A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #61
Balkan signs mix, reviews, and upcoming releases
Dear Listeners… Joseph again, this time writing from a coffee shop in St. Louis. Things are still a bit up in the air for me at the moment, but we are crawling forward nonetheless. As I think I mentioned last time, the release of C. Lavender’s RUPTURE IN THE ETERNAL REALM was delayed, but it is now available via iDEAL Recordings. Maria’s review will appear on the blog any day now, with my podcast episode with Lavender, discussing her new album and her book Transcendent Waves, will go live shortly after. More on that next time, but subscribe to SOUND PROPOSITIONS wherever you get your podcasts for an early listen.
I’m barely keeping up with these regular bi-weekly roundups, but I' hope to return with more installments of OUT OF THE BOX soon. Likewise, I wasn’t able to collect enough records for Mini-Reviews this month, partly because of the struggles in my personal life but also because submissions have stabilized as we drift into the summer haze. Many of our recent reviews reflect the seasonal shift, as evidenced by the ten reviews I’ve chosen for this installment. But first, a special mix from Toni Dimitrov and Stefan Christoff.
Toni Dimitrov and Stefan Christoff present Balkan signs [mix]
Balkan signs comes courtesy of my longtime friend and collaborator Stefan Christoff, a Montreal-based musician and community organizer who has created many memorable mixes for this site over the years, here joined by Toni Dimitrov (Acidfake, Private Mountain, Post Global). In addition to his work as a DJ and producer, for over two decades, Toni has run various labels from Skopje, Macedonia, most recently élan vital recordings, “an independent Macedonian music label releasing limited edition of handcrafted CDs and tapes from international artists focused on obscure aspects of sound, accompanied with carefully created artwork and video art.” The label has also released work by Manja Ristić, Carlo Giustini, Michele Andreotti, Sova Stroj, and many others sure to appeal to our readers. And, full disclosure, back in 2021, élan vital released a CD collaboration between myself and Stefan, La Lumière Du Soleil Dans Un Semi Sous-sol. As he’s mentioned before, Stefan has roots in the area along the Macedonian and Bulgarian border, and his music often explores his Balkan heritage. As he explains below, he finally met Toni in person last year while performing around the region. The two chose a number of tracks from across their various projects and collaborations, as well as from other labels (AMEK) and artists (EVITCELES) from the Balkans. Enjoy these Balkan signs!
RECENT REVIEWS
Reviews are at the heart of ACL. Here are selections from a few of my favorite reviews we posted on the blog in the last few weeks.
Dalton Alexander ~ Almost Home If I’m Still Alive
Two years ago, multi-faceted Yukon artist Dalton Alexander self-released a lovely, home-spun debut called Almost Home If I Disappear. Unfortunately, it was buried in the Christmas rush. A year later, he followed this release with I Wonder How Many Are Still Alive, in the kinder musical month of November. This year, LAAPS Records’ Mathias fell in love with the artist’s output and is now presenting it to a larger audience. Almost Home If I’m Still Alive contains the entire first album, rounded out by three tracks from the second, with slightly revised sequencing. Of the tracks not included, “Last Night of Summer” is the most endearing, although it would not have sounded quite right on a bright green LP dedicated to spring. The brilliance of LAAPS is not only to discover this series of tracks, but to find its proper season.
Daphne X ~ An Echo Of Something I Don’t Remember
One of the greatest appeals of Daphne X is that one is never sure what she will try next. Will she shake the rafters with dark, industrial beats, or stretch her notes to filigree form? Will she decorate her tracks with field recordings, or imitate their use through creative instrumentation? The artist is in love with sound and all of its possibilities. In An Echo Of Something I Don’t Remember, every left turn has its own left turn, and yet the set as a whole is remarkably coherent. The first seven titles form an allusive poem: Each finger a pedal, each pedal a village of hours, each hour a house, each minute a brick, each hole on the brick a window to something I don’t remember or something that hasn’t happened yet. The words tinker with size and scale, alluding to the macro and micro details in Daphne X’s music, the expansive and the intimate. They imply that everything is part of a larger framework, but that frameworks can be broken down into components, each valuable on its own. With great care, the artist places disparate sound sources, Zen-like, in her sonic garden.
