Music Reviews

Leon, Craig – “Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 2” – [Rvng Intl.]

Thurston Hunger   4/24/2024   12-inch, A Library

Vol 2 2019 release, we have vol 1 with that same promising title. In fact, KFJC even has the original Nommos 12″ that was half of that vol 1 re-issue. Craig Leon spins synthesizers from Saturn, mostly they float in space, on “Standing Crosswise” they orbit around tiny drum machine tribes. Vol 1 had a lot of clanky/flangey metaloid percussion, it has been abandoned here. “The Respondent in Dispute” is a sort standing wave techno. “Four Floods” washes up next, waves of sustain that lap and pulse over each other. On many connected pieces your ears can almost envision the sine wave nodes. Leon’s interplanetary vibe is certainly chill, ambient adjacent if not outright ambient. Some vox humana (or maybe Cassell Webb) on “The Earliest Trace”, very brief flirtations with dissonance on “The Twenty Second Step…” Pushed my Popol Vuh buttons a bit. At times it feels like there may be a mathematical calculation to his composition. There’s a curvy purity to the sound here. Music for hover lovers. That said Leon’s back history was more raucous and punk – an early producer for the Ramones, Blondie and Suicide. He also had a 1984 album with Arthur Brown (trippy clips online of that connect me to the Vega/Rev action). More recently he has classical gaps to fill, so a broad sonic spectrum for the US expat in the UK. Definitely a catch your breath effort here.

-Thurston Hunger

Whistling Arrow – “Whistling Arrow” – [God Unknown]

Thurston Hunger   4/24/2024   12-inch, A Library

Tony Conrad at a Renaissance festival? Nah….but powerful 2019 release. 99.9% instrumental, 6 piece band showcasing the dashing Charles Hayward and the darting violin of Laura Cannell (see These Feral Lands…please!) Cannell brings along Andre Bosman for double-barrel fiddle power. It works! Add in three members of Ex-Easter Island Head who caught the ears of Earl Grey and the airwaves of KFJC from the 2017 Liverpool Broadcast. The opening track calls to mind the band’s name (arrows with holes to Whistle or Scream or otherwise add to the attack in battles of yore). The music less aggressive more enchanting. Active drone stylings, led by Cannell/Bosman. “Forking Paths” rides a locomotive percussion shuffle courtesy of Hayward – at times this “Arrow” pierces my penchant for The Necks. Sliced shorter pieces but an overall unified hypnotic sound, the band as single organism with low-end piano (Jonathan Hering) as a supportive pedestal. Some voice crowns the triumphant closing “Magician” Is it Cannell, Hayward falsetto, Tiresias?? Excellent end to a coherent and soothing/stirring album. Red marbled vinyl to boot.

-Thurston Hunger

Davis, Evelyn / Frith, Fred / Greenlief, Phillip – “Lantskap Logic: Hidden Danger Lets Me In” – [Clean Feed]

Thurston Hunger   4/24/2024   A Library, CD

Really dig the haunting organ by Evelyn Davis, ranging from spreading mortuary calm to raising eyebrows with the Mills Chapel roof. And that’s just on the opening opus! The mighty Fred Frith and Phillip Greenlief are no strangers to KFJC’s library, their respective strings and reeds here flutter through your headphones. Frith is such a master of gentle volume pedal/wash. Striking subtlety. Great listening by both here and augmenting the pipe organ firmament deployed by Davis. We also have the first 2018 Lantskap Logic audio portrait from Clean Feed. “And Spits Me Out Unseen” is steam powered before Greenlief creates a sound like running in sand. Frith opens “Beyond The Surface Smiling” with shades of the tense sections akin to Patrick McGoohan’s “The Prisoner.” “Hold the Heart” after a soft start hits an elevating rising, joyfully pensive. “Sail Makers” the scarier aire returns, ringing guitar and reeling reeds but it gives way to a 5-min beautiful coda where the trio climbs Escher steps and shepherd tones. The two pieces afterwards track, and capture a similar poignance, Frith shuttling strings and shines on the closer. If this is indeed a requiem for Mills College and its years of contemporary creations – the music seems to offer small seeds of hope for future rebirth.

