folk-rock

Everything Play: Lou Lou Mon Amour (ルール・モナムール) (1987)

2018/06/22

For some reason, I’ve been sitting on this album for a long while just waiting for the right season to share it. It’s Everything Play’s Lou Lou Mon Amour (ルール・モナムール) who I owe a huge debt of gratitude to one fellow reader, Wes Almond, who has an equally fascinating Youtube channel who we all should…
André Geraissati: DADGAD (1988)

2018/04/10

Well, this one’s a tough ‘un to describe. Meditative, elegiac, and at points quite melancholic, André Geraissati’s DADGAD is another instrumental, guitar album that uses it’s one voice to say so many things. In this case, it is André Geraissati’s wonderful fusion of Americana and Anglophilic roots music with Brazilian sambista rhythms and edgings of open-tuned “eastern” music…
Gabriela: Altas Planicies (1991)

2018/02/06

Gabriela Marrone’s Altas Planicies is the very quiet work of a true pioneer. Born of rural, Argentinian descent, but cosmopolitan via adolescent growth, Gabriela took what could have been a forgettable life as a diplomat’s daughter and used it as a way to develop personally into the inspirational force she came to be.
Flávio Venturini: Nascente (1981)

2017/04/04

There are few albums that just put me in a special place. Flávio Venturini’s Nascente is one of them. When it’s on, it seems my whole spirit bends to its will. Overrun with string instruments, mostly warm-sounding, and some of the most captivatingly tender harmonies on any side of the hemisphere, or era, Nascente just has…
Naoki Asai: アバ・ハイジ (Aber Heidschi) (1988)

2017/01/23

A perfect album for our alternate reality, filled with alternative facts. In a perfect world there would be lines upon lines of information out there written on Naoki Asai’s アバ・ハイジ (Aber Heidschi). Unfortunately, in our imperfect world all we have is one (!!!) brave blog post even attempting to suss out what in the world Naoki Asai…
Eliseo Parra y MOSAICO: Homenaje A Agapito Marazuela (1984)

2017/01/13

imply, phenomenal, a landmark release of Spanish music. The more I hear Eliseo Parra y MOSAICO’s Homenaje A Agapito Marazuela, the more I am convinced of my declaration. This album, a musical homage to the massively influential and important Castilian folklorist, musician, and dulzaina master Agapito Marazuela, does so many things right. Released a year…
Claire Hamill: Voices (1986)

2016/12/28

There’s a vastly more interesting topic hidden in full view of Claire Hamill’s unique and brilliant 1986 release: Voices. What is Voices? It’s an utterly fascinating bit of art pop, a middle ground of Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush -stylistic music, that combines forgotten English Folk with nomadic, electronic dream pop. Composed entirely free of instruments other than her own…
Silvio Rodríguez: Días Y Flores (1975)

2016/12/02

Looking back at recent history, one wonders why certain wounds seem to take so long to heal. We already saw a huge wound open up, yet again, for reasons that defy easy explanation. The rise of neo-fascism and alt-know-nothings has to be a reaction to something. Just this past week another reminder of a seemingly…
Jean-Claude Vannier: Jean-Claude Vannier (1975)

2016/11/07

While I was researching this bit of music, I ran into this interview by Jean-Claude Vannier. In no uncertain terms, Jean-Claude tried to guide the interviewer away from asking questions about what he’s known for. If you’re known for something as iconic as arranging the music for Serge Gainsbourg’s Histoire de Melody Nelson it would be easy…
Frank Fischer: Gone with the Wind (1989)

2016/10/21

Pictures rarely lie, right? Take a look at the album cover to Frank Fischer’s Gone with the Wind. What does it bring to mind? Breeziness, brightness, tinges of autumnal feelings, and crisp, cool sensations are the first things that come to my mind. Released on krautrock giant Klaus Schulze’s iconic label Innovative Communication, by then more known…