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.
Avant-Garde
[Music] Rafiq Bhatia – Breaking English
[Music] Mediterranean Deconstruction Ensemble – Day De Senar
This is a magnificent find for me. The Mediterranean Deconstruction Ensemble is a solid improvisational/experimental troupe out of Moscow led by pianist Gregory Sandomirsky.
The music is a great combination of freaky jazz, Mediterranean rhythms, and Sephardic/Ladino time shifts. A very nice effort.
[Music] On “Concrete Desert,” The Bug and Earth’s Dylan Carlson Destroy L.A.
Bandcamp Daily features The Bug vs. Earth, a powerful pairing of Kevin Martin’s Industrial/dub project, which has been around in one form or another since the late 1980s, and Dylan Carlson’s seminal drone rock project, Earth.
Dark, moody, cinematic post-rock. Perfect music for meditating over the crumbling Los Angeles skyline.
[Music] Scott Walker – Epizootics!
It rarely gets much weirder than Scott Walker. The man is certifiably bonkers, but awesome on every level.
[Music] NDIO – Airback
Saxophonist Frank van der Kooij was a member of the Hugh Hopper Band for many years. When that project finally closed up shop, Frank asked Hugh to participate in a new project, NDIO. This is one of the fruits from that collaboration.
[Music] Kim Oki – The Great Root
I have to thank Andrew Jervis who publishes Bandcamp’s weekly radio show for hipping me to this release!
Kim Oki is a saxophonist and composer out of South Korea who hashes together a sweet combination of free jazz, Korean traditional music and fine psychedelic rock and folk into a warm, coherent, and at times, challenging stew. Very pleasant listening!
[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] Bassists Alliance Project – Crush
I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of metal music, but this is because I acquired my bias living in Los Angeles during the worst of the “hair band” debacle. However, hearing music like this from the Bassists Alliance Project, especially the bass playing by Alberto Rigoni, reminds me of how intricate and, frankly, progressive, this kind of metal can be.
[Music] Paul Schütze – New Maps Of Hell
Australian-born, England-based composer Paul Schütze hasn’t been terribly active musically for a few years now, but not because he hasn’t been creative. These days, it seems that his passion is in making perfumes of exquisite quality.
Still, it’s nice to go back to hearing the masters after enduring a barrage of good, but not-quite-brilliant ambient music releases. This classic was first issued in 1992 by Extreme Records in Australia and followed up by Big Cat in the United Kingdom. Hopefully New Maps II will also be reissued forthwith.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 