Mujician was perhaps one of the greatest improvisational groups to come out of England, and this album shows them in peak form. The band consisted of clarinetist and saxophonist Paul Dunmall, backed by drummer Tony Levin (not the King Crimson bassist), bassist Paul Rogers (not the hard rocker), and Keith Continue Reading
Dou Wei; Chao Jian (竇唯;朝簡) – 安神符
Instrumentalists Dou Wei and Chao Jian are names I came across last year thanks to my former student Ben, who did me the honor of pointing me to their new album. The record features two long instrumental pieces that sound like ethno-ambient music and like what you would have found Continue Reading
Layla Murad (ليلى مراد) – If My Heart Has Known Humiliation: Cairo Baidaphon Recordings ca. 1936-49
Canary Records continues its incredible run of reissues with Egyptian Jewish chanteuse Lalya Murad, whose music has been lovingly cleaned up by Ian Nagoski—sublime recordings from another era.
M. John Henry – Early Songs, Of Late
Somewhere on the borders of indie rock and folk music sits Scottish singer M. John Henry. From his Bandcamp site: “…founder of the band De Rosa. Between 2006-2016 De Rosa released three critically acclaimed albums on the Chemikal Underground and Rock Action labels. Henry released his first solo LP in 2011, Continue Reading
Dormance – II
Mahorka Records has added another unique gem to their 2026 collection with the release from the band Dormance. Their sound blends mechanical influences that evoke the early works of Frontline Assembly, early Depeche Mode, and artists from the respected Wax Trax! Records label.
Emmylou Harris – Stumble Into Grace
I rarely share a country album, but because it’s Emmylou Harris, I’m happy to make an exception. She was the most remarkable (and stunningly beautiful) singer of the 1970s in my humble opinion, and though her black locks have gone silver over the years, both the voice and the face Continue Reading
Zao – Kawana
Magma alumni Yochk’o Seffer and François “Faton” Cahen recorded under the name Zao, producing an album that is at once progressive, zeuhl, and heavily influenced by Miles-era jazz fusion. Deep and dark, it also features Didier Lockwood on violin, Gérard Prévost and Bill Gagnon on bass, Jean My Truong and Christian Saint Continue Reading
Toshiyuki Tsuchitori & Ryuichi Sakamoto – Disappointment / Hateruma
The void left by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s passing is far too immense to ever be filled. One can hope for a reissue here and there, for some lost studio and live recordings to resurface, and for some demos and live tracks to pop up. However, this month, we’re graced with a little Continue Reading
Mother Mother – Hayloft I (Official Video)
It’s been years since I watched a relatively new music video. As someone old enough to remember when MTV first started (“Video Killed The Radio Star,” indeed…), I used to love the cheesiness of the early videos. Filmmakers, however, caught on to how great a new medium the music video Continue Reading
BlindººCoyote – numb:slide:cloud (triptych)
Our esteemed friend, Drem Bruinsma, enlightened us about an early BlindººCoyote release we missed. From his Bandcamp site: “What started as an experiment with the effects of re-recording source material at different sampling rates, ended up becoming something way more layered, complex and meaningful: three parts fading into one another, Continue Reading