Dominic Sambucco ~ Madreselva
Shimmering Moods is mostly known for releasing ambient albums, so it is a pleasant surprise to find a field recording work in its latest batch, released this coming Friday. But it’s not all field recording; in the closing piece, Dominic Sambucco infuses the project with a dose of tribal trance, tying the set together. La Madreselva is “the protective spirit of nature,” honored by the Witotos and the Ticunas. During his travels through the Amazon, Sambucco observed the effects of environmental degradation: for example, strip-mining that short-changes the planet of vital resources while upsetting the ecological balance. In short, the Amazon is being destroyed for Amazon. This knowledge lends the set a deep sadness.
Drum & Lace ~ ONDA
The pearl, seashell and track titles (which include “Nymph,” “Whalesong” and “Return to the Sea”) are strong indicators of a summer album; but what one can’t tell from the eyes alone is that ONDA is also a dance album. Drum & Lace seems liberated by the sand and sea, ready to share a set that dives head first into joy. Sofia degli Alessandri-Hultquist has always been attracted to rhythm, but this is her most club-minded release to date. ONDA is also the balance to Frost, which focused on winter and colder sounds. The importance of the seasons is evident in the release date (June 21) and the title of the opening track, “Solstice.” One can imagine the pilgrimage to the sea, the revelers soaking in the sunrise. As the drums recede, the gulls arise, joined by mourning doves and dogs in “Plus,” one of two collaborations with Patrick Shiroishi. Drum & Lace calls this song “a shedding of the skin.” The waves lap in the breakdown, inviting listeners to shed their shoes as well, in preparation for the next track, “A Piedi Nudi” (“Bare Feet”). One can hear the waves attempting to retrieve stones from the wrack line, an impression that continues into “Nymph;” the pieces are beautifully integrated, and onda is the Italian word for wave.
Halvcirkel ~ Vida
fter a decade of reinventing other composers’ works, Danish string quartet Halvcirkel is stepping out with an album of all-original sounds. Vida, named after a Swedish summer home, is cozy and welcoming, its warmth derived from the quartet’s desire to “braid” their individual parts so that no player dominates. Halcirkel’s greatest asset is its ability to draw from multiple disciplines; the album travels from drone to tango, while retaining an essential cohesion. The opening track was written in lockdown, while the penultimate piece is “a meditation on sleep and death,” but there’s a lot of living to be done in-between, and Halvcirkel doesn’t want to miss a single moment.
Lara Sarkissian ~ Born of the Sea
With her background in film – shooting, editing, and scoring her own work and the work of others – it’s easy to understand why Armenian-American musician Lara Sarkissian’s swaggering, dizzying new EP, Born of the Sea, has such a cinematic feel. But it’s her musical talents and instincts that make it the evocative feast that it is. Every track is thickly layered with swirling textures and deep, in-the-pocket rhythms that can pound forward with the earth-shaking thud of a square-wheeled tank or open out onto heart-stopping vistas, often in the same song. Floating above or braided throughout the EP is a dazzling welter of sung and spoken-word samples, a careful selection of field recordings, and sequenced native Armenian instruments. The kanun and the shvi both feature in the neck-snapping single “DBM,” recorded with the legendary Locust, aka Mark Van Hoen of Seefeel, Scala, and Slowdive fame. There’s a dazzling amount of material at play throughout and it’s to Sarkissian’s credit that every detail on BOTS stands out even as she fuses them into a satisfying totality.
