There’s not much better than New Wave era Ultravox!
Rock
[Music] Various Artists – Mind inflamed, Soul adrift Vol. I
Mind inflamed, Soul adrift are a record label out of Austria who have released a free compilation which is actually rather good all the way through. There are 16 tracks on the release, and genres covered include electronic music, drone, noise and psychedelic rock. There doesn’t seem to be any focus to the label, but at least for this recording, that’s not a problem at all. All the tracks manage to work together and make for good listening.
[Music] Santiago Fradejas – Electric Guitar Vol. II: Yeshua
Our friend Santiago Fradejas has returned with his most powerful album to date. From what I understand, these soundscapes were all done with an electric guitar. He makes the most out of his weapon of choice, convincingly straddling the terrains of instrumental amplified guitar music, post-Industrial, and a very eerie take on contemporary classical/avant-garde music.
[Music] BlindººCoyote – A Beginner’s Guide To Hard Hat Color Coding
A Beginner’s Guide To Hard Hat Color Coding is a new project by BlindººCoyote, longstanding monicker of Drem Bruinsma, a Dutch-born composer now based in Alicante, Spain, whose work under this moniker reminds me of peak-period Cluster finding a bit of time to carouse with an early-wave Industrial band (think Cabaret Voltaire’s more daring experimental work than the dark funk they would produce during their heyday). It would make sense, as BlindººCoyote has been alive as a project since the early 1990s, and this particular sound to me is timeless. The project has been active (with some periods of non-activity) since its first 1993 release, Phantom Pain/Genkaku no Itami, a project which stemmed from a collaboration with legendary jazz fusion trumpeter Toshinori Kondo.
There’s something very kosmisch about this particular release, though it has flourishes of a cold, metallic bent. This floats surprisingly easily and envelops this listener into a dreamy, lulling feeling. There’s also a reminiscence of sounds made by such acts as BlindººCoyote’s one-time collaborators Tuxedomoon (he wrote scores for video, dance, theatre and collaborated with the individual members of Tuxedomoon, amongst others).
As a side note, and quite a tasty one, the first track on this EP, Chapter One: Red Hard Hat Area, will also appear on the compilation Radio Nautilus, released by No Records on June 1.
To explore more of BlindººCoyote’s works, visit his Bandcamp site here, and his Reverb Nation site here.
[Music] Bi Kyo Ran – Parallax
Thanks to Guy Segers for publishing this classic of Japanese progressive rock.
Bi Kyo Ran were rather unfairly tagged as a Japanese King Crimson clone. By this album, that image was finally shed.
They are apparently still active doing soundtracks for TV shows in Japan, but I can’t imagine any of the new material having the power of this disc.
[Music] The Gorehounds – Cargo Cult
The Gorehounds are, perhaps, Ireland’s finest rock band. No, U2 isn’t, sorry. They haven’t put out a great record since The Joshua Tree. These guys, rather, were a pure rock and roll band.
[Music] Sarolta Zalatnay – Hadd Mondjam El
How on Earth did I manage to miss Sarolta Zalatnay? She’s the Hungarian Janis Joplin, only funkier to my ears. She had the sound and the look to be an international star, but never quite pulled it off, unfortunately.
[Music] Manja Ristić – The Nightfall
Manja Ristić is a Serbo-Croatian violinist and experimental music composer whose works have left me captivated. This latest release, The Nightfall, collects for compositions inspired by the seasons. From her Bandcamp site:
In haiku poetry, “Kigo” is a seasonal reference, a word or group of words which locates the poem in a season of the year, the seasonal association helping the reader imagine the atmosphere and settings of the poem more vividly. Kigo evokes memories and feelings which vary depending on the readers themselves: their active role is crucial in haiku poetry as different cultural and historical backgrounds may lead to a different interpretation of the poem.
The release was made available by London-based label Naviar Records yesterday.
[Music] Rauppwar & Sir Edgar Carpenter – Reptilian Abnormalities
Though this is nowhere near easy listening, this collaboration between Brazil’s Rauppwar and Mexico’s Sir Edward Carpenter don’t make mere noise – they add a rather cosmic, psychedelic element to it.
Not for the faint of heart, but rewarding in its own way. It was released by Cian Orbe, out of Santiago, Chile.
[Music] Destruktionsanstalt – Cerebrum Daemonia
Our friends Destruktionsanstalt make their fourth appearance on the blog with one of the most brutal post-Industrial music releases I’ve heard in a while. Per Najbjerg Odderskov is one of the few composers working in this genre who understand the original Industrial music ethos thoroughly, and it shows in his (very brutal) work.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 