minimalist

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…
Mix: 24. Sueño Con Mexico

2019/04/19

For this mix for LYL Radio I was feeling more than a tinge of nostalgia. Somehow, one day, hearing the plaintive tones of Pat Metheny’s “Sueño Con Mexico” got me reminiscing about where I come from and how much of the music I love comes from music that triggers memories of things I heard when…
Brian Slawson: Distant Drums (1988)

2019/04/09

It’s not often you encounter the work of a percussionist who is as wildly as inventive as one can be, yet can be prone to veering off where (he should know better) that none should follow, such is Brian Slawson’s Distant Drums which gets an unequivocal recommendation from me. Mr. Slawson is much like your…
Andrea Piazza: Tirtaganga (1989)

2019/01/08

There’s always a lovely melodicism to Italian minimalist music. Lately, I’ve been fascinated by the works of little known Italian record label Stile Librero for that reason. Let me introduce you to a slice of this spirit, through the work of harpist Andrea Piazza who released his gorgeous debut album dubbed Tirtaganga on it.
Ryokyu Endo: Song Of Pure Land (1994)

2018/11/16

So very lovely. Forgive me if some of you are expecting something more experimental, electronic, or whatever else now. Me, I just want something like this. What is this? It’s the beginning of Ryokyu Endo’s sublime form of Japanese New Age music. In 1994, Ryokyu Endo’s Song Of Pure Land, or The Song Of Pure…
Windsor Riley: The Move Of Life (1988)

2018/11/13

“Endlessly moving, always alive” no better words can describe this album than Windsor Riley’s own. There’s no way around it, The Move Of Life sounds lame on paper. A late ‘80s release, on another nameless record label, trying to peddle harmless instrumental music that would be at home on the Weather Channel or your local dentist…
Ric Kaestner: Music For Massage II (1987)

2018/10/23

Trying to revisit something I wrote about and remember quite vividly, at the time I wrote it, presents two opportunities: the first is to reassess why and how I got into that piece of music. The second opportunity presented by revisiting the past, is whether time has added a fresher perspective since then. When Sifted…
Milky Way: Quarter Diary (1989)

2018/10/19

Oh, the joys and pains of promoting private press records. First of all, a huge debt of gratitude is extended to one Discogs record collector (mvns) who kindly shared with me this beyond interesting release by Japanese band (or solo act, hard to tell, at times), Milky Way Band. Released in 1989, through infinitely small…
Mix: 14. Otoño de Nuevo – Argentinian Fusion From the ’80s and ’90s. (Guest Mix by Chris J. Morris)

2018/09/28

Guest Mix by Chris J. Morris Editor’s Note: For those who’ve ventured to the FOND/SOUND Facebook group our guest for today’s mix, Chris J. Morris, has been tearing up the board with fascinating share, upon fascinating share, much of it from his personal collection. Showing a deep knowledge of Latin experimentalism, and so much more, I…