This collaboration between Los Angeles’ The Gaslamp Killer and Britain’s funkiest band, The Heliocentrics, is one of those lucky finds you stumble into every now and then, and I say this as someone who isn’t too big a fan of hip-hop. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “The stars would align Continue Reading
Music
Vadims Dmitrijevs Quintet – Integration!
Though the price is a bit steep at 17 Euros for a download, this one might be worth it. Vadims Dmitrijevs is an up-and-coming trombonist from Latvia, and this slab of hard bop swings mightily. Currently there are two tracks made available to sample. The whole album will come out Continue Reading
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. Continue Reading
The Land Of Yrx – Termination Point
The Land of Yrx are (were?) a charmingly weird band staffed by members of Audion, perhaps the most important magazine of my youth. The Freeman brothers would wax on about albums I wouldn’t have the chance to hear in full until I was in my 20s working at a record Continue Reading
Romowe Rikoito – UKA
This is the latest from Prussian/Russian neofolk band Romowe Rikoito. The music is heavy, based on the neofolk paradigm, of course, but what sets this apart is the reconstructed Old Prussian lyrics, something the band is passionate about transmitting.
Bahareh Fayazi & Asareh Shek – Nasim-e Sahar
From the Little Axe Bandcamp site: “Nasim-e Sahar (The Breath of the Dawn) by Asareh Shekarchi (on tombak and āvāz), and Bahareh Fayazi (on tar) is a reinterpretation of works by master Iranian singer Reza-Qoli Mirza Zelli (1906 – 1946). This recording features a variety of modal divisions of Iranian Continue Reading
Rudy Adrian – Reflections On A Moonlit Lake
Rudy Adrian has been at the forefront of New Age music since the early 2000s, and shamefully, I lost contact with his releases. It’s quite nice to catch up with him on his latest release, a collection of relaxing ambient music to soothe your mind a bit, but also to Continue Reading
Criatura Azul & Jota – Pessoas
Criatura Azul hail from Portugal, and the music they offer is a hazy, bluesy sort of psychedelic rock. Echos, effects, mellow strumming and spoken word make this into a good disc to chill out to.
Chapovski – Fogged, Encased
Bleak and morose, this is the debut recording (as far as I know) of Alexander Chapovski, related to the Čapovski clan of musicians from North Macedonia. There’s a thread of Tindersticks, Leonard Cohen and Swans in this piece, perhaps a neofolk influence as well. I look forward to hear his Continue Reading
Alfred Hitchcock Presents – Music To Be Murdered By
A note of thanks to one of the great oddball reissue labels, Vreemde Opties Records, who operate out of Belgium. Apparently, they have taken the time to license used-bin treasures like this and remaster them well enough to sound spectacular on your computer (or however you choose to listen to Continue Reading