Amazing things keep showing up in Mexico. Sonido Gallo Negro are a band out of Mexico City, and mix a wild cumbia sound with psychedelic music. The results are thoroghly in keeping with the best of radical Mexican alternative music.
Electronica
[Music] Ambient Landscape – Veronica III
Long, slow, elegant, nearly neo-classical ambient music, courtesy of the most appropriately named Ambient Landscape.
[Music] El Mahdy Jr. – Raï Dubs
El Mahdy Jr. is a composer and beatmaker originally from Alergia, but who is now hailing from Turkey. His work is informed by VERY heavy dub (his dad, apparently, had quite an awesome collection) and sampling. Very creative.
[Music] Sturqen / vÄäristymä – Atonia
Nervu is a Portuguese ambient music record label who debuted with this split release between their countrymen Sturqen and Finnish brothers Janne Liimatainen and Jarko Hedenius (who operate under the monicker vÄäristymä).
This release reminds me of the gorgeous minimalism of Pan Sonic and their side project Ø. Perfect headphone music.
[Music] Sean Khan, Hermeto Pascoal – Palmares Fantasy featuring Hermeto Pascoal
Many thanks to Andrew Jervis over at Bandcamp Weekly for not only sharing Sean Khan’s work but for a stellar interview with a young man who will be seen as one of the UK’s leading lights of new jazz.
[Music] Various Artists- Heresy Records: A Map Of The Kingdom Of Ireland
Though not as long in the tooth as INA-GRM nor as exotic as the scenes in places like Egypt or Iran, it seems that Ireland has developed a venerable electroacoustic music scene which has spanned over five decades. This compilation, A Map of the Kingdom of Ireland, a compilation of Irish Electro-Acoustic music featuring works by Ireland’s most celebrated Electro-Acoustic artists, was released on March 2, 2018 by Dublin, Ireland-based Heresy Records, is quite a gem of not only electroacoustic music, but of pure, non-theoretical music of many stripes, including contemporary classical and even new wave/post-punk.
The comp starts off gently with a cut by Paul Morrin. It is a bit like a boat taken off its moorings, and drifts along until about the two-minute mark, when the tempo changes to something a bit more lively and focused – one could even say it has a post-rock feel to it, reminding me a bit of the band éf.
Tóirse Ó Ríordáin comes up next with something that feels slightly like an early Penguin Café Orchestra piece if it were composed somewhere near the border of Brazil and Colombia.
It is Daniel Figgis’ piece, Timothy Cream’s Crown of Wines, which really gets into a more freeform composition, referencing avant-garde music and perhaps Krautrock. There is a lilting, marching quality to the composition which allows one to drift off into the ether while.
Even freakier are the two pieces turned in by Dublin mainstay Roger Doyle. This is a bit away from the avant-garde – this feels more like a cleaner, more updated sound referencing Tangerine Dream. As my old Kraut friends would say, “sehr Kosmisch…”
The fun surprise of the compilation for me were the two tracks included by Princess Tinymeat (a reference to actor Montgomery Clift’s… er… shortcomings in the boudoir, I’d imagine). His (her?) back catalog is screaming for a re-release, as I haven’t come across this name since I was collecting cassettes in the late 1980s.
Finally, Spooky Ghost gets a mention for some of the most pleasant guitar work I’ve heard since Vini Reilly was in peak form with the Durutti Column in the early 80s.
There isn’t a duff track on the compilation. If you find this collection enjoyable, you may want to also consider purchasing On The Nature Of Electricity & Acoustics, another remarkable compilation curated, this time, by Figgis.
Track Listing
1. Compass – Paul Morrin
2. Atop D’Seefin (Educution remix) – Tóirse Ó Ríordáin
3. Timothy Cream’s Crown of Wines – Daniel Figgis
4. Avant Garde Your Grille – Deep Burial
5. Little Train To Heaven – Richard G. Evans with Daniel Figgis
6. Eighties Rampwalk – Roger Doyle
7. Sleep Circus (remix) – Paddy Hunt vs. Charles
8. Richard Harris Blesses The Dawn Flotilla At Guilvinec – Cathal Coughlan with the Grand Necropolitan String Band
9. Finale from The Room In The Tower – Roger Doyle
10. handsinmyhead – GREETINGS
11. DriftDin – Vincent Doherty
12. Arcticus – Donald Teskey
13. Your Majesty – Princess Tinymeat
14. Stutter – Spooky Ghost
15. Unscan Ó Malley – Tóirse Ó Ríordáin
16. MegaMix – Princess Tinymeat
17. Wandering Compass – Paul Morrin
* The digital version of the album includes the following four tracks
18. Old Piano – Vincent Doherty
19. Reverse – SOM
20. Audacity – Deafector
21. Rampwalk – Roger Doyle / Olwen Fouéré
[Music] Nu Guinea – Nuova Napoli
Nu Guinea are a couple of lads from a city which has given me a lot of pleasure and a fair amount of both headaches and heartaches, Naples. Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina will be releasing their latest album, an homage of sorts to their hometown, on April 7th.
The one track they have offered as a sample of what’s to come is a very funky affair reminiscent of the work of Tony Allen. You hear disco, funk and Afrobeat rolled into a rather amazing package.
[Music] Fujiya & Miyagi – Transparent Things
No, Fujiya & Miyagi are not Japanese, though the name apparently comes from a brand of record players and a memorable character from the movie The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi, played by long-time actor Pat Morita. They’re Brighton lads, and they do a stunningly good impression of Neu! and similar Krautrock bands.
[Music] Kaoru Inoue – Em Paz – Groovement Organic
It looks like I’ve stumbled upon another magnificent indie music blog. This one is definitely worth following!
Kaoru Inoue is an elder statesman of Japan`s underground dance music community. He`s been releasing music, a uniquely Japanese spiritual take on House and Techno, since the late 1990s. Under the alias Chari Chari. Branching into Ambient, in cahoots with fellow travellers like Calm and guitarist DSK. Tunes appearing on offshoots of his own Seeds & Ground, and Kenji Takimi`s Crue-L. Still super active as a DJ, he`s been quiet of late on the production front. Save a couple of limited pressings as Aurora Acoustic, and a few edits (Dif Juz; 23 Skidoo). One split 12 with another Tokyo Dance veteran, Masanori Ikeda.
Em Paz, on Portuguese label, Groovement Organic, is electro-acoustic Fusion. Picking up Jon Hassell`s idea of a “Fourth World”. In so much that it uses traditional elements, and technology, to create a new musical location that`s impossible to pinpoint. Indian tabla. Synergising drones, from sitar…
View original post 122 more words
[Music] Alapastel – Hidden for the Eyes
I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to releases by James Murray’s beautifully-curated label Slowcraft Records. This one by Alapastel, at least given the two tracks available currently (the whole album will be released on March 9), seems to be the gem of the collection so far.
Lukáš Bulko (the aforementioned Alapastel) is a composer out of Slovakia, where a lot of amazing independent music is coming out of these days. He manages to patch together a mesmerizing blend of contemporary classical music, a touch of musique concrète, and maybe a speck of post-rock in a way not dissimilar to Ólafur Arnalds. I’m very much looking forward to following which direction Lukáš will go in the future.
For a more in-depth review, I recommend visiting Dan’s review over at Fluid Radio.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 