Known predominantly for his easy listening, smooth jazz output back in the late 80's and through the 90's, Drεαming Of Trαins is a whole different kettle of fish entirely for jazz guitarist Ken N. Technical, lush and full of beautiful, ethereal arrangements not unlike some of the best records of the Pat Metheny Group, these are some really gorgeous jams that do much good for contemporary jazz's credibility!
Japan's top smooth fusion commodity released this excellent set of cuts back in 2007, and its got the chops to make it the ideal entry point into their mindbogglingly large back catalog. It's got a bit of everything: breezy synthesizers, acoustic and shred-friendly electric guitar, all kinds of percussion and plenty of brass for the purists too. Lots of fun improv going on here...and there's even a catchy melody or two ('Flying Colors') to keep the more casual jazz fan interested.
Pretty high up there on the quality front as far as smooth/contemporary jazz is concerned, and an excellent addition to any cruise catering playlist you've got on hand!
A label mate of the late and great Nujabes (Hydeout Records), Hide-san specializes in Worldly, percussive instrumental hip-hop which proves a bit more hypnotic than your typical Japanese jazz-hop excursion, particularly on some of the drive-friendly longer cuts like 'Bridge Of Sunshine'. Steller!
One of the best progressive rock bands on the planet today happen to be Australian, led by the charismatic, Gabrielesque tone of Mark Trueack, eclectic soundscaping (think the pop sensibility of The Alan Parsons Project colliding headlong with Rush) and, in the context of this particular album, a surprisingly literal take on the concept of an overly-artificed world that has alienated your average person due to excessive technological and multimedia innovations and associated baggage.
Fans of modern progressive rock with big ideas, assloads of sax and a surprisingly immersive sense of songwriting, the line starts here!
Latest offering from Space Ambient's reigning, Grammy Award-winning queen, and it is indeed illustrious: a 72 minute long monolith of a composition better suited to dream therapy than active listening. In that sense, this is a great record right up there with the output of post 90's Robert Rich and Steve Roach: a massive, endlessly layered soundscape smorgasborg to ease the toils of your waking hours.
Modern contemporary jazz pop classic from Hungary, reposted in higher quality as requested!
This is a sublime little trio project that came out a couple of years ago, an almost Sinatrian take on the exotic cruise-friendly jazz-rock sound that The Rippingtons and Special EFX made famous back in the late 80's/early 90's. Led by the charismatically Brazilian-sounding voice of one Fanni Sarkozy and fleshed out through a variety of instrumentation, Natural Design is a striking array of lush ideas and catchy songwriting: a cool, candy-coated stab toward realms normally privy to the masterful hands of fellows such as Pat Metheny and Michael Franks.
Aficionados of jazz pop, bossa nova and all things chill....welcome home.
Around the time that psychedelia was falling out of sorts across the world, there was an emergent force out of the deep bayous of Louisiana who traveled north and west, perplexing the world wherever they went and leaving only mystery and awe upon disembarking from the latest wharfside gig. If The Beatles had changed the way the world saw music from the outside in only a few years before Flower Power met its demise, then this band was shifting new terrain from the inside out...crawling out and about dimensions alien to all but a receptive, whimsical minority.
Since 1969 and counting, an anonymous eyeball-donning outfit known as The Residents have been and still remain the greatest enigma in today's musical world, the godfathers of all that's strange and outside convention in the world of rock n' roll. Sixty-something albums, countless live recordings and many a world-tour later, we are living in the second decade of a new century, and these strange beings from a time before most of us were born continue to dazzle new generations unabated by changes in sonic fashion or whatever major labels decide is worth trending.
It stands to reason, then, that last year's Coochie Brake (the titular marshland where this band supposedly spent their youth) may be the first time any relatively normal music-faring individual has encountered this esoteric ensemble...and they couldn't have found a better starting point.
