Month: May 2020

[Music] The Flies – I’m Not Your Stepping Stone (1966)

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I really like The Monkees. Sure, the TV show was a little corny, but the music was enjoyable. I particularly liked “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone,” which I always felt was their strongest track. I’ve heard Jimi Hendrix cover it, and of course the original done first by Paul Revere & The Raiders, and as wonderful as those were, they paled a bit to The Monkees‘ version.

The Flies, an English band, took a crack at it in 1966, and they slow it down just a touch, making the song that much more of a keeper.

Really brilliant cover.

[Music] NERATERRÆ – Scenes From The Sublime

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Our friend Alessio Antoni of NERATERRÆ is visiting us for the third time, and he brings along some of the finest composers in dark ambient music to collaborate with.

Some of the participants in this album include Alphaxone, Dødsmaskin, Leila Abdul-Rauf, Mount Shrine, Phelios, Phragments, Shrine, Xerxes The Dark, George Zafiriadis from Martyria and Yann Hagimont from Cober Ord. The variance of sounds and textures on this release corresponds well with the different paintings which inspired Alessio to produce this album. Such painters as Zdzisław Beksiński, Ilya Repin, Salvador Dalí, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Francisco Goya among others.

There is a ghostly quality that comes with the genre on each track, but they have more of a viscous feeling to them. They sound, and in a sense, feel, more substantial than others I’ve been hearing recently. There is no shortage of incredible ambient music going around today, but Alessio and his partners continue to impress and surprise.

[Literature] The Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard (First Riff: Introductions + Stories 1956-1959) — Biblioklept

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IN THIS RIFF: Introductions Stories published between 1956 and 1959: “Prima Belladonna” “Escapement” “The Concentration City” “Venus Smiles” “Manhole 69” “Track 12” “The Waiting Grounds” “Now: Zero” Introduction I first read J.G. Ballard in high school. I found his work, somehow, after reading Burgess, Burroughs, and Vonnegut. I devoured many of his novels over the […]

via The Complete Short Stories of J.G. Ballard (First Riff: Introductions + Stories 1956-1959) — Biblioklept

[Music] Azu Tiwaline – Draw Me A Silence Part. I

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A very pleasant surprise came into my inbox today.  From Azu Tiwaline’s Bandcamp site:

Azu Tiwaline : It’s a new name for a new spirit. The one of a producer willing to find a new sound in her origins which take root in the Sahara and El Djerid region in the south of Tunisia. A sound from the desert, drawing on berberian and saharan transe music that connects human beings with Nature.

Peculiar translations and spellings aside, this album managed to hold my attention the whole way through. Thanks to being better connected to the world, we are beginning to hear more and more musicians come out of Tunisia and the Maghreb who are of an astounding quality. This is 21st Century Berber Music mixes techno, dub, and native Saharan rhythms. Fourth World music, updated.

[Music] Various Artists – Will You Still Love Them Tomorrow? Courtships and Confessions of the Early Girl Groups and Pop Divas

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I’ve been in a bit of an oldies mood, so I went through a stash of old links, and I came across this gem of girl-groups, many of whom you know intimately.  Such names as Etta James, The Marvelettes and Mary Wells are featured.

A great deal of praise should be showered upon Fidelity Masters for the excellent remastering job they did on this and many other compilations.

[Music] Lauri-Dag Tüür – Polar Night Jet

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Lauri-Dag Tüür is a composer from Estonia, a country whom I have a deep love for and who have given presented two equally fine composers whom I admire (Arvo Pärt and Erkki-Sven Tüür).

Lauri-Dag’s work compares favorably to these legends, as Polar Night Jet reminds me of works by a more freeform Popol Vuh, Paul Schütze or Steve Roach, yet with an aura of a field recording about it.  The percussion work is very engaging, so ambient it isn’t – it hooked me about 5 minutes into the release.

According to the composer, the three pieces should be perceived as one symphony.  I concur.  Everything flows together naturally.  One of the best albums I’ve heard in a while.

[Music] DUKE ELLINGTON, CHARLIE MINGUS, MAX ROACH-MONEY JUNGLE. — dereksmusicblog

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Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus, Max Roach-Money Jungle. Label: Blue Note Records. On Monday, September the ‘17th’ 1962, bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach made their way to Sound Makers Studio, in New York. The two friends were en route to a session where they would record an album with one of the giants of […]

via DUKE ELLINGTON, CHARLIE MINGUS, MAX ROACH-MONEY JUNGLE. — dereksmusicblog