album of the month

Pierre Barouh: Le Pollen (1982)

2017/02/17

News travels so quickly now that it’s hard to keep up with the cycles of life. Word of Pierre Barouh’s passing, at the end of December 2016, didn’t come recently to me, it came to me this week. It came when I discovered them while researching this thought in my head – of sharing his work at FOND/SOUND.…
Ray Barretto: Rican/Struction (1979)

2017/01/09

Peak power. Few albums have moments that just leave me breathless. Drop a needle, or seek to, any track on Ray Barretto’s Rican/Struction, and in a matter of moments, musical ideas that are operating at an otherworldly level, and are rendered in such ways that are nearly impossible for anyone to resist. Far be it for this…
Seigén Ono: Seigén (1984)

2016/11/18

I‘m still struck by this release. It’s hard to realize, but Seigén Ono was only 26 years old when he created his debut album, Seigén. Just months removed from assisting others like Yasuaki Shimizu’s Mariah, David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Takumi as their mixing engineer or producer, Seigén had just an inkling of all the arrangements he had to get…
Talk Talk: Laughing Stock (1991)

2015/03/11

Belatedly, it appears that the best is yet to come. Truly no other month can be as trying, and as most worthy of our respect and humility, than this shortest stretch of the year, February. Compact to the point of becoming itself a transition to something greater, everything it does; throwing the environmental book at…
(Album of the Month) January 2015: Kate Bush – The Dreaming (1982)

2015/01/30

Kate Bush – 1982 You know January, a month so long, a month that appears so taxing at first, whether temporal or corporally, is a month that allows for something few others do: reflection. Reflection, seems to be one of those double-edge words. As much as it it is defined as something that gives back…
(Album of the Month) December 2014: Kate Bush – The Kick Inside (1978)

2015/01/12

Kate Bush – 1978 Its taking me a while to suss out how I was going to give due diligence to an artist I admire as highly as Kate. One of the wonders of December is that its a month so long, and at times so cold, that you settle into the warmth of comforting…
(Album of the Month) November 2014: Van Morrison – Veedon Fleece (1974)

2014/12/01

Van Morrison, his pooch, and Carol Guida November, has gone and past, but its effects still linger. Physically, the body feels the languidity of the environment taking over. Emotionally, the fog of memories and an overabundance of pressures; whether work, relationship, or fraternal, start to weigh on you. Spiritually, you attempt to draw on the…
Minnie Riperton: Adventures in Paradise (1975)

2014/09/30

Subconsciously, throughout this whole month there was an album and specifically an artist I was reminiscing about all through it. Something, about September reminds me about her. For me, September has always been one of my favorite months. I never can pinpoint why exactly. It could be that the environment reminds me of certain things…
(Album of the Month) August 2014: JJ Cale – Okie (1974)

2014/09/02

JJ Cale – 1974 Whew, how about that August? Looks like this year we needed more of a break from some of its dog days than others. Reflecting on this most summery of months, it seems that most of what we try to do, is use our economy of thought/time to maximize pockets of enjoyment…
Krisma: Clandestine Anticipation (1982)

2014/07/31

Fascination. That’s the main word I can use to describe the reason I’ve devoted my time in shedding light on Christina Moser and Maurizio Arcieri of Chrisma/Krisma. Most artists you can follow a trajectory pointing you how they get to a destination. However, Krisma from their beginning as a disco duo to this point as…