While it can be a bit embarrassing to watch Bandcamp get its liberal knickers twisted up, Sufyn handles the interview with aplomb. He’s perhaps East Africa’s best hip-hop producer, influenced by what he describes as L.A. beats. Though I’m not a big fan of hip-hop, this talented dentist is doing something very fresh, and deserves every bit of success he’s been gaining.
Electronica
[Music] Sudan Archives – Escape
Sudan Archives is a vocalist and violinist who hails originally from Cincinnati, Ohio (what a shame she wasn’t directly from Khartoum with a band name like that, alas), and who is working out of Los Angeles, California, making her a local to me. Her Soundcloud page is active with some extremely interesting cuts which straddle the like of hip-hop (the good kind which actually sounds like art), electronic music, world music and R&B. I can’t wait to hear more from this talented artist.
[Music] Various Artists – Superspectrum
Superspectrum is a compilation featuring some of the finest dark ambient music active today. My personal favorite from this record is a track called Oblivion by Iranian composer Xerxes The Dark.
The label which released this comp, Eighth Tower Records, is a subdivision of Unexplained Sounds Group, run by Raffaele Pezzella, well known for his work with his project Sonologyst.
This is wonderful late-night headphone music.
[Music] Steven Severin – 23 Wounds Of Julius Caesar
Seeing that today is the Ides of March, the day Julius Caesar was turned into a pin cushion by a creepy cadre of senators, it’s appropriate to celebrate the day by highlighting a recent release by former Siouxsie and The Banshees bassist Steven Severin.
[Music/Film] Elektro Moskva
Elektro Moskva, directed by Elena Tikhonova & Dominik Spritzendorfer, shows the history of electronic music in Russia from the works of Léon Theremin to the ANS synthesizer used by such luminaries as Eduard Artemiev (famous for his soundtracks to the films of Andrei Tarkovsky) and beyond. I’m very much looking forward to seeing this when time permits.
[Music] The Orchestra of Mirrored Reflections – Dead Beat
This has to be the release of 2017, as least as far as March!
Our friends The Orchestra of Mirrored Reflections have graced our blog once before, in April of 2016 for a review of an incredible live performance in Odessa. The band return with a new, seven-track album which is as rich, dark and sumptuous as anything released by groups like the Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Bohren & der Club of Gore and other such acts. In fact, I’d be willing to say that the beauty of this album surpasses these stalwarts.
The album consists of smoky jazz that sits somewhere between fusion and trip-hop. The guitar playing is minimal, gentle, but totally in keeping with the darkness of the music. The drumming, however, is what makes the release for me. It is sparse, minimal, with singular beats, serving as a wonderful linchpin to the rest of the instrumentation floating above.
After such a splendid release, we wait more magic from the band
[Music] “Bust Free 20” by Various Artists from Cold Busted
compilation international various artists downtempo electronic instrumental hip-hop beats freedl funky trip hop Los Angeles
via “Bust Free 20” by Various Artists from Cold Busted — Free Trip Downl Hop
[Music] Moreno Veloso – Coisa Boa
It looks like Moreno Veloso is the chip off the old block, said block being the legendary Caetano.
[Music] In Aeternam Vale – V8
In Aeternam Vale are a techno music project out of Lyon, France, and their music tends to be driving, but ultimately standard fare for the genre. What’s more interesting, however, is the choice of video material they used. It comes from a Russian/French production called Ograblenie po…, which is a play on American, Italian, French and Russian gangster movies.
[Music] Aaron Dilloway & Jason Lescalleet – Black Mountain
Aaron Dilloway & Jason Lescalleet recording a gorgeous ambient album in 2014 called Popeth, which is sadly unavailable, even as a download, now.

