This has to be one of the most depressing pieces of music I’ve heard in a while, and it’s perfect for post turkey day, while most of us are high off of tryptophan. matryoshka (small ‘m’ done intentionally) are a Japanese post-rock band based out of Tokyo, and they make music that is painfully delicate. You can check out the album this track comes from on their Bandcamp site, hosted by Virgin Babylon Records.
Alternative/Indie
[Music] Gamardah Fungus – Fairytales
Gamardah Fungus are an experimental groups out of Dnipro, Ukraine, who build a lot of their own instruments. According to the band’s Bandcamp site, “The album was inspired by the spellbinding events, which happened to us in an old abandoned manor in Ukrainian forests.”
This is my first exposure to Gamardah Fungus. I look forward to hearing and sharing more in the future.
[Music] Nawksh – Mythic Tales of Tomorrow II
Nawksh are a psychedelic rock band out of Karachi, Pakistan, and seem to fit perfectly onto the Guruguru Brain roster of freakish electro-psych.
[Music] Jurica Jelić – Songs from the Attick (EP)
The latest release by Jurica Jelić marks his third appearance on our modest blog. This EP is a bit of a departure, as Jurica’s vocals, a deep, resonating baritone, gets prominently featured on this release. It’s hard to believe that he’s hitting notes that comparable singers like Michael Gira (Swans, Angels Of Light) could not hope to hit. With a voice like this, I can’t help thinking that he’d appeal to those into neofolk, apocalyptic folk, or gothic music.
[Music] Thurston Moore & Umut Çağlar – Dunia
It has been a joy to follow Umut Çağlar over the past few years. He’s released several albums under the banner of Konstrukt, but on this album, he collaborates with Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore.
The first track, Kensaku, is the ‘quietest’ affair of this album. It buzzes and swells, with multi-instrumentalist Çağlar prods Moore into a drony improv which would have worked beautifully on an early Sonic Youth record (and which holds up rather well today in 2017).
The next two tracks, Red Sun and Echo (outro) go into the sort of monstrous territory that encapsulated the work of Japanese guitar legends like Keiji Haino’s power-trio Fushitsusha, or even the crunchy psychedelic haze of White Heaven.
I would love to see Konstrukt and Umut Çağlar collaborate more with American artists. He makes one hell of a sparring partner for anyone.
[Music] Yasmin Hannah King – Acoustic Works
Yasmin Hannah King is a guitarist from Bath, England, who just released one of the best instrumental albums I’ve heard in a while, combining folk, post-rock and a type of ambient music into one shimmering package.
[Music] What Punk Rock Meant to Communist Yugoslavia
It boggles the mind how many amazing punk and post-punk bands came out of the former Yugoslavia. It’s also a crying shame that so few labels have bothered to reissue these gems, dating as far back as the New Wave days.
Miljenko Jergovic pens a wonderful walk down memory lane for the New York Times, which you can read here.
[Music] mNIPK – ABYSS / HUNTER (ALRN079)
Philippe Gerber of Alrealon Musique never ceases to amaze me. He has to be one of the hardest working men in experimental music (and perhaps in music in general, given the breadth of his work, running a label, DJing, et cetera).
He works under the nom-de-plume mNIPK for this project, which is electronic music that jumps genres easily, floating in the realm between dark techno, ambient and drone. Yes, it works together beautifully, if you just take the time to hear the first track, which is available now (Track 2 is due November 15, and is definitely worth your time!).
[Music] Svavar Knútur – Girl from Vancouver / While The World Burns (Single)
All thanks go to Christian Pliefke who sent this magnificent two-track single by Svavar Knútur, a bear of a man from Iceland whose vocal stylings remind me of Nick Drake or more than a few English and Scottish folk bards of the 1960s.
The first track, Girl From Vancouver is a cheeky, upbeat tune, but While The World Burns switches to minor key, and mesmerizes the listener with simple, gorgeous lyrics.
[Music] Mental Architects – Ascend
I wish to thank my friend Peter Delchev for introducing me to a brilliant math-rock band out of Bulgaria called Mental Architects. I had no idea these guys were pretty much in front of my face during my recent Balkan visit. I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more, and for those who book festivals, I’d recommend these guys for any slot available.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 