Singer T. E. “Tom” Morris was once part of Leicester and Leeds-based post-rock group Her Name Is Calla. This single continues in that vein, being a gloriously mournful track.
Art-Rock
[Music] Richard Pinhas & Merzbow – Rhizome
This release bridges the not-so-large gap between genres, connected by Heldon guitarist and loop master Richard Pinhas, and perhaps the most prolific post-Industrial composer of all time, Masami Akita (under his performance monicker Merzbow).
This is a live recording performed live during the Sonic Circuits Festival, September 24, 2010 at La Maison Française [The French Embassy] in Washington D.C. The sound quality is superb, and as one would expect from two masters of their respective fields, their instruments of choice (guitar and loops for Pinhas, computer for Merzbow) ebb and flow into each other effortlessly. This is a powerful release, and I hope it is the beginning of a long-term collaboration between both.
[Music] Piero Milesi – Modi
Thanks kindly to Cuneiform Records, whose weekly $5 downloads are an affordable way to replace a few CDs lost to time and travel.
Piero Milesi was an Italian composer who started off his career in 1977 with the International Folk Group of Moni Ovadia. His first break came from the now-legendary Cherry Red Records, which originally released this two-piece work in 1982.
The release itself doesn’t sit comfortably in any genre. Obstensibly a classical music record of a sort, it also touches on chamber rock, art rock, jazz, electronic music, progressive rock, avant-progressive, film music and modern composition. It was a breathtaking debut for a composer who would score a few more albums, and even arranging an album for Japanese pop star Kazufumi Miyazawa before succumbing to a heart attack in 2011.
[Music] The Mysterious Music of Belgium’s Benjamin Lew — Bandcamp Daily
The enigmatic artist’s work is the soundtrack to Brussel’s underground.
via The Mysterious Music of Belgium’s Benjamin Lew — Bandcamp Daily
[Music] Bryan Ferry on how Roxy Music invented art pop: ‘We were game for anything’
Jon Savage does a bang-up job discussing the history of Roxy Music and perhaps the suavest of front-men from the 1970s, Bryan Ferry.
[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] Akute – Płastyka
Though it’s listed as post-rock on their Bandcamp page, Akute would probably fit rather well in the indie and shoegazer music genres as well.
[Music] Pelageya – Ptashechka (Live)
I’m quite new to the work of Russian pop singer Pelageya. From Novosibirsk, Siberia, this songbird comes from a classical music background, having once been invited by legendary Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich to perform in France along with other luminaries, including Ravi Shankar and B. B. King.
Though I find the live version wonderfully sparse, I’m including the studio version for the sake of comparison below:
[Video] Swans – Mona Lisa, Mother Earth
I suppose some would call this The Swans’ ‘Joy Division’ phase. The album, The Burning World, showed a marked change in direction from a band who had previously sounded like the equivalent of a drunken brontosaurus stumbling into his cave after a healthy drinking binge (and yes, that’s a good thing). Since they reformed, their sound continues to adapt and grow. They are as vital a band now as they were in the beginning.
[Video] Pere Ubu – Visions of the Moon
Perhaps the finest avant-punk band to ever come from Cleveland, Pere Ubu is in fine form with a track from their 2014 release, Carnival of Souls.
A Miscellany Of Tasteful Music 