A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #20

a quiet week

Dear Listeners! Joseph again. Back from my trip to Minneapolis, and the flurry of the last month has taken its toll…. Still a long way from getting back to “normal,” I at least certainly feel more fatigued by the increasingly packed social calendar. Nonetheless, it’s been a pleasure experiencing live music again. In October I saw FUJI||||||||||TA and Kali Malone, billy woods and ShrapKnel, and popped by AKOUSMA and Sight & Sound festivals. I’ll be playing in Montreal in December, a bill I’m really excited about, but more details about that next time. I’m going to keep it brief this week, as in two week’s time we’ll have quite a lot to pack in. Until then, I’d also like to publicly welcome Maria Papadomanolaki, our newest contributor to ACL!

Ukrainian Field Notes XV

We’ve broken another milestone here at Ukrainian Field Notes, with 100+ interviews to date. Once again, thanks are due to all who entrusted us with their stories. We’ve also featured a number of pets and, for episode XV, we meet the Mariupol born Ginger, while talking post-industrial music with Ship Her Son in Lviv. Meanwhile Bunht discusses Herman Hesse in Petropavlivska Borschahivka, and Bejenec tries to make ends meet in Warsaw, having lost both his home back in 2014 and now his livelihood.

We also hear Del Cano musing on the late Jean-Luc Godard and Medium discuss drum and bass while Andrii Sichkovsky (aka Olympic Snow) debunks the traditional narrative of Odesa being founded by the Russian empire. Downtempo is provided both by Povlino Records, now based in Germany, and Cepasa, who reminisces on a chilled live set on the shores of the Azov Sea. Over the past seven months we have covered most genres, sticking mostly to instrumental music as per our remit. Jurij Josyfovych is one of a number of exceptions we’ve made, combining traditional folk songs with electronics. And to round up our interviews, Artem Ikra recommends “memetherapy” for the masses!

As customary we feature a couple of new releases (Habal Garmin by Casa Ukrania, and the collaborative two track EP Ataka by Liza Aikin and Zavoloka), as well as the obligatory fundraising compilations and a selection of the best podcast and mixes from former, and hopefully future guests, including Svitlana Nianio, Nina Eba, Mystictrax, Alien Body, Koloah, and Andrey Kiritchenko.

For our viewing room we have a session with brainhack_musicbox and a video by Ukraїner about Khortytsia, the largest island on the Dnieper, below the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant in Zaporizhzhia as recommended by Cepasa. But to begin with, we have the latest UFN podcast for Resonance FM with Nata and Leonid from Casa Ukrania taking in the recent shellings of October 10 as well as the controversy surrounding the Nobel Peace Prize.

Read the entire piece here.

RECENT REVIEWS

Reviews are at the heart of ACL. Here are a few of my favorite reviews we posted on the blog in the last few weeks.

Bekah Simms ~ Bestiaries
Bestiaries is enthralling and unique.  The music is a reflection of its cover art: a melange of intricacies, colorful, yet frightening, grotesque, yet intriguing.  Centrediscs calls it “accessible yet uncompromising.”  This is a fitting album for October, or for any time during the dark season when the light flees and the shadows begin to creep across the floor.  And yet, it’s not cheap; although the music has the feel of a horror movie, it also has the timbre of a grand symphony.  The presence of two ensembles, a solo cellist and an accomplished soprano pushes the album into the realm of the upscale.

Loraine James ~ Building Something Beautiful for Me
Composer Loraine James bravely undertakes the difficult task of reinterpreting [Julius] Eastman’s oeuvre by “employ[ing] samples, melodic motifs, themes and imagery, and inspiration from Eastman’s canon, slicing, editing, pulling apart and playing samples like instruments to craft a stunning album that venerates Eastman’s genius while adhering to her own.” Building Something Beautiful For Me brings James in direct conversation with Eastman as fellow Black, gay artists operating in different decades and cities but unified by a genuine interest in exploring, experimenting, subverting and queering their sounds. […] Building Something Beautiful For Me is not exactly a tribute record, nor is it a collection of reworks of Eastman’s pieces, but an open invitation to reflect in a very personal way.  James rediscovers and redefines herself by experimenting with fragments of Eastman’s work, creating a collection of introspective electronic pieces that are at times reminiscent of early IDM and ambient but, like Eastman’s work, escape easy categorisation.

Molly Joyce ~ Perspective
How are we defined, and who has the right to define a human being?  Is disability a weakness, and is anyone truly whole?  These questions and more are tackled on Molly Joyce‘s ambitious Perspective, a musical collage incorporating 47 interviews with persons labeled as disabled. Joyce’s own journey is the beginning of the story.  At the age of seven, her left hand was nearly severed in a car accident.  Many years later, the artist was asked why she referred to her left hand as “weak.”  After resisting the term “disabled” for years, Joyce made peace with the word; she plays a vintage toy organ with her weak hand.


