We have brutal experimental music on offer by an American who has integrated himself into the Tbilisi experimental music scene. From the Bneleti Bandcamp site: “Bneleti (ბნელეთი), named after a pre-Christian Georgian word that translates to “Land of Darkness,” is a project by Ben Wheeler. His first full-length, self-titled album Continue Reading
Improvised Music
Margarida Garcia and Manuel Mota – Domestic Scene
The latest release by two of Lisbon, Portugal’s top improvisers, Margarida Garcia and Manuel Mota, sounds less like experimental music and more like the soundtrack to a minimalist horror film. It’s intensely oppressive (yes, that’s a compliment) and creates an uncomfortable, eerie atmosphere, but I found it hard to stop Continue Reading
Masayuki Takayanagi New Direction Unit – Axis/Another Revolvable Thing
Blank Form Editions out of New York has reissued a concert by Japanese free jazz guitarist Masayuki “Jojo” Takayanagi from 1975. From their Bandcamp site: “Axis/Another Revolvable Thing is the second installment of Blank Forms’ archival reissues of the music of Japan’s eternal revolutionary Masayuki Takayanagi, following April is the Continue Reading
Mujician – The Journey
Mujician was perhaps one of the greatest improvisational groups to come out of England, and this album shows them in peak form. The band consisted of clarinetist and saxophonist Paul Dunmall, backed by drummer Tony Levin (not the King Crimson bassist), bassist Paul Rogers (not the hard rocker), and Keith Continue Reading
Jeff Gburek & Friends – Decembryonic Journey 2025
As the year heads to a close, our friend Jeff Gburek offers up one of his last releases of 2025. From his Bandcamp site: “Although most of these tracks were realized in October and November, I’ve chosen to give the title over to the coming moon of December and the Continue Reading
Billy Tsounis – Pregnant Man Blues
My old friend, the near-legendary freak-psych guitarist Billy Tsounis, has a new album. From his Bandcamp site: “Pregnant Man Blues is the latest transmission from Billy Tsounis and The Amazing Androids, a band that lives where psychedelic rock, cosmic blues, and surreal sci-fi textures intersect. Entirely instrumental, the record plays Continue Reading
Sarathy Korwar – There Is Beauty, There Already
What a sublime work this is! I’m new to the work of Sarathy Korwar, a US-born, India-raised bandleader and master percussionist. This percussive gem is his latest work. From Sarathy’s Bandcamp site: “Playing as a 40-minute suite of hypnotic and transcendent drum improvisations, the album beats through a repetitive, circular Continue Reading
The Necks – Disquiet
The Necks, perhaps my favorite improvisational music trio, have a new release. From the Northern Spy Records Bandcamp site: “Meticulously recorded and sculpted, the four extended pieces on Disquiet see Tony Buck, Chris Abrahams, and Lloyd Swanton pushing at the outer edges of their collective intuition, building and unraveling hypnotic Continue Reading
George Christian – IMPROVISTOSURTOSCIRCUITOS
I enjoy the improvisational guitar playing of George Christian, but this release takes a different direction. It feels less like a complete improvisational album and more like demo tapes from a band inspired by the Velvet Underground. There are psychedelic elements throughout, giving it a primal quality.
Li Song / Zhao Cong / Zhu Wenbo – Tangerine and the Invisible
Though I will be leaving China in a week from yesterday, I will not stop exploring what the country has to offer musically. From traditional and pop music to jazz, classical and avant-garde, there’s something for every taste here, and it’s generally done quite well. From the Ftarri Bandcamp site: Continue Reading