Tag Archives: music

Aseethe’s Hopes of Failure

Aseethe is a doom band from Iowa City, Iowa. I know hardly anything about the genre called doom, or drone, or any of the other darker-than-dark and heavier-than-heavy offshoots of metal. In fact I’ve never been much of a fan … Continue reading

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Transatlantic Sessions to perform at 2017 MerleFest

The Transatlantic Sessions tour will be part of the 30th anniversary MerleFest in April. The Transatlantic Sessions is a series of musical productions that brings together innovative and iconic U.K. artists with the best American roots artists, under the musical … Continue reading

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Tarkovsky Quartet’s Nuit Blanche

The French pianist François Couturier continues a project of more than a decade now of honoring the spirit of Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovksy (1932-1986). Nuit Blanche or White Night, by what is known as the Tarkovsky Quartet, is the fourth … Continue reading

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Slothrust’s Everyone Else

The music I find myself drawn to these days has at least some element of a drone in it. Sometimes that’s the comforting drone of hardangar fiddle in Nordic folk and jazz, the martial drone of pipes, the spine-tingling vocal … Continue reading

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Anna & Elizabeth’s Hop High b/w Here In The Vineyard

As they prepare for a short tour of venues in the Northeast and Northwest of the U.S., followed by a May 2017 visit to the U.K., Anna & Elizabeth are releasing an old-school seven-inch vinyl single that’s unlike anything they’ve … Continue reading

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Patricia A. McKillip’s The Bards of Bone Plain

I’ve noted before the importance of music in the works of Patricia McKillip. I’ve probably also said something about the poetic quality of her writing. I know I’ve mentioned the way magic infuses her stories, context rather than event. That’s … Continue reading

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Ryley Walker’s Golden Sings That Have Been Sung

Ryley Walker’s Golden Sings That Have Been Sung is a logical follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2015 album Primrose Green. The earlier release was noted for its almost spookily faithful homage to 1960s English folk-rock, particularly early Van Morrison. While … Continue reading

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Bert Jansch’s Moonshine

The year 1973 was not all that good a year for music, as far as I was concerned. There were a few bright lights, but mostly, the vibrant rock music of the late ’60s was morphing into bloated arena rock … Continue reading

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Marcel Khalife’s Andalusia of Love

Reams have been written about Lebanese musician, composer and singer Marcel Khalife, who is one of the most popular and controversial musicians in the Arab world today. He’s made his name by expanding the possibilities of the Arabian lute, called … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Valse de Noël, An Acadian-Cajun Christmas Revels

What a delightful way to end a year that was sometimes less than delightful. For 2016, The Revels has produced a program and CD of Acadian and Cajun music and dance. If you’re not familiar with The Revels (I’m not … Continue reading

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