Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is best known for his work in Tarentel and The Alps, but his latest solo release doesn't sound much like either of those bands (no surprise, since they don't sound much like each other either). Instead, his self-described celebration of love itself plunges wholeheartedly into dream pop/shoegazer territory, sounding like Lovesliescrushing's best moments expanded into a warm and enveloping ocean of artfully layered guitar noise.
Two new shows just for you. We have squeezed out two extended release episodes for this weekend to get you through this week. They contain mostly new songs but there's also new issues from the vaults. The first show features music from Rider/Horse, Mint Field, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Anastasia Coope, ISAN, Stone Music, La Securite, Bark Psychosis, Jon Rose, Master Wilburn Burchette, Umberto, Wand, Tim Koh, Sun An, and Memory Drawings. The second episode has music by Laibach, Melt-Banana, Chuck Johnson, X, K. Yoshimatsu, Dorothy Carter, Pavel Milyakov, Violence Gratuite, Mark Templeton, Dummy, Endon, body / negative, Midwife, Alberto Boccardi, Divine. Cow in Maui from Veronika in Vienna. Get involved: subscribe, review, rate, share with your friends, send images!
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America's knowledge of African culture is quite minimal, but the tireless work of Alan Bishop and his Sublime Frequencies label has helped us come to a better understanding of some of the music and many folk rituals found across the greater African continent. The latest from Niger import Group Bombino provides another mind-altering picture of musical idioms from an ocean and a lifetime away.
This self-titled album (not to be confused with their eponymous tape on Hanson from 2007) sees the Ohio trio further refine their cosmic sounds. A huge leap forward from their already impressive releases like Solar Bridge and What Happened, this LP confirms my belief that these guys are creating some of the most important music being made today. There are several moments during this LP that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, proving that Emeralds are tapping into something here that is truly extraordinary.
Now reissued on CD after a very limited vinyl-only release in 2008, this fun and absurd compilation of not-quite-surf may very well be the last (and first?) word on the enigmatic Shadow Music scene that very briefly flourished in 1960s Thailand. This feat of DIY ethnomusicology contains some of the most improbable, strange, and obscure pop music that will reach Western ears this year.
Finding themselves a drummer down for their ninth release, Supersilent have this time approached their music from a completely different angle. Dispensing with their usual instrumentation, the remaining members have instead utilized Hammond organ exclusively for these four pieces. While the end result sounds nothing like their previous work, this is a thrilling and captivating album that is an unusual entry into an already curious catalogue. The music is cosmic, sacred and psychedelic in ways that have not previously been delved into by the group.
As much as I was impressed with their last album, it was still a bit patchy. On their latest album, This is Fire is a leaner and more concentrated effort compared to their previous releases. The ladies of Spires that in the Sunset Rise have refined their sound and recorded a wonderful little album. This is the best release from Spires in the Sunset Rise yet.
The first compilation devoted to pieces made with the FM3 Buddha Machine includes 15 efforts by artists such as Blixa Bargeld, SunnO))), Kammerflimmer Kollektief, Adrian Sherwood + Doug Wimbish, Es, and Sun City Girls. Overall it achieves a collective consistency which may transcend what Derek Bailey called "lounge electronics, mumbling electronics."
