We’re treated to the year’s first Bandcamp surprise, thanks to our beloved friend A.M Ferrari Fradejas, currently based in Barcelona, Spain.
Despite its 13-minute length, the composition packs a lot of time changes, churning guitars, an eerie choral section reminding one of a solstice ritual melded with her trademark progressive/improvisational sound. I hope that either a full album is forthcoming soon, or that works in this style are further expanded upon.
Blissful!
Two gentlemen named Cyril (Cyril Yeterian: Banjo, Guitar, Organ, Vocals and Cyril Bondi: Percussions, Vocals) make a wonderful fusion between Western and Arabic/Maghrebi music.
Thanks to Les Disques Bongo Joe, a Swiss label specializing in releasing such 7-inch titles.
Australia’s King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard cross all sorts of genres so heavily that they are nearly impossible to categorize. The band move around easily in alternative music, psychedelic rock, prog, surf (not as weird as it sounds, to be honest) and garage rock.
This album is a freebie, and, as it turns out, one of their best works. Give it a listen and be converted.
The incredibly prolific Jeff Gburek, currently based in Poland and partnering with violinist Karolina Ossowska, put together their latest labor of love, and though I don’t normally engage in Top-Ten lists for year’s end, I think it fair to say that this release is his most beautifully crafted, most thoughtful and profound releases.
The album was recorded in Romania and Poland between September 2016 and October 2017. On top of the incredible range of instrumentation, there are many field recordings which give a life to each track that one rarely finds in experimental music.
Of particular interest are the spoken word portions of Track #4, Hyperions 4 (Lift Not The Painted Veil). From the notes left by Gburek and Ossowska, the first text is a piece written by Percy Bysshe Shelley bearing the same name. The second is a work penned by Gburek himself. Both are read with a warm but darkened tone which envelops the listener as much as the instrumentation does.
Easily one of 2018’s best releases, regardless of genre.
Percival Elliott isn’t the name of a musician, but a friendship. Two musicians, Olly Hite and Samuel Carter-Brazier, paired to make a deeply touching indie-folk sound which reminds me of the best of artists like Jeff Buckley (may his memory be eternal). If you’re curious about following their exploits, consider “liking” their Facebook or Twitter feeds.
For many years, I gave up bothering listening to what was laughably termed “alternative” music. That was because it was pretty much the same boring swill that major labels were serving up, and I have far better things to waste my time and money on.
Thankfully, Slovakian record label Z Tapes has given me a reason to come back to hearing indie rock. They are constantly releasing music that is interesting, thoughtful, and on occasion, cheery.
This compilation is a freebie, so jump on it ASAP. It’s a nice intro to a fascinating record label.
Believe it or not, this particular album was my introduction to Ukrainian alternative music. It has managed to stay on my CD shelf for two decades, and it’s quite nice to have this wonderfully digitized so that I can refer to it at my leisure.
Though I think Foa-Hoka are defunct, bandleader Dmytro Kurovskiy is still quite active making music.
We lost another legend today.
Percussionist Stefan Weisser, known to his fans and colleagues as Z’ev, passed on today at the age of 66. He left a body of work so important in experimental music that I expect tributes to pour out for days (including this one from our pals in Lithuania, Radikaliai!).
This free download is a release Z’ev did in Iceland in 2004. It gives a nice taste of what he could do with percussion.
Here are this year’s (disappointing, as usual) Bandcamp toppers of 2017. No Santiago Fradejas. No A.M. Ferrari-Fradejas. Nor Jeff Gburek. Nor Marco Lucchi. Nor Noël Akchoté. Nor so many other deserving artists who don’t offer up a plate of decent, non-offensive pseudo-soul, hip-hop or tacky dance music. Ah, well.
For your perusal, click on the links below. You WILL find some gems in here.
Words fail to describe just how important Raffaele Pezzella’s contribution to dark ambient music is. He has singlehandedly curated compilations from artists as far away as Russia, Iceland, Iran and seemingly all points in-between while concentrating on his own venerable work. These two compilations house 229 tracks covering the best of the bleakest, blackest ambient available at the moment!
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