R. Weis ~ Cempazúchitl (Party with the Dead)
Last year’s Día de los Muertos street celebration is now this year’s hit Day of the Dead release.  Recorded in Oaxaca de Juárez, México by R. Weis exactly a year ago today, Cempazúchitl is fun, exuberant, and like the holiday yet despite its imagery, the exact opposite of morbid: an invitation to eat candy skulls and dance in cemeteries.  Long-time readers may remember the artist from Parrot & Paperback, which is still one of the cleverest combinations we’ve ever heard.  This release extends his streak of unique recordings.

UPCOMING RELEASES

(complete list with Bandcamp links here)

Many mid-autumn days are clean and crisp, although the setting sun leaves behind an evening chill.  We can sense that something is coming to an end, a nagging tingle in the back of our minds that maybe we should get outside while we can.  A cavalcade of color awaits those in leaf-changing climates.  And like the autumn leaves, the new release schedule flares before turning inward for the winter.  This year’s harvest is healthy, and new music is added daily; we hope you’ll find your next favorite album right here!

Baldruin ~ Kleine Freuden (mappa, 3 November)

Adrian Corker ~ TIBSLC Re-Works of Since It Turned Out Something Else (SN Variations, 4 November)

Billy Pod ~ Quintessence (Puzzlemusik, 4 November)

Brad E. Rose ~ Annular Silhouettes (Room40, 4 November)

COH Meets Abul Mogard ~ S/T (Houndstooth, 4 November)

Daniel Avery ~ Ultra Truth (Mute, 4 November)

Ethan James Startzman ~ Shamanic Verse (Subexotic, 4 November)

Federico Musso ~ Leave the world as it is ([MoM]rec, 4 November)

Fraser/Angeles/Nazary ~ Aqrabuamelu (Tripticks Tapes, 4 November)

John Also Bennett ~ Out there in the middle of nowhere (Poole Music, 4 November)

Leo Chang & Lucie Vitkova ~ Religion (Tripticks Tapes, 4 November)

Matt McBane ~ Bathymetry (Cantaloupe, 4 November)

µ-Ziq ~ Hello (Planet Mu, 4 November)

Noah Wall ~ Speech Patterns (Chaikin, 4 November)

NO HAY BANDA ~ I had a dream about this place (No Hay Discos, 4 November)

OLO ~ Neige Noir (Midira, 4 November)

Onepointwo ~ Music for Spaces (Subexotic, 4 November)

Pêtr Aleksänder ~ The Whole World Laid Out Before Me (Moderna, 4 November)

rRoxymore ~ Perpetual Now (Smalltown Supersound, 4 November)

Seahawks ~ Infinite Echo (Cascine, 4 November)

Son Cesano ~ Emerge (Monobuster, 4 November)

spaceseer ~ Colossi Perpetual Factory (4 November)

Suryo Botofasina ~ Everyone’s Children (Spiritmuse, 4 November)

Vaal ~ Love Reversed (Bedoin, 4 November)

V/A ~ Duet Layers (7K!, 4 November)

zakè / Marc Ertel / James Bernard ~ Hearkeneth (Florina Cassettes, 4 November)

In Situ Ens. ~ Same Place (Cubus, 5 November)

Henrik Meierkord, Paweł Kobak, Marco Lucchi & Rocco Saviano ~ Venusia (Ambientologist, 8 November)

Toumba ~ Rosefinch (Hypnic Jerks, 8 November)

Andrew Oda ~ Back to the Body (mappa, 10 November)

Avawaves ~ Savage Waters OST (One Little Independent, 11 November)

Ben LaMar Gay ~ Certain Reveries (International Anthem, 11 November)

Chad Fowler et al ~ Alien Skin (Mahakala Music, 11 November)

Christina Vantzou ~ No. 5 (Kranky, 11 November)

the closer we are to dying ~ Life Is Beautiful (Ombrelle Concrete, 11 November)

Colin Stetson ~ Chimæra I (Room40, 11 November)

Eventless Plot ~ Memory Loss (Moving Furniture, 11 November)

Franz de Waard & Martijn Comes ~ Equal Weights (Moving Furniture, 11 November)

FreqGen ~ Future 1990s (FiXT Neon, 11 November)

From a Harbor Softly Drawn & Andrew Wild ~ S/T (4th Ward Private Press, 11 November)

Gold Panda ~ The Work (City Slang, 11 November)

H.C. Behrendtsen ~ S/T (Schatulle Bömm, 11 November)

Jakob Rehlinger ~ Sunflowers & Tides (11 November)

John Hayes ~ Beautifully Lost Mind (Nettwerk, 11 November)

J.WLSN ~ 1993 (Room40, 11 November)

Lotus Eater ~ Plasma (Stroboscopic Artefacts, 11 November)

Luminance Ratio ~ Uncanny Valley (Midira Records, 11 November)

Mehmet Aslan ~ The Sun Is Parallel (Planisphere Editorial, 11 November)

Plaid ~ Feorm Falorx (Warp, 11 November)

Spiral Wave Nomads ~ Magnetic Sky (Twin Lakes Records, 11 November)

Swartz et ~ Nilch’i (11 November)

Tengger ~ Earthing (Ramble Records, 11 November)

V/A ~ Introducing (Bigo & Twigetti, 11 November)

Fordmastiff ~ Counterfeit (Municipal K7, 15 November)

