Finland’s Timmion Records has released Chicano-soul rocker Jonny Benavidez who provides a radio-friendly (for 1965) soul cut that sounds so authentic that it takes you back at least two generations, which seems to be a specialty for the record label.
United States
They Came From Hell – Osteotome
There are two very short tracks on this release by They Came From Hell, one of the many fine side projects of composer Philippe Gerber, but the music is so oppressively dark are foreboding that it would make for stellar soundtrack music.
Magicien Blanc – End The Beginning
A fellow expat, Christian Locke (Magicien Blanc) has come up with one of the best prog rock albums I’ve heard in a while. There are some cues from French and Italian prog bands from the 1970s and 1980s, some influence of bands of the Berlin school and Goblin, and it Continue Reading
Shane Beck & Michael Brückner – Extended Sigh
There’s little I can add to my dear friend, the Last American Poet, Shane Beck, and heir to the Berlin-School throne, Michael Brückner, so I will let the gentlemen speak for themselves. You can read further at this release’s Bandcamp site: In what turned out to be a spontaneous burst Continue Reading
Abandoned Toys – Where Tides Defy the Moon
This is a curious release. Abandoned Toys manages to balance ethereal ambient music with symphonic progressive rock. A rather brilliant balance, indeed.
William Ryan Fritch – Cohesion
William Ryan Fritch’s lastest disc is the, “second in a three-part series reflecting on the many calamitous water crises affecting life on this planet.” Cohesion is a bit darker than the previous album, Polarity, but there is a more organic feel to it. From Fritch’s Bandcamp site: “In contrast to Continue Reading
Jeff Gburek – The Art of Prepared Guitar Volume One
Jeff Gburek’s recent instrumental guitar album is a a wonderfully disjointed trip around his sonic weapon of choice. It’s a truly wild work, but Jeff weaves his vast musical influences together with hints of a broken kind of blues, free jazz, improvisational skronk and psychedelic rock. In Jeff’s words, which Continue Reading
Various Artists – Meticulous Midgets 2023
Our beloved friends at Russia’s finest indie music magazine, Meticulous Midgets, has released their annual compilation of weird experimental, lo-fi and avant-garde music. Featured artists include Russia’s own Assembly of Honey, the Italian ambient sound sculptor Marco Lucchi and Latvia’s Шумилов Бор (Shumilov Bor) among a host of talent worldwide.
JOHN 3:16 – The Pact
Folks, we have a very long wait for JOHN 3:16’s next opus (April of 2024), but judging based on how good the samples have been so far, this is going to be the band’s most profound release yet. The tension on the album reminds me of early, more Industrial-era Laibach Continue Reading
Omar Ahmad – Inheritance
Judging by the sole track available from AKP Recordings artist, the Brooklyn-based Palestinian-American Omar Ahmad, this album should be considered one of those albums you listen to at 3 a.m. in order to relax and be at one with God. The chilled out atmosphere of the track Lapses is shimmering, Continue Reading