When I hear the words Avant-garde in relation to contemporary classical music, I think normally of some me composers who pull out old, clichéd tropes. This release from Kenyan composer Nyokabi Kariuki is so stunningly weird that the album has given itself the right to be termed Avant-garde correctly.
Soundscapes
Chris Child & Micah Frank – Tape Pieces Vol. 3
Chris Child & Micah Frank are two incredible composers out of the New England area of the United States. From this particular release’s Bandcamp site: Tape Pieces Vol. 3 represents the final installment in the collaboration between composer/producer Chris Child (Kodomo) and sound artist Micah Frank. Volume 3 culminates in Continue Reading
Federico Mosconi – Air Sculptures
Our friends at Lost Tribe Sound have at least three releases coming up which will be reviewed here. I’m pretty excited to introduce you to ambient composer Federico Mosconi, whose compositions feel cavernous, made more impressive that he’s pulling this together with guitar and effects. For those of you who Continue Reading
Stick Men – Tentacles EP
It’s hard to imagine a more technically proficient power trio than the Stick Men. Tony Levin, Markus Reuter and Pat Mastelotto are all King Crimson alumni or associates, and each bring their superlative talents to their instruments of choice. It’s the band’s first new music in six years. Amazing work.
Gang Violins – Greater Forces
Hear me out on this one. Gang Violins, a duo out of New Zealand, released a single to their upcoming album Inner Realms, and it’s a well-crafted mix of cinematic ambient music and post-rock, but it triggered a memory of the subtle buildup to the song Where The Streets Have Continue Reading
Uzu Noir – Zo!
Uzu Noir is the monicker used by Finnish audio engineer-mixer-producer (having worked with Richard Dawson & Circle, Brian Eno, The Tindersticks, These New Puritans, Ulver, Natacha Atlas, Pharaoh Overlord, The Utopia Strong, Cyclobe, Old Man Gloom, etc) Antti Uusimäki. With such an incredible résumé, one would expect that his debut Continue Reading
Marcus Webb – sPaCeS pLaCeS
Marcus Webb is a sound designer and composer based out of New Jersey in the United States who creates “foreboding soundscapes and craters of bass and noise serving as the constants within alternating conceptual constructs of city life and drones wrapping around cavernous spaces with clearly defined tones from his Continue Reading
Diana Hayes/Andy Meyers – Deeper Into The Forest
Andy Meyers is the former guitarist of Toronoto art-punk legends The Scenics. He’s gone off to do more exploratory work after moving to the Vancouver area, and this, his latest work, is a collection of soundscapes set to the poetry and vocals of fellow Canadians Diana Hayes and Susheela Dawne. Continue Reading
‘t Geruis – Slow Dance on Moss Beds
Our dear friends at Lost Tribe Sound start the year with two powerful releases, though I’ll concentrate on one today (with the other in the next week or so). This one is by Belgian composer ‘t Geruis (a rather unusual name, which, in Dutch, means “The Noise” or “The Murmur“). Continue Reading
BlindººCoyote – Along The Cracklefield Wash
Our dear friend Drem Bruinsma, the BlindººCoyote in question, provides a 20-minute track of ambient loops, eerie rhythms and and enchanting soundscapes. From his Bandcamp site: “Inspired by personal hikes into various shadowless desert arroyos, to meet with silence, coyotes, antelope, dust and rocks, leveling with tumbleweeds and sagebrushes from Continue Reading