Lujo Asiático ~ After Ashram (15 November)

Greg Dallas & Jan Esbra ~ Confluence (The Slow Music Movement Label, 17 November)

Nick Klein ~ Slippin Out (Enmossed, 17 November)

Alex Kozobolis, Alkis Livathinos ~ Volta (18 November)

Andrew Poppy ~ Ark Hive of a Live (False Walls, 18 November)

Cunningham/Nguyễn/Shiroishi ~ Basket of Knives (Astral Editions, 18 November)

Daniel Bachman ~ Almanac Behind (Three Lobed Recordings, 18 November)

Dezron Douglas ~ ATALAYA (International Anthem, 18 November)

Drew Wesely ~ Blank Body (Infrequent Seams, 18 November)

Feed Me to the Waves ~ Apart (dunk!records, 18 November)

Interesting Times Gang ~ The Spirit of Science Fiction (Pax Aeternum, 18 November)

Johnny Coley ~ Landscape Man (Astral Editions, 18 November)

Jonas Colstrup ~ At the Crest (7K!, 18 November)

Kalam Hub ~ Moving Still (CWPT, 18 November)

Lauren Falls ~ A Little Louder Now (18 November)

Luigi Turra + Belinda Guerreiro ~ Ressac (LINE, 18 November)

Mats Gustafsson & NU Ensemble ~ Hidros 8 – Heal (trost, 18 November)

Monogoto ~ Partial Deletion of Everything (Vol. 2) (Polar Seas, 18 November)

Patricia Brennan ~ More Touch (Pyroclastic, 18 November)

Poly-Math ~ Zenith (Nice Weather for Airstrikes, 18 November)

Porya Hatami & Monologue ~ La Commune (Midira Records, 18 November)

Pulse Emitter ~ Dusk (Hausu Mountain, 18 November)

Rauelsson & Tatu Rönkkö ~ Myriad (Beacon Sound, 18 November)

Shells ~ Outside (Astral Editions, 18 November)

Simon McCorry ~ Mouthful of Dust (Polar Seas, 18 November)

Sunda Arc ~ Night Lands (Gondwana, 18 November)

B. Tweel ~ Bring in the Lampstand and Light Its Lamps (Audiobulb, 19 November)

Zaliva-D ~ Misbegotten Ballads (SVBKVLT, 23 November)

Brother Tree Sound ~ Songs Without Words (Bigo &Twigetti, 25 November)

BVDUB & Netherworld ~ Equilibrium (Glacial Movements, 25 November)

Federico Maddedu Giuntoli ~ The Text and the Form (flau, 25 November)

The Home Current ~ The Circus Hunter (Subexotic, 25 November)

Jon Iverson ~ Many Worlds Interpretation (Seance Centre, 25 November)

Marja Ahti & Judith Hamann ~ A coincidence is perfect, intimate attunement (Second Editions, 25 November)

Modus Pitch ~ Polysm (Altin Village & Mine, 25 November)

Neptunian Maximalism & Its Supernova Arkestra ~ Finis Gloriae Mundi (Tech, 25 November)

Noémi Büchi ~ Matter (~OUS, 25 November)

Pie Eye Collective ~ Tangential City (Albert’s Favourites, 25 November)

Starlings ~ Ax Locked in Pipeline (Machine Records, 25 November)

Tim Linghaus ~ Yurusu (Bigo & Twigetti, 25 November)

Blos Contrast ~ Hiranyagarbha (26 November)

Snowdrops ~ Missing Island (Injazero, 28 November)

VLMV ~ Flora & Fauna (Bigo & Twigetti, 28 November)

thshlt ~ Fastidious Things Insisting on Their Own Conditions (Peig, 30 November)

TRÓNCO ~ S/T (Torto Editions, 30 November)

Benedikt Schiefer ~ Uncertainty (2 December)

Cloud Management ~ S/T (Altin Village & Mine, 2 December)

Gabriel Prokofiev ~ Strange Blooms + HOWL! (Oscillations, 2 December)

Jameson Nathan Jones ~ Somewhat the Same (2 December)

Tapefeed ~ Anterograde (Houndstooth, 2 December)

Terence Fixmer ~ Shifting Signals (Mute, 2 December)

Tokio Ono ~ Individuals (Not Not Fun, 2 December)

Xao ~ Wirehead (C.A.N.V.A.S., 2 December)

KEDA ~ Flow (Parentheses, 6 December)

The Broken Cradle ~ The Burial of the Dead (7 December)

Lord of the Isles ~ Subtle Thoughts (Lapsus, 8 December)

Eli Wallace ~ pieces & interludes (Infrequent Seams, 9 December)

This Immortal Coil ~ The World Ended a Long Time Ago (Ici d’ailleurs, 9 December)

Vector Lovers ~ Capsule for One (Lapsus, 9 December)

BJM Mario Bajardi ~ Vortex (16 December)

Phauss ~ Audiodrome (Room40, 16 December)

Unwed Sailor ~ Mute the Charm (Spartan Records, 1 January)

Mark Harris / John 3:16 ~ Procession (Alrealon Musique, 3 March)