Aşıq Nargilə - Qərib Həyat (Mountains of Tongues)
Admas - Sons of Ethiopia (Frederiksberg Records)
Sons of Ethiopia is a fascinating piece of the Ethiopian musical puzzle. Emerging from the community of Ethiopian exiles who had been scattered to the winds by the brutality of the Derg – the military dictatorship that had deposed Haile Selassie – the album was the sound of a new generation. The members of Admas were not musicians from the so-called ‘golden age’: they were children of the terror and propaganda of the Derg time – an era of state-sponsored neighbourhood bands and a propaganda-tinged traditional music scene. An instrumental album, rich with global influences, Sons of Ethiopia is one of the few Ethiopian recordings to have been produced outside Ethiopia in the early 1980s. As such, it is a key document of the Washington DC exile scene. The core members of Admas – Tewodros ‘Teddy’ Aklilu, Henock Temesgen, and Abegasu Shiota – had previously played in a group called Gasha, one of the few Ethiopian bands working regularly in DC during the early 1980s. Admas was born from Gasha, as an outlet for their more experimental instincts. Though they played as a backing group for singers (including Aster Aweke), the music on Sons of Ethiopia was never performed live.
Adult Fantasies - Towers of Silence (Stroom)
Adult Fantasies is a Belgium psychedelic folk/darkwave project comprising Dirk Seghers and Gerrit Valckenaers. The band formed around late ‘80s and released three long plays along with a 7’’ single.
Towers of Silence is a compilation of their early works. ”Gerrit and I met in a 4-track cassette recording studio in a basement where our producer had accidentally mixed some of our tracks together…. His unstoppable flow of musical creativity was only matched by his generosity and patience to work with me. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship”, says Dirk Seghers.
Alhousseini Anivolla & Girum Mezmur - Afropentatonism (Piranha Records)
Desert blues man Alhousseini Anivolla meets Ethio-jazz guitarist Girum Mezmur for a beautifully crafted album of repetitive grooves, hypnotic jams and raw guitar sounds. Their new collaborative project “Afropentatonism” fuses some of the most intriguing art of their respective cultures, resulting in an outstanding pan-African collaboration. The album was recorded live during a concert in Nairobi and features extended versions of the original songs.
Arash Azadi - Eagerness to Learn (Structured Experience)
Eagerness to Learn is a compilation of works from 2014 to 2017 by Armenian composer and musician Arash Azadi released by the Yerevan based Structured Experience - Center for New Music and Digital Arts. From electroacoustic to improvised music, contemporary classical, music concrete and beyond.
Aşıq Nargilə - Qərib Həyat (Mountains of Tongues)
Based in Tbilisi with deep roots in the ‘Borçalı’ region of Southern Georgia, Nargile Mehtiyeva aka Ashiq Nargile has been playing saz (long-neck lute) and singing since the age of 15. Fluent in Azerbaijani and Georgian, Nargile represents the cosmopolitan heritage of old Tbilisi, a city once known as a meeting point for multilingual bards who would travel through the region serving as conduits for news, ideas, music and culture. A powerful solo performer, her vocal recital of epic folk poetry is by turns ecstatic and deeply expressive, and is interspersed with bursts of virtuosic, highly ornamented saz. Equally comfortable performing moving laments or upbeat folk dances, Nargile is currently the only female bard living and performing in Georgia and has been teaching the art to new generations.
Biomechanica - BM01 (Geometrik)
The “BioMechanica” project marks the first collaboration between Francisco López (rhythmic pattern evolution, environmental recording, mutations, composition, editing, mixing, mastering) and Arturo Lanz from Esplendor Geométrico (germ rhythmic patterns). Their debut album
BM-01 is the outcome of years of intense work in multiple cities across the world, from Beijing to Reykjavik all the way to Johannesburg. Raw power and industrial-tribal rhythms, together with an overwhelming sound complexity, a multi-channel spatial virtuality and a spectacular production come together in BioMechanica, synthesizing the insight and experience of two internationally acclaimed industrial/experimental music makers.