To elaborate, The Residents only create (basically) two kinds of albums: those which are satirical in nature and/or those which tell some kind of bizarre, sometimes unfathomable tale. Enthusiasts of this bunch will regale you with praise upon their 70's period, the decade where some of this group's unquestionable classic additions to the canons of avant-garde rock were unveiled and released (the ambient histrionics of Eskimo, the unsettling Not Available, the synth-haunted Fingerprince), all of which were concept albums. Coochie Brake continues that tradition via an untypically semi-autobiographical account of the band's beginnings in their swampy homeland.
And it's a hell of a trip, like a dream you were thoroughly immersed within before the waking world reeled you back into the open air of day-to-day sense & logic. Sludgy guitars straight out of the fevered murk, horns, glittering electronic landscapes that juxtapose and enhance the production, topped by menacing monologues echoing above the dim, rich mixture in...Spanish? Guttural mantras reverberate like flesh-formed didgeridoos, and it's all so deliciously voodoo and indifferent to anything the group has done before, much less what anyone else is doing musically at the moment.
It's weird to the point of obsession, and richer than anything this one-of-a-kind act has done in decades. You could die happy with just this on repeat, cycling unto eternity as vague aspirations disintegrate with dawn's untimely arrival at your windowsill.
One of the most promising artists associated with Windham Hill Records, Jεff Ostεя is a fantastically forward thinking trumpeter and flugelhorn player who dabbles in deep electronic texturing and experimentation to give his horn-led compositions an almost supernatural edge that most traditional cats in the greater jazz stratosphere are missing out on.
On that note, his latest release Surrender was perhaps the best jazz-anything to come out last year, giving folks such as Nils Petter Molvaer and The Submotion Orchestra a real run for their money in sheer sumptuousness. Cruise-perfect cuts like the danceable 'The Theology Of Success', Trip-hop friendly title track and even 70's-feelin' fanfare of 'Essence Of Herb' turned my afternoon jog into a golden, harmonious dreamscape where shadows wither and writhe under still light. One can only imagine what something this killer could do for a mind at rest!
I'm sure most of you probably know a little something or other about this rather famous (or infamous) Electronic/Dance musical project from guitarist/producer Michael Cretu. Yes, the first album had that one Gregorian chant house cut called 'Sadeness' which is overplayed to shit and singlehandedly helped define the first half of the 90's sonically. Yes, this sophomore release has that one song from the car commercial where the "Aye-oh-AH-eeya-ahyaaa" is sampled. And, yes, this is one of the most well known New Age albums on the face of planet Earth, a frontrunner for "exotic" music that most people hate...
...but this is still still freakin' awesome! Everything from Led Zeppelin to Genesis to obscure classical opera is sampled within this record, and nowhere has such a mismash of muzakal sensibility and progressive songwriting idealism melded so profoundly and strongly in the world of ambient dance than here in Thε Cяoѕѕ Of Chαngεs.
Another late-80's smooth fusion classic from the masterful Mr. Wαlkεя to melt your nights away! Lots to like here, with drumming and keyboard work in particular as classy as such can be, and on the whole sonically this release gives off a glorious layered vibe which recalls the best of Pat Metheny during his "world music" period, albeit less guitar oriented.
This record, therefore, comes with my highest recommendations, with a big nod specifically to fans of the previously mentioned Metheny and The Rippingtons.
An excellent, unique and rather unconventional debut by progressive Celt rockers Ioиα, and probably my favorite record by the band overall. Neo-proggier in some ways than what would come later, the Clannad influences are more heavily tempered and reigned in by complicated and at times breathtaking instrumental interplay, particularly on numbers like 'A'Machair' and the 8-minute 'Trilogy'. Although not quite everyone's drink of choice (as is the case with many musical hybridists), I guess when you have someone as amazing as Joanne Hogg at the mic they could be doing half-assed polka-punk folk and still sound like a million bucks.
Oh, and it's got that "fresh out of the late 80's" production I love so much too, which makes the deal even sweeter from an atmosphere enthusiasts's point of view.
