fourth world
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Often, if possible, I make an effort to read original liner notes to any of the albums I share. I do so because, usually, it gives me an idea (or alludes to a certain sentiment) of what the original artist was trying to convey with their work. However, more often than not, other writers (much…
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Few artists have done quite as much to advance the idea of a “nuevo canción” quite like Argentina’s Silvia Iriondo. Yet, perhaps, her most impressive work, 1990’s Silvia Iriondo remains quite a mystery. In it you hear Silvia – with help from Argentina’s experimental fusion and jazz scene – give voice to the little-admired music…
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The more one explores music, the more one discovers how open borders create the most interesting ideas and those living at the borderline have unique perspectives to share. Proof positive: Bebeto Alves’s forward-thinking “milonga” music. It’s his Danço Só – E Fico Assim Mais Oriental Me Invento Toda Manhã, created at the nexus of Argentina,…
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Doesn’t it feel like sometimes all we need is a little push? When I hear Summer Lei’s debut, 我我是雷光夏 (I Am Lei Guangxia), I meditate on what we sometimes stand to lose simply by not taking that first step. Pastoral, experimental, and quite immediate, personal, and warm, rightfully, so much of what makes this music…
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Tue, May 10, 2022, 10:46 AM – so many things seem improbable, but looking at this time stamp, this is one of those that will sit with me for a while. You see, it was over two years ago that I mustered up some courage to seek out Noriko Sekiguchi and see if she was interested…
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15 years can fly by. Yet, 19 years can seem like a blink. You see, it was in fact 19 years ago — if one can completely trust the internet — when a germ of a thought and of a vision was being created, one piece at a time, when Ricks and April were hand-painting…
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Sometimes the hardest thing isn’t putting words on screen. Sometimes the hardest part is finding space to write about a certain piece of music you’re not completely certain others will understand (or have the patience for). Unfortunately, you know me, and you know I have patience to spare and more than enough time to choose…
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Is it: “Everything new is old again?” or is it: “Everything old is new again?” Before I left for my visit to Japan, I was freshly reminded of this paradox by (friend of the blog) Chris Morris’s YouTube share of an autumnal neo-folkloric favorite of mine: Begoña Olavide’s Salterio – one I reminded myself to…
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There’s nothing like youthful naivete is there? I fully believe it’s that ingrained spirit to want to shake things up and light your own path that forces the spirits of the past to look forward to the future. It’s that kind of spirit you hear positively soaring in the unclassifiable music of Koto-Za and their…
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When autumn comes rolling in, I always welcome a fresh wind that shifts my focus elsewhere, towards music with a more folkloric bent. And for some reason, I’m always surprised to be unsurprised by how much there is to harvest from the Irish or Gaelic diaspora. As leaves start to turn and a certain seasonal…
ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist mpb neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic