• Music

    Alessandra Celletti – Sacajawea

    Within the next few weeks, I will conduct an interview with pianist Alessandra Celletti, a dear friend and one of Italy’s most colorful musicians.  This one is her latest, and its centerpiece is based on the Lemhi Shoshone teenager who not only led the American explorers Lewis & Clarke in their exploration of the Louisiana Territory but also became a symbol of women’s suffrage in the United States.

  • Music

    Midori Hirano – And I Am Here

    According to Midori Hirano’s Bandcamp site, “this album was initially released on staaltape by Rinus Van Alebeek in 2015 as a very limited edition of cassette tape.” It’s a gem of experimental music because Hirano’s background blends a classical music, a commercial music background, and what would end up being termed as “Japanoise,” the beautifully violent experimental music which exploded in Japan and worldwide throughout the late 80s and early 90s.  Hirano crafts 24 sound vignettes on this album, and the end result is something akin to John Cage going mushroom hunting with Aki Takahashi while listening to Hijokaidan on…

  • Music

    Cergy-Pontoise – CP01

    This is a curious release.  Cergy-Pontoise are an Italian duo, and their albim starts out with drone-y ambient sounds but then falls into atmospheric progressive-folk at times, sounding like a better recorded lo-fi artist out of New Zealand, perhaps.  There are also elements of space rock, prog and psychedelic music in this.  It’s a mixed bag in the positive sense of the word.

  • Music

    Thierry Zaboitzeff – Séquences

    As a cellist, bassist, composer and former member of Art Zoyd, I’d venture to say that Thierry Zaboitzeff needs no introduction.  However, what I didn’t know about him over these past few years was that he has been active making soundtracks. This particular one is for the movie Winds of Sand, Women of Rock, which is a film about a group of Tubu women traveling the Sahara Desert selling dates in Agadez, Niger.  The film looks fascinating, but the music is equally so, bringing to mind a lot of modern minimalist composers (the usual suspects, like Philip Glass and Michael…

  • Music - Spotify

    Alexei Aigui & Ensemble 4’33” – Palimpsest

    A debt of thanks is owed to Alexei Aigui, a friend of this blog as well as one of Russia’s finest composers and violinists.  He and his troupe, Ensemble 4’33” bring a sweeping cinematic album which will appeal to those who enjoy composers like Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, and also more interesting aspects of progressive rock (think bands like the Penguin Café Orchestra or even a far lighter Samla Mammas Manna, played with joy). I’ve spent a good deal of time these last few days listening to more heavy music, so Palimpsest is something of an indulgence for me.  It’s…

  • Music

    Taennya – Natural Serenity

    Taennya is Tatyana Maslova, an ambient music composer from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Russia.  The city is home to some of my favorite musicians (including Roman Stolyar and Sergei Belichenko among others), and it looks like I have another musician whose works will be on my playlist for some time to come. The tracks are instrumental, with big, cavernous washes of sound.  As far as ambient music goes, this gives off a warm, calming feeling without being saccharine.  You will hear beats and voices here and there, and these help to guide you deeper into this enveloping sound.  A very engaging release.

  • Music

    Stijn Hüwels & Tomoyoshi Date – 遠き火、遠き雲’ ​(​A Distant Fire​,​ A Distant Cloud)

    laaps Records is a French label releasing quality ambient music.  This one seems to be their latest, a calming wash of sounds composed by Belgian composer Stin Hüwels in collaboration with the Brazilian-Japanese composer and sound artist (and emergency room doctor!) Tomoyoshi Date. The music is a mix of organic and electronic sounds, gentle plonking tones, and a very, very relaxed atmosphere.  This could be music to sleep to, and I mean this as a high compliment. From their Bandcamp site: 遠き火、遠き雲 (Tōki Hi, Tōki Kumo / A Distant Fire, A Distant Cloud) is the second collaboration by Tomoyoshi Date and…

  • Music

    Andrew Land – (Making Good) Defects

    Andrew Land is a composer out of Birmingham, England whose work is simple and rhythmic, played in an elegant manner, without sounding simplistic.  It’s minimalistic, so those of you who enjoy the works of Harold Budd, Philip Glass or even Hans-Joachim Roedelius may want to pass your time enjoying this EP. If you prefer to stream the release, Andrew obliges you at his Spotify account.