• Music

    Senyawa – Istana (Live)

    Today is a workday for us in Beijing, so there is no review today, but I did want to point you to an Indonesian band called Senyawa, who is featured on Rafaelle Pezzella’s incredible Unexplained Sounds Group‘s digipak retrospective called the Far East Music Collection.  It is a reissue of three seminal compilations covering experimental music from China, Indonesia and the Far East in general.  The set looks gorgeous, and Senyawa‘s contribution is mind-blowing.

  • Music

    Various Artists – The Dystopian World of J​.​ G​.​Ballard

    Our dear friend Raffaelle Pellezza has curated another masterful compilation of dark ambient music focused on the British writer J. G. Ballard.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “In April 2009, J. G. Ballard died at the age of 78. By the end of his life he was recognized as one of the greatest British writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. The acclaim his work has garnered stems from its unsettling ability to describe the present in collision with near but unexpected futures. His narratives operate according to the temporalities of car crashes, epidemics, and physiological shocks. The…

  • Music

    Various Artists – New State Of Flux

    The second release from Raffaele Pezzella’s Unexplained Sounds Group’s latest acquisition, the magnificently dark Reverse Alignment record label. This is a different affair from yesterday’s compilation, which was more extreme in sound.  New State of Flux doesn’t have the same reach in terms of geography, but it covers music which is more focused, more intense, and gives a feeling of being part of a film-noir soundtrack.  Of particular interest to me was the piece done by Vongoiva called Palovankka, which you can hear below. Well done, as always.