• Music - Qobuz - Youtube

    Various Artists – A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: To the Moon and Back

    Your browser does not support iframes. Our heroes age. After the passing of Yukihiro Takahashi last month, it got me thinking about how long we have Sakamoto-san and Hosono-san with us. Both are due a tribute album of some sort. Thankfully, Milan Records has done a sterling job bringing together Sakamoto collaborators, friends, and those who are indebted to the master. Artists like Christian Fennesz and Alva Noto (Carsten Nicolai), who have collaborated on some incredible glitch albums, are joined by his countrymen Cornelius and Otomo Yoshihide, along with old friend David Sylvian, all of whom do wonders reworking Sakamoto’s…

  • Music - Qobuz

    Skáld – Huldufólk

    Your browser does not support iframes.    The French collective Skáld come as a revelation to me.  These are Frenchmen who expertly perform Nordic music and imbue it with everything from folk music to metal. From the band’s press release: “As the heirs of the ancient poets known as skalds, the SKÁLD group, with one song after another, tames this folk tradition. We can lose ourselves in the hills of Danish elves, and meet Swedish nymphs, as we listen to the ballad of Herr Mannelig, the tale of a female troll who hopes to become human (by attempting to wed…

  • Music - Qobuz

    The Hilliard Ensemble – Codex Speciálník

    Your browser does not support iframes.    According to Wikipedia, “…the Speciálník Codex (CZ-HKm MS II.A.7) is a 15th-century speciálník (i.e. special songbook) originating from a monastery in the region of Prague.”  It is considered something of a ‘missing link’ between medieval and Renaissance music and it features several rather unknown Czech composers.  The Hilliard Ensemble sing pieces from this book so elegantly that I almost forgot about my classes this evening.  After a rather traumatic week, this was pure balm for my ears, mind and soul. Though you can find it at your favorite CD shop, you may want to consider ordering this through…

  • Music - Qobuz

    Pekka Pohloja – Jokamies (Everyman)

     Jokamies (‘Everyman’ in Finnish) is a collection of tracks for a television series of the same name composed by the Finnish bassist Pekka Pohjola.  After his work with the hard-rock/progressive outfit Wigwam, he ventured into jazz fusion (perhaps New Age as well) and made some of the most impressive albums in the genre during the 1970s and 1980s, culminating, in my estimation, in this album.

  • Deezer - Music - Qobuz

    Uusikuu – Karuselli

    Welcome to the world of Finnish tango as brought to you by Uusikuu, who celebrate their 16th year with this charmer of a disc.  As this wonderful release from the ever wonderful CPL-Music isn’t on Bandcamp, I would like to point you to their Qobuz website, as I’m not much of a fan of Spotify.  If this doesn’t work in your country, consider going to Deezer here. There is something special about Finnish tango.  One would think that Finland and the Rio Plata area of Argentina and Uruguay wouldn’t have much in common, but, in fact, they share a melancholy…

  • Music - Qobuz - Spotify

    Divanhana – Ćilim

    Our dear friends and CPL-Musik stun us again with a popping single!  Some info from the band’s Bandcamp site: Divanhana is a Bosnian sevdah band which performs traditional music in new arrangements created under the influence of jazz, pop and the 20th century classical music. Divanhana’s intention is to cherish and present the urban traditional music not only from Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also the traditional music from the whole Balkan region, with a particular accent to Sevdalinka. The music is far more energetic, though less sultry, than a lot of Sevdalinka I’ve heard previously, but it’s a joyful listen. You…

  • Music - Qobuz - Spotify

    Alexei Aigui & Arkady Marto – DA

    This should be a breakout year for Alexei Aigui, who has released his fourth album of the year in collaboration with pianist Arkady Marto. The album is absolutely sublime. Each track has a gentle touch, balancing violin and piano perfectly. The cornerstone of the album for me is this track, Nocturne No. 0: It is a tango that would have made Ástor Piazzlla proud. The whole album is engaging, and would have made for perfect music for a dramatic film (something Alexei has been making for several years now, with great success). As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, if you…

  • Music - Music Documentaries

    Alexei Aigui – 1000 Miles Till The Next Embrace EP

    Our friend and noted composer Alexeï Aïgui was just featured here recently for his releases, Palimpsest and Alcohol, at the end of July, and it seems that he’s kept himself quite busy as of late, so we’re pleased to announce this EP, a soundtrack to the film 1000 Miles Till The Next Embrace, a documentary on tango directed by Irina Rubia. Alexeï has proven himself to be among the best of this generation of soundtrack composers, but there is one track which utterly stands out for me, the fifth track, titled Freeze.  It has a feeling of a post-rock composition,…