More often than not, I find that words fail me when it comes to a group like Dεαd Cαи Dαиcε. Their two-decade long discography explored, from perfect record to perfect record, the recesses of atmospheric post-punk, world music, New Age and an unbelievably cinematic grasp on the whole neoclassicism spectrum of musical indulgences. Before veterans like Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon jumped on the African pygmy-chant bandwagon and unleashed the savage jungle into contemporary Top-40 territory, this illustrious duo were cutting 3rd World masterpieces with a feudal edge that took even scenesters by surprise.
But, I digress. If one had to pluck but a single record from DCD's divinely inspired catalogue to get a newbie's ears wet in the ethereal woodwork, then 1987's Wiτнin Tнε Rεαlm Of A Dying Sun is the place to start. Not only are these songs some of the best crafted in a career long-canon, but with Side A being dominated by the grave croon of Brendan Perry and Side B an ideal slice of the heavenly pipes of Lisa Gerrard, the listener gets to experience both sides of Dεαd Cαи Dαиcε's musical cerebrum and...hell, maybe even reach enlightenment through doing so.
Like a narcotic you just can't quite get out of your system, this record casts a long, haunted shadow over your mind...and I'm more than happy to let it envelop me when I least expect it.
Japan's most well-known musical export in many a circle, and a helluva pianist to boot. Sαkαmoτo-san has had his hands in pretty much every genre known to man since his beginnings as a fiery young keyboardist behind electro-New Wave pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra, and his aforementioned solo career is a rather formidable beast to tackle for those unprepared for the sheer amount of quality that is apparent from his decades of output.
The mid 80's caught the avant-garde pianist at an interesting phase in his career: he's still screwing around with synths and modulators and other such artificial constructs, but he's fucking around in such a way on 1985's Espεяαиτo that he comes across as the ridiculously uncanny middleman between King Crimson circa Discipline and Brian Eno at his most spontaneous and adventurous.
More of a curious set of mood pieces for the multifaceted than a specific collection of songs that tell a story, define a purpose or something to carry the Top 40 for yet another pointless week, Espεяαиτo is very much a product of its time that happens to fit into our own era with a curious, even eerie, sense of relevancy. Knab it!
Ukraine for me might as well be the other side of the goddamn moon for all the connection I have with the country, but what bands do tend to rear their heads out of that National Socialist haven (such as black-folk metal masqueraders Noktuяиαl Moяtuм) tend to have a knack for spinning you upside the ankle and knocking us feeble outside audiences on our collective asses.
This record is a sheer majesty in the art of pummeling your fucking mind to peanut brittle and then reviving whatever corpse remains into the likeness of a cream clad Seraphim. The keyboards sound in waves, and the onslaught of acoustics is a gorgeous, striking contrast ('The Sky Of Sorrowful Nights') to the madness and mercury of 'Valkiriya' and other +10 minute monstrosities.
A certain frame of mind is needed, but this may just be the best freakin' black metal album you'll ever sit through.
One of five albums in my vast collection that I consider a desert island disc, this is, at least in my eyes, the single best contemporary/smooth jazz record that has ever been recorded by anyone at any period of time. Closely matched in overall quality by only a few other artists in this sort of genre or related areas (Toshiki Kadomatsu, Pat Metheny, Kit Walker and jazz-fusioners Karizma), the superlatives I could lay upon the nine cuts within this disc are near infinite. Deceptively accessible, melodic and boiling with atmosphere, this was an album recorded just as the Rips had begun to hit their peak. Russ Freeman, guitar god that he is, was beginning to experiment a bit more with guitar synths, percussionist Steve Reid was coming into his role as the group's sound architect and soundscaper, and Brandon Fields demonstrates time and time again what a damn good alto saxophonist can do when he isn't trying to be a hack like David Sanborn.
Needless to say, this is a strong record through and through, with four out of nine pieces in particular cementing this album's place at the godhead of all things smooth and Weather Channelesque. First is the title track, opened and closed out with some swooshing Korg synths and a steady drumline that remains (even into 2011) the coolest intro to any muzak ever written. Carl Anderson even scats throughout! Next you have the 6.5 minute 'One Summer Night In Brazil', which while slow remains sumptuous, beautifully textured and even tideful thanks to a combination of acoustic guitar, a couple of skins and Freeman. The last two, 'Earthbound' and 'Destiny' are a punchy pair that kick things up a notch in pace yet remain slick and electrified. They help close out one hell of a strong set, and are in fact worth the price of admission in a nutshell.
