I tend to have the best luck in the world with unsolicited releases! Poughkeepsie, New York’s The Warp/The Weft send an album which blends folk, prime-era 70’s hard rock and prog into a rather novel blend of something a Tull fan could be proud of, never mind all you prog freaks who collect ultra-rare garage-prog recordings.
Rock
[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] Awesome Tapes From Africa: An Interview with Brian Shimkovitz
Awesome Tapes From Africa is lucky to have an owner who has a deep passion for the music he puts out. PopMatters.com lets Awesome head honcho Brian Shimkovitz hold court. It’s worth checking out Brian’s blog which started his interest in African music.
[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] Cosmic Analog Ensemble – Les Sourdes Oreilles
We send a mountain of respect to Charif Megarbane, head honcho of the Cosmic Analog Ensemble, for producing an album that combines the best of jazz, funk, noir, soundtrack music and deep groove. We’re looking forward to more from him!
[Music] 6 – 6
My favorite avant-prog couple surprised me recently with a release I completely managed to bypass. It looks like Amadine and Santiago Fradejas’ project, 6 (Seis), was recorded in their original home of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The music sits squarely inside the progressive metal genre, with powerful-but-restrained musicianship, a Floydian feel with vocals which would not compare unfavorably to James Hetfield of Metallica. You can hear touches of jazz here and there as well. Both musicians have come a long way, but you could already hear the raw beauty in their sound from this decade-old project.
[Music] Scanner – Nomadic Concrete
I normally find tribute albums done hours after the death of someone to be ghastly and in poor taste, but Scanner does an honorable job paying homage to Pierre Henry.
[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] Spooky Tooth & Pierre Henry – Offering
I am well aware that some of my friends and colleagues hate this song, considering it near the bottom of Pierre Henry’s musical canon. So be it.
The reason I’m featuring this tune, however, is for two reasons. First, it was my introduction to Henry’s work. I wasn’t much of a hard-rock guy, and Spooky Tooth didn’t hold a lot of interest for me, but seeing the record cover had me wondering what sort of racket these guys were making. Second, the concept of a rock/experimental mass, based on the Apostolic Christian model, left me intrigued.
I know that Henry’s fellow composer, Pierre Schaeffer, was a devout Roman Catholic, but I read nothing of Henry’s beliefs over the years. Still, it was a nice gesture, an interesting project, and a doorway to Pierre’s far more adventurous works.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 