MONO ~ OATH
OATH marks 25 years for MONO, whose silver anniversary puts them in the category of post-rock luminaries Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think and Explosions in the Sky. But in terms of studio releases, MONO has been the most consistent and prolific of these bands. Since 2021’s Pilgrimage of the Soul, they’ve released three EPs and one original score, keeping them in the public eye. After a quarter century, most bands have retired or are running on fumes. MONO seems headed in the opposite direction. They’ve unlocked the secrets of the hourglass, and seem rejuvenated. One never knows how much time one has; but MONO is making the most of theirs.
Powers / Rolin Duo ~ Clearing
The press release mentions rivers of lava and a dip in a cold water creek: one track fire, the other water. The common denominator: flow. Jen Powers plays hammered dulcimer, Matthew J Rolin guitar and sounds, the latter which we take to include percussion and more, a persistent shimmer granted the opening minutes of “Peridot.” At first, the album seems all texture, but the more one listens, the more one experiences the form. Even spontaneous music coalesces, just like lave becomes islands. As each side contains a single track, there’s no need to rush, so when the first Appalachian melody emerges after enough time has elapsed for a single, it’s still right on time, the clarity a happy contrast.
Tegh & Adel Poursamadi ~ After You Left
Heartbreak is such a universal experience that it has inspired generations of songs; but after a while, the same old songs grow weary, unable to capture the depths of despair, the nuance of mixed feelings, the anger and continued desire, the soul-searching and reassessment. Instead of more words, perhaps we need less: a new loss language. This is where Tegh and Adel Poursamadi come in. After You Left brings all these things to the table and more, wringing out the listener in a way that may produce catharsis. There are two times in life when this album may have the most impact on a listener: during the immediate aftermath of a breakup, and at the very end of life, when one looks back on the roads taken and untaken. Even if one is currently in a relationship, it’s wise to have this album on hand, just in case; but if one has ever been the victim of an uninduced parting, the album may resurrect that feeling of wistfulness: the desire to leave it all in the past, coupled with a desire to cling to the last flickers of love’s memory.
Wojtek Kiwer ~ Disconnect
Wojtek Kiwer‘s Disconnect is billed as a suite of modular improvisations, but they have so much form that the phrase may lead people astray. Instead, the cover collage itself is the best indication of what the music will sound like. When the listener is greeted with a piano loop, the impression is ambient, with a suggestion of modern composition. But the music will refuse to stay in this arena. Making fine use of depth and the stereo field, other tembres flex in the background before seizing the fore. The cover includes disparate elements in balance; the music follows suit. Pulses develop that are suitable for dancing, although they never run through a complete track. The heart of “PRISM” is pure techno, and would devastate a club with the simple addition of drums. Layer upon layer is added and removed, like a Jenga tower from which bricks are pulled without a crash.
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UPCOMING RELEASES
(complete list with Bandcamp links here)
Depending where you live, summer is almost here or already in full bloom. In the northern climates, the ocean is still too cold for swimming, but the air is so warm that one wants to jump in! In the southern climates, the sweet spot is now; wait a month, and the water will offer little relief. Meteorological summer begins June 1; astronomical summer starts June 21. If you live in Australia, your summer is over; but no matter where you live, there’s always summer music. New previews are added to this page daily; we hope you’ll find your next favorite album right here!
