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[Music] Glåsbird – Svalbarð

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This album by Glåsbird is so utterly enthralling to my ears that I feel like the angels are talking to me at the moment.  There is a sense of a cool peace that this album is making me feel at the moment in a grimy, grotesque Beijing that I have to thank the creators of this sublime work for their efforts to keep me sane in this very, very odd place.

From the Whitelabrecs Bandcamp site:

In February 2019 we released the debut album by an anonymous artist named Glåsbird, in the form of Grønland, a sonic expedition of Greenland. The album received much critical acclaim despite being from an anonymous artist and was even featured on Bandcamp Daily under their ‘best Ambient’ feature. CD copies of this record have long since sold out, but the Glåsbird continues its flight to a new destination: Svalbard.

Svalbard lies 78 degrees north, is inside the Arctic Circle and had a population of around 2600 people and an estimated 3000 polar bears! Its calendar year divides between the midnight sun and the polar nights. The former is a period of constant daylight and the latter is the opposite. However, the dark season is broken from time to time by spectacular Northern Lights.

In Svalbarð, Glåsbird became immersed once more in this next excursion, through means of Google Earth, 360° photos, blogger accounts of the isles, maps and also, videos by Efterklang who were an obvious reference point with the band having visited.
This time, we are treated to a greater number of tracks, as ten movements weave Modern Classical influenced Ambient soundscapes. The pristine, polished reverb of Grønland is replaced with a slightly muddier, more lo-fi approach to the sound as the artist strived to present a tape-eroded aesthetic to their work. The recordings deal with dramatic landscapes, glaciers, an abandoned coal community, a seed vault, the Island’s capital city Longyearbyen and of course, polar bears. Each piece feels icy cold, yet the warmth and hiss provided by the decaying tape effects provide a comfort blanket for the listener as perhaps you take in these scenes from a lonely cabin, at one with isolation and natural beauty.

The packaging for the album includes photography from Svalbard itself, courtesy of Aldona Pivoriene who is a professional photographer based in Norway. We are also set to release the next Glåsbird album next year. Where will the destination be? For now, we hope you enjoy immersing yourself in this new set of works exploring Svalbard.

Cold-climate ambient.

[Music] Art Zoyd – Génération Sans Futur

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I must have been about 17 years old when a disc called Symphonie pour le jour où brûleront les cités, Musique pour l’Odyssée and Archives 1, performed by a band I had never heard of called Art Zoyd, kept staring me in the face, while I heard voices in my wallet saying, “Take it.”  I had just recently discovered Univers Zero, a contemporary band, and was told by the ever-knowledgeable staff at Rhino Records in Claremont, California, that it was a winner.  Indeed, it was, and it was unlike anything I had ever heard up until that point.  Chamber-rock wasn’t in my vocabulary at the time, but that would be the term which fit the band best.  It’s good to see this album in its proper form, but I really do hope that Sub Rosa, who took the time to do such a wonderful job producing this disc, re-releases Art Zoyd’s whole back catalog, including bonus tracks.  Each disc has been worth it.

[Music] Various Artists – MUSIC FROM THE SONOTON LIBRARY 1969 – 1981: RARE PSYCH, MOOGS & BRASS

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As lounge music and easy listening were massive during the 1990’s, library music seems to be the rage for today.  So many labels are releasing wonderful compilations that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with what’s coming out, and what belongs on the top shelf.  Buried Treasure Records seems to have come out with the year’s best library comp, which also happens to be available on vinyl and CD.  Check out these tracks by no-name artists who deserved a better fate than to be forgotten for so long.  All the material is brilliant!

[Music] NERATERRÆ – The Substance of Perception

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Alessio Antoni is a friend of the blog, having made a previous appearance with his disc The NHART Demo​[​n​]​s in March of 2018.  His latest release surpasses even that dark masterpiece of a debut, partly because he continues to explore the depths of sound, and partly because he was a few guests adding a few jewels to his crown.  Read on those guests who are participating in this recording.  They are the best of modern dark ambient music.  Alessio deserves to be held in the same esteem.  We look forward to see what he has next for us.

