Our friends at Wewantsounds have dug deep for this one, and of course, they have found gold. This album, available from the label as a vinyl-only release, sits in a strange apex of electronic music, soul, pop, jazz and the avant-garde, which is the first genre I would have associated with Steve Beresford. This is an album you can don your smoking jacket for. Swanky, well-produced and an elegant listen. You can purchase the album here.
Legendary former Art Zoyd composer and multi-instrumentalist Thierry Zaboitzeff has a new EP. From his Bandcamp site: “LUVOS migrations is the original soundtrack of the dance film by Editta Braun and Menie Weissbacher, AT 2022. Vision of the future or images from a parallel universe? In breathtaking natural sceneries, automated industrial landscapes and deserted ruins, a journey through time and living spaces. www.editta-braun.com/e/films/luvos-migrations.html“
This is a charmingly freakish album from the French band Musala nan Eilan which has the audacity to combine post-rock with Celtic music, among other genres. From the band’s Bandcamp site: “Five musicians who don’t know each other, coming from different musical worlds, finding themselves under the same roof for some weekends. Discovering each other, trying to understand each other, making everyone’s tastes and expectations collide. From these moments shared together a sort of musical glossolalia was born. A language specific to the five musicians, which none of them really understands. A clumsy praise to the clash of influences. An…
Hugo Əspirito Santo is a Portuguese composer based in France who manages to tie together a cold, ominous synth sound with lo-fi techno beats. Disturbing, but quite a good listen.
Thanks to the ever-consistent Muteant Records for bringing this album to my attention! I’m familiar with both Michel Kristof and Makoto Sato’s work, as both as masters in the improv world, but Quentin Rollet is a new name for me. His sax playing and sound manipulation are expertly underpinned by the aforementioned Kristof and Sato, making this a bouncy and adventurous listen. Quentin Rollet : sopranino and alto saxes, Korg Monotron Delay, iPhone, SmarFaust App Michel Kristof : electric guitard, Sfx, cowbells Makoto Sato : drums
Brotha Lok is a French producer and DJ of Vietnamese extraction, and he has produced a wild album with no solid focus, but it listens are more of a travelog. Bits of hip-hop, ethnographic recordings, field recording, spoken interludes (including a bit of laughter here and there) are brought together into a very personal album.
Mykel Boyd is one of the leading lights in experimental music and drone, and has done so much to promote the genre that it is (pleasantly) hard to keep track of his releases. He is paired with Brume (the working name of French composer and long-time contact Christian Renou) who is, frankly, a legend in the cassette culture scene. The album is a fine take on electroacoustic music with an ominous vibe floating throughout these pieces. Perfect to get lost in thought with.
Deena Abdelwahed is an artist and DJ who hails from Tunisia and cut her chops in the music in the capital of Tunis before relocating to Paris, France. Her sound is brutal, slow, mixing a nearly tribal Industrial sound with authentic music from her homeland. Brutiful, if I can beg your pardon and borrow this portmanteau to describe such heavy music.
As I have to stay home due to a nasty cold, I thought I’d explore some older releases. Our dear friends at Wewantsounds released this compilation of spiritual jazz in 2017, and it sounds as fresh as ever. Some of the giants featured on this album include Harold Land, Roy Haynes and Shelly Manne, but each track is solid.
This is perhaps one of the most beautifully stunning acousmatic works I’ve ever heard. Every percussive strike of the piano had me transfixed while listening, so much so that I wasn’t able to do my normal routine of working while listening to music. Our dear friend Benjamin Aït-Ali took a bit of time away from composer serious music, but has come back to it with a vengeance. It’s a gripping work, this.