sophisti-pop
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Love is such an unexplainable thing, isn’t it? Sometimes it’s coming straight at you. Other times, it comes from a different angle, unexpected and only makes its case steadily — from a distance. How else, can I explain my love for the work of Sophie and Peter Johnston and their own stab at creating their…
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I’ve got to say I really had fun with this one. Inspired by Ms. Sally’s wonderful recommendation to check out the music of brother/sister duo Sophie and Peter Johnston, I felt compelled to build on an idea for my latest mix for LYL Radio: “What about an hour dedicated to music that takes us back…
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Maybe those who still vaguely remember England’s proto-Acid Jazz scene can better place Animal Nightlife in an appropriate context, but how in the heck did such a group not become a household name like Culture Club, Soul II Soul, and Spandau Ballet? Unfortunately, now tucked under the “where are they now” section, Animal Nightlife was…
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Let’s revisit one of my favorite topics: when prog goes pop. In a way, it should inform today’s discussion on Anthony Phillips’ Invisible Men. You see, not so many moons ago I dedicated a mix to one Peter Bardens, ex-Camel and Caravan keyboardist who quietly created intriguing “prog”-minded pop music. It’s a sound that I…
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Next, in my continuing series of the redemptive power of house music, I take a look at EPO’s Fire & Snow. I’m half-joking, of course. However, EPO’s Fire & Snow is one of those hidden full album burners that sounds like an anomaly in someone’s discography but has that sound made for them. We had…
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Some of my favorite albums are those like the one I’ll be sharing today by Bergamo’s own iconic Ivan Cattaneo. Il Cuore É Nudo… E I Pesci Cantano (or The Heart Is Naked… And The Fish Sing) proves again that some of our best work is done when we stop putting in front all sorts…
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Going back into the well of zouk music. It’s not often I tap into it because I’d be afraid to turn this whole blog into a zouk-only thing…and who knows who’d be into that? Especially, around this time of the year. However, as long as I have your interest in “bass” music piqued — let’s…
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It’s perhaps uncommon knowledge that the best marriages (and relationships) are those comprised of two individuals coming together not in spite of their differences but because of their differences. One can clearly hear this in practice in the nearly telepathic playing of Osaka Japanese New Age guitar duo, Gontiti. In the past I’ve written a…
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What happens if you mix the Everly Brothers and Kraftwerk? The answer you’re supposed to hear should be: Adolphson-Falk’s Med Rymden I Blodet. However, I don’t think it quite is. Taking inspiration from both those iconic bands yet doing something decidedly different, is what led me to write about one of Sweden’s least heralded pop…
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Don’t you just love it when everything comes together? Kenji Sawada must have taken forever to match up his forward-thinking persona with his stagecraft and music, but on Aux Femmes 女たちよ) it all fell into place. Toying with gender, electronics, and all sorts of compositional elements, Aux Femmes 女たちよ proved he just wasn’t some emptyheaded…
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