We're back to a "mere" twenty five excerpts from an entire week's soundtrack, which feature a veritable shed load of brand new music...
Playlist 34 comprises yet another eclectic mix, with rock from Tuatara, John Zorn, brilliant new discoveries Trioscapes and Bend Sinister and old master Neal Morse; top pop from around the world with Glasperlenspiel, EMA, Kimbra and Substaat; tasty jazz from BADBADNOTGOOD, Eivind Aarset, Geraud Portal, Ginger Baker, Herrmutt Lobby and Mount Everest Trio; some sometimes weird, sometiems electronic or even sometimes "unclassifiable" stuff from the likes of Bersarin Quartett, Building Instrument, Idlefon, John Lemke, Ligea and 1982; a smattering of classical from Tavener, Schubert and J S Bach; and finally, as ever, a tasty offering from Mr CBQ himself...
And so, twenty five tracks spanning the last seven days...
...during which time, this...
...was also created by light entering the CBQ camera...
Press play and away we go...
Glasperlenspiel - Moment 3:29
from "Grenzenlos In Diesem Moment"
An upbeat and uplifting start to proceedings from new to me German pop duo Glasperlenspiel, named after the Hermann Hesse novel "The Glass Bead Game". The album is choc full of short anthemic electronic pop. Groovy! They found fame in Deutschland after supporting Ich & Ich, another of my teutonic faves featured here in the past...
EMA - So Blonde 3:23
from "The Future's Void"
EMA is the stage name of Erika M Anderson and this rocky track comes from her third LP - I think she's singing "she's so good"...
BADBADNOTGOOD - Differently, Still 4:43
from "III"
For the third week in a row, I'm featuring jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD and today's offering shows them in a more conventional jazz light. This really is a band worth investigating - I urge you to do so...
Bersarin Quartett - Zum Greifen Nah (remix by Hecq) 4:28
from "Conversions"
Like Cloudland Blue Quartet, Bersarin Quartett is mainly a solo artist, Berliner Thomas Bücker. I first came across him at the Denovali Swingfest in London in 2013 and he very much impressed. This come from a remix album by Hecq, which features Mr Hecq's take on Mr Bersarin from his second LP, along with nine other European electronic artists...
Tavener - The Protecting Veil (Extract) 2:16
from "Tavener/ Music Sales Film & TV"
...and which segues in nicely to a short extract of a beautiful work by English composer John Tavener, who died last November and was one of the first non-Beatle artists to be signed to the Apple label. In my view, he is better than Mary Hopkin....
Kimbra - Love In High Places 5:15
from "The Golden Echo"
In "The Golden Echo", Kiwi Kimbra has produced a very interesting sounding album with a wide variety of influences, some obvious, some not so obvious. I particularly liked the quirks in this piece and present it here for your delectation and delight....
Building Instrument - Sprak 4:45
from "Building Instrument"
A couple of new albums on the Hubro label are featured today, both of which, on first listening, disappointed but they have subsequently rewarded my having stuck with them. An unconventional instrumental line up pervades the debut album from Norwegian trio Building Instrument...
Idlefon - In The Sea 4:50
from "Intensive Collectivity Known As City"
A goodly amount of new electronic music has been making its way into the collection recently and this album from Iranian Hesam Ohadi, aka Idlephon, is one which has risen above the milieu to the lofty heights of a feature spot in the Cloudland Blue Playlist....
Tuatara - Ghosts of the City 4:03
from "Underworld"
A groovy jazzy soundtrack from "supergroup" Tuatara's first album for six years. Brainchild of the band's drummer Barrett Martin, it features contributions from members of REM and Pearl Jam - but don't let that put you off! The band blends electronic sounds, exotic percussion, progressive beats and film score soundscapes to come up with something quite original...
Eivind Aarset - Black Silence 4:05
from "Dream Logic"
A soundscape piece from Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset's ECM album "Dream Logic" which is on the very perimeters of what might be termed "jazz". I like it...
Geraud Portal - Sound of the Universe 7:40
from "Fort Greene Story"
In a more conventional jazz vein, we have French bassist Geraud Portal's take on post bop - an album recorded in New York when he was staying there in the home of Spike Lee's son - the band comprised the other guys who happened to be living in the house. That's jazz...
John Lemke - Dorothea (I) 2:08
from "People Do"
A beautiful short piece from another Denovali artist, John Lemke - he played an excellent set at this year's Swingfest back in April, where he performed this very piece, as witnessed here on Youtube...
