‘Orthodox’ is a rather antithetical name for such a band as this one. Indeed, the Sevillan experimental doom jazz trio don’t play by the rules, and don’t like to follow traced paths. Their most recent works are a melting pot of absurdly low and distorted bass guitars and twirling saxophones playing what they call experimental doom metal influenced by religious folklore and jazz. With their latest release, the twenty-seven-minute single Κρέας (Kréas), they push the formula even further by it being a complete improvisation. There is no understatement in calling this a free jazz record, but that description alone would … Read more
Sevish – Harmony Hacker
You know that I’m a sucker for microtonal music. I still am quite critical of it, but I always applaud the effort put into it. So, it’s no surprise that I’m enjoying the new Sevish very much! The artist has proven themself time and time again with various successful releases, including my personal favourite, Rhythm & Xen. With Harmony Hacker, Sevish takes back where their 2015 full-length left, and offers us some high-quality electronic dance music, with drum and bass and IDM undertones, that’s surprisingly easy to approach considering its microtonal nature. Speaking of which, the songs vary … Read more
Vmthanaachth – Inferotemporal
Chamber music is, by definition, classical music played by a small group of instruments, where each member has its own independent partition to play. For example, string quartets and your usual metal band can, technically, be considered chamber music groups. Due to the minimalistic nature of the formula, it’s where we see the most experimentation happen. Indeed, it’s easier to gather a few people to play weird, boundary-breaking music than to convince a whole orchestra to do the same. Texan band Vmthanaachth is a quintet comprised of two guitars, a viola, and two saxophones. That is, according to some pictures … Read more
Araqsana – Araqsana
Once in a while, I get a personal email containing music that’s just above and beyond good. This time, that email came from Jackson Albert Mann, and the music is under the moniker Araqsana. Jackson is a post-graduate student at the Berklee College of Music, and his debut EP displays some very tasty jazz fusion. Jackson states he is influenced by hardcore punk, experimental electronic music, and jam bands. The latter I can feel in Araqsana, but the former two are much more subtle and it takes more than one listen to get a glimpse of them through … Read more
Dougmore – Outerboros
Dougmore‘s debut album is a foray into folkloric music through the lens of art rock. Indeed, Outerboros is lush and complex, deep and progressive, and, on top of that, inspiringly beautiful. Don’t be fooled by the apparent simplicity of the folk singer-songwriter foundation of the project – with Douglas and his banjo -, for there is here a plethora of invited artists – playing a wide range of instruments, from wine glasses to trumpets, from bouzouki to double bass, from dulcimer to harp, and a lot of other things in-between. This not only bring in a variety of timbres … Read more