A saxophone-laden field recordings experimental album that enters the space between music and not music. Definitely not for most, but different enough to keep even the most fringe of avant-garde connoisseurs interested with it's unique construction.
Monday, July 25, 2022
YĪN YĪN - The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers (2019)
JULY RANKINGS:
1. Negativland - True/False (2019)
2. Juergan Reiter - Dead on Arrival (2009)
3. Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)
4. YĪN YĪN - The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers (2019)
5. Neko Case - The Worse Things Get... (2013)
6. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
7. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
8. Roxanne Oliva - Accordion Crumbs (2012)
9. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
10. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
11. Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes (2022)
12. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
13. Flightless Birds Take Wing - Take Flight EP (2022)
14. Himiko Kucuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)
15. Advanced Corpse Materials - Travels (2022)
Sunday, July 24, 2022
Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You... (2013)
Neko Case's 2013 release is likely her most accessible, taking a more moderate indie rock focus with a bit of country and folk influence. She retains her powerful voice and thought-provoking lyrics. This album, Fox Confessor, and her most recent compilation album are excellent places to start if new to Neko's solo work.
BANDCAMP / INTERNET ARCHIVE / YOUTUBE
JULY RANKINGS:
1. Negativland - True/False (2019)
2. Juergan Reiter - Dead on Arrival (2009)
3. Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)
4. Neko Case - The Worse Things Get... (2013)
5. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
6. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
7. Roxanne Oliva - Accordion Crumbs (2012)
8. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
9. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
10. Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes (2022)
11. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
12. Flightless Birds Take Wing - Take Flight EP (2022)
13. Himiko Kucuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)
14. Advanced Corpse Materials - Travels (2022)
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Advanced Corpse Materials - Travels (2022)
JULY RANKINGS:
1. Negativland - True/False (2019)
2. Juergan Reiter - Dead on Arrival (2009)
3. Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)
4. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
5. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
6. Roxanne Oliva - Accordion Crumbs (2012)
7. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
8. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
9. Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes (2022)
10. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
11. Flightless Birds Take Wing - Take Flight EP (2022)
12. Himiko Kucuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)
13. Advanced Corpse Materials - Travels (2022)
Flightless Birds Take Wing - Taking Flight (2022)
This duo from Australia combine their unique musical talents into a field recordings, ambient, and jazz fusion album. It's definitely a unique sound that's more accessible than the list of genres would otherwise suggest.
JULY RANKINGS:
1. Negativland - True/False (2019)
2. Juergan Reiter - Dead on Arrival (2009)
3. Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)
4. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
5. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
6. Roxanne Oliva - Accordion Crumbs (2012)
7. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
8. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
9. Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes (2022)
10. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
11. Flightless Birds Take Wing - Take Flight EP (2022)
12. Himiko Kucuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)
Roxanne Oliva- Accordion Crumbs: Tasty Bits of Random Sessions (2012)
Yes. Two accordion and one vaudeville album in a single 24 period. This is the second accordion album. Roxanne's accordion playing will bring tears to the eyes of Russians, Eastern Europeans, and Latin American cultures more receptive to the instrument. Will probably annoy the average American, so it's a win-win.
BANDCAMP / INTERNET ARCHIVE / YOUTUBE
RANKINGS:
1. Negativland - True/False (2019)
2. Juergan Reiter - Dead on Arrival (2009)
3. Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)
4. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
5. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
6. Roxanne Oliva - Accordion Crumbs (2012)
7. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
8. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
9. Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes (2022)
10. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
11. Himiko Kucuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)
Friday, July 22, 2022
Jurgen Reiter - Dead on Arrival: A Junktime Journal (2009)
Tom Waits toured with Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention back in the 1970s. Waits was still most of a decade away from the release of Swordfishtrombones, which aligns with Zappa's late career shift to the serious classical compositions he wanted to make.
This album is what I'd imagine if Zappa's Jazz from Hell and the Waits & Burroughs collaboration The Black Rider were a single coherent album.
Bandcamp rarely lets me down with it's recommendations. This is no exception. Definitely pick it up on Bandcamp!
