• Music

    Kalia Vandever – We Fell In Turn

    April 2, 2023 - By 

      Kalia Vandever is a New York- based trombonist whose playing is about as elegant as anything I’ve heard in a while.  From her Bandcamp site: “We Fell In Turn is the solo debut from Brooklyn-based trombonist, composer, and quartet leader Kalia Vandever. Vandever, who plays with Harry Styles and Japanese Breakfast, “sculpts her trombone’s golden tones into dazzling compositions” (Pitchfork), writing music that tends to “dip you into a feeling or a pattern or a breathing speed, and keep you there” (The New York Times). In 2022, Vandever released Regrowth, an album that “features the ecstatic, brilliant melodies that…

  • Music

    William Ryan Fritch – Heavy EP

    March 27, 2023 - By 

    One of the great composers I have had the pleasure of reviewing is William Ryan Fritch.  This EP is his latest, and these notes come from his latest EP via his Bandcamp site: “‘Heavy’, from composer William Ryan Fritch is a bombastic and ever-moving work that draws equally from the forward-thinking arrangements of modern chamber music as it does the snarling, imposing presence of Garage Rock. The whirring barrage of sounds and textures that percolate through it’s six songs are both wildly varying and effortlessly assimilated.”

  • Music

    Phil Tomsett & Aaron Martin – At Sea

    March 24, 2023 - By 

    We have had the pleasure of reviewing the work on cellist Aaron Martin in the past, but it’s nice to see a new release with him collaborating on a project with accordeonist Phil Tomsett which, ironically, began in London.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “At Sea grew out of my walks along a particular part of the coastline. I took this walk at least once a day and over time built up a relationship with the sea, as if it were a sentient being observing me as much as I was observing it. Here I was trapped on dry land…

  • Music

    Cinnamon Soulettes – I’ll Show You How

    March 15, 2023 - By 

    This is some beautiful soul from the Pacific Northwest.  The Cinnamon Soulettes were, apparently, from Seattle and recorded this private single sometime during the 1970s, but according to the Bandcamp site, “Unfortunately, most information the estate had was lost in a flood and none of the collectors and music historians from the PNW area we contacted, nor the University of Washington State who inherited a large part of (producer Kearney) Barton’s tape collection knew anything about the band or its mysterious songwriter “L. Leavy.””  With luck, L. Leavy will be found and properly compensated.

  • Music

    Karolina Ossowska & Jeff Gburek – Ariadne’s Thread

    March 3, 2023 - By 

    I’m used to expecting amazing things from composer and multi-instrumentalist Jeff Gburek, and certainly so when he pairs with violinist Karolina Ossowska, but this is a shockingly good album even with such expectations. The album has four compositions which are about as gentle and pleasing as anything I’ve heard in the past few years.  It’s farther out than, say, Kosmische Musik, yet elegantly restrained.  This is music for taking an inner journey and finding what terrain lies inside of yourself. Don’t think of missing this one, I implore you.

  • Music

    Bana Haffar – Genera – Live at AB Salon, Brussels

    February 27, 2023 - By 

    Touch Records has introduced so many experimental recording composers to the world in its 40 years of existence that it’s hard to keep up with them.  This latest release by Saudi-American composer Bana Haffar immediately spins a web for you to get tied into her shimmering compositions.  Found sounds and acoustic instruments feel and sound perfectly balanced, a feat made more impressive since this is a live recording.

  • Music

    Extremophiles – First Batch

    February 21, 2023 - By 

    Extremophiles are a duo made up of Jeff Gburek on synthesizer, percussion, effects, devices and John Palumbo on electro-acoustic drums, percussion, and more electronics.  I have to say this release blew me away, as it reminded be of a cross between the crunchy post-punk/Rock-In-Opposition vibe of This Heat’s early work and the more Industrial, less dance-oriented sound of Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF).  The music is fresh, but it will bring back a lot of memories for those of us who remember such sounds.

  • Music

    Various Artists – One Part Dog, Nine Parts Cat ~ The Beginnings of Burt Bacharach

    February 9, 2023 - By 

    Legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach passed away yesterday at the age of 94, leaving behind countless pop hits covered by singers both major and minor.  British label Moochin’ About have collected a 146-track compilation covering his earlier material, and it features artists like Dick Van Dyke, Cliff Richard, and perhaps his best interpreter, Dionne Warwick.

  • Music

    Robert Scott Thompson – Night and Day

    February 7, 2023 - By 

    Our friend Robert Scott Thompson offers a gorgeously minimal take on the Berlin School of Electronic music, something the doctor ordered for today.  RST is usually on-point with his long-form compositions, but this one sits perfectly in my ears today.  Well done.