• Music

    Various Artists – Alex from Tokyo presents Japan Vibrations Vol.1

    February 5, 2024 - By 

    From the World Famous Records Bandcamp Site: “Dive into the exhilarating era of Japan’s electronic dance music scene from the mid ’80s to the mid ’90s with Japan Vibrations Vol. 1. The hand-picked collection by DJ and musical storyteller Alex from Tokyopays homage to the trailblazers and innovators who shaped the landscape. […] Experience the vibrations of pioneers Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Yasuaki Shimizu. Of culture-shaping forces Hiroshi Fujiwara, Kan Takagi, Susumu Yokota, Silent Poets, Mondo Grosso and Kyoto Jazz Massive. And of new-generation artists CMJK (C.T. Scan), Mind Design, Okihide, and Hiroshi Watanabe. The evolution of a scene,…

  • Music

    Deena Abdelwahed – Jbal Rrsas (جبل الرصاص)

    December 12, 2023 - By 

    Deena Abdelwahed is an artist and DJ who hails from Tunisia and cut her chops in the music in the capital of Tunis before relocating to Paris, France.  Her sound is brutal, slow, mixing a nearly tribal Industrial sound with authentic music from her homeland.  Brutiful, if I can beg your pardon and borrow this portmanteau to describe such heavy music.

  • Music

    Priori & Al Wootton – FLAW

    November 23, 2023 - By 

    I’ve been in search of good minimal techno since the subject came up with a colleague’s student (he has access to several brilliant students, present and former, whom I hope to feature here in the future).  Doing a bit of digging, this release by Priori and Al Wootton perked up my ears the most this evening.  Dark, beaty, and incredibly good for headphone listening.

  • Music - Soundcloud

    The Drone Pilots #051 – Electric Light

    November 5, 2023 - By 

      The Drone Pilots are a rather secretive collective I encountered by chance here in Beijing. They specialize in long-form trance mixes, and this particular one uses, of all bands to choose from, the Electric Light Orchestra as base material. From the project’s Soundcloud site: “”I have a message from another Time” – Prologue Tribute to the legendary Electric Light Orchestra who first industrialised the synth/strings combo. Namecheck: Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Richard Tandy,, Reinhold Mack and remembering Kelly Groucutt, Louis Clark, Musicland Studios (RIP), Vocoder 2000 and the orchestral cast of thousands following on from Mik Kaminski,…

  • Music

    tamiX – X NEW YEAR

    July 9, 2023 - By 

    Out of sheer good luck, I came across a Chinese artist recently called tamiX.  She has a large body of work, not only with music but in multimedia, and now, print.  She has a Patreon site, so if this work suits you, consider supporting her work. From her bio on the release’s Bandcamp site: “tamiX, a professional artist of improvisational electronic live music and visual arts, refusing to perform with computer programs or software, specializes in unprepared visual creativity, and music performance with standalone gear to demonstrate physically natural effects as atmosphere changes likewise. As Buchla endorsed artist, with Buchla…

  • Music

    D​ž​iunglių Dvasios – Urban Jungle

    April 28, 2023 - By 

    D​ž​iunglių Dvasios is, from what I understand, a drum & bass/downtempo project run by Evaldas Azbukauskas, who also records as Girių Dvasios. The beats are heavy and dubby with a bit of soul singing sampled into the tracks. Not quite easy listening, but pleasant in its own way.