Mike Johnston, Mike Gilmore, Mike Khoury, Kirk Lucas - Impermanence cdr

If King Crimson's beautiful improv lullaby "Moonchild" had been recorded by Asians instead of Brits, this is what it would sound like. This quarter plays free jazz without the madness and aggression usually associated with it. With heavy use of violin, vibraphone, and folk instruments such as the shakuhachi, the zither, the gong, and saz, they form an incredible relationship and communication in dark Eastern-tinged avant-garde, like a subdued Far East version of The Revolutionary Ensemble. There's also a surprise Japanese music-based cover of "When There Is No Sun" by Sun Ra. Cool stuff! 2009 cdr on Triple Bath, a label that should be releasing more music more often.

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Stephan Micus - Desert Poems

I think this is one of the most overlooked Micus albums. It doesn't have the epic quality of say Ocean or the experimental edge of The Music of Stones, neither the devotional loneliness of Athos, but still it's a noteworthy album. For one, it contains one of the most beautiful short tracks he's ever written, "Adela," another track with mourning violins that's great, "Shen Khar Venakhi," a great love song with an a-cappella delivery, "Contessa Entelina," and a lonely shakuhachi hymn, "For Yukand generally it's a diverse album with both classical music elements and a lot of African percussion moments that are cool and relaxing. 2001 cd on ECM.


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Roberto Musci - The Loa of Music (The Complete Sessions)

I consider this one of the most accomplished releases of all time. Released in 1984 after years traveling Africa, India and Southeast Asia assembling field recordings and instruments, Roberto Musci created one of the most ambitious ambient records - and think that this was recorded in the early 80s, without the technological conveniences of today. This is a combination of field recordings of traditional songs and choirs from Africa and Asia documenting Voodoo cultures, Indian raga, percussions, and ritual dark ambient, creating a deeply hypnotic and immersive vibe. Listening to this I am tempted to say that SPK must have been hugely influenced by this album when they recorded Zamia Lehmanni, which is another summit of 1980's ambient (some windy/screeching and percussive samples from "Invocation" and "Palms Crossed In Sorrow" sound suspiciously similar to stuff from here). So, The Loa of Music was released in 1984 but due to space constraints, not all of the recordings had been released. After 33 years, Soave re-released it in 2017 as a double vinyl including in full all of the material created by Musci, so here's one hour and twenty minutes of perfection.

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