experimental
Album Review: Christina Vantzou -‘No. 5’: astonishing ambient-classical story telling.
Visual artist, experimental film-maker and ambient classical composer Christina Vantzou works with a method. Following her beginnings as one half of ‘The Dead Texan’ with Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid), she has devoted herself to a series of lengthy projects lovingly documented on the seminal Kranky label. These recordings have revealed themselves with careful …
Track: Death Grips delivers ‘Life is an experiment’ from ‘Remix The Universe’, new perspectives on Scratch’s last offering.
It’s inevitable that the mercurial genius of Lee Scratch Perry will live on both in spirit and in some physical form. Dial back to November 2021 when the legendary Upsetter performed as inspirational touchstone on New Age Doom’s ‘Guide To The Universe’, the album that unexpectedly became his parting shot. Perry’s wisdom, fearless flair and …
Album Review: Maral – Ground Groove : global big beats with vision.
The fine art of sampling is less about cut and paste or stitching together, it’s much more than finding that funky line or hipster phrase and building from there. The best sampling becomes part of the overall story, not an add-on or slot-in but entrenched in the overall soundscape, a part of the music’s roots. …
Track/Video: DAAM announce ‘bivouac of the avant-garde’, a stunning three part excursion through experimental soundscapes.
What makes for the best small labels? A clear identity, enthusiastic curation, independence and endurance are good for starters. Well Difficult Art And Music (DAAM) gives you all of these plus heaps of creative ambition. Focusing steadfastly on the experimental and specialising as they say in ‘short-run, research-orientated, art-objects’ DAAM releases come as music tapes, …
Track/Video: Eminent composer and film-maker Christina Vantzou previews album ‘No 5’ with the radiant ‘Reclining Figures’.
If you are looking to explore a ‘body of work’ rather than a plain old back catalogue then Christina Vantzou’s CV will see you right. The composer, artist and experimental film-maker has been engaged in the refinement of sound and vision since her 2004 collaborative release ‘The Dead Texan’ with Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the …
Album Review: Jessica Moss – Galaxy Heart: art-rock atmospheres with an enduring soul.
What will we think of lock down records when we listen back to them in years to come? Introspective music from a time of looking inwards because the outside world just stood still? Or maybe there was more space to dream, to take more risks, to break free from constraints because everything ahead was unknown. …
PREMIERE: Stream Bebawinigi’s intense, experimental second album ‘Stupor’ and read a track-by-track guide
Virginia Quaranti’s second album as Bebawinigi is a wild ride, firmly rooted in the worlds of the experimental and avant-garde, yet simultaneously welcoming and compelling. Melding classical composition with metallic intensity and even finding time for a detour into repurposed film soundtracks, it doesn’t defy description so much as offer enough twists and turns that …
Track/Video: ‘Go-to’ instrumentalist Amir Yaghmai slips into the solo spotlight with ‘White Turtleneck’ from soon come debut ‘Go Bozo’.
Don’t you just love labels that do things differently? LA’s Colorfield Records are on a mission driven by the search for spontaneity, coaxing consummate musicians from session and backing bands to step out of the shadows themselves and record their own music. Plus to add more energy to the proceedings, the debutants are encouraged to …
PREMIERE: Fujiya & Miyagi display ‘New Body Language’ with new album’ ‘Slight Variations’ out tomorrow
You never know what you’re getting with a new Fujiya & Miyagi record. The Brighton band have been blazing their own idiosyncratic trail for more than 20 years now, and we’re pleased to report that their newest offering, out tomorrow, is a suitably eclectic listen that both does and doesn’t sound like the band we’ve …
Album Review: Nyati Mayi & The Astral Synth Transmitters -‘Lulanga Tales’: electro- African fusion that reaches higher.
Some people are extraordinary singers and some people have extraordinary voices. As a vocalist Nyati Mayi probably falls into the latter bag, able to project a stunning range of notes, tones, textures and feelings often within the same song. The thing with an extraordinary voice is that sometimes it needs grounding, a foundation that prevents …