[Music] RICK WAKEMAN-1973-1977: HIS GLORY YEARS. — dereksmusicblog

Rick Wakeman-1973-1977: His Glory Years. In January 1973, Rick Wakeman released his sophomore album The Six Wives Of Henry VIII, which was a groundbreaking album, one that would forever change prog rock. The Six Wives Of Henry VIII was the album that legitimised synths in prog rock. This was a game-changer. Following the success of […]

via RICK WAKEMAN-1973-1977: HIS GLORY YEARS. — dereksmusicblog

[Music] Jeff Gburek – Haunted Houses


 
Jeff Gburek spent his Easter recording a dark album of piano music (with feedback and effects among his weaponry) played slowly with elongated, pensive strokes rather than crashing thuds.  This album is creepy, but not in the horror-movie way it would imply with the album title.  These tracks, like most of his works, are elegant, more refined and force other experimental musicians to up their game.  He remains in a league of his own.

From Jeff’s Bandcamp site:

No one believes in haunted houses anymore but I believe in haunted houses just a little bit more than the unbelievers, after having lived within several, if only inside the skull, the crackling brain-case, and the house-bones, as they settle unsettlingly, in the merger meridian between seismic flow and over-head gulf streams and low frequency nor’easters. There is a spectre in spectralism and a prismatic fractal flaw splitting hairs without identity. Without the words equal to sound and the sounds equal to words there is the poem that rides shotgun over the carriage drawn into dawn by subtle horses, nameless ones, I cannot know while being guided by them over paths of further air, knowing them anyway, gusts of hydrogen-weighted gravity, a bustle between vibrating strings, the bright glow in the punctum sordum, a train running in one ear & out the other.

The worlds within the worlds inside the piano, the innenklavier, so called, the haunted house, the inner everglades of a sensual buzz as of strings in distant hunters of the stars drawing the mark.

Materials: grand piano, microphones, fingers, feedback (an immaterial material if ever there was one), delay, volume and pitch pedals. Did I miss anything? Please let me know.
Easter Sunday (4/21/2019).

It’s available now, and worth your time and your coin.

 

[Music] Sven Laux – You’ll Be Fine.

Though I was impressed on initially hearing the track Flickering Lamp on Sven Laux’s newest release, I wondered if his record label, Archives, had mis-tagged the album.  Ambient and electronic music I certainly here, IDM I certainly don’t.  No dub, but definitely there is a nod to classic 1970’s electronic music albums (think Neuronium from Spain, and perhaps a more electronic-leaning Popul Vuh, sans the horrible ‘techno’ phase).  The album also has a feel of this modern classical vibe I keep running across.

This album was not what I expected to hear at all.  It’s damn-near perfect walking music.

[Music] Ed Carlsen – The Journey Tapes (Deluxe Edition)

I grew up with piano music in my home because my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother (a violinist by trade) were fond of the instrument.  I would grow up hearing piano music, dated a pianist in Italy for a brief and stormy moment, and even here in China, I’m surrounded by it.

It pleases me to no end that piano music continues to be revolutionary.
Montreal’s Moderna Records is at the forefront of putting out the best of cinematic, minimalist piano music, and Ed Carlsen’s music has proven to be my current favorite of their bunch. For those familiar with Yann Tiersen’s music, Ed’s compositions will feel familiar. These are wispy, thought-provoking pieces which make you want to break out the blanket and coffee and sit by the window on a chilly day.

[Music] Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi with Masahiko Satoh – Proton Pump

Avant-garde bebop seems to be the most fitting way to describe this release featuring saxophonist Akira Sakata & Chikamorachi (drummer Chris Corsano and bassist Darrin Grey) along with pianist Masahiko Satoh.  No less than Jim O’Rourke gushes over the the musicianship of this improvisers, but this isn’t a racket-filled noise blast.  The musicianship is astounding, free, and engaging, something a lot of improvisers can’t seem to make happen unless they’re truly something special.  It seems that Sakata has been making music since the 1960s, so I have a bit of exploring to do on his previous work.

[Music] Rosen Zahariev-Roko | Dimitar Bodurov | Dimitar Semov – Mixing Vanity Trio


I have to admit to being thunderstruck by the work of Dimitar Bodurov, a Bulgarian pianist, composer and producer based in Amsterdam.  Doing a quick run last evening over at Bandcamp in their jazz improvisation tag, I came across Bodurov’s work, both solo and in this magnificent ECM-feeling trio setup, and it hooked me in from the first blare of the trumpet.  Rosen Zahariev-Roko steals the show in this release, playing magnificently, and both he and Bodurov are ably underpinned by the percussion work of  Dimitar Semov.

Opto Music is going to be a label to watch for in the future.

[Music] Chad Lawson – The Chopin Variations / Modern Interpretations on Chopin Works


I grew up in a house that appreciated the work of Frédéric Chopin.  My Mom was and is still a big fan of his compositions.  It came as a pleasant surprise to hear that a North Carolina pianist issued some arrangements of Chopin’s music which were recorded beautifully.

Pianist Chad Lawson is joined by Judy Kang on violin and Rubin Kodheli on cello.  They update Chopin’s work into a modern, minimalist landscape.

[Music] Kickstarter Project: Jeffrey Roden Collaboration With Solaire Records

photo-original

I was fortunate enough to meet Jeffrey Roden when I used to work at the legendary Aron’s Records, and would also see him at Gábor Csupó’s avant-restaurant, Lumpy Gravy, to perform.  A true gentleman and scholar, as well as a great bassist and pianist, I’m happy to report that Jeffrey is now fully funded for his project, releasing three CDs with Solaire Records.

Here is his Kickstarter page, which launched this endeavor.