The ever-prolific Celer, a composer out of Japan, gives the ambient treatment to the campiest pianist of the 20th Century, the late, lamented and terribly amusing Liberace.
New Age
[Music] O Yuki Conjugate – Into Dark Water
O Yuki Conjugate were an early experimental music troupe out of Nottingham, England. They were not a conventional noisemaker, as their music straddled the line of ambient, experimental and ‘Fourth World‘ music made popular by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno.
This album is a reissue of an album from 1987. It sounds brilliant even after 30 years.
[Music] Robert Scott Thompson – Pale Blue Dot
Shame on me for not knowing so much about the work of Robert Scott Thompson. I had the pleasure of hearing his work via samples over on Soundcloud, but it wasn’t until recently that I thought to properly explore one of his albums. There’s nothing quite like hearing these pieces in their proper context.
It’s not fair to compare Thompson’s work to artists like Steve Roach or Robert Rich, both masters of their field, because there’s something quite bright about this. This isn’t ‘dark’ ambient, but a rather powerful, uplifting sort of music. There is a warm thread throughout the music, and after a few listens, the album really began to reverberate inside of me.
I’m very much looking forward to exploring more of his work.
[Music] Erik Wøllo – Motion Blue
Thanks to Sam at Projekt Records for advertising that Norwegian electronic music legend Erik Wøllo has a new track available.
[Music/Film] Elektro Moskva
Elektro Moskva, directed by Elena Tikhonova & Dominik Spritzendorfer, shows the history of electronic music in Russia from the works of Léon Theremin to the ANS synthesizer used by such luminaries as Eduard Artemiev (famous for his soundtracks to the films of Andrei Tarkovsky) and beyond. I’m very much looking forward to seeing this when time permits.
[Music] Daniel Dorobantu – Pamantul Straveziu
Our friend Daniel Dorobantu, whose ambient electronic work as a solo artist and with his group Thy Veils never ceases to impress, has a new video and release out. You can purchase this at his Bandcamp site.
[Music] Wim Mertens (performed By Soft Verdict) - Maximizing The Audience
Wim Mertens is a minimalist composer out of Belgium whose work I’ve followed since at least 1990. He’s still releasing lovely music, but this particular piece is my favorite, from the album bearing the same title.
[Music] Gralitsa – Upon A Circle, Upon A Gold
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After a track on Soundcloud, I decided to purchase this mini-LP from Gralitsa, a musician whose work crosses the genres of world music, post-rock, progressive rock and soundtrack music with great ease. It’s worth picking up.
[Music] Un Festin Sagital – La Procesion de la Noche Solar
Un Festin Sagital were one of the finest ritualistic ambient bands to ever come out of Chile. In fact, I can’t think of another, save the related band Thanatoloop.
[Music] Jeffrey Roden – Threads Of A Prayer: Volume 1
A Miscellany of Tasteful… is proud to announce the release today of a record I’ve been waiting to hear for months now. Jeffrey Roden is an old friend from my days working at Aron’s Records and Lumpy Gravy, a restaurant and record shop located in Hollywood, and owned by animator Gábor Csupó. Today is the official release of his latest album, Threads Of A Prayer: Volume 1.
More about the album. Solaire Records out of Germany collaborated with Jeffrey, and the first thing I noticed was the tastefully minimalistic artwork and packaging, which reminded me of something ECM Records would have been proud to release. The notes on the music are copious, but the compositions themselves are the stars of the day.
There is a slow, gently plodding pace to the first disc of this album. Sandro Ivo Bartoli performs the pieces with an understated gentleness that would be comparable to the best of Harold Budd and his collaborations with Brian Eno. I have been fortunate to review a series of truly enveloping music the past few weeks, and this one is the best of the lot.
Disc two is remarkable in a different way. There are elements of the compositions of Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki. This isn’t Holy Minimalism, but it is something akin to it. The music is calming, expertly composed, and is perfect for deep listening and thinking the day away.
If this is only Volume 1, I await Volume 2 with a happy anticipation.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 