Not quite “Jingle Bells,” but it’s still some lovely post-punk/new wave music which fits the season nicely, courtesy of Vini Reilly and the Durutti Column.
Jazz
[Music] Vince Guaraldi Trio – O Tannenbaum
San Francisco’s Vince Guaraldi’s contribution to Christmas is this evergreen, O Tanenbaum, part of the soundtrack to “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
[Music] Vyacheslav Potapov (VP) – Water World
Prog is alive and well in… Kazakhstan?! Yes! Thanks to incredible labels highlighting talent worldwide like Cuneiform and MoonJune Records, we’re finding out about avant-progressive music from places like Indonesia, Belarus, and other faraway locales. VP is based in Kazakhstan’s former capital city, Almaty, and his music reminds me of such groups like Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and modern bands like Rational Diet from Belarus. We need to hear much more from them.
[Music] Disen Gage – Snapshots
All credit goes to Vyacheslav Lunarin for introducing me to Disen Gage, a Russian progressive rock group whose album reminds me of a lot of the classic Rock-In-Opposition groups of the past.
[Music] OORSPRONG curators series/OCS edition November 28
I envy my friends in Amsterdam, as they tend to have a full range of incredible concerts and performance series. For more information, contact our friend, Raoul van der Weide, via e-mail or directly through his website for more information on Oorsprong.
[Music] Janko Nilović – Funky Tramway
One of the 70’s greatest funk albums didn’t come from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, or even Africa, for that matter. This gem came from Montenegro, which was then part of Yugoslavia, and it came from a very fruitful period Janko Nilović had from 1968 to 1978.
[Music] Markus Stockhausen Quartet – A Trumpet For Greece
Mellow, grey-day music from Markus Stockhausen and company.
[Music] Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Noël Akchoté – Opus (2013)
To review each and every release by Noël Akchoté would be impossible for this one-man blog to do, but I have the luxury of cherry-picking some real treats. This one, in particular, pairs Noël with Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster fame, as well as a maestro in his own right. The album is a guitar/piano improvisation recorded in Vienna, Austria in 2013. Gentle, plucky sounds which cross into fusion territory at times.
[Music] Hotel Pennsylvania Music (Phil Spitalny) – Happy Days Are Here Again
Well, it’s not for everybody. Few, in fact. But, it’s nice to be reminded that there were happy times, and will be again. This slice of Americana was penned and performed by Phil Spitalny and his band.
[Music] John Zorn – Arab and Jew
It’s been some time since John Zorn was featured here. Here’s some nice music to chill out to this weekend.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 