• Music

    Sarah Belle Reid – MASS (Extended + Remastered)

    Thanks to the magnificent blog a closer listen, I was introduced to the work of a fellow Los Angelino Sarah Belle Reid.  I was intrigued by postrockcafe’s description of the album, and after hearing it this morning in between teaching duties, I have to say that the description is apt.  Shades of early Industrial music with a more academic bent (don’t let that scare you!), a modern, sharper and cleaner take on experimental music, and bits and bobs of something that could pass for soundtrack music underpinned by a subtle, harrowing trumpet underneath, make this an absolutely worthy listen.

  • Music

    Pyroclastic – Life is an Illusion

    Pyroclastic is the brainchild of former member of the Los Angeles Das Bunker Collective Ryant Takai, who was one of the few musicians promoting genres like Industrial Dance, Electronic Body Music and Power Noise.  From main member Ryant Takai’s Bandcamp site: “The second coming album focuses on the continuing of Power Noise/Rhythmic Noise roots, pays tribute to Indigenous tribal rhythms of North America, and blends in a hybrid of Dark Techno vibes. Ryant Takai is well versed in percussion and experiments in a diverse array of Bass kicks without sticking to any particular 909, 808, or any other typical digital…

  • Music

    Ulaan Passerine – Dawn

    Ulaan Passerine is one of many aliases used by Los Angeles-based guitarist Steven R. Smith.  This latest album is a shimmery walk into guitar instrumental territory.  Smith produces an elegant kind of instrumental music that would sit well with both post-rock fans and those into a more mellow psychedelic vibe.  Think along the terms of the band Oregon as a reference.  Not ‘easy’ listening, but ‘gentle’ listening.  Well done.

  • Music

    bu.re_ – dream sequence ii

    Too dense and sumptuous to be labeled ambient music, what Los Angeles’ own bu.re_ offers is a ride on the clouds on your way to something approximating Heaven.  The drones emanating from these works are some of the warmest tones I’ve heard this year.  Bravo.

  • Music

    Odeya Nini – Ode

    Los Angeles-based composer Odeya Nini is a marvel to listen to.  She uses her voice and body to full effect as an instrument and composes profoundly interesting contemporary classical music, and whose works are radical enough to fit into musique concrète.  If you enjoy the works of Meredith Monk or Anna Homler, this just might appeal to you.

  • Music

    Anna Homler – Breadwoman & Other Tales

    There are few experimental artists I hold a loving reverance for in the way I do for Anna Homler.  I had the pleasure of meeting and befriending her during the 1990s, and I had the distinct joy of seeing her again when Maja Ratkje performed in Los Angeles several years ago.  Breadwoman is one of her performance art creations, “a being who exists outside of time, yet surfaced on tape during the perfect storm of performance art, renegade DIY avant-garde, gallery culture, and esoteric mysticism of early 80s Los Angeles.” This was the first collaboration on cassette between Anna and…

  • Music

    Pyroclastic – Welcome To The Abusement Park

    Sometimes it’s an absolute pleasure to take a stroll down memory lane.  My friend Ryant Reeleyes, who worked with Los Angeles legends Jugend Staat many years ago, never gave up the aggro-Industrial-techno bug, and has kept the spirit of bands like Skinny Puppy and Front 242 alive. The album is harsh, ugly at times, cavernous and it makes for a brutal listening experience.

  • Music

    Carlos Niño & Kofi Flexxx – In The Moment, Part 3

    Longform Editions is a boutique record label out of Australia which does many things well, but specialized in releasing short albums packed with electronic experimentalia from all over the world. This one brings Los Angelino Carlos Niño and a world traveling sax player whose work I’m quite new to in Kofi Flexxx paring down a two-hour session.  Carlos explains more about the session below, courtesy of Longform’s Bandcamp site: “For me, extended, deep listening is it! I listen a lot and journey eternally within. Hearing and feeling, in, of, with and around, playing music is extending, deeply listening, being at…