonies and rhythms was developed over the centuries from the Ancient Greek and Roman Empire’s lyricism, Byzantium’s chants, and the Ottoman Empire’s classical music progressions, by way of multiple migrations, storytelling, wars, myths, tribalism, reconciliations, etc.) In a nutshell,…