-Thurston Hunger

Lum, Chloe and Desranleau, Yannick – “The Garden of a Former House Turned Museum” – [No Hay Discos]

Thurston Hunger   4/23/2024   A Library, CD

Burlesque and brainy, picture a feather boa bookmark nestled in a copy of Clarice Lispector’s “Agua Viva.”
Lispector here is an imagined audience, to six sung letters. Each is sung by Sarah Albu, soprano-spanning a concert hall and jazz juke joint? Too swinging for the former, too stately for the latter? Just listen a little bit and you’ll get the flavor. The words from those letters are pinned like insect wings, pretty but they almost don’t hold together stretched over the clip-clop percussion and the high-stepping trombones and trumpets. It’s a creation/installation from Chloe Yum and Yannick Desranleau, who once upon a noisy time were 2/3 of AIDS Wolf…and if you predicted this album from that KFJC darling’s output, then you are Clarice Voyant! I think it’s a love letter of sorts to Lispector, someone forced out of Ukraine by malevolent forces (previous ones that is) and now she’s a statue seaside in Rio de Janeiro. Letter #4 swings, Letter #3
includes a dash of Brazilian spice via the cuica.
-Thurston Hunger

El Shazly, Nadah – “Damned Don’t Cry, The” – [Asadun Alay Records]

humana   4/20/2024   CD, Soundtrack

Egyptian El Shazly composes, arranges, and lends her lovely voice to this soundtrack that gets ever more melodic as the tracks go on. Contrebass and harp are the standout instruments, along with El Shazly’s voice, and by the end it is clear that Fyzal Boulifa knew what he was doing when he asked Nadah to score his film.

Inutili – “a Love Supreme” – [Aagoo Records]

humana   4/19/2024   12-inch, A Library

This psych band from Teramo, Italy offers two nice, long jams that build (“Queen Crimson” and “A Love Supreme”) interspersed with some shorter, peppier tunes (my favorite being “Walking on Your Lips”). The opener (“I’m on a Plane) has some great lyrics: “I complain I’m on a plane”, and DADADA is a nice addition to the album that verges on noisiness.

Mendoza Hoff Revels – “Echolocation” – [Aum Fidelity]

humana   4/19/2024   A Library, CD

This wonderful 2023 release of electric/avant-garde gems composed by Ava Mendoza (electric guitar) and Devin Hoff (electric bass) and performed by themselves along with James Brandon Lewis (tenor sax) and Ches Smith (drums) is fresh and skates between the jazz and rock genres. Mendoza was the driving force behind getting this experiment together, and these musicians collaborate and communicate the compositions in ways that are exciting and energetic. Read the sleeve notes as you listen so you can get the most out of how sonic communication is not just limited to bats, shrews, whales, and dolphins.

Village of Spaces – “That’s Understanding” – [Feeding Tube Records]

humana   4/15/2024   12-inch, A Library

This release from Dan Beckman with help from others (including Amy Moon and Caleb Mulkerin) is a pleasing creation of songs written in Big Sur and Santa Cruz and recorded during a pandemic quarantine. Beckman’s voice (as well as other voices) is mellow and backed by various field sounds like surf, birdsong, and other instruments like flute. My favorite tracks are “Agnes of Rainbows” and “Little Wind and Sea.” “Song for Moon” is the most active (rock-like) song on here, and it’s enjoyable, too.

SPF 1985 – “Sunburner” – [Don’t Look Down]

Cousin Mary   4/15/2024   12-inch, A Library

This fine new-to-me instrumental band from Petaluma plays around with surf sounds. Vocals are subtle and hardly noticeable. Interesting use of synths takes this music out of the usual reverb drenched tradition and gives it a full rich quality. Delighted to meet this NorCal band.

Grim, Wayne – “Electric Space Gardeners” – [Thee Obscurantist]

humana   4/14/2024   A Library, CD

Grim composed the music on this CD that is set to the text of “Electric Space Gardeners,” written by Jovi Schnell (who also drew the images on the CD cover). Majel Connery’s lovely voice takes us through the storyline on most of the tracks, which summon sparse images with cello, vibraphone, and other instruments. This is a fascinating listen.