fourth world
-
Somehow, it’s becoming a recent recurring theme of mine to highlight outside the box music creators. Some of my favorite albums are those by artists whose first creative outlet isn’t exactly music per se. On Poema A Dos Voces we’re treated to such a spectacular vision by Basque poet, sculptor, psychologist and singer-songwriter, Ana Benegas…
-
Can I say something? I’m beginning to empathize more with the creative mindset of one Henry Kawahara than with one of Hiroshi Yoshimura. I say this not to inflame any passions but because I’m appreciating how he comes to terms with creating his kind of music. Far from the studied, mannered, ambient, Japanese kankyo ongaku,…
-
I’m trying to parse out of Danny’s own bio what could help explain his Every Island. In his own bio, Danny Heines highlights his notable percussive, acoustic guitar fret-tapping technique and an ability to overtone throat sing as keen things he does. On Every Island, what’s notable is how more nuanced his skills are over…
-
Sometimes the best ideas come to you on-the-fly. Truth be told, I completely forgot about this month’s mix for LYL Radio. For the first time in a good long while, I had been strapped for time, making space to plan for a long vacation. So, if I had to carve out time for it, it…
-
I think that just about does it. If you had on your bingo card Toshiyuki Honda to complete the Japanese “saxophonist goes Avant Pop” game, you’re the winner now! Joining the likes of Yasuaki Shimizu, Genji Sawai, and Hiroyasu Yaguchi, comes Toshiyuki’s Saxophone Music, another album redefining what is exactly that: music played by saxophonists.…
-
Is it alright it if I take it easy on this one? I doubt Rob Mounsey would have wanted us to over analyze his Dig. Functioning at my preferred meeting of fun, inventive, and memorable art, Dig is the increasingly rare album that is all of that while remaining distinctive enough to warrant further exploration…
-
A leftfield reimagining of vaunted Afro-Cuban jazz classics, in a new school “futuristic” Japanese Pop style, shouldn’t sound so interesting as it does in Today’s Latin Project. Launched on the demise of one famous group (The Tokyo Cuban Boys) and the rise of one important, new musical voice, Yasuaki Shimizu, you’d expect something titled Today’s…
-
Somehow, I’m stumbling on a theme. This is the second start of the week where I share the utterly brilliant work of another ethnomusicologist. In today’s case, it’s for good reason, I have to share what I consider is one of the Balearic masterpieces — Riccardo Giagni’s Kaunis Maa. Perfect for summer, Kaunis Maa is…
-
“Inspired ethnological musical exploration from an unlikely source.” — what better way to describe Michael Atherton’s Windshift? Michael Atherton might best be known in Australia as one of it’s leading scholars and practitioners of Aboriginal and Pan-Pacific music but somewhere in his history lies a fantastic composer/musician who understood a fourth way to bridge all…
-
Cover Photography by @krstnshtlv As a writer, one always has floating on one’s head drafts of things to cover. For various years I’ve always wanted to really tell the story of the music of Brazil’s Minas Gerais region, post-Clube Da Esquina. That’s part of the reason I chose to focus intently on it for my…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental folk-rock fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic