Metafagote is Rebekah Heller’s second release for the New York City-based record label New Focus Recordings. The bassoon is one of the most difficult instruments to not only play but to compose for. It seems Rebekah has done an outstanding job handling both.
Music Technology
[Music] Zeresh – Sigh For Sigh EP
I love unsolicited material coming into one of my many inboxes. I ended up having the pleasure of discovering Zeresh, a neofolk band out of Israel who rather deftly interpret, on three of the four songs, the poetry of William Ernest Henley (of Invictus fame).
There is a lot of dark, pulsating music that would have been rather comfortable inside of the earlier releases of Current 93. Looking forward to hearing more, obviously.
[Music] Mark McGuire – Glass Bowls
Mark McGuire is a guitarist and improviser out of Cleveland, Ohio, who has a large body of work available via Bandcamp, but this one caught my ear because of pleasant, gentle, floating music within. There’s a vibe here that reminds me less of psychedelic music, and more of something akin to early Pink Floyd or Krautrock.
[Music] Wirephobia – Kurdistan
Kudos to Wirephobia, an experimental/noise project based out of Erbil, Kurdistan in Iraq, for doing their part in developing a local noise music scene in what one could imagine is a hostile area.
The music on Kurdistan, released in 2016, is a pastiche of ethnic recordings and bolts of feedback, radio emissions and it all seems to work quite well.
[Music] Nick Sudnick – Opera of the Fourtheenth Hour
Nick Sudnick has been the leader of the Latvian experimental-improvisational ensemble Zga since 1984, but he’s been venturing into new territory lately.
This release pairs him with librettist Emily Loseva in what I could best describe as avant-opera. Wonderful, challenging, but still somewhat accessible.
[Music] Ernesto Chahoud – Ernesto Chahoud presents TAITU – Soul-fuelled Stompers from 1960s – 1970s Ethiopia
Lebanese DJ and crate-digger supreme Ernesto Chahoud has done sterling work collecting some of the most impressive 7-inch sides to come out of Ethiopia. BBE Records has done a great job in remastering and packaging this collection. What I’m looking most forward to is seeing the 3-LP collection. It looks gorgeous.
[Music] Maurice Pozor – 2056
My friend Maurice Pozor has released an intriguing album. Though in the Bandcamp tags the album is listed as a noise or experimental album, this has to be some of the most gentle ‘noise’ I’ve heard in some time. It’s a rather floaty piece, somewhat in keeping with good electronic music from the 1970s and early 1980s, but with a far crisper, cleaner sound.
[Music] Camarão – The imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie
Analog Africa’s clutches are reaching out farther and wider with this release by Brazilian legend Camarão. It’s a reissue of work he did in around 1960 and is a lively mix of ethnic music, cha-cha, accordion music and something you would hear in a very hazy, psychedelic Spaghetti Western.
Expect this release to ship out starting on February 20, 2018. It’s been well worth the wait!
[Music] Finders Keepers Celebrates 100+ Crate-Digging Releases
Finders Keepers have released 100 of the most brilliant reissues imaginable. Spanning from weird African tapes to Jean Rollin horror soundtracks, the lads at FK seem unstoppable at the moment. Here’s to another 100 gems, at least!
[Music] ±0 – ±0
±0 (pronounced as plus-minus-nula) are a post-punk band out of Prague, Czech Republic. This eponymous debut was released in March of 2017. If you are a fan of this particular genre of music, especially of the sounds made by The Cure, Joy Division, The Sound or others during the 1979-1980 heyday of the genre, this album was made specifically for you in mind.
Kudos go especially to their sound engineer, who must have really studied post-punk. He managed to get the sound just right for the band. Authentic, and worth exploring further!
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 