I suppose some would call this The Swans’ ‘Joy Division’ phase. The album, The Burning World, showed a marked change in direction from a band who had previously sounded like the equivalent of a drunken brontosaurus stumbling into his cave after a healthy drinking binge (and yes, that’s a good thing). Since they reformed, their sound continues to adapt and grow. They are as vital a band now as they were in the beginning.
Experimental Music
[Sample] Marco Lucchi – Preludes and Fanfares
Beautiful dark ambient my Italian composer Marco Lucci.
[Video] Keith Jarrett Trio – Here’s That Rainy Day (Rare)
Something melancholy from Keith Jarrett seems appropriate after hearing about the loss of a good friend yesterday afternoon.
[Sample] Standgericht – Scrape Through My Skin (Preview)
Many thanks to Diana of Standgericht, who sent me some material she’s working on for an upcoming album release. If you have a passion for Electronic Body Music of a more brutal type, this will be worth waiting for.
[Video] Ivana Stefanović – The Epistle of Birds (1976)
Less a piece of music and more a gaggle of birds having their caterwauling manipulated expertly by Ivana Stefanović, who composed this piece of sound art inside the studios of Radio Belgrade.
The Skopje Connection – Branko, Branko, Branko (Live)
Three of the finest musicians Macedonia has to offer combine with Dutch cellist Ernst Reijsinger for an amazing concert I was privileged enough to attend.
The lineup for the evening:
Dzijan Emin – Melodeon
Luca Aquino – Trumpet
Georgi Sareski – Guitar
Ernst Reijseger – Cello
Enrico Blumer deserves a load of credit for making this collaboration happen. He has been a gift to the Skopje music scene.
[Review] Fake Cat Project – Fake Cat Songs
Kirill Makushin (who also records under Kirill M and Crows In The Garden) is no stranger to this blog. He’s a bayan player who works well with experimental composition. In this EP for the Fake Cat Project (his new band), he works with the legendary Russian avant-garde music stalwart Alexei Borisov, and Igor Levshin, who contributes ‘vocals’ (meows, really).
[Podcast] Ultima Thule #1068 – Bruno Sanfilippo
Ultima Thule #1068 by Ultima Thule Ambient Music on Mixcloud
Sublime working music, courtesy of Bruno Sanfilippo, who is featured today at the Ultima Thule podcast, available on Mixcloud.
Many thanks to Miguel Santos, who will be showcasing Bruno in London later this year.
[Video] SPK – The Garden Of Earthly Delights
SPK had an incredible beginning as one of the brutal first wave of Industrial Music, then dissolved into a dance mess with a couple of utterly forgettable albums. Their swansong, however, is about as sublime as Dead Can Dance was at their best. Zamia Lehmanni: Songs of Byzantine Flowers would be a bridgeway for Graeme Revell to go into soundtrack music, which he is still doing to this day.
[Video] Ganelin, Chekasin, Tarasov – Semplice (II)
I really owe all of my passion for Eastern European/Soviet Improvisational and Experimental music to one man: Leo Feigin of Leo Records. It was through his introduction, via his catalog and a few letters back and forth, that I was introduced to such artists as Vyacheslav Ganelin (the Ganelin Trio’s leader, now based in Israel), Sergei Belichenko and Roman Stolyar, a friend to this day.
Here is the Ganelin Trio near the peak of their improvisational powers. Vladimir Tarasov and Vladimir Chekasin join in.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 