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Anarchist Mountains Trio ~ La terre et la force
The Christoff brothers have roots in the Macedonia/Bulgaria area dating back to Ottoman times. They’ve cultivated connections in there, and were even able to find family records in Istanbul. Imagine that! My experience in the records archive in Napoli was very different… My family comes from all over southern Italy, but with some older roots…
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Music For Insurrection
Dedicated to George Floyd I. every precinct an autozone 01:51 II. a new world from the ashes of the old 10:41 III. fuck12 05:59 IV. minnesota nice 09:50 V. this aint a riot 22:39 VI. 8’46” 08:46 I lived in South Minneapolis for 4 years, most of that time in an apartment building on Chicago…
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Coleman Hawkins ~ The Hawk Flies High
By the time he recorded The Hawk Flies High in 1957, Coleman Hawkins had already been playing music professionally for over 35 years. Hawkins made his reputation as the first great tenor saxophonist, essentially validating the instrument as a jazz horn, and was an important figure in swing, big band, and bebop. Not content to…
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World’s End Girlfriend ~ Hurtbreak Wonderland
The music of World’s End Girlfriend is wonderfully post-modern, a hodgepodge of sounds and instruments, an ambient chamber orchestra being overrun by an exuberant carnival dance-party. Somehow, Katsuhiko Maeda manages to create a convincing unity where others could see only chaos. By combining disparate elements, which by all accounts don’t make sense together, he has…
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Efterklang ~ Under Giant Trees
Efterklang‘s Under Giant Trees is an EP of such astonishing range and emotion that nothing comparable immediately comes to mind. Expanding upon the sound developed on their last record, Tripper, this eclectic group from Copenhagen have outdone themselves. These five songs are heartbreakingly beautiful, melding organic melodies and subtle electronics into delicate waves of sound,…
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Rachel Grimes ~ Book of Leaves
Though we have seen some excellent solo piano records over the years, it still feels like something of a rarity outside of traditional classical circles. Most musicians bury themselves in excessive tracks, often doing disservice to the composition by giving into the temptation of modern digital recording. Therefore, to write a work for solo piano…
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FaravelliRatti ~ Lieu
Lieu is the debut from the collaborative pair FaravelliRatti. As the name might indicate, the members of the duo are named Attilo Faravelli and Nicola Ratti. Ratti is better known, having received attention for the excellent Bellows project with Giuseppe Ielasi, as well as for solo records and remixes. Faravelli has done much work in…
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From Montreal to Brooklyn on a Vespa
Over ten years ago, in June 2010, I rode my Vespa from Montreal to Brooklyn. These are my notes from that time. — Day 1: Montreal to Argyle Thursday 17 June 2010. I set off from my apartment in the Plateau arrondissement of Montreal on my Vespa LXV headed for Park Slope, Brooklyn. My good…
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(Vladislav Delay as) Sistol ~ On the Bright Side
Sasu Ripatti can apparently do no wrong, though it is a bit surprising to see him reactivate this long dormant persona after almost eleven years. Why would a successful producer revive a one-off, nearly forgotten project from over a decade ago? This multifaceted Finnish musician has consistently impressed us with his versatility, from the grooving…
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Victoire ~ Cathedral City
Brooklyn-based composer Missy Mazzoli founded the quintet Victoire to perform her compositions, and their full-length debut demonstrates what happens when talented musicians take the time to develop their craft. Last year’s debut EP Door Into the Dark was good, but the time since has paid off in the fantastic Cathedral City. The release has an…
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Comments on Rock
Comments on Rock Luciano Berio One evening, many years ago (maybe 15), in the house of Roberto Leydi, I heard a series of quite rare recordings curated by Alan Lomax, in 1938, for the Library of Congress in Washington. In these recordings Jelly Roll Morton, the first great jazz pianist, recounts the story of jazz…
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108 Capsules
108 capsule reviews written between 2012 and 2020 Matteo Uggeri | Luca Mauri | Francesco Giannico ~ Pagetos (Boring Machines) The long-awaited final chapter in the Between the Elements quadrilogy didn’t disappoint. Together the four releases cover a wide spectrum of experimentation and aesthetic forms. The first three installments – the sparse desert drone of Erimos, the slowly unfolding melodies of Nefoldhis, and the electroacoustic…
Sound Propositions 