• Music

    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.  Shades of early Industrial music with a more academic bent (don’t let that scare you!), a modern, sharper and cleaner take on experimental music, and bits and bobs of something that could pass for soundtrack music underpinned by a subtle, harrowing trumpet underneath, make this an absolutely worthy listen.

  • Music

    Rose McDowall – Our Twisted Love EP

    It’s amazing to think that this EP is the latest (and hopefully not last) artifact released by former Strawberry Switchblade front-woman Rose McDowell.  She had been active singing with groups like Current 93 and her own project, Sorrow, for many years, and this EP continues on that dark and eerie road.  I get the feeling of hearing a very dark series of folk songs sung in the creepiest of Presbyterian churches.  Brilliant.

  • Music

    Oleg Karpachev – Sputnik (Dir. Egor Abramenko) O​.​S​.​T.

    I have never heard of Oleg Karpachev, a Israeli soundtrack composer, but thanks to the fine folks at the legendary Cold Spring Records, I can spend this day blown away by this soundtrack which melds together Hans Zimmer and In Slaughter Natives in some fashion.  From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Released for the first time on any format, we proudly present the soundtrack to the 2020 sci-fi horror film ‘Sputnik’ (directed by Egor Abramenko). The bleak and hauntingly atmospheric film is accompanied by an impressively heavy soundtrack from Oleg Karpachev, who uses bombastic percussion, stirring strings, and otherworldly synths to…

  • Music

    Abu Ama + BedouinDrone – Dawlat L​ī​biyyā

    Abu Ama and BedouinDrone’s most recent collaboration, Dawlat L​ī​biyyā, is being presented to the world by Mahorka Records, who have released this album as a well-deserved vinyl edition as well as a adding an extra track added to the digital version.  The duo released several albums both together and individually for the record label before, but this will be their first vinyl release for Mahorka, and we are hoping that many more releases appear. As an aside, the artwork was done by longtime Mahorka resident designer Angel Draganov, based on calligraphy paintings by Brett Tassenon, which is an absolutely stunning…

  • Music

    post doom romance – fragments

    Post Doom Romance is a project between Mykel Boyd and Seah, and their collaboration produces a collection of sweeping drones dedicated to their supporters, immortalizing them on disc.  A noble project, but more importantly, the sound is engaging and hooks the listener into a pleasant ambient lull.

  • Music

    Jettenbach – Extracts from The Diary of Mars

    Our friends at Jettenbach, a fascinating project from England, have prepared for us a Martian travelogue.  The concept sounds like something taken directly from a sci-fi movie, dialog and all, and it’s quite an interesting thing to hear.  The music drifts from floating experimental ambient to hard-beat.  This shifts genres rather quickly, so listening was a bit of an adventure, though a worthy one.

  • Music

    Sanr – Ramak (​Ş​iddet Denetimi)

    Sanr is a project out of Turkey who has released an album so drone-laden and so darkly ambient that it would have fit perfectly between a collection of Cold Meat Industry records and the Terminator 2 soundtrack.  It’s heavy, foreboding and magnificent listening if you like a horror vibe.