Jonny Martyr – Impossible Space

A pleasant surprise out of Edinburgh, Scotland.  Jonny Martyr is a pianist who manages to, “build a world of sound with contemporary classical, electronica, post-rock and serialist influences.”  There is truth in advertising in this release, as each track manages to balance these genres perfectly.  It looks like Martyr has a Continue Reading

KAUAN – Ice Fleet

KAUAN hail from Estonia and bring something extra to both progressive rock and post-rock.  Long, drone-laden, repetitive music that holds one’s interest throughout.  Perhaps the best way to describe this is like a very much slowed-down My Bloody Valentine with a symphonic progressive tinge to it.  Unique.  I quite like Continue Reading

Arthur Lyman – Island Vibes

The ever-brilliant Aloha Got Soul Records is about to release a lost masterpiece of exotica. Arthur Lyman played vibraphone and marimba, and with these tools, nature sounds and some fine musicians backing him up, he managed to conjure up images of life in the South Pacific and Hawaii, which had Continue Reading

TienYinMen – Between Clouds (雲峽)

TienYinMen are a collection of composers and musicians based in Hong Kong who release a lot of thematic soundtrack music played on traditional instruments and electronic instruments.  They have a healthy body of work to choose from, and I found this one to be the best out of a great Continue Reading

Jeff Gburek – Corduroy Cascade

Jeff Gburek · Corduroy Cascade Normally, I’m more than happy to present works from Jeff Gburek and those associated with his music because the quality is high as it comes to experimental or other such avant-garde music. This, however, is a departure from what I’m used to hearing from him, Continue Reading

稷廬 / jì lú – 山與客聽 / Mountain, Traveler, Listener

The Sichuan, China-based Jì Lú (稷廬) are a new project that has connections with one of China’s most innovated bands, Raflum.  The instrumentation on this album is sparse, but it makes for good listening, as bamboo flute and guitar seem to blend pleasantly. Some notes regarding the release: When talking about landscapes in the traditional context, it’s mostly about reclusion.  Although true recluses are rare, the mountains and rivers are always there.  Ironically,  the real landscapes are actually “horrible nature” instead of some leisure place.  The traditional landscape paintings are a kind of “tame nature,” which were described as “To observe with meditation, and lie down to experience” and “Sitting in the forest and spring instead of go to banquet” by ancient Chinese poets.  It emerge at North and South Dynasty, then become a game of finding the essence during the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, and finally stuck in the static self-development after the Ming and Qing Dynasties.  The development of landscape paintings are just like how people detach with the nature and entering urban life.  This album is the continuation of this thesis.  In a time when the virtual reality are replacing urban life, we attempt to reinterpret this cliche with improvisation that based on the topic of “landscape.”  We also naming the songs by minutes and seconds instead of the traditional way of titling the songs, which is based on its imagery.  That creates interactive between the “teller” and listener, and reflects the beauties for individuals due to their own aesthetic experiences.  At this time, the distant, outmoded, cumbersome and vague image of landscape might leave a huge space for “starting again.” Instrumental Continue Reading