Blake DeGraw is a very interesting multi-instrumentalist and experimental music composer and improviser out of Seattle, Washington. On this album, he is deconstructing a violin, making some terribly pleasant noise along the way.
Ambient
[Music] The Thing With Five Eyes – نور
The Thing With Five Eyes is the new project of Jason Kohnen of the Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble. It’s a good-sized EP of electronic music, the aforementioned darkjazz and a touch of drum & bass besides. A worthy release.
[Music] Katarína Máliková – Pustvopol
There’s not a lot of music I could compare Slovak chanteuse Katarína Máliková to. Her sound is utterly unique, and I could only imagine bands like Dead Can Dance as sharing her ethereal vibe. The instrumentation could fit somewhere comfortably between folk, fusion and Fourth World Ambient (think Jon Hassell).
For fans of these genres and of artists like Loreena McKennitt.
[Music] Sote – Holy Error [Opal Tapes]
[Music] JOHN 3:16 – עשר
Our friend from Alrealon Music and JOHN 3:16 main man, Philippe Gerber, has graced us with a new, extremely powerful release.
Right from the outset, Gerber hits us with the (early) Floydian drone of The Sun Shall Be Turned Into Darkness, which is so reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s evergreen, Set The Controls For The Heart of the Sun, without the percussive elements, but focusing more on a lilting drone. As the disc progresses, you are treated to genre-splicing par excellence. Progressive rock drifts into post-rock, supported by a skeletal percussive framework and an ethereal drony element serving as ether holding everything together.
In all, this release has 29 tracks, which makes עשר such a generous offering. Philippe has much to be proud of with this release.
[Music] God Cancer – Late Night Sessions
God Cancer is a new side project by Per Najbjerg Odderskov, a friend of this blog and the brains behind the stellar Destruktionsanstalt, reviewed here last year as well as in 2016.
This isn’t ambient music, at least not in the fluffy wallpaper sense. This is harsh, brutal, and reminiscent of something between early Industrial music and a radiophonic opera in the manner of Daphne Oram.
You can say that this is headphone music, but it’s the sort of headphone music which will leave you feeling quite disturbed and covered with goosebumps. After playing the album several times, I began to realize that this would be appropriate for a stop-motion masterpiece directed by Jan Švankmajer. Yes, it’s that brutal.
UPDATE: Per let me know that this release will be available on cassette from Splitting Sounds Records out of Serbia in either April or May of 2018!
[Music] 10 new reissues to add to your collection in early 2018
According to our friends at The Vinyl Factory, 2018 will be a magnificent year for reissues. Included in this article are releases from Klaus Schulze, Songs: Ohia, Holger Czukay, Sun Ra and Kuniyuki Takahashi among others.
[Music] A-BELL – Вода моей души
A-BELL is the one-man project of Leonid Churilov out of Minsk, Belarus. There is a dark, creepy, lo-fi soundtrack vibe to his work.
[Music] ZGA – The Flight of Infection
ZGA were an experimental music band who were based out of Riga, Latvia, and were seen form years as one of the leading lights of the then post-Soviet experimental and improvisational music scene.
Bandleader Nick Sudnick is still making music, and has been reissuing the ZGA back catalog on Bandcamp recently. This particular title brings fond memories as I had the pleasure of working with the venerable David Katznelson in bringing this album onto CD for the first time.
[Music] Faarwind – Vega
Faarwind are an ambient music band out of Kazakhstan’s former capital city and cultural powerhouse, Almaty. They produce a very gentle, lilting ambient music one can simply relax and unwind to. It blends in well with the natural sounds of the house, and the compositions have a very pleasant feel to them.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 