Experimental

[Music] Passepartout Duo – Ólafsfjörður

/ Rudy Carrera / Leave a comment

The Passepartout Duo are pianist and keyboardist Nicoletta Favari and drummer/percussionist Christopher Salvito.  For such a minimal setup, they manage to put together a sound that is cinematic in scope.  There are elements of contemporary classical music, but a bit of jazz slides in there as well.  Quite a profound release from them.

As an aside, the artwork was made by a Chinese company, as the Bandcamp website indicates:

This item is produced in China by the arts organization AnyOne Workspace, and all the proceeds from this sale go to the artists Yannis Zhang and Yumo Wu.

Though the limited edition set is a bit out of my price range, it’s going to a worthy cause.  As someone who is currently residing in Beijing, it’s good to see local artists collaborating worldwide.  There is a wealth of talent locally, and they need exposure.

 

[Music] Various Artists – Ocean of Sound – The 3rd Annual Report Volumes I & II

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Words fail to describe just how important Raffaele Pezzella’s contribution to dark ambient music is. He has singlehandedly curated compilations from artists as far away as Russia, Iceland, Iran and seemingly all points in-between while concentrating on his own venerable work. These two compilations house 229 tracks covering the best of the bleakest, blackest ambient available at the moment!

[Music] JOHN 3:16 – Sinner’s Prayer

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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] Tablet Sleep – Inversion

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https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=3764073896/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/

As if I don’t have a number of interesting reasons to visit Russia. The Day Of Life Forgotten is an independent net label operating, it seems, out of Moscow (though if it’s not the case, I’ll update the post). This release, by my friend Alexei Serebreikov under his monicker Скрижали сна, is a great balance of electronic music, mixing elements of psychedelic music and drum & bass, a touch of IDM, all the while keeping everything sounding balanced and rhythmic. Something worth pursuing.