Om Unit & James Bangura ~ Rushing 1621 (Local Action, 13 June)
Alfredo Colón ~ Blood Burden (Out of Your Head, 14 June)
Brendon Moeller ~ Vacuum (Samurai Music, 14 June)
Chihei Hatakeyama ~ Thousand Oceans (Dronarivm, 14 June)
Color of Time ~ Color of Time II (Past Inside the Present, 12 June)
Daniel Carter, Matthew Putman, Federico Ughi ~ Stream of a Dream (577 Records, 14 June)
David August ~ Workouts (99CHANTS, 14 June)
f5point6 ~ A World Within Our World (See Blue Audio, 14 June)
Fireground ~ Love Letter (Tresor, 14 June)
Floating World Pictures with Ocean Moon ~ S/T (Lo Recordings, 14 June)
Giovanni Di Domenico, Pak Yan Lau, and John Also Bennett ~ Tidal Perspectives (Basilic, 14 June)
Halvcirkel ~ Vida (FatCat, 14 June)
Hess & Harrison ~ Rogue Signal (BlackCat, 14 June)
Kilometre Club ~ Let Us Compare Geographies (élan vital, 14 June)
Kory Reeder ~ Everywhere the Truth Rushes In (kuyin, 14 June)
KRM & KMRU ~ Disconnect (Phantom Limb, 14 June)
Michael Griffiths ~ Things of the Dark (piano and coffee records, 14 June)
MONO ~ OATH (Temporary Residence Ltd., 14 June)
Otto A. Totland ~ Exin (LEITER, 14 June)
Piotr Dabrowski – Giacomo Salis – Paolo Sanna ~ Ahinsa (Dissipatio, 14 June)
Porta d’Oro ~ Cosi Dentro Come Fuori (Maple Death, 14 June)
Samu Huitainen ~ DUST // Alien (14 June)
Shahzad Ismaily, Andrea Scala, and Stanford Cheung ~ ENDROLL (14 June)
Stumbleine ~ Deleted Scene (Monotreme, 14 June)
Tam Lin ~ bluelightnospaceflattime (Flaming Pines, 14 June)
Tot Onyx ~ Satire of Desire (Antibody, 14 June)
V/A ~ 10:10 Kasra V presents 10 years on NTS radio (V-sion, 14 June)
Daniel Carter ~ Telepathic Mysteries, Vol. 2 (577 Records, 15 June)
Neuro… No Neuro ~ Mental Cassette (Audiobulb, 15 June)
Stone Music ~ July 15, 2022 (Room40, 15 July)
Dalot ~ Aquarium (Same Difference, 17 June)
Beyond the Ghost ~ Neon Twilight (Cryo Chamber, 18 June)
Michel Banabila ~ Unspeakable Visions (Knekelhuis, 19 June)
The Flame ~ Towards the Flame, Vol. 2 (577 Records, 20 June)
Illuvia ~ Earth Prism (A Strangely Isolated Place, 20 June)
Kate Carr ~ Midsummer, London (Persistence of Sound, 20 June)
Ola Wagner ~ In Luvehult (20 June)
Alessandra Novaga ~ The Artistic Image Is Always a Miracle (Die Schachtel, 21 June)
Black Decelerant ~ Reflections Vol. 2 (RVNG Intl., 21 June)
Blurstem ~ Ocelli (Western Vinyl, 21 June)
Byron Westbrook ~ Translucents (Shelter Press, 21 June)
Cemento Atlantico ~ Dromomania (Bronson Recordings, 21 June)
Dave Brown / Jason Kahn ~ Terminal Analog (Room40, 21 June)
David Burchall, Kate Carr & Tullis Rennie ~ Zippered Time, Winged Dialogue (Flaming Pines, 21 June)
David Douglas & Applescal ~ Démarrage (Atomnation, 21 June)
d’Eon ~ Leviathan (Hausu Mountain, 21 June)
Fera ~ Psiche Liberata (Maple Death, 21 June)
Frank Bretschneider ~ Pounding (raster, 21 June)
GAF & the Love Supreme Arkestra ~ Ganzfeld (Keroxen, 21 June)
Guillermo Marton-Viana ~ Songs of rage and impotence – 1LLO~ Remixes (Oigovisiones, 21 June)
Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson ~ Stífluhringurinn (Carrier, 21 June)
The Lazy Jesus ~ UA TRIBAL vol. 2 (Shouka, 21 June)
Max Stadtfeld STAX ~ Fancy Future (TELESKOP, 21 June)
Michael Eckroth Group ~ Human Geography (TRR Collective, 21 June)
Moon Diagrams ~ Cemetery Classics (No-Gold, 21 June)
Nonkeen ~ All good? (LEITER, 21 June)
Powers / Rolin Duo ~ Clearing (Astral Editions, 21 June)
Qoa ~ SAUCO (Leaving, 21 June)
Solpara ~ Melancholy Sabotage (Other People, 21 June)
Stephen Roddy ~ Stardust Sonata (21 June)
Sun People ~ Emotional Distortions (candy mountain, 21 June)
Terence Fixmer ~ The Paradox in Me (Mute, 21 June)
Voide ~ Milkwood (Less, 21 June)
Wild Up ~ Julius Eastman Vol. 4: The Holy Presence (New Amsterdam, 21 June)
Your Planet Is Next ~ Visualize (Red Curls, 21 June)
Braulio Lam ~ Redscale (Whitelabrecs, 22 June)
Hedgewitch ~ Grass Cat (22 June)
Slow Heart Music ~ Hope (Whitelabrecs, 22 June)
Masami Tada ~ Ever-Present (ato.archives, 23 June)
Mshukai ~ Yama no Kawa (ato.archives, 23 June)
Rie Nakajima ~ Unshaping (ato.archives, 23 June)
Conan the Accountant ~ Pet Waste (24 June)
Polar Institute ~ Songs from Skriðuklaustur (24 June)
Kenneth Kirschner ~ June 7, 2013 (Granny, 25 June)
Savvas Metaxas ~ New Relics II (Granny, 25 June)
Ainu ~ Ainu (Subsound, 28 June)
Bartosz Kruczyński ~ Dreams & Whispers (Balmat, 28 June)
Bernocchi/Chaplin ~ The Same and the Other (Curious Music, 28 June)
Denham ~ with love (Sawyer Editions, 28 June)
Deron Johnson ~ Free to Dance (Colorfield, 28 June)
Eden Longsdale ~ Racecar for Rainy Days (Sawyer Editions, 28 June)
Erik Friedlander ~ Dirty Boxing (Skipstone, 28 June)
Gryphon Rue ~ 4n_Objx (28 June)
The Intentional Crack ~ No More Bangers (Cruel Nature, 28 June)
Lee Ashcroft ~ Persons Underground (Cruel Nature, 28 June)
Marika Takeuchi ~ Wandering Notes (Bigo & Twigetti, 28 June)
Nasheet Waits ~ New York City Love Letter (Giant Step Arts, 28 June)
øjeRum ~ Cut Paper Flowers (LINE, 28 June)
Paolo Griffin ~ Supports & Surfaces (Sawyer Editions, 28 June)
Pijn ~ From Low Beams of Hope (Floodlit Recordings, 28 June)
Ryan Seward ~ weathering (Sawyer Editions, 28 June)
R.Y.N. ~ Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (2024 Remaster) (Cruel Nature, 28 June)
Sarah Hennies ~ Bodies of Water (Sawyer Editions, 28 June)
Score ~ Temporary Arrangement (Cruel Nature, 28 June)
SCXLVR ~ S/T (Cruel Nature, 28 June)
SML ~ Small Medium Large (International Anthem, 28 June)
Sun Araw ~ Cetacean Sensation (Discrepant, 28 June)
SUSS ~ Birds & Beasts (Northern Spy, 28 June)
Tarbaby ~ You Think This America (Giant Step Arts, 28 June)
Turiya ~ Bliss (28 June)
Unstern ~ Es Geht Der Tag (A L T E R, 28 June)
Zachary Mezzo ~ Proximity (cmntx, 28 June)
Zheng Hao ~ Harmonium II (Bezerk Tapes, 28 June)
Sinnway ~ Nykloud Veil (30 June)
Federico Durand ~ Té De Flores Silvestres (IIKKI, 1 July)
Tomotsugu Nakamura ~ For a Fleeting Moment (IIKKI, 1 July)
