Our friend Cousin Silas and his cohort Michael Brückner offer a relaxed ambient two-disc album album which floats between fusion and the Berlin School.
United Kingdom
Hatis Noit – Aura
Compared to the human voice, everything else is mimicry. Hatis Noit is an Japanese artist working out of London whose experimental vocal works compare favorably to artists like Laurie Anderson and the ever-wonderful Anna Homler. It’s a strangely soothing listen.
Alfa Mist – Two For Mistake
In honor of getting the chance to see the band this evening here in Beijing, I share with you a recent EP by London-based nu-jazz band Alfa Mist. It turns out that they put on a hell of a performance to a packed crowd, mainly of locals. It was one Continue Reading
Li Yilei – Nonage
Sometimes experimental music can produce either dour listening or tie itself to miserable cover art showing the worst of humanity in some sort of fetishistic way. Not so with this release! London-based Chinese composer Li Yilei’s album concentrates more of a happy, carefree childhood, where, as she puts it, “…learn[ed] Continue Reading
Cousin Silas & Glove Of Bones – A Brief History Of…
Although I’m happy to say I’m a longtime fan of Cousin Silas’ work, I had no idea what to expect from Glove of Bones, a project I knew nothing about until reading their webpage. I still know little about the band in terms of bio, but what a great impression Continue Reading
And Also The Trees – Mother-of-Pearl Moon
The legendary goth-rock band And Also The Trees have been around since 1979, and are still recording elegant post-punk music that is richly produced with acoustic instruments, drones and electronics. Fine listening.
Found Object – every silver lining
Well done, Found Object! The tracks on this album remind me of some of best synth-pop bands I grew up with in the 1980s. Though Tangerine Dream is referenced as an influence, I hear something different – Kraftwerk, Blancmange, a more instrumental Depeche Mode or Soft Cell seem to be Continue Reading
The Gaslamp Killer meets The Heliocentrics – LEGNA
This collaboration between Los Angeles’ The Gaslamp Killer and Britain’s funkiest band, The Heliocentrics, is one of those lucky finds you stumble into every now and then, and I say this as someone who isn’t too big a fan of hip-hop. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “The stars would align Continue Reading
The Land Of Yrx – Termination Point
The Land of Yrx are (were?) a charmingly weird band staffed by members of Audion, perhaps the most important magazine of my youth. The Freeman brothers would wax on about albums I wouldn’t have the chance to hear in full until I was in my 20s working at a record Continue Reading
Audion 60
The legendary Audion Magazine has a new (well, new to Bandcamp) edition out, and included with it is about 1 1/2 gigabytes of tracks from albums reviewed within. They were my first doorway to progressive rock, and I am forever indebted to them.