Easy Listening

[Music] Abd al-Rahman al-Khamissi – عبد الرحمن الخميسي – Music from the Soundtrack “Respectable Families”

/ Rudy Carrera / Leave a comment


Welcome to the world of easy (cheesy) listening out of… Cairo?!  Yes!!  According to the bio over at his Bandcamp page, “Abd al-Rahman El Khamissi (bio in Arabic only) is an Egyptian poet, writer, journalist, dramatist, radio producer, film director, composer and talent scout for famous Egyptian actors such as Soad Hosni.  He has been seen as a great romanticist and one of the finest Egyptian poets.  Khamissi’s versatile talents as an artist and story teller portrayed in many ways the aspirations of Egyptian society.”

There is an elegance in this release mixing tango, the aforementioned easy listening and the better elements of soundtrack music.  Many thanks to the folks at Radio Martiko who selflessly dedicated their efforts into releasing this gem.

[Music] Silent Island – Stormvalley

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I want to thank István Csarnogurszky, guitarist of Silent Island and musician in several amazing post-rock bands, for this new little gem of an album. His guitar playing is as fluid as ever, and as much as I like instrumental guitar albums, Csarnogurszky is ably supplemented by Gábor Károlyi on bass guitar and Mike Vecchione, who provides drum loops.

Dense, but not overwhelming. A very pleasant album to think to, but it can take you places if you want to concentrate solely on the music.

[Music] Various Artists – 1​+​1​=​X

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A hearty congratulations to Erased Tapes who turn 10 years old this year. This compilation features 20 exclusive tracks from their mighty roster, and not one is a disappointment.

1. Qasim Naqvi – Brutal Moderna 04:18
2. A Winged Victory For The Sullen – Long May It Sustain 04:20
3. Rival Consoles – Ritual Song 05:10
4. Nils Frahm – Frau Dehlholm 03:05
5. Daniel Thorne – Iroise 05:47
6. Daniel Brandt – Blackpool Sands Forever 05:11
7. Douglas Dare – Darling 08:13
8. Michael Price – Eyn Hallow 04:17
9. Kiasmos & Högni – Zebra 03:43
10. Ben Lukas Boysen – Pending 04:44
11. David Allred – Ahoy 04:49
12. Anne Müller – Bel Tono 03:30
13. Lubomyr Melnyk – Palisade I 17:03
14. Hatis Noit – Inori 04:44
15. Masayoshi Fujita – Spaceship Magical 04:05
16. Högni – Máni 03:56
17. Peter Broderick – The Perpetual Glow 05:23
18. Arthur Jeffes & Nils Frahm – Up Is Good 05:35
19. Daniel Brandt – Blackpool Sands Forever (Rival Consoles Remix) 04:27
20. Penguin Cafe – Wheels Within Wheels (Greg Gives Peter Space Remix) 06:09

[Music] Alessandra Celletti – Sacred Honey

/ Rudy Carrera / 2 Comments

My old friend and former business partner, Michael Sheppard (who passed away a few years ago far too young), did me the honor of introducing me to the work of Italian pianist Alessandra Celletti.  His label, Transparency Records, featured four of her works including a collaboration with German/Austrian Krautrock legend Hans-Joachim Roedelius.

I’ve had the pleasure of keeping in contact with her, and she has graciously notified me of her latest album, Sacred Honey, her second album dedicated to the compositions of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann. It is available on Bandcamp as a CD (though not as a download, unfortunately) and for streaming above, courtesy of Spotify. For the first album inspired by Gurdjieff/de Hartmann, listen to it at Deezer.

The CDs ship out on April 15, just in time for Tax Day.