Canary Records is at it again. As a Los Angelino, I have to say I didn’t know there was much of a Judeo-Spanish community here, though it does make sense, as many Spanish and Mexican families may very well have Sephardic roots hidden from the Catholic majority. The recordings are Continue Reading
Music
Robert Scott Thompson – Placid
Robert Scott Thompson, the ambient music alchemist, has released several new albums recently, but I wanted to start with Placid, a rather chilling work that references works by the maestros (Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Klaus Schulze), a touch of Warszawa-period Brian Eno/David Bowie, and his own more musical compositional bent.
Dead Gallery – Dead Man’s Theme (Full Album)
Stoner rock is a genre that always surprises me (in a good way, mind you). Dead Gallery, for example, are a heavy stoner/psychedelic blues band out of Austria, and the music they make reminds me of really old rare hard rock albums you would find in collector fairs (think of Continue Reading
Domenique Dumont – People on Sunday
I came across a “composer” (really, a duo) based in Riga, Latvia called Domenique Dumont. The pair consist of Latvian multi-instrumentalist and producer Arturs Liepins and vocalist, ethnomusicologist Anete Stuce, and they have produced a shimmering, gentle piece of electronic music. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “People On Sunday is Continue Reading
Pete Townshend – Save It for Later
Today is a rest day thanks to horrid summer rain in Beijing, so I leave you with The Who’s legendary guitarist and second frontman, Pete Townsend, doing justice to a song originally performed by The (English) Beat.
The Jagaloons – Ruin The Party
The Jagaloons are an instrumental surf/garage-rock band out of Albany, New York. They have the energy of a punk band, the suaveness of those who play exotica, and can work in spaghetti western themes into their music. Brilliant stuff.
Philip Jeck & Chris Watson – Oxmardyke
There’s little I can say to introduce you to the work of Philip Jeck, the turntablist who passed away in March of 2022, nor would I with Chris Watson, the maestro of field recordings and one-time member of Cabaret Voltaire. This release is a project that the gentlemen were working Continue Reading
Szilárd Mezei Trio – Inkább (Rather)
Serbian-Hungarian multi-instrumentalist and composer Szilárd Mezei is perhaps the most adventurous musician coming out of Hungary these days, and that’s saying a lot, considering the great quality of improvisers who have come from that country (think of the legendary A.E. Bizottság, for example). This is a trio album from 2008 Continue Reading
øjeRum – Vågnende Jeg Ser De Døde
Danish composer øjeRum has recorded for and with some of the best ambient and electronic music labels active today, and this latest release is published by the estimable Room40 Records out of Australia. From the release Bandcamp site: “While recording, radio waves and static electricity interfered with the signal – Continue Reading
Akira Sakata (坂田明) – a.k.a. Tombo (赤とんぼ)
Akira Sakata may be best known internationally for collaborations with guitarist and composer Jim O’Rourke and bassist Bill Laswell, but in Japan and among jazz aficionados, he’s also known as one of Japan’s best purveyors of spiritual jazz. This album is his latest, and it’s imbued with deepness and humor Continue Reading