First, a debt of thanks goes to my friend, the “Last American Poet,” Shane Beck, for reminding me what a sublime album this is from Cousin Silas, who was a friend of my previous blog, and an artist whose work I respect immensely. This album is filled with wispy rhythms Continue Reading
United Kingdom
The Boomtown Rats – I Don’t Like Mondays
The Boomtown Rats and I seem to be on the same wavelength. Serbian summers are nasty!
Various Artists – Shirley Inspired…
There is, apparently, a documentary film coming out on the life of Shirley Collins, the grand dame of British folk music who worked with such artists as disparate as Davey Graham and Current 93. This compilation is tied to the film, and features artists like Lee Ranaldo, Alasdair Roberts and Continue Reading
Strawberry Switchblade – 1982 4-Piece Demo
Strawberry Switchblade were my first musical crush, and perhaps the most charmingly twee band I heard during the 1980s and there was a lot of competition in those days. This EP from 40 (!!) years ago sounds as fresh as their eponymous debut album, but the sound is far rawer, Continue Reading
Don Leisure – Shaboo Strikes Back
Don Leisure is a Cardiff based producer and DJ whose latest work, dedicated to his legendary uncle, the Bollywood actor Nasser ‘Shaboo’ Bharwani, left me wondering how I didn’t hear about him before. From his Bandcamp website: “‘Shaboo Strikes Back‘ is a much-awaited sequel to the 2017 smash, and again Continue Reading
Carlos Niño & Kofi Flexxx – In The Moment, Part 3
Longform Editions is a boutique record label out of Australia which does many things well, but specialized in releasing short albums packed with electronic experimentalia from all over the world. This one brings Los Angelino Carlos Niño and a world traveling sax player whose work I’m quite new to in Continue Reading
FRKTL – Prose Edda
FRKTL is the nom de plume of British-Egyptian composer Sarah Badr, and her work straddles so many genres that it’s quite hard to describe accurately (a wonderful thing, as it means her work is incredibly fresh-sounding). There are, of course, long, drone-y elements to the music, but once you go Continue Reading
Dragon & Jettenbach – Tales from the Algorithm
This is so pleasantly dark and focused that I don’t think calling it ambient would do it justice. Dragon & Jettenbach are a project out of the United Kingdom who produce a sound that, while bleak, is also musically organized, reminding me of some of the modern Berlin School electronic Continue Reading
Chris Conway – When Pianos Dream
Though his bio on Bandcamp calls him a superlative jazz pianist, I would have to add that Chris Conway handles modern classical music with as much aplomb. He has also worked with some stellar musicians, including Guy Barker, Andy Sheppard, Stan Sulzman, Martin Speake and the legendary Finnish sax player Continue Reading
Various Artists – Tape Rolling! with Bunny Lee and Friends
England’s Pressure Sounds continue to release mind-blowingly good reggae compilations. This one features the production work of Bunny Lee pairing up with such luminaries as Eric Donaldson (whose raw version of Cherry Oh Baby adds grit to the warmly produced original. From the Bandcamp release website: “In 1971, despite his Continue Reading