Ginger Baker - Ginger Spice 6:18
from "Why?"
This track is a good taster for the latest outling from the legend that is Ginger Baker - sax, bass and drums - nothing too fast but some excellent musicianship to the fore. The 75 year old Baker clearly still has what it takes...
Schubert - 3 Klavierstücke, D 946 - #1 In E Flat Minor 9:02
from "Schubert: The Last 3 Piano Sonatas"
I attended a piano recital on Monday with the Exec Producer at St Mary's Cathedral here in Edinburgh by young French pianist Louise Cournarie. I've included here two of the pieces she played, this first is a superb composition by Schubert, written not long before he died...
Herrmutt Lobby - An Experiment On A Bird In An Air Pump 3:35
from "Midi + Demi"
And so we're into the second hour and some very strange music indeed from the German collective, Herrmutt Lobby. I'd say it's jazz, see what you think. Whatever it is though, it's top notch stuff and the entire album is just as interesting as this...
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Starlight Starbright 7:52
from "Starlightnight"
This week's CBQ track also utilises some jazzy drumming, though not quite as out there as the previous track. This is the kind of title track from my last album "Starlightnight", which I hope you'll enjoy...
John Zorn - Sacred Emblems 3:02
from "Psychomagia"
Four (count 'em) albums from guitarist and all round wizz John Zorn entered the collection this week. I chose a track almost at random to include here. He seems to be releasing LPs at an incredible rate these days and there's no drop in quality despite this quantity. I can hear shades of The Shadows on this piece...
Ligea - Oblivion 5:41
from "Illusions"
A gentle piano intro forms the opening to a top notch piece of electronic pop from Ukrainian Ligea. Another excellent LP discovered over the last seven days or so. There's just so much great music out there....
Mount Everest Trio - Elf 3:15
from "Waves from Albert Ayler"
From tuneful to abstract now with the recent re-release of Mount Everest Trio's 1975 overlooked classic. This Swedish outfit produced music very much in the vein of Ornette Coleman's classic recordings not to mention, of course, Mr Ayler himself...
Substaat - Berlin 3:39
from "Macht"
Next up, another act from Norway - much Scandinavian stuff this week - this is the opening track and sets the tone for the LP, Substaat's second, which also includes their take on Norway's entry for the 2103 Eurovision Song Contest, "I Feed You My Love" which is also very much worth your seeking out - like a long lost Depeche Mode classic. Oh yeah!
J S Bach - Partita No. 6 In E Minor, BWV 830: VII. Gigue 3:30
from "Bach - Partitas Preludes and Fugues"
The second of today's pieces which was performed on Monday by Louise Cournarie. This recording is by Glenn Gould, one of my all time fave classical pianists and general all round good Canadian egg...
Trioscapes - From The Earth To The Moon 8:40
from "Digital Dream Sequence"
The first of two of my top discoveries of the week now - some wonderful complex playing, kind of in the style of King Crimson, from experimental fusion/progressive rock band, Trioscapes, originally conceived as a Mahavishnu Orchestra type outfit - strangely though, without a guitarist. This brilliantly played LP includes some of the best new music I've heard in 2014 - that's if you like this sort of thing of course, it is a bit of an acquired taste...
1982 - 05:00 4:59
from "A/B"
More laid back jazzy soundscapes now from the second of today's featured albums on the Hubro label. Norwegian (again!) improv trio 1982 provide some great material on this LP, which features an 18 minute piece on side "A" and shorter tracks on side "B" (hence the title A/B)....
Bend Sinister - Best Of You 8:35
from "Animals"
Track of the week this week is the opener from the latest LP from new to me Americans Bend Sinister, who I see are coming to the UK in November with Big Elf - funnily enough, whilst listening to the whole LP yesterday, I was reminded of the magnificence of the first two Big Elf albums. Bend Sinister's music is tuneful prog-pop of the highest order which, in places, also put me in mind of that late great band Jellyfish. I love this track. It comes from a fantastic LP...
Neal Morse - The Way Of Love 4:31
from "Songs From November"
We close today's programme with the final track from Neal Morse's latest LP, which was released this week. A move away from his normal multi-suite progtastic efforts of the past to classy four minute songs, of which this is one of the best...
That's it for another week - I hope you've enjoyed this eclectic mix and will pop back next week for some more...
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