Music Reviews

[Music] Txema González ~ Insularum — a closer listen

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Thanks to our friends at A Closer Listen, a blog we wholeheartedly recommend reading. We’re back in business, though we ask that you expect few posts until September. By then, we will have finished our move to Brno, Czechia.

It’s rare that we encounter an album devoid of liner notes. We assume the moniker of the Portuguese artist is a pseudonym, as Google lists Txema González as a cycling masseur who died in Seville a decade ago. We feel on firmer footing with the title; insularum means island, while the cover and second track title refer to a […]

Txema González ~ Insularum — a closer listen

Dissecting Table – Between Life and Death — NOISEXTRA

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Japanese industrial psychosis plows through the wastelands in the form of Dissecting Table’s “Between Life and Death.” We are fully on board for Ichiro Tsuji’s unique industrial art and have a blast digging into his post apocalyptic sounds. Hop into a flamethrower-equipped car and crank this dystopian masterpiece. Everyday is one more day of insanity.…

Dissecting Table – Between Life and Death — NOISEXTRA

[Music] Various Artists – Meticulous Midgets Magazine 2020

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Meticulous Midgets is a magazine out of Russia who did me one of the kindest honors by doing a sketch on the blog. I am delighted to return the favor by covering their survey on not only the Russian electronic, avant-garde, experimental and indie music, but a few tracks from the United States, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Croatia, The Netherlands and Great Britain as well. This is a compilation whose broad scope equals that of my colleague Raffaele from Unexplained Sounds Group.

I expected to hear good headphone music, and I am happy to say that the comp delivers handsomely. There are three standout tracks for me:

The whole comp makes for solid listening, but just by hearing these three tracks, you can hear the depth and scope of the sort of music Meticulous Midgets covers. They have made a fan out of me.

[Music] Kamancello – Of Shadows

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Raphael Weintraub-Browne is a friend of our blog, and it’s a pleasure to present you with his latest work. The project, Kamancello, is quite a bit different from the last album reviewed, as Weintraub-Browne has recorded a wholly improvised album with Shahriyar Jamshidi, a Iranian Kurd who plays the kamancheh. I will pay these two a very high compliment, as the closest record I can compare it to is with the work of Kayhan Kalhor while working with the New York-based ensemble Brooklyn Rider. It might even be a bit darker, a touch more Western-leaning, but cinematic in scope, and so wonderfully well-recorded.

Glorious listening, absolutely.

[Music] FANT^MS ~ Roomtones — a closer listen

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What do Frédéric Nogray, Lee Patterson and Pali Meursault (FANT^MS) have in common? All are fascinated with sounds that would normally remain unheard. Nogray specializes in industrial crucibles forged into singing bowls; Patterson prefers springs, motors and chemical reactions; Meursault focuses on failing neon light and other electromagnetic activity. Under natural circumstances, one might expect their […]

FANT^MS ~ Roomtones — a closer listen

We had to take a hiatus due to some unforeseen personal issues popping up, but we’re happy to be back, starting with giving a nod to our colleagues at a closer listen who give us a taste of experimental composers Frédéric Nogray, Lee Patterson and Pali Meursault collaborating as FANT^MS.

[Music] The Durgas – Shut Down

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It’s hard to believe a band which now sounds like a contemporary of Neil Young or other rock stars at their most reflective (and yes, that’s a compliment, as I still have a healthy respect for rock & roll music’s transformative powers) began their career as an utterly brutal agit-punk band, A Subtle Plague, whose first demo was produced by Beastie Boys legend Adam Yauch, if memory serves.

This particular song has a rather personal meaning explained to me by my dear friend and damn near older brother, Ekke. It’s perhaps too personal to get into here, but let’s say it’s a song based on the oldest of topics – love and loss.

The core members of The Durgas, Christopher and Benjii Simmersbach, have managed to maintain high music quality despite many personnel changes, genre changes, location changes and more. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting them, and of course, I wish them continued success. They’re good lads from a good, good family.

[Music] NERATERRÆ – Scenes From The Sublime

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Our friend Alessio Antoni of NERATERRÆ is visiting us for the third time, and he brings along some of the finest composers in dark ambient music to collaborate with.

Some of the participants in this album include Alphaxone, Dødsmaskin, Leila Abdul-Rauf, Mount Shrine, Phelios, Phragments, Shrine, Xerxes The Dark, George Zafiriadis from Martyria and Yann Hagimont from Cober Ord. The variance of sounds and textures on this release corresponds well with the different paintings which inspired Alessio to produce this album. Such painters as Zdzisław Beksiński, Ilya Repin, Salvador Dalí, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Francisco Goya among others.

There is a ghostly quality that comes with the genre on each track, but they have more of a viscous feeling to them. They sound, and in a sense, feel, more substantial than others I’ve been hearing recently. There is no shortage of incredible ambient music going around today, but Alessio and his partners continue to impress and surprise.