[Music] JOHN 3:16 – Sinner’s Prayer

Wave after wave of beautifully crunchy, hypnotic drone is what makes JOHN 3:16’s new release (a reissue from 2011, apparently), a 30-minute affair, so appealing. The guitar playing is so heavily textured that you feel like a sonic blanket has wrapped you up, making you forget, albeit temporarily, the vagaries of the world.  Drone music tends to be hazy, but this release would have been a stunner during the psychedelic 1970s as much as it is today.

This is a stunning mini-album. Many compliments to Philippe Gerber, JOHN 3:16’s leader and guitarist, for pointing me to this reissue.

[Music Podcast] Mundofonías 2017 #66 | Samarcanda, Jerez, La Habana

I implore you, my friends…

Make time to catch the best World Music podcast in the world. Mundofonías‘ Juan Antonio Vázquez & Araceli Tzigane have spent years introducing an international audience to world music with their themed podcasts, and this one is no exception.

To hear this week’s episode, click here or on the image. The track list is as follows:

Zulya – Kubalagem – Aloukie
Zulya and The Children of the Underground – We twelve girls – 3 nights
Ulzhan Baibussynova – Talim – Music of Central Asia, vol.4: Bardic divas, women’s voices in Central Asia [VA]
La Banda Morisca – En toíto yo te encuentro – Algarabya
Manuel Parrilla – Bulerías “Abuelo Parrilla” – Pa mi gente
Burruezo – La mora d’Aragó – Dervishes & troubadours
Mujeres con Raíz – Sale el sol por la mañana – Las edades de la vida
Tündra – Baile de procesión – Bastardüs
Al Valdés y su Conjunto – Guajira – Cuba! Cuba! [VA]
Ignacio Carrillo – Pico y pala – Cuban playground [VA]
Rubén González Jr. – Pianísmo – Best of Cuba [VA]
Rubén González – Descarga Rubén y Cachaíto – Introducing… Rubén González [ed. 2017]
(Ska Cubano – Loca rumba – Cuban playground [VA])

[Music] Fatal Casualties – Filter

Dutch label Seja Records graces us with a magnificent new release by Swedish neofolkers Fatal Casualties. It’s amazing to thing that Stefan Ljungdahl and Ivan Hirvonen have been performing off and on as Fatal Casualties for 30 years now, as the current release is perhaps the freshest, most vibrant music they’ve put out in more than a decade. It’s hard to even consider this neofolk, because it uses so many other genres as a touchstone. One can hear post-punk, goth, dark electronic music, a bit of a soundscape here and there. Ivan’s vocals top the aural cake off beautifully. Kudos to the engineer who managed to balance the sounds perfectly.

This album was released in 2016, but as I came around to it only recently, I’ll gladly consider this a new-ish release. Well worth your time.