Golden Hallway Music - Rules & Chance Vol. 2 (Not Not Fun Records)
The latest work of the urban kosmische keyboardist Zack Tornaben aka Golden Hallway Music is a full eclectic hour of voyaging inner-harmony themes and meditations, recorded across the pandemic winter in his Manhattan apartment. Utilizing his signature rig of a 1968 electric combo organ and primitive drumbox run through a two-machine tape delay, the songs spiral, slipstream, and shimmer, equal parts open road and cosmic ascension.
Hailu Mergia - Tezeta (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
This "Tezeta" album is one of those that have been impossible to find for nearly three decades. Sourced by Awesome Tapes From Africa and expertly remastered by Jessica Thompson, its unique and funky renditions of standards and popular songs of the day are so quintessentially Walias, flavorful and evocative. Hailu Mergia's melodic organ, unashamedly front and center in every track, makes even the complex pieces accessible.
Hassan Wargui - Tiddukla (Hive Mind Records)
Hassan Wargui is a self-taught musician, composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and an expert in the songcraft and poetry of the Tachelhit speaking Amazigh tribes of the Anti-Atlas Mountains in the south of Morocco.
Tiddukla (which translates to Friendship) is one of Hassan's numerous group projects and he recorded the album with friends in 2015 and self-released it through YouTube due to the lack of music infrastructure in Morocco. Don't miss this one.
Hyunhye Seo - Strands (Room40)
Hyunhye Seo’s present album released by the ever-prolific label Room40 divides the idea of
Strands into two parts, evoking a minimalist and atmospheric chant dedicated to the hair. "I’m exposed by the hair that falls from me in long, dark and grotesque trails. It’s impossible to pretend I wasn’t where I’ve been."
Various Artists - Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol.3 (Karaoke-Kalk)
The third instalment of the
Jeff Özdemir & Friends series presents a variety of works with singers, musicians and groups such as Knarf Rellöm & DJ Patex, F.S. Blumm, Joanna Gemma Auguri, Elke Brauweiler and Elmer Kussiac for an 18-track compilation, released by Karaoke-Kalk, following the previous episodes from 2015 and 2017, respectively.
Jeff Özdemir & Friends Vol. 3 sees the man behind Kreuzberg’s 33rpm record store and the 33rpm Records label showcase his qualities as a people remixer, songwriter and versatile musician.
Larry Ochs & Donald Robinson - A Civil Right (ESP-Disk’)
Although Ochs and Robinson have collaborated in various groups for more than 20 years – including in the trio What We Live with bassist Lisle Ellis – their duo is a recent phenomenon, having developed over the past couple of years. Ochs says, "Our playing together has evolved to a really special place, I think. We’re definitely coming out of the tradition of horn-drum duos from John Coltrane & Rashied Ali to Wadada Leo Smith & Billy Higgins, but we’ve found our own space after a long stretch of shows together. Our set will include new, original material, with some high-energy playing and things that are more spatial, as well as some homages to more popular music. In a sparse setting like this, the music hits a listener right away – nothing is obscured, everything is clear."
