experimental

Koichi Inamoto (稲本耕一): Message From Min-Yō クラリネットでちょっと気どって日本民謡 (1986)

2019/05/31

Coming in clear, not just a message from Min’yō but one of other beautiful Japanese folk traditions from the Muromachi period and others from deep sōkyoku compositions, albeit transformed via newfound ideas (of newer ages), as played through by the late great clarinetist Koichi Inamoto. To put it simply: Well, what’s the Message From Min-Yō…
Rubaja and Hernandez: High Plateaux (1987)

2019/05/21

Here’s another leftfield one from the Windham Hill label. A high mixture of Latin American rhythms, warm digital synthesis, and exploratory brass instruments, High Plateaux by the Argentine-Mexican duo of Bernardo Rubaja and Cesar Hernandez, cement itself as one of the high points and sadly little, further defined areas of little-known Latin American New Age…
Interview: Hiltzik & Greenwald

2019/05/10

Normally, here’s the space where I begin to wax poetically about an album I wish others would take the time to discover. Hiltzik & Greenwald’s Views From A Distance is one of these albums I wished I had copious amounts of history to draw from. It’s one of those albums I hoped someone else had given…
Everything Play: Everything Play (1992)

2019/04/05

As winter gives way to springtime, I thought it would be nice to revisit our Japanese post-New Age friends at Everything Play. This time around we’ll travel to their self-titled third release on Mr. Hosono’s Panam label with solo mastermind Sohichiro (or Souichiro, depending on the release) Suzuki being joined by newfound musical partner (ex-Flipper’s…
Naná Vasconcelos & The Bushdancers: Rain Dance (1989)

2019/04/02

Far be it from me to write anything definitive on the work/life of the late, great Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos, but let me take a stab to write about a sleeper favorite of mine. Naná Vasconcelos’ Rain Dance wasn’t released on any formative label like ECM, or released with any audacious artist like Milton Nascimento,…
Takio Ito & Takio Band: TAKIO-ソーラン節 (1988)

2019/03/29

One hasn’t lived until they’ve experienced the force of nature that is Takio Ito’s voice. If you’ve encountered the soul stirring vocal stylings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Cesária Évora, Jacques Brel, and James Brown, you’ve come close to experiencing the sheer power of Japan’s own “folk” icon. Takio Ito’s TAKIO-ソーラン節 is an undisputed classic…
Vízöntő: Villanypásztor (1987)

2019/03/26

Népzene, or Hungarian folk music, has always been a quietly influential, if not leftfield, version of music. A mix of Old Central Europe and even older nationless Europe, népzene has moved greats like Bela Bartok, Franz Liszt, all the way to Martin György to toy with transforming its deep pentatonic melodies through all sorts of…
Uman: Chaleur Humaine (1992)

2019/03/12

Uman, pronounced (YOO-mahn), was a unique group. Vacillating from many visions — world music, ambient, jazz, and many uncategorizable things — this French sibling duo has never been a group to easily pigeonhole. Chaleur Humaine, their debut, I think, is a perfectly birthed idea of what they can do. Chaleur Humaine exists in that gray…
Hideki Mitsumori (光森英毅): 彩 Colours (1990)

2019/03/08

I’m at a loss what to classify the late, great Hideki Mitsumori’s 彩 Colours as. It’s obviously heavily indebted to world music and to all sorts of ethno-music flavors but it’s completely digital with no acoustic instrument in sight. Much like Apsaras, the previous band he led, keyboardist Hideki Mitsumori trades in Japanese New Age…
Do’ah: World Dance (1988)

2019/03/05

A call to worship, that’s what do’a, the original Arabic-Persian name for New Age group Do’ah means. World Dance by Do’ah slots into that imperfect crevice where good ideas fall prey to bad ones (due to appearing over earnestness) look for one false move to write off the whole shebang written as unnecessary/dated. If you’ve…