I’m used to expecting amazing things from composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Gburek, and certainly so when he pairs with violinist Karolina Ossowska, but this is a shockingly good album even with such expectations. The album has four compositions which are about as gentle and pleasing as anything I’ve heard in Continue Reading
Soundscapes
Bana Haffar – Genera – Live at AB Salon, Brussels
Touch Records has introduced so many experimental recording composers to the world in its 40 years of existence that it’s hard to keep up with them. This latest release by Saudi-American composer Bana Haffar immediately spins a web for you to get tied into her shimmering compositions. Found sounds and Continue Reading
李红旗和杨海崧（Li Hongqi and Yang Haisong) – Noise Concerto for Violin and Guitar
This work by Chinese composers Li Hongqi (violin) and Yang Haison (theremin) is a 52-minute piece of droning experimental music. The feeling of the recording reminds me of early Industrial music and it flows rather nicely. Thanks to storerecords out of Beijing for releasing this.
Pete Swinton – First Journey To Antarctica
I receive a double blessing for this release. I have the privilege of pointing my readers to a wonderful boutique label out of Brazil called z0 who are producing quality experimental music, and I add to this the joy of introducing more music from Pete Swinton, whose work has really Continue Reading
Heejin Jang – Me and the Glassbirds
Heejin Jang is a sound designer and composer from Seoul, South Korea who makes noise unlike other composers in the genre. The sounds are more subdued, sculpted, and in many ways, engaging listening. It’s not anti-music, but something abrasive, yet pleasing, to listen to. From her Bandcamp site: “The Korean Continue Reading
Li Jianhong (李劍鴻 ) & Wen Zhiyong (文智湧) & Deng Boyu (鄧博宇) – 歲寒三友 Les Trois Amis de l’Hiver
I remember the Beijing lockups very well, as I lived in the city during the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Some residents in Beijing, including the trio of Li Jianhong, Wen Zhiyong and Deng Boyu, made incredibly good use of the time and recorded an album of music combining free Continue Reading
1414E08 vs The Last American Poet – Necronomicon
Harold Bertram, a sound designer out of Germany who works under the name 1414E08 collaborates with The Last American Poet, Shane Beck. Shane’s calming voice and choice of subject matter, the infamous American horror-meister H. P. Lovecraft are expertly couched by Bertram’s horror-drone soundtrack. Remarkable.
Arrowounds – The Rise and Fall of the Melting World (Extended / Alternate Master)
Lost Tribe Sound delivers the goods again. This album comes to us from the band Arrowounds out of Athens, Ohio, and it sounds like something emanating from the most brutal part of the Rust Belt. It is fine listening for it, as the droning noise feels almost cinematic in scope.
Sonologyst – Electrons (New Edition)
Our friend Sonologyst (Raffaele Pezzalla) has released his first project of 2023, and it’s a deep listen, taking the existence of electrons as its subject matter. From his Bandcamp site: “As the theory of the atom, quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory in the history of science. It Continue Reading
ǽfv – خلق و خوی هماهنگ
Two small ambient/orchestral pieces have been released by the composer ǽfv, of whom I know nothing except that she is an experimental composer and cellist whose short compositions left me wanting much more.