Canterbury jazz-rock legends Soft Machine need little introduction, but this release might. This release comes from a Norwegian gig the band played, and though the master tapes aren’t absolutely pristine, the sound, for a live recording, is quite good. “Soft Machine’s two concerts at the Henie-Onstad Art Center near Oslo, Continue Reading
Norway
Sverre Knut Johansen – Distant Shore (30th Anniversary Edition)
Thirty years is a very long time to manage missing the work of a critically acclaimed artist like Sverre Knut Johansen. His work on this album sounds like a combination of the better aspects of New Age and early electronic music, a more relaxed version of progressive rock and a Continue Reading
Actionfredag – Turist i eget liv (Expanded Edition)
This was an absolutely pleasant surprise! Our friends at áMARXE have published a Swedish band called Actionfredag who keep the spirit of the Canterbury Sound alive in the modern age. The rhythms are tight, time changes about, and the production is punchy. This is a good day to be a Continue Reading
Tribal People React to A-ha Take On Me For The First Time
It’s rather charming to see cultures like this clash. These folks from Sindh, Pakistan, give their takes on everything from music to technology, usually with a calm, relaxed and jovial insight. In this episode, they listen to a-ha’s classic tune, “Take On Me,” and it seems they really enjoy not Continue Reading
Les Imprimés – I’ll Never Leave b/w If I
Les Imprimés are a Norwegian band who offer up deep neo-soul music. Singer and multi-instrumentalist Morten Martens has a voice that would have sounded perfect for 60’s AM radio, and the production is about as authentic as it gets for the time period.
Samo Salamon, Arild Andersen & Ra Kalam Bob Moses – Pure and Simple
This is some fine jazz improv. The trio of a friend to this blog, guitarist Samo Salamon, working alongside bassist and ECM Records legend Arild Andersen and Ra Kalam Bob Moses, and this group have an incredible way of flowing with each other’s vibes. Samo, of course, absolutely shreds on Continue Reading
Taphephobia & IDFT – Kandu
For the Halloween season, our friends at Reverse Alignment Records (now run by the Unexplained Sounds Group Empire) out of Sweden and Italy have released an album which has roughly the same spirit as such post-Industrial/dark ambient musicians as Lustmord or Steve Roach. Taphephobia is the brainchild of Norwegian composer Continue Reading
Vàli – Forlatt
Vàli are a neofolk band out of Norway whose music shows references to bands like Ulver and Empyrium. It’s a rather gentle album with acoustic guitar and fiddle, reminding me of the American folk-rock band Changes and the Chinese neofolk band Raflum. A mellow experience.
Maja S. K. Ratkje – Corona Lockdown Concert For TUSK Festival 2020
Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje is perhaps the most important active composer in Norway’s experimental music scene. The Trondheim native not only works with avant-garde music, but with contemporary classical, choral, experimental, electronic and even rock music. She provides a new release which clocks in about 30 minutes of vocal improvisation Continue Reading