I can count the albums on both hands that made me sit up and suck in every track in only one go-around, with Yes's Close To The Edge, The Stooges' Fun House, It Bites' The Tall Ships and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger being a couple of the big ones. Records that outperform, outclass, breezing through hooks, ideas and dynamics in twenty to forty minutes that make entire other bands' recorded outputs look like yesterday's garbage.
This was the album that turned me into a fanatic of all things smooth, the catalyst for a million other brilliant discoveries both analogous and bizarre, and nothing captures the late 80's better by a country mile.
A well known protege and musical friend to Peter Gabriel, progenitor of the Mbalax genre of dance music and Senegal's most famous musical artist of all time, you'd be hard pressed to find a more influential "World" music artist in the last thirty years than Yoυssoυ N'Doυя. Comparable to the magnificent Fela Kuti as far as artistic eclecticism and vision goes, 1989's Thε Lion was the first taste that many people outside the African subcontinent got of this fella's pop sensibility, partly thanks to the contributions and production help of not only the former Genesis vocalist himself, but David Sancious (of Bruce Springsteen and Sting fame) as well.
Needless to say, Mr. N'Dour has a helluva set of pipes, and uses his voice creatively throughout the nine songs here. From standards like 'Old Tucson' to the ethereal yet compellingly eerie 'Macoy', percussive arrangements frame smoky sounding keyboards and occasionally punchy basslines and guitar work to make even the barest of threads vibrant and full of atmosphere.
Overall, this is a lucious little record that brings a lot of fun to the table, even if you don't speak Senegalese or emphasize with his socio-economic observations. Fans of anything off the beaten path, however, will devour this in a single, auditory gulp.
Bloody swell debut from one of Mexico's best alternative rock institutions, and probably sounds even more potent to one's ears I 'xpect if you actually know any goddamn Spanish.
More damning than a demon's curse indeed, and a cult classic in multiple senses. It's also the only one of its kind in all of folk music canon: evil and propulsive and utterly uncanny in its grasp of both beauty and ugliness.
I'd be pretty surprised all in all if you guys haven't at least heard of this, but assuming the former I hope you enjoy this record. Includes three bonus tracks from the original recording sessions along with remastered audio for everything.
Anyone who has seen my post on this fantastic group's 1990 release Erplandshould probably already have a notion of sorts as to why this group is awesome, but in some ways this 1989 major label debut is actually superior to much of what these space rock gods would do throughout the next decade (including Erpland itself). This is partly because Pungent takes more chances on the compositional side of things, emphasizes atmosphere over merely tripping out. It helps some also that it doesn't feel as rave-centered or praise seeking as records such as Curious Corn or Spirals In Hyperspace. Tracks such as 'Phalarn Dawn' and 'Agog In The Ether', for instance, are experimental ambient pieces that wouldn't be caught dead on these guys' later masterpieces, and when it clicks together it feels almost as gratifying as if you've just made love to your ideal dreamboat (gender at your discretion).
The bottom line is this: People often accuse the Ozrics of sounding the same on every album since their inception as a unified group back in the mid 80's, but the fact this album exists at all invalidates that claim in an intriguing, refreshing and even glorious manner.
Thus, I hope ya'll are ready to dope up and get ready to drop the ball, 'cause this vintage (and remastered) slice of infinity is a real motherfucker in the best way possible.
Probably my favorite latter period record from this classic electronic outfit: the keyboard-laden sound of it amidst a seemingly infinite plethora of keys and synth texturing is comparable to being suspended in the oceanic depths alluded to in the title of the record and songs, yet the guitar work of Edgar Froese on pieces such as 'Song Of The Whale (Pt. I)' is in and of itself a wonder to hear too.
As far as ambient-oriented New Age goes, this record holds more edge than most, so enjoy thoroughly!
