Brigitte Fontaine :: Comme a la Radio

Brigitte FontainePosted on

In the zone where idiosyncrasies collide, intuition is key. Everything is ripe for failure, but if navigated correctly even the most unsuspecting of unions can bear fruit. This happens to be the exact frontier explored by Brigitte Fontaine with Comme a la Radio. Notably, Fontaine is not subjected to the rigid and precise studio ensembles known to most chanson connoisseurs, but rather walks among free jazz titans—the Art Ensemble of Chicago. On top of this, Fontaine has teamed up with Areski Belkacem on this maiden voyage of a collaboration which endures to this day . . .

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Further Cosmic Pedal Steel Situations :: Winter 2024

Cosmic Pedal Steel Situations Dave Easley Gary Peters Luke Schneider Rich HinmanPosted on

The cosmic pedal steel scene continues to expand — and we’re here for it. Daniel Lanois, one of the godfathers of this movement, once called the pedal steel “my little church in a suitcase.” And if anything ties these various musicians together, it’s a certain kind of earthy spirituality, an openness to the myriad possibilities that the instrument offers. Check out a few recent favorites, via the following roundup, featuring Gary Peters, Rich Hinman, Luke Schneider and Dave Easley . . .

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Posted on Cosmic Pedal Steel Situations Dave Easley Gary Peters Luke Schneider Rich Hinman

Greg Foat & Ayo Salawu :: Interstellar Fantasy

Ayo Salawu Greg FoatPosted on

Like his American counterpart John Carroll Kirby, Foat stands at the vanguard of what we might call pulp jazz, a sound comprised of softcore jazz-funk and B-movie library music grooves, heady prog interludes and new age zone-outs—but designed, above all, for pleasure. This isn’t the insurrectionary transcendentalism of spiritual jazz. It is erogenous music, intended to move human bodies. Here, Foat and Salawu take what might have been a paperback sci-fi goof and come up with an album of simmering come-ons. That they happen to be floating in space doesn’t make them . . .

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Posted on Ayo Salawu Greg Foat

Felbm :: Cycli Infini

FelbmPosted on

One of the most unashamedly beautiful records out now; it is, at times, so gorgeous that it breaks your heart. cycli infini spirals in and out of genres—minimalism, gagaku, new age, ambient, jazz, fourth world—all while remaining completely intact. One pattern flows effortlessly out of the last and into whatever comes next. The adventure of the album is listening as forms decompose and are reconstituted. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that the album invites you to be attentive to its changes and indifferent to them at the same time . . .

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Robert Pollard :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Guided By Voices Robert Pollard The AD InterviewPosted on

2023 was a fantastic year for Guided by Voices. The trio of records that came out – La La Land, Welshpool Frillies, and the late-year Nowhere to Go But Up – are some of the best the band has put out in the seven years its most recent incarnation has been together. Founding member Robert Pollard seems just as chaotically creative as ever, whether it’s the pure volume of songs or the developing shape they take. Over the holiday break, Pollard caught up with Aquarium Drunkard via email about the latest trio of albums, how the writing process works for . . .

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The Aquarium Drunkard Show: SIRIUS/XMU (7pm PST, Channel 35)

SIRIUSPosted on

Jazz grip. Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.

34.1090° N, 118.2334° W . . .

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Bandcamping :: Winter 2024

BandcampingPosted on

New tunes for a new year! While the status / coolness of Bandcamp as a corporate entity is in flux, the platform itself remains in fine form for the time being — even Bandcamp Fridays seem to be rolling forward in 2024 (the next one hits on Feb. 2). Wherever you get your music and however you choose to support artists, dig in here for some recent / recommended zones . . .

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The Secret Hemisphere: New Age, Fusion and Fourth World, 1970-2002

MixtapesPosted on

Fourth world music belongs to an occult geography. This is by design. When the late trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell coined the term, he conceived of it as “an attempt to create a kind of musical scenery which is not entirely ‘primitive,’ not entirely ‘future’ but someplace impossible to locate either chronologically or geographically.” 

There is no atlas to the fourth world. The best that we can offer is something like a star chart. You may have to draw the constellations yourselves, out of lines connecting ECM jazz to phase music, woolly hippie cult rock to a thousand forgotten new . . .

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Diamonds From the Deepest Ocean :: Bob Dylan | Highway 49 Revisited

Bob Dylan Diamonds From the Deepest OceanPosted on

Diamonds From the Deepest Ocean is a recurring series exploring classic Bob Dylan bootlegs from the CD era. Before broadband internet, YouTube, and bottomless hard drives overflowing with FLACs, many Dylan fans relied on the grey market to gain entry into the world of unreleased Dylan. This series celebrates those tangible treasures and wonders: “What’s lost when you can have it all?”

Now playing: Highway 49 Revisited (1976 . . .

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Posted on Bob Dylan Diamonds From the Deepest Ocean

House Band :: Aventurine

House BandPosted on

Evoking electric era Miles and krauty minimalism, House Band unites players known for their work with Cat Power, Tim Heidecker, and Grateful Shred with Brian Harding of Philm for a stalwart, funk and dub obsessed psych odyssey—improvised in the moment and preserved for your zoned-out listening pleasure . . .

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The Kate Bush Christmas Special feat. Peter Gabriel (1979)

Holiday Kate Bush Peter GabrielPosted on

Amongst the plethora of classic televised Christmas specials are lesser-known outliers that haven't become ubiquitous holiday viewing. Case in point: The Kate Bush Christmas Special (1979 . . .

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The Aquarium Drunkard Radio Holiday Nog Spectacular

SIRIUSPosted on

Via satellite, transmitting from northeast Los Angeles — the Aquarium Drunkard Show on SIRIUS/XMU, channel 35. 7pm California time, Wednesdays.

Tonight, suit up, it’s Aquarium Drunkard’s annual seasonal spectacular . . .

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Posted on SIRIUS

Videodrome :: Metropolitan (1990)

Holiday VideodromePosted on

In Metropolitan, The Ghost of Christmas Past and The Ghost of Christmas Future are the same, and the characters are so caught up in their bubble of affluence that they fail to reckon with The Ghost of Christmas Present . . .

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Songs of Christmas, Midwinter, & New Year :: From the Alan Lomax Collection

Alan Lomax HolidayPosted on

Hark! The arrival of a late in the year gift: Songs of Christmas, Midwinter & New Year: From the Alan Lomax Collection. Collecting material the legendary archivist recorded in the Caribbean, Italy, Spain, Scotland, the American South, and Harlem, this compilation presents a variety of Yuletide sounds, both playful and sacred, from around the globe . . .

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Celtic Guru :: Van Morrison In The 80s | Irish Heartbeat

Celtic Guru Van MorrisonPosted on

In many ways, Irish Heartbeat was Van Morrison’s reawakening. He was opening himself up once more to the idea of collaborating; giving up the singular vision which he had been pursuing for a collective one. This also spawned a reawakening in the public eye. Though Morrison seemed able to confer directly with his core audience with any output, it was this record that grabbed the ears of the masses once more . . .

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Posted on Celtic Guru Van Morrison