Zpangled Henz self-titled four-track EP rips an even bigger hole than the massive one left by the cell-phone-recorded-demo of last year.
Exploding with a vibe similar Continue reading
new music
Chilling with the Rampaging Bahboon’s Thunder Ape
Bahboon’s Thunder Ape is a release of outstanding proportions; marking the Japanese band’s ten year anniversary there’s an instant relationship to be found with the album due to the deep rooted cohesion in its flow; while simultaneously every turn along the way expands the river’s banks, rises from the waters with religious purpose to push the spire on the Church of stoner ever higher and wider. Continue reading
Etran de L’Aïr: The Desert Blues Brothers
To mark the commencement of a 2023 US Summer tour, Etran de L’Aïr—which translates to the Stars of the Aïr—have released two live tracks recorded in Seattle earlier in the year; available for digital download, they’re also NYP (name your price, which includes free if you need it to be).
Seattle is a long way—seven-thousand miles thereabouts—from Etran de L’Aïr’s hometown of Agadez, Niger; a city located in the Sahara desert and the country’s fifth largest.
Etran de L’Aïr’s sound is generally described as desert blues. It’s a genre description in much part originating from the epithet desert rock already being taken in the West by a bunch of stoners who liked recording while out of their trees while out in the deserts of the States—some groovy tunes coming from their endeavours, it should be said—while the sound coming from Africa has a vibe and undercurrent distinctive to musicians in the region. Continue reading
KOKOROKO Drops Debut Video
KOKOROKO has just dropped its first video to compliment debut album Could We Be More; one that I find super dreamy and easy to either drift off in or find peace of mind to focus (though the first does sometimes win the day when it’s the latter I’m after, it should be said).
The video combines three of the albums songs—’Ewà Inú’; ‘Home’; ‘Age of Ascent’—and given the vibes it creates for me, I was intrigued to find out how the band had chosen to represent the music visually.
Stunningly, and contrary to my thoughts, somewhat tumultuously, by showing various aspects of life in the quite incredible Makoko, an area of Lagos, Nigeria, often called Africa’s Venice.
My Silent Wake: Damnum Per Saeculorum; a Review
My Silent Wake, formed 2005, are generally listed as Gothic/Death/Doom. Damnum Per Saeculorum, the band’s eleventh full-length release, is described as Continue reading
N. P. Ryan 