Ana Ćurčin is a folk singer born in Baghdad, Iraq, raised in Moscow, Russia, and currently residing in Belgrade, Serbia. And she sings Americana beautifully. What a world we live in.
Alternative/Indie
[Music] Strawberry Switchblade – 1982 4-Piece Demo
One of my old college mates described Strawberry Switchblade as ‘twee’. He was right. That didn’t affect the fact that I saw them as a great pop band with two of my teenage crushes blowing me away musically. Here’s the raw material which would develop into their eponymous debut LP.
[Music] Corima – Quetzalcoatl (Complete)
[Music] Salvador Jimenez Hernandez & The Mariachi Mexteca with Hugh Cornwell – Golden Brown
Amazing. The Mariachi Mexteca collaborate with The Stranglers’ singer Hugh Cornwell on what is my favorite Stranglers song, Golden Brown. Punk and Mariachi seem to blend together beautifully in this example.
[Music] Утро – Утро LP
This has to be some of the bleakest music I’ve heard in a while. Утро (Yutro, or Morning) are a band I have absolutely no information on, but they sound a bit like Joy Division going on a bender after swallowing a bunch of downers. Heavy, brutal, but really good-quality post-punk.
[Music] Byzantine Time Machine – Adventure In Istanbul
Byzantine Time Machine are a new discovery, thanks to a darling friend in Italy who hipped me to their mix of ethno-dub music a few months ago.
[Music] Blankenberge – Radiogaze (LP 2017)
Today’s pleasant surprise is Blankenberge, a dreampop/shoegaze band out of Russia. Not quite My Bloody Valentine at their peak, but pretty decent nonetheless.
[Music] John Cale & Brian Eno – Spinning Away
After a rather horrifying weekend of blistering heat, drunken fireworks popping everywhere and scaring my dog off, it’s nice to hear something happy and soothing.
John Cale and Brian Eno cut the album Wrong Way Up as a one-off collaboration in 1988. They apparently didn’t gel together so nicely during the sessions, but you’d never know it by hearing this track.
[Music] ‘Joy Division weren’t cold. They were down-to-earth and funny’
Matthew Higgs of The Guardian bears the bad news that Joy Division, whose music, as he says, ‘was cold and detached’, were actually a fun lot.
[Music] Various Artists – In The Void Presents: Nick Drake Tribute
In The Void is an organization based in Istanbul, Turkey, which aims to introduce and support local voices and music formations, with different platforms and events. This is one of their first projects; a collection of covers of Nick Drake’s music done by local bands.
The artists are of exceptionally good quality (I will point you particularly to the The Underdogz, who handle Drake’s Black Dog</em> with aplomb.
I hope In The Void continue to promote local talent, and that we’re treated to more compilations of both original music and covers soon.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 