Hiiro Issiki – 1000 Plateaux

1000 Plateaux is the debut record by Hiiro Issiki, a Japanese composer.  I don’t find too much information on Issiki’s background, but this record is a musical chimera, sprouting patterns and shapes at will, yet maintaining cohesion, and in many parts, beauty.  What a stunning piece of work this is! Continue Reading

Emel – The Tunis Diaries

NPR does a great disservice comparing Tunisian singer Emel’s voice to Björk.  There’s absolutely no comparison, and I say this as someone who likes Björk’s work a lot.  Emel is simply a better singer. Her album, The Tunis Diaries, is something closer to the Portuguese band Madredeus, whose singer, Teresa Continue Reading

Joseph Benzola – When You Get to Saturn, Make a Left.

I cannot think of any genre of music percussionist and composer Joseph Benzola doesn’t sound comfortable working in.  There might be some bizarre concoction lying dormant in the underground somewhere, but it’s not worth wasting one’s time thinking much about. This collection puts together what sounds something similar to Balinese Continue Reading

Vedan Kolod – Gorodische

Vedan Kolod are a troupe based in Moscow, Russia, who do sterling work interpreting medieval Russian folkloric music, especially Siberian tunes, with a modern twist.  The label, CPL, is run by my friend and colleague, Christian Pliefke, whose taste in artists is impeccable, and every release he’s curated for his Continue Reading