Music Reviews

Bregovic, Goran – “P.S.” – [Komuna]

aarbor   5/8/2024   CD, International

Bregović is from Sarajevo and is best known for being in the rock band Bijelo Dugme (White Button), a group that rose to stardom and set the groundwork for the Yugoslav rock scene of the late 1970s and mid 1980s. Since the late 1980’s he has collaborated with Emira Kusturice and other film makers creating soundtracks for their films. P.S. is from 1996, it’s his favorite soundtrack compositions that appeared in various films. Catch the likes of Cesaria Evora, Iggy Pop and Scot Walker singing on some tracks. AArbor

Kaddour, Farah – “Bada” – [Asadun Alay Records]

aarbor   5/8/2024   CD, International

Bada is the solo debut album of Farah Kaddour who is from Beirut, Lebanon. She plays the buzuq in folk and classical Arabic ensembles as well as the band Sanam and other more modern/popular outfits. This recording is unusual because there are very few solo buzuq recordings and very few female buzuq players. 5 of the 7 tracks are improvised (1,2,4,5,6). The playing is beautiful. Don’t Miss. AArbor

Sea Moss – “SEAMOSS2” – [Ramp Local]

karma   5/4/2024   12-inch, A Library

Sea Moss is a two piece electronic/noise outfit out of Portland that are huge friends of the station. Noa Ver and Zach D’Agostino met as electronics enthusiasts. Abacus Finch tells me that they named their band after a brand of electronics equipment they use. Sea Moss uses homemade, analog electronics – No modular. No software. No samples. No sequencers. Side A is compositions they are familiar with and Side B is improvised compositions that are edited into tracks. Mind-melting noise that shows Sea Moss’ skill with electronics and dedication to producing challenging music.

Warsaw Village Band – “Infinity” – [Barbes]

karma   5/4/2024   CD, International

Formed as a response to globalization and mass-market consumer culture in Poland after the fall of Communism, the Warsaw Village Band is dedicated to preserving Poland’s rich musical heritage. They have traveled throughout Poland tracking down musicians of almost forgotten styles. The band’s name is based on the fact that Poland has sharp transitions from urban to rural – and musical diversity to match. This album has traditional Polish folk songs with modern elements including funk. Play it!

Gutter Hair – “Bred to Gulp” – [Eating Napkins]

abacus   5/4/2024   A Library, CD

nauseous psychotropic trash rock from Laramie noise kingpins caleb phillips (belac) and chevy kalpin (brain sweat). dissociative dirt cheap riffage and snarl, raw degraded delivery and production, the sound of simultaneous melt and burn. FCC on 6 and 8, other highlights on 3, 5, 7, 10

Field Of Fear – “Beyond The Reach Of Light” – [Whited Sepulchre]

whngr   5/1/2024   12-inch, A Library

BLACK-AMBIENT DOOM-SCORE DARK-INDUSTRIAL

A carefully honed expulsion of mental collapse in myriad strata composed of drone, field recordings, electric and acoustic instrumentation, sparse vocals often heavily manipulated. Deeply considered with a focus on repetition and power there exists an intense amount of variety in sound though the feel is primarily haunted, vexed and hopeless. From bleak industrial compositions with black metal intonation that evoke a contemporary reflection/distortion of Ministry (B2 “Descent”) to mid/heavy weighted power electronics behind synthesizer swells (B4 “Lost”). An inversion of Sunn O))) with buried and modulated screams of pain (B1 “Consumed”) and intermittent minimalist melodies. There are even some sparing moments of gentle ambient drone that still manage to allude to something profoundly amiss (A4 “Cold”).

More than just a soundtrack to a major depressive episode and more than a document of the same, Beyond The Reach Of Light is an intensely personal vehicle in search of catharsis that we believe is represented well in the philosophy of their Cincinnati based label, “Every record is a tomb where the ghosts of our former selves live – every spin is a form of necromancy.”  

Field Of Fear Is one Drew Zercoe based in Oakland, CA. Beyond The Reach Of Light was produced and guided by New York based experimentalist David First (Notekillers, Echoes Of God) and mastered by James Plotkin. Compelled listeners can find several other releases by Zercoe on cassette that feature a revolving cast of co-conspirators.

Whited Sepulchre – 2023

slowcoach – “sabbatical year” – [Pacific Rock]

Isotope   5/1/2024   7-inch, A Library

This five-song EP, which slowcoach started recording before the pandemic, and which was finally released in 2024, revels in its low-fi post-punk indie sound and its sense of aimlessness. With music by Bob Reich and Ian Conley, and mastered by Todd Tobias of Guided by Voices, four of its five tracks are one- to two-minute-long plaintive briefs about finding a different way to live, or rules to not follow. Or sometimes they’re simply about dissatisfaction. The second track, titled, “these days with,” is a sweet, almost romantic three-minute instrumental piece that I liked a lot. The titles of the five songs, read together, form two sentences of a sort, or maybe it’s a line of poetry. Indie low-fi post-punk aficionados will like what they hear. The music is worth listening to for the sweet indolence of finding a pathway without a destination.

12 Compost Disco Years [coll] – [Compost]

Preston Peace   5/1/2024   12-inch, A Library

German label Compost stepped away from future jazz for their Compost Disco imprint, and this double LP celebrates the imprint’s 12th anniversary (in 2022). 15 tracks of electronic disco in a variety of styles and moods, the commonality being disco’s 4-on-the-floor beat and tempos ranging from 110–120 bpm. Some more organic and vocal-driven, others with a more technoid flair, all these tracks will get your body moving.

The mysterious Ed Lee’s two tracks, both featuring Alison David, hew closest to a ‘classic’ disco sound, with live instrumentation and vocals. Grosso Modo and Sharp 9 also get in on that groove with funky live guitar.

On the bleepier side of things, AN-2’s tech-house influenced “Sunburnt” and Manuel Tur’s “S6 Hansaring” are particular highlights.

Elsewhere, Dmitri from Paris and DJ Rocca diverge the furthest from genre conventions, turning in an extended jazz fusion keyboard workout, accented with snippets of vocoder.

15 tracks doesn’t mean 15 artists; Chocolate Garage Production gets a threepeat, and some others are aliases and collaborations—check the sleeve notes—but there’s still a surprising variety here within that disco template.

Collisionville / REQ’D [coll] – [Wondertaker]

Preston Peace   5/1/2024   7-inch, A Library

Country-tinged alt-rock and punky Americana from two local bands (both out of Oakland). Collisionville steals the show with their punky twang inversion of typical heartbreak fare, while REQ’D shares a tale of God’s arboreal wrath, more alt-rock in style. Neither take themselves too seriously.

Co-release on Booplet (Collisionville) and Wondertaker (REQ’D).

Suzi Analogue – “Infinite Zonez” – [Never Normal Records]

aarbor   5/1/2024   A Library, CD

Suzi Analogue, whose birth name is Maya Shipman, is the creator of the Never Normal Records label (based in Miami). According to her website, her work is “shaping culture”. She is a producer, songwriter and composer. Her music has  found homes on Billboard charts, New York Fashion Week runways, Networks like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Boiler Room and worldwide radio. She describes her work as electronic experimentation with cutting edge music technology and synthesizers. This is a showcase of Suzi Analogue’s work from 2016-2019. AArbor