Folk /
improvika
By trade Sir Richard Bishop is a dealer of rare occult books and fine paper ephemera. For many in the musical cosmos, he has occasion to travel the smoke filled carnie circuit as 1/3 of the Sun City Girls medicine show. But in the twilight hours of a shadow world sensed only by few, Bishop is a dazzling unaccompanied guitarist. On Improvika, Bishop rides a very tall horse through a surrealist's cowboy set that's 1 part bruit Peckinpah muscularity & 2 parts illuminated Jodorowskian symbolism. A v…
Music By William Eaton
Mellow disc of tripped-out experimental acoustic-instrument pieces from composer/instrument designer William Eaton, reissuing a self-released 1978 lp of said. there’s more than a twinge of Fahey/takoma-lineage steel-string wrangling herein, albeit augmented with a certain Partch/Hans Reichel-ish sensibility and unusual recording techniques... but it stays pretty damn “easy on the ears” throughout.. "When I started building instruments, playing guitar took on a whole new dimension. The process of…
Khalifa Kirana Gharana
An archival performance from 2000 by North Indian classical master Ustad Hafizullah Khan is the latest release on La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela's Just Dreams label. Those who purchased the recent Pandit Pran Nath set will find much to enjoy here. Hafizullah Khan, who passed away in 2002, was a virtuoso of the sarangi. The sarangi is India's premier fiddle instrument; to most western ears it probably most resembles the violin. It is comprised of a solid wood body, three main playing strings, …
I Will Soothe My Eye To Feast It With A Sight Of Beauty
After releases on Kraak and Imvated (or Bread and Animals, Dutch Beer, Cauliflower Dreams or whatever Lieven decides to call it) Ignatz put out this rand new release on Celebrate Psi Phenomenon. Dense clouds of chirping crickets and tangled birdsong are woven into thick sonic brambles, a swirling confusional knot of sound, a bit like Sunroof! occurring in nature, while underneath a strange melodic tapping drifts and a moaned vocal floats ominously. Pulsing bagpipe like guitars intertwine with ha…
Boujeloud
The Master Musicians of Joujouka are often credited with being the first "world music" group. The Joujouka music for Boujeloud, or the Father of Skins, is frantic and has several movements which would equate to a symphony or the score of an opera if it were European classical music. The festival and ritual originate in the worship of the God Pan. In 1994, Frank Rynne began a two year long project recording the Master Musicians of Joujouka in their village. Sub Rosa released two CDs from these re…
Sounds Of The Indian Snake Charmer
Indian snake charmer`s music. The track is composed using very rare traditional double reed instrument called `Pungi` also called as `Been` that produces strange vibration of sounds that tranquilizes the cobras
Lorca
a five stars masterpiece - continuing his jazz explorations, Buckley created the most 'out' album of his career. The 5/4 time signature title track is strikingly weird with haunted house pipe organ and two faster-paced numbers, the mellow contemplative love song 'I Had A Talk With My Woman' and the slightly funky blues-based 'Nobody Walkin',' are even fun. The band is Lee Underwood, John Balkin (bass, haunted house pipe organ on 'Lorca'), and Carter Collins (congas)
II
The debut of ignatz is still fresh in your memory, and he's already there with the follow up. On ignatz II, he continues his road through the Appalachians in the year 2050. Stunning rootsfolk, but played by a lost and unworldly creature. 'II' still has that familiar ignatz sound we love so much, with the difference that on one of the six tracks he doesn't use any effects. He even mumbles more clearly and explores his own musical world more thoroughly. If Lou Reed would have fertilized Cthulhu in…
Lookaftering
an amazing album 'Lookaftering' displays a much maturer sound and outlook than the sometimes naïve (in retrospect at least) trappings of the Brit-Folk classic. Produced by Max Richter and featuring guest spots from (deep breath) Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Adem, Adam Pierce (Mice Parade), Robert Kirby (Nick Drake / etc.), Otto Hauser and Kevin Barker, 'Lookaftering' is a Fairport Convention indebted LP of autumnal grace, dappling the likes of 'Lately' and 'Feet Of Clay' in gloriously evocat…
One Day With My Fishing Umbrella
*last copies* Beautiful self-released 10" in Vincent Gallo's 'when' vein, 8 songs between songwriting and electroacoustics, a great preview for his wonderous full album "Prontuario per giovani foglie". With Giuseppe Ielasi and Jacopo Andreini.