Dhidalah – Sensoria

Some Japanese rock goodness for you here, something I’m not convinced I do too often.

I didn’t intend to leave it this long between posts, but time do get away, do it not? So, though they may be short of words, I am now about to post a bunch of stuff I’ve discovered lately that I think is really good.

In a completely unrelated note, my 12 year old daughter has just asked me whether or not I regularly question the nature of my existence, and upon receiving an affirmative answer, suggested that she wants to form an existential dread club. Shome mishtake, shurely? I’m sure we were late teens when we all hit that phase. They grow up so quickly these days…

Wael Alkak – Live

I don’t know if this is ever going to be available digitally* – sometimes labels make the download impractical until they’ve sold their physical things. I do have a tape player, but it’s got a permanent sound as if the tape is being chewed up, even though said tape actually isn’t being chewed up.

So this is basically a mixture of traditional Levantine rhythms/songs with electronics and beats, albeit quite mellow ones, improvised some or all of the way. It is nice and hypnotic, and that’s why it properly grabs me.

Even though the approach and source material is very different, it reminds me somewhat of Saint Abdullah. Saint Abdullah? Ah yes, since we’re on that subject…

*yes. yes it is.

Million Brazilians – Wet Dry Jungala

Million Brazilians is probably a better artist name than Three People in Maine. There may be those who don’t like surprises, though, so I feel it only fair to warn you that a) they are (probably) not Brazilian and b) there are not a million of them.

This is an early album by them. All their subsequent ones, except for one I found on Juno Download, can only be listened to in excerpts and I’m not one to buy things I’ve only heard excerpts from. The excerpts do sound good, but I’d need to be better off than I am before I start buying things I’ve only heard excerpts from.

There may be genre descriptors relevant here but if there are they are words I am yet to hear. This album sort of vaguely puts me in mind of 936-era Peaking Lights, but only sort of vaguely. Track 2 is frankly legendarily good. It’s vaguely tribal, I suppose, vaguely jazzy, vaguely soundtrack-to-a-film-that-doesn’t-existy, vaguely trancey, vaguely droney, and very good.

ZAÄAR – Magická Džungl’a

I think this might be my find of the year, saved right until almost the very end. But first I have to know – what is that accent thingy over the middle a in their name? Does it change how you pronounce said name? Me ignorant Englander. Actually, I don’t know how to pronounce any of it.

I’ve had at least three images evoked whilst listening to this – a kind of middle eastern bazaar (though I’ve never been to the middle east, or indeed a bazaar), the early stages of a long night dancing round a campfire when everyone is gradually getting into the sounds and rhythm, and a kind of sordid, late night carnival where the pleasures are unexpected and never subsequently spoken of (sadly, I’ve never been to that sort of carnival either).

It’s kind of jazz, I suppose, though very psychedelic and with regular, hypnotic pulses. Spacious, yet dense. Loads going on, but loads of room; an all encompassing sonic experience. There probably are reference points, though I know them not. Perhaps the nearest I can think of, albeit still distant, is Miles Davis’ Get Up With It, itself a very fine album and one I should listen to more.

And on that note, I wish you all a marvellous 2022. May the music you find be especially resonant to you.

Spring Temples – Live at Shining Path

This is ambient, very mellow but also very trippy. I discovered it by a chance I now can’t remember and played it to accompany spreadsheet catatonia at work, and it was very complementary to that state. That isn’t a recommendation? Why on earth not?

Spreadsheet catatonia, sadly, is the only mind-altering state I do regularly these days. Actually, the only one I do at all.

Ignatz & De Stervende Honden – Saturday’s Den

It’s been a day today, as the invoices have landed. Many has been the time when I thought I was merely blinking only to be met with eyelid rebellion when attempting to re-open my eyes. My mind was choosing a cataleptic coma over work. What can I say? My job is thrill-a-minute.

Imagine Les Rallizes Denudes but chilled waaay down, and with a dose of Inutili playing chess with Neil Young, and you might get somewhere close to what this trio do when they’re not trying to make us think they’re a duo with that name of theirs. Albeit Belgian, so for all I know that name is not at all an intended deception, I’m just being a quintessential Little Englander. Again.

I had thought this might be the first time I was using the tag ‘blues’ in all my years of Soundberging, but then I remembered Fink’s Sunday Night Blues Dub thing or whatever he called it, and so I played that again.

It might be the musical accompaniment to my catatonia should perhaps be kicked up to some bangin’ disco? But I don’t like bangin’ disco.

Pärson Sound

I know I’ve used this name a lot in past posts when attempting to point signifiers to other artists, so you may be wondering why I’m posting this like I just discovered it, or something. Well, I just discovered it, or something. Discovered that it had been made available on Bandcamp, anyway. How long it’s been here, I have no idea. It’s not as if I keep a list entitled Albums I Like That Are Not On Bandcamp and regularly check for changes like some kind of librarian checking to see if Ebooks have become available for old print books that happen to be on reading lists (that does happen, and probably not just where I work).

So, for mind-bending psychedelic rock, this is ground zero. I wish I thought of that line but I didn’t; however, it sums up this album so well that I thought I’d nick it. When I first became aware of this in 2010 or so it truly astonished me, particularly the 29 minute Skrubba which actually fades out, can you believe it! I mean, how much longer did they actually jam that for?

So this is the only album by this artist, though they incarnated with mild variations in name and personnel over the next few years. But if only one album is your legacy, then why not make it the ur-psychedelic rock album?

Stara Rzeka and M. Takara – Live at CCSP

Both of these gentlemen have visited the ‘bergs before and by rights should probably visit more often but I’m not conscientious enough in doing new posts. Blame it on the new post-editing software which isn’t quite as intuitive as it claims itself to be.

So this release is a recording of a show they did after having only jammed for 90 minutes prior. The music itself is the best kind of improvisational maelstrom, hypnotic as all fuck. If you was down with the recent Gnod & João Pais Filipe collaboration, this may well be your thang.

Gnod & João Pais Filipe – Faca de Fogo

And since we’re talking about dudes who are on it, why don’t we add Gnod to the party?

This is where maelstromic trance goes dark. My only complaint is it ain’t long enough, but I don’t think it ever could be.

I’ve noticed I type less and less words with my posts these days. This can only be a good thing.

Paisiel – Unconscious Death Wishes

Whims, eh? There’s actually a fair bit I’ve discovered lately, but I’m on the wrong PC and have bad memory. Otherwise I suspect I’d bombard you with another buses series.

How often do I need to post the work of Julius Gabriel? Probably as often as he does it. Dude is properly on it. So is his partner in this maelstrom, João Pais Filipe, who you will also hear in the next post, equally maelstromic. Neologisms, eh? I love ’em. This is the musical equivalent.

This be the second Paisiel album, so I hope it means there will be more.