• Music - Youtube

    Rare Soviet Oriental Jazz & Groove Mix Compiled and Mixed by Sasha Svistunov

    June 24, 2024 - By 

    Once upon a time, I had a decent working knowledge (at least for an American expat) of Soviet Jazz.  It keeps popping back into my life, and I still find it a joy to listen to even 30 years down the road.  Thanks to Shasha Svistunov for compiling some real treasures here, including quite a few whose names are new to me! Brief run-down in English Tracklist: 1. Oleg Kutsenko Leningrad Instrumental Ensemble – Oriental Suite (Oleg Kutsenko, 1975) 2. Kavkaz Jazz Trio – Borjomi Park (Vagif Mustafa Zadeh, 1966) 3. Vadim Ludvikovski Ensemble – Rhythm Dance (Arno Babadjanian, 1961)…

  • Music

    Paniyolo + Akio Watanabe – 家並み – Yanami

    June 23, 2024 - By 

    From the release’s Bandcamp site: “A guitarist Paniyolo and a steelpan player Akio Watanabe are releasing a duo album “Yanami (The row of houses)”. Based on the 11 sketches, they have painted a space kept in tranquil atmosphere with a guitar and a steelpan, each sketch has a glimpse of subject what could be found as you spent more time at home. Focused on the familiar daily life environment that we have overlooked, each piece of music is written with margins and lingering sound. This album is released for the first time in four years, since their release of previous…

  • Music

    Hull of Light – Gilded Liminal Shrines

    June 22, 2024 - By 

    Here we have Hull of Light, an “…international collective of cosmic cowboys and cowgirls with members from Megason, Suffering Hour, Zeresh (our beloved friends), Underground Spiritual Game & Sleepwalker [夢遊病者].”  The music was absolutely not what I was expecting, as a few of these come from a raw, powerful black metal background.  Not this EP.  This sounds like it would have fit with early 1980s post-punk.  There is an aggression, a lo-fi quality to it that screams to be noticed.  I thoroughly enjoyed having my ears blasted by this.

  • Music

    Marcos Valle & Leon Ware – Feels So Good

    June 21, 2024 - By 

    Thanks to Marcos Valle doing a bit of cleanup in his home, Far Out Recordings proudly present a 7-inch single of a track Marcos and the late Leon Ware worked on in Los Angeles during the 1980s.  Here’s the back story, courtesy of Marcos’ Bandcamp site: “In 1979, together in an LA Studio, Valle and Ware recorded a demo which would remain unfinished for 44 years, as Valle recalls: “This demo tape Leon and I recorded… I found the tape on a shelf in my house, it must have been there for over forty years! I showed it to Daniel…

  • Music

    Hatis Noit – Aura

    June 19, 2024 - By 

    Compared to the human voice, everything else is mimicry.  Hatis Noit is an Japanese artist working out of London whose experimental vocal works compare favorably to artists like Laurie Anderson and the ever-wonderful Anna Homler.  It’s a strangely soothing listen.

  • Music

    Tidiane Thiam – Africa Yontii

    June 17, 2024 - By 

    From Tidiane Thiam‘s Bandcamp site: “Hailing from the sleepy fishing Senegalese fishing town of Podor, home of the great Baaba Maal, Thiam taught himself guitar by playing along to late-night radio broadcasts of Manding music. He soon developed his style, often reworking Pulaar folk themes into his compositions. On Africa Yontii, Thiam’s third album for Sahel Sounds, he teamed up with hip-hop beat maker Ndiaye Moctar from studio M.N. Records to provide accompaniment, integrating unexpected elements such as field recordings and electronic sounds”

  • Music

    Gunesh – Гунеш

    June 16, 2024 - By 

    Gunesh were from Turkmenistan and had one of the greatest drummers and percussionists to ever beat the skins in Rishad Shafi, who passed on a few years ago.  This holds itself admirably compared to western fusion bands.  Worth your time!

  • Music

    Ambient Folklore – Bestiary

    June 15, 2024 - By 

    The Bulgarian band Ambient Folklore have a new album out, and it surpasses any neofolk/dark-folk album I’ve heard over the past two years.  The sounds on this record are heavy and foreboding, made more so by very prominent hurdy-gurdy expertly played by Petar Delchev.  It sounds as if mid-period Death In June discovered Balkan music and incorporated local instruments into their sound, but with better recording production.  A gorgeous album.