This new album is titled after Our Lord and Savior, whether you like it or not. I have no idea if Kevin Drumm, perhaps the most important American experimental musician and composer active these days is a believer, or if this is an ironic title made to slap onto a photo of a statue of Jesus, but musically, it’s a dreamy slice of ‘noise’.
Drumm never fails to deliver a great album, and in his generosity, he is offering his whole digital catalog for under $25. A worthwhile investment.
Iraida Yusupova is a Russian multimedia artist originally hailing from Turkmenistan. She works out of Moscow and is considered among the pre-eminent composers of her generation, scoring for voice, orchestra and Theremin.
Colombia is noted for its melange of European, Indigenous and African cultures which have produced gorgeous women, amazing cuisine and, of course, some of the wildest music in South America, giving the mighty Brazil a run for its money.
From the Bandcamp website:
Boasting twenty one pulsating tracks drawn from the northern coasts of Colombia, ‘Palenque Palenque!’ reveals a unique and fascinating story of how Afro Colombian music developed from the 1970s onwards and how the local sound-systems in Cartagena and Barranquilla played such an important role in shaping the sound of the Colombian champeta.
Co-compiled by Lucas Silva (resident of Bogota and owner of Palenque Records) and Soundway Records’ Miles Cleret, the album highlights the long relationship that the Caribbean coast of Colombia has with Africa stretching back to the 17th century. Specifically, the rise of the percussion heavy champeta sound, born out of a wave of popularity for psychedelic Afro, Latin & Caribbean music inspired by the DJs of the time.
The influence of the sound-systems spread to local artists as well as re-energising traditional African folk songs and rhythms that had survived since the days of slavery. Record labels recognized the major change in direction from the days when cumbia and porro ruled the hearts of the ghettoes and began employing bands that began experimenting and tapping into these new cultural and musical movements. Disco Fuentes were one of the first labels to recognize this sudden swing and duly signed Wganda Kenya who went onto record some of the first Afrobeat records in Colombia. The trend in recording African music continued at pace with labels like Machuca, Discos Tropical, Orbe & Costeño quickly adapting to the newly adopted sound of the Palenques and bands like Son Palenque, Cumbia Siglo XX and La Cumbia Moderna de Soledad went onto readapt Afrobeat rhythms with a Caribbean slant.
The vinyl version comes as a triple LP with two extra bonus tracks.
“Every track on this revelatory compilation throws a new element into the oddball mix.”
-The Telegraph 5/5“Abelardo! It’s great music, and it fills a space, stylistically and sonically, that was previously empty.”
-Pitchfork 8/2
A revolutionary comp, giving the African Colombian music community their due.
Some sad news. No, no, not a passing! Donnacha Costello, the second-finest composer based in Dublin (sorry, folks – Daniel Figgis is still number one in these parts) is taking time off from recording music.
In an act of magnanimous generosity, however, he is offering the whole of his digital back catalog for the more-than-fair price of €15.
Together is a perfectly drone-laden slice of ambient heaven, relaxing to the ear, and a fine way for Donnacha to say farewell until he is ready to grace experimental music with his return.
I would never have guessed that Yvette Johansson is a retro artist, as these recordings sound as authentic as anything I heard from the 50s. Good, bopping beat, great vocals, this single is a lot of fun. Belmar Records is the place to go to find similar swinging sounds.
From about 1970 to 1983, there were few bands as dominant as Orchestra Baobab. The had released a slew of 20 records and were acclaimed as the giants of Africa’s music industry, playing a mix of son cubano, Wolof music, and to a lesser extent Mande musical traditions.
Made In Dakar is some of their freshest material, recorded in 2007. It’s light, intricate, joyful music.
Though I’m enthralled with library music at the moment, thanks to my friend Chris, who has served as a bit of a guru for me, I’m disappointed to see that there isn’t much in the way of literature documenting how these classic discs came to be. Thankfully, through the work of labels like BBE Music, we’re being treated to some remarkable compilations, giving a synopsis of the brilliant music we managed to miss out on.
From the Bandcamp site:
Join two of BBE’s most prolific artists and compilers, Mr Thing & Chris Read on a voyage into the mysterious, strange and wonderful world of Library Music, courtesy of Cavendish Music. Founded in 1937 and originally known as Boosey & Hawkes Recorded Music Library, Cavendish Music is the largest independent Library Music publisher in the UK and also represents a host of music catalogues across the globe.
During the Library Music heyday of the 60s and 70s, thousands of original instrumental tracks were produced across a broad range of genres for companies like Cavendish, who then created vinyl and tape collections, often arranged by theme or mood, for their customers in radio, television and film. Cult British TV shows such as The Sweeney and The Professionals as well as documentaries and feature films relied heavily on these catalogues, and companies like KPM, De Wolfe and Boosey & Hawkes went a long way toward defining the sound of British popular culture at the time.
Never commercially available, music created for these libraries that never made it to the promised land of TV or Radio was destined to languish in Cavendish Music’s vast London vault; only recently unearthed by a new generation of DJs and producers searching for rare gems or a perfect sample.
Mr Thing & Chris Read were first invited to examine the contents of the Cavendish Music archive in 2014 as part of WhoSampled’s ‘Samplethon’ event in which producers created new tracks against the clock using sample material mined from the catalogue. Whilst digging through box upon box of records and tapes looking for interesting sounds, the pair also discovered a host of 70s library music which has not only stood the test of time, but deserves to be heard in its original form.
From dramatic big band numbers reminiscent of Lalo Schifrin’s film scores to atmospheric proto-hip hop instrumentals produced before the genre’s existence, right through to fairly straightforward jazz and funk cuts; this amazing collection of music is sure to inspire and delight DJs and beatmakers the world over.
Spaceship jazz. These guys have coined a perfect term for themselves. We have free jazz, dark jazz, all sorts of jazz, but this release by France’s Massive Suits Quartet has to be one of the most enjoyable ones of 2019.
There are touches of that ur-spaceship jazz cat Sun Ra, a wee bit of percussive hip-hop beats far off in the distance, and a vibe that would not feel too out of place in a cocktail lounge.
MSQ have left a very good impression.
Sam Beam hit his peak with this album. From the heartrendingly beautiful The Trapeze Swinger to his folksy cover of New Order’s Love Vigilantes, the album is a warm, relaxing listen perfect for my cold Beijing day.
French sound artist and engineer Félix Blume produces something voyeuristic and creepy, yet engaging and life-affirming at the same time. This album is a collection of brass music played at funerals in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
According to the website, there are featured in these ‘performances’ 15 dead, 15 funerals, 16 funeral processions, 1 procession with no dead, 5 churches, 1 cemetery, 1 wake, all recorded, including the wails and sobbing of those who lost their loved ones. There is a feeling that death has been conquered and mocked, however, in the same way New Orleans funerals tend to be.
This is field recording at its most engaging, at least for me.
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