Proxima Psychoacoustics ~ Rituals Beyond the Heliosphere (2 July)
Titanoboa ~ Seth (A-Musik, 4 July)
Antonia Nowacka ~ Sylphine Soporifera (Mondoj, 5 July)
Bologna Improvisation Group ~ BIG (Elli, 5 July)
David Vélez ~ Comfort Food (Flaming Pines, 5 July)
Fire-Toolz ~ Breeze (5 July)
fthmlss ~ Itinerant (Folded Music, 5 July)
Hypnodrone Ensemble ~ The Problem Is In the Sender – Do Not Tamper With the Receiver (Cruel Nature, 5 July)
John Reidar Holmes ~ Lost in Some Stream of Time (5 July)
Kiasmos ~ II (Erased Tapes, 5 July)
Million Moons ~ I May Be Some Time (5 July)
Mines ~ Warm & Safe (Lavender Sweep, 5 July)
Modern Silent Cinema ~ Anemic Music (5 July)
Scanner & Neil Leonard ~ The Berklee Sessions (5 July)
Seph ~ Séptimo Sentido (Lapsus, 5 July)
ZULI ~ Lambda (Subtext, 5 July)
Seamus O’Muineachain ~ Liminality (7 July)
appian ~ fragments vol. 2 (sound as language, 12 July)
ARK ZEAD ~ Niptaktuk (Glacial Movements, 12 July)
Christopher Lock ~ Ephemerist (Protomaterial, 12 July)
Colin Fisher ~ Suns of the Heart (We Are Busy Bodies, 12 July)
Kessoncoda ~ Outerstate (Gondwana, 12 July)
Patrick Higgins ~ Versus (Other People, 12 July)
Skyminds ~ Echoes on the Shore (Inner Islands, 12 July)
Spyros Polychronopoulos and Jannis Anastasakis ~ Nyfida (Room40, 12 July)
Wild Up & Christopher Rountree ~ 3 BPM (Grassland, 12 July)
Henrik Meierkord ~ Visitors to Erinnerungen (Audiobulb, 13 July)
Luke Elliott ~ Every Somewhere (AKP Recordings, 17 July)
JakoJako ~ Segments (Mute, 18 July)
Alberto Boccardi ~ Apnea (Room40, 19 July)
Droneroom ~ as long as the sun (Decaying Spheres, 19 July)
Elori Saxl ~ Drifts and Surfaces (Western Vinyl, 19 July)
Joep Beving & Maarten Vos ~ vision of contentment (LEITER, 19 July)
Jon Rose ~ Aeolian Tendency (Room40, 19 July)
Lilacs & Champagne ~ Fantasy World (Temporary Residence Ltd., 19 July)
Olivier Cong ~ Tropical Church (Room40, 19 July)
Ayumi Ishito ~ Wondercut Club (577 Records, 26 July)
Passepartout Duo & Inoyama Land ~ Radio Yugawara (Tonal Unison, 26 July)
Yann Novak ~ The Voices of Theseus (Room40, 26 July)
Andrew Wasylyk & Tommy Perman ~ Ash Grey and the Gull Glides On (Clay Pipe Music, 30 July)
David Pedrick ~ Arta (1 August)
Boris Hauf ~ CLARK# – from the edges tongues grow (shameless, 2 August)
Keiji Haino ~ Black Blues (Room40, 2 August)
Pat Thomas & BleySchool ~ Bleyschool: Where (577 Records, 2 August)
Veins Full of Static ~ A House Wrapped in Sleep (Machine, 2 August)
Zack Clarke ~ Plunge (Orenda, 2 August)
Braille ~ Triple Transit (Hotflush, 8 August)
Connor D’Netto x Yvette Ofa Agapow ~ Material (Room40, 9 August)
Etelin ~ Patio User Manual (Beacon Sound, 16 August)
Gerard Cleaver ~ The Process (577 Records, 16 August)
K. Yoshimatsu ~ Fossil Coccon: The Music of K. Yoshimatsu (Phantom Limb, 16 August)
John Blum Quartet feat. Marshall Allen ~ Deep Space (Astral Spirits, 21 August)
Yui Onodera ~ 1982 (Room40, 23 August)
TAU ~ Chants (Fun in the Church, 30 August)