music

  • Self-released on cassette in 1983, Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Pier & Loft earns the distinction of being both his most hard to find record (Discogs prices pointing upwards of $100 now) and also, surprisingly, his most accessible. The problem, of course, has been finding actual audio of it. On this release he took his environmental music somewhere new. You…

  • It’s Doopee Time! How does one describe a Doopee? One certainly can’t define it, one can only hear it. Led by master Japanese steelpan player Yann Tomita, the Doopees (featuring Caroline Novac, with special appearance by Auntie Kim) were a band conceived by Yann to attempt to do a brand new thing: create the ultimate “cute” album.…

  •   It seems I’m running out of summer, and in this case Isabelles, but before I do, I have to share one of those perfect albums that just scream: Can you hold on, just for a bit more? Isabelle Antena’s En Cavale released on uber-stylish indie Belgian record label Les Disques Du Crépuscule, and graced by a gorgeous watercolor album cover…

  •   Now this is what you call a performance. Rightfully, Isabelle Adjani has to go down as one French cinema’s greatest actresses. Possessing an expressive beauty that she can transform from ethereal to surreal in movies like Possession, Subway, all the way to Diabolique, it’s Isabelle’s ability to sculpt that mysterious sexuality on her own terms that allowed her to use such talent to get away with almost everything in her artistic career.…

  • Let’s blur boundaries. Let’s begin with English singer-songwriter John Martyn’s fascinating ode to the music of Jamaica.

  • All good things must come to an end. My final post on DeBarge is really just a cool “best of” playlist I concocted. Tracks of note that I’d recommend y’all touch on are “Time Will Reveal” off the same album “Stay With Me” is of. Something about this track reminds me of Brian Wilson’s adolescent…

  • This track, I’ll stress this again: now this track, is the one that left no doubt how important the DeBarges and El DeBarge specifically is to modern R&B. “Stay With Me” from what became their most popular album “In A Special Way”, was released in 1983. Buried deep in the album, was this track that…

  • This is a two-fer. First, if anyone is interested in listening to any of the tracks I’ve shared this month check out this playlist. Then, scroll down to the bottom to find my pick of the day, George Benson’s “Give me the Night” off the same titled album. No one needs me to explain the…

  • It’s been a long while since I’ve posted a Jamaican track. Well, this one is a truly great track. The Upsetter’s “Zion’s Blood” in many ways is the clarion call for all dub musicians. Lee “Scratch” Perry’s signature style is already in full bloom here, while the Upsetters perfectly marshall their talent into a mystical…

  • Track of the Day: When this party track hits, it hits hard (actual song starts at 1:30min mark). Cherelle’s “Saturday Love” produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was a dry run for the beat driven R&B they introduced in Janet Jackson’s Control. Such a brilliant rhythm track, so spare at various strategic points, essentially…

ambient art pop art rock balearic brazilian electro-acoustic england environmental music experimental folk-rock fourth world Funk fusion japan jazz minimalist neo-folk neoclassical new age walearic