From his Bandcamp site:

NERATERRÆ’s debut album “The Substance of Perception” (out on Cyclic Law records) is a daring collaborative work featuring some of the finest artists from the Dark Ambient, Drone, Cinematic and Ritual Music scene: Northaunt, Alexey Tegin from Phurpa, Treha Sektori, New Risen Throne, Flowers For Bodysnatchers, Taphephobia, Ugasanie, Xerxes The Dark and Infinexhuma.

The sound palette shifts between both stark atmospheres, melancholic ambiance and dense claustrophobic drones. Alternating between obscurity and light and oscillating between the ineffable detachment from the tangible and the relentless transmogrification of the self.

[Music] Rob Mazurek Octet – Skull Sessions

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Rob Mazurek is a cornetist, composer and sound explorer out of Chicago who has collaborated with some of the best groups and instrumentalists in the world of experimental music.  He has collaborated with Jim O’Rourke, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Stereolab, along with fellow Chicagoans Tortoise.

The record sounds like a paean to Miles Davis-era fusion where he collaborated with Hermeto Pascoal, but adding a more free, weird, avant-progressive angle to his work.  Beautiful noise.

[Music] Benoît Honoré Pioulard – Roanoke

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I quite enjoy the field recordings and soundscapes Benoît Pioulard composes, though, for the life of me, I’m not sure how long this long line of great composers using field recordings will remain relevant, as all good scenes must come to an end, but it’s my hope that this sort of music will remain timeless, as it makes for good listening to set one’s mind at ease, even if it might not be Pioulard’s intention to do so.

An important note from his website:

Companion piece to the album “Hymnal” (kranky, 2013), Recorded October 2012 in Portland, OR.

[Music] Lakou Mizik + 79rs Gang feat. Régine Chassagne, Win Butler, and Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Iko Kreyò EP

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Lakou Mizik, a peach of a band out of Haiti, offer four ripping versions of the classic New Orleans song Iko Iko.

From their Bandcamp site:

Born out of the tragedy of the 2010 earthquake, the members of Lakou Mizik first came together with the goal of promoting positive connections to Haiti through music and culture at a time when international media was filled with negative stories and imagery from the country. They furthered their mission with a celebrated 2016 debut album, “Wa Di Yo,” and multiple international tours.

Lakou Mizik is now preparing to release their second album, “HaitiaNola,” an exploration of the cultural connections between Haiti and New Orleans. Guided by GRAMMY-winning New Orleans producer Eric Heigle (Lost Bayou Ramblers, Arcade Fire, The Soul Rebels), “HaitiaNola” features an A-List of collaborators: Trombone Shorty, Tank from Tank & The Bangas, Win Butler & Régine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Cyril Neville, Jon Cleary, Leyla McCalla, The Soul Rebels, Lost Bayou Ramblers, 79rs Gang, Raja Kassis (Antibalas), Anders Osborne and others. The album will be released by Cumbancha on October 25, 2019.

Arcade Fire’s Regine Chassagne and Win Butler, longtime advocates of Haitian music and culture, have been supporting the project, and when they heard the rough mixes from the “HaitiaNola” sessions, they decided to work with the band on a new version of one of the songs. “Iko Kreyòl” is a reclamation of the New Orleans classic “Iko Iko,” a standard Mardi Gras chant that many historians believe descended from Haitian folklore. In their retelling, Lakou Mizik and 79rs Gang Mardi Gras Indian band trade off new verses in Haitian Kreyòl and English that celebrate the epic cultural reunion of Haiti and New Orleans. The glory and connection of these cultures are on full display as the traditional Haitian rara horns mix with the New Orleans second line swagger of the legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band. By the end, the song winds its way back to its original homeland, Haiti.

The “Iko Kreyòl” EP features the original “HaitiaNola” album version of the song, a Krewe du Kanaval mix, Windöws 98 Dryades to Bèlè Mix, and the 79rs Gang version that will appear on the upcoming 79rs Gang album. A music video of “Iko Kreyol”, filmed in Haiti and New Orleans, will be released later in 2019.