BANDCAMP / YOUTUBE / INTERNET ARCHIVE
Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes (2022)
Don't let this album cover or the anti-accordion reactionaries fool you into believing this is some sort of novelty or joke album. Heather shows off why the accordion is a fine instrument with four beautiful tracks. By the time you get to the end, you'll be left wanting more from this should-be-a-British-icon artist.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Himiko Kikuchi - Flying Beagle
A masterfully-crafted eighties jazz fusion album, heavy on the lounge influence. The beagle on the cover sets it over the top. It's a definite must-own for those into jazz fusion instrumental albums. Don't let it's last place ranking fool you. It holds it's own against the entire list.
RANKINGS:
1. Negativland - True/False (2019)
2. Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)
3. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
4. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
5. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
6. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
7. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
8. Himiko Kucuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Pre-order Bonus Disc
What comes to mind when someone discusses lost music? Rare concert recordings? Session recordings of never released albums? Bootlegs? Out-of-print and limited-run editions? Those are what most consider. The promotional disc packaged with a non-music product is often neglected, likely due to these recordings often being forgettable. Not this one!
How did one get this promo CD back in the day? You needed to pre-order an expansion for Asheron's Call 2, which required the base game to play, and you needed to pre-order from select Best Buys while supplies lasted. Most didn't seem to care about Asheron's Call 2 and those who would have cared about the CD as well is an infetismal subset.
Geoff Scott captures the essence of the Aun Tumerok, Lugians, Shadows, and more in this masterpiece. Definitely listen, but given Warner Bros is sitting on this with the other products of Asheron's Call IP, you're highly unlikely to find the original any time soon.
Negativland - True/False (2019)
Negativland is a group of artists from the West Coas known for social commentary and political sound collages. True False covers mental heuristics, politics, social media, global warming, and other modern topics, while avoiding the typical Democrat or Republican bashing.
Saturday, July 16, 2022
Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
Chelsea Wolfe is one of quite a few modern female singer-songwriters with a tinge of goth. Out of the other two artists in this class we've covered thus far, Chelsea is more similar to Emma Ruth Rundle than Zola Jesus, going for the minimalist, stripped down alternative folk sound.
This album is a coherent whole, without any specific tracks that stand out as noticeably weaker. It's yet another must-own to add to the pile.
RANKINGS:
1. Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)
2. Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)
3. Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
4. Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
5. Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021)
Friday, July 15, 2022
Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal (2021) [Bogota, Columbia]
This duo from Bogota, Columbia set out to create indigenous/local music-infused IDM. The result is fun, danceable, yet complex enough to be worthy of a focused listen. It's a must-own for anyone with a serious world, IDM, or Latino music collection.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)
Not exactly obscure but still outside of mainstream music sufficiently to qualify for inclusion in this blog. Emma Ruth Rundle's take on folk music incorporates wall-of-distortion guitar sounds and her unique delivery and voice to create a wholly unique sound. Joshe24's review summarizes Emma Ruth Rundle's style perfectly:
"Rundle stands alone at the intersection of about 30 different musical genres. Sometimes she sounds like dream pop, other times she’s metal, or alternative rock, or post-rock. She often gets called folk, which I kind of get, but it just makes me think that it’s futile to try to describe her in simple genre buzzwords. It’s music that resists easy labels because nobody else has ever made it before. There are a lot of reference points and influences, clearly, but I consider her a true original with no real comparisons. She sounds like everything else and nothing else at the same time." (source)
This album straddles the line between hopelessness and optimism, leaving it up to the listener to decide how to interpret the lyrics on the album. Each song builds into the other both lyrically and musically, creating a cohesive album that seems like it's over all-too-quickly despite it's 42 minute runtime. We could demand an extra 20 minutes, but any further additions would likely only water down this masterpiece.
Bandcamp ($7.99) / Archive.org / YouTube.com
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)
Risa Takeda rose to prominence with her performance of Frank Zappa's compositions. Blending together the precise late Zappa classical compositions with the improv and experimentalism with Jazz helps create a masterpiece.
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