An ambient new years mixtape recorded live with a technics tape machine from 1978 & a simple lenco record player setup. Write me for tracklist. Photo taken in Blankenfelde.
feat.tracks & pieces by
records: pauline oliveiros, kevin mc corrnick, david horridge, svitllana nianio, ash ra temple, finis africai, nick schonfield, miguel a ruiz, chen ming chang
tapes: tangerine dream, bitchin bajas, jiyeon kim, iguana moonlight, ssaliva, lieven martins moana, daniel emmanuel, casino hearts
2023 was a bad year to quote John Fantes “1933 was a bad year”.
Concerning music there were amazing reissues and compilations, but few new innovative releases that really got me.
But especially for jazz there were some nuggets like the Mike Reed or Asher Gamedze Lp´s. So this year it’s a quite short list.
Here we go:
Nico Paulo (s/t)
Mike Reed – The Separatist Party (We Jazz)
Irreversible Entanglements – Protect your light (Impulse)
https://irreversibleentanglements.lnk.to/ProtectYourLight
The Necks – Travel (Northern spy)
Asher Gamedze – Turbulance & Pulse (International Anthem)
Anohni & the Johnsons – My back was a Bridge for you to Cross
Steve Gunn & David Moore (RVNG Int.)
Reflections Vol. 1: Let the Moon Be a Planet
Jaimie Branch – Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem)
Lankum – False Lankum (Rough Trade)
The Ironsites – Changing Light (Colemine)
Ilhan Ersahin, Dave Harrington, Kenny Wollesen – Your Head You Know (Nublu 10″)
Compilations / Reissues
Various – Searchlight Moonbeam (Efficient Space)
Sylvester – Private Recordings August 1970 (Dark Entries)
Charlie Megira & the Hefker Girl (Numero)
Various – Imaginational Anthem vol. XII : I Thought I Told You – A Yorkshire Tribute to Michael Chapman (Tompkins Square)
David Horridge – Journey Within (Smiling C )
Duster – Remote Echoes (Numero)
Various – Spiritual Jazz – Private (Jazzman)
Here’s a new fantastic compilation by Efficient Space. Similar to the former selections Sky Girl and Ghostriders, you’ll find hardly known tracks raging from 1934 Schubert piano ballad versions to recent folk songs by European artists. One Highlight is the meditative 8 Minutes track Rainwater from Taiwanese Chan Ming Chang on side B.
Second LP comes from Tompkins Square, whose 12th issue of their imaginational anthem series is a tribute to Micael Chapman, who unfortunately died in 2021. Raging from 1970s Yorkshire loner folk by Henry Parker or Holly Blackshaw to 2020 raggas by Andrew DR Abbot this is heartbreaking record with an incredible artwork by the way.
Next record that is in heavy rotation since its release is the first solo record by Ukrainian Svetlana Nianio, called Transilvanian Smile, 1994, a soundtrack for a dance performance. It reminds of Yann Tiersen sometimes – guess there’s even one not credited cover of Tiersen´s la phare – but the music is hypnotic and has something completely special, meandering between classical music, folk and avant-garde.
And at last, I discovered the wonderful world of Smiling C records, with its weird hardly known 80ies releases like the bedroom tapes by David Horridge and Kevin Mc Cormick – ambient folk treasures.
Annex: I forgot: There´s a new Duster LP called Remote Echoes with sketches from early tapes and once you’ll get into the duster universe you have to listen to everything they release. And it’s worth it. Even if the tracks are so short…
joe le taxi
the little dog laughed 