• Music

    Various Artists – Canary Records: Hellenic Hinterlands: Independent Greek-American 78rpm Discs from Baltimore, Boston, and Cleveland ca. 1953-57

    September 15, 2024 - By 

    From the Canary Records Bandcamp site: “When middle-class Americans in the 1950s found that they could get access to a tape recorder and a microphone, it then became possible for them to make recordings that they could pay to have pressed into discs. One didn’t need to go to dedicated recording studios, most of which had been for decades in the cosmopolitan centers – first New York, then Chicago, then the temporary make-shift, studios set up in hotel rooms Georgia, Texas, Tennessee and Virginia, or the independent studios in Grafton WI, Richmond IN, Los Angeles, etc. It was part of…

  • Music

    Dionisaf – Shibui

    September 7, 2024 - By 

    From Chitra Records’ Bandcamp site: “Shibui is a simple, unobtrusive beauty that expresses original imperfection and intelligent restraint. The track titles are based on various polysemantic aspects of Japanese aesthetics and culture.” Simple, sparse electronic music.  Not quite ambient, but it’s easy to get lost in.  This is a fine release for headphone listening.

  • Music

    Gaelynn Lea – All the Roads that Lead Us Home

    September 2, 2024 - By 

    This album is an absolutely sublime combination of folk music and classical, with Gaelynn Lea’s violin sounding like a full orchestra.  From the release website: “‘All the Roads that Lead Us Home’ is a focused, vibrant piece of music by a person who is able to take a solitary instrument and make it sound like a full string arrangement, who can fill a full-length LP with mostly just those sounds and communicate fluently her heart and soul with only a few tools.” – Tony Bennett, Duluth News Tribune”

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    R.A Sánchez – L’ottava Sfera

    August 22, 2024 - By 

    Tuscon, Arizona’s R.A Sánchez has produced one of the most horribly bleak albums of 2024.  A combination of slow doom metal and drone set with jazz instrumentation, this could easily give bands like Sunn O))) a run for their money.  All respect is due to Lost Tribe Sound for releasing this dark masterpiece.

  • Music

    Luiz Santos – Sapphire Fire

    August 20, 2024 - By 

    https://luizsantos.com/album/2834683/sapphire-fire I normally try to share albums on major platforms, but my friend Luiz Santos has self-released a rather fine jazz album on his website, and I thought it would be good to share it with friends.  It’s piano-based, a bit dark, and a comfortable listen worth your time and exploration.

  • Music

    Various Artists – Was Ist Das?: Ballads Of Seduction, Fertility And Ritual Slaughter

    August 19, 2024 - By 

    This is a rather novel concept.  The compilation featured here, courtesy of Was Ist Das?, is, as the Guardian states, “… a fittingly weird 50th anniversary tribute to The Wicker Man’s startling soundtrack. Magpahi’s synth-drizzled Maypole, Dean McPhee’s Sunset and Meg Baird’s Willow’s Song are particularly gorgeous.”  Each track stands well on its own, but generally fits the ethos of the legendary film as well.

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    Real Live Tigers – Denatured

    August 18, 2024 - By 

    Described as, “Letters read aloud over AM radio, quiet guitar through motel room walls, loud electric guitar in summer basements, gravel parking lots in the rain, train sounds,” there was no way I wasn’t going to pay attention to this release. Real Live Tigers is a project started by Tony Presley.  His voice reminds me, ever so slightly, of Stuart A. Staples of Tindersticks, but with a more lo-fi, folksy feel to it.