A Great Miracle
The annual Xmas delirium has just about reached its peak and with the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah or Chanukah well underway, we decided to share this little holiday gem from San Francisco's Reboot imprint, presented by the multi-talented American musician, scholar, curator and author Jeremiah Lockwood. Stripped down to a one-man, one-guitar recital, Jeremiah Lockwood brings us eight solo guitar songs to accompany the Jewish festival of lights or any other moment in time because this seems like it could very well be a future classic.
"With heartfelt appreciation of the 1968 classic The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Soli Christmas Record, Lockwood has sweetly crafted eight songs, one for each night of Chanukah, to celebrate the dancing candlelight with his new, blues-inspired takes on the most beloved melodies of the holiday’s canon. From the prayers for lighting the candles to the kids’ songs that are sung around the burning menorah, Lockwood paints the light through the darkness with his instrumental creations."
Moving beyond any religious heft, Jeremiah Lockwood's joyous strumming is just what we needed as we unwind and catch our breath after another eventful year. And so we turn to our hanukiah, light candle number six and spin the dreydl, our hearts filled with gratitude for having a warm home, a roof over our heads, a refrigerator full of food and even more importantly, one another. Here's hoping for a peaceful holiday season and a better new year for all. Hag sameach!
More posts
All High Ways
While it strikes us as odd to release a new studio album amidst the usual holiday brouhaha, we must admit that we had this one on our radar for quite some time now and are happy to finally share it with you. The young, Munich-based kraut-jazz-space-prog four-piece Karaba first came to our attention as the backing band to Turkish Gastarbeiter offspring and saz wunderkind Ozan Ata Canani on his rocking anthem "Vom Bosporus bis zum Rhein", released on Fun in the [...]
Words
Time to shine those dancing shoes, pull those disco slacks back out the closet and step out onto the dancefloor. One of Hungary's most established producers, songwriters and film score composers has been on a tear lately, unveiling a brand new series of "Words" releases. Void of an official press release, we'll need to go freestyle on this one and choose our words wisely. But one thing's for sure, this screwball double-header is positively unhinged.
Ambrus [...]
La Estrella
Argentina. Land of silver. A mythical country on the southern tip of South America, home to the capital city of Buenos Aires, which itself is the stomping ground of producer, DJ, remixer and composer Pedro Canale, better known as Chancha Via Circuito. Having made a name for himself on the legendary local ZZK digital cumbia circuit, his moniker quickly became synonymous with a unique and highly original blend of "cumbia-inspired electronic music that takes cues [...]
Not One, Not Two
Alo? Anybody out there? London-based producer and sound artist Yiğit Bülbül, alias Y Bülbül, first caught our attention with his deliriously quirky 2020 debut full-length "Fever" on Hamburg's tried and trusted Pingipung imprint. The extravagantly styled six-tracker was quick to win us over with its "frivolous" and "contemporary avant-garde pop projections," utterly charming, psychedelic and out of this world. Now, Y Bülbül returns to Pingipung with a new [...]
Intercosmic
It's great we have this term 'jazz' to categorise what we have trouble putting into words and yet, the NYC-based Slavo Rican Assembly evades said pigeonholing, taking its dazzling compositions to new dimensions on "Intercosmic". The group's rapturous debut full-length on Riverboat Records is an extraordinary blend of temporality, in that it successfully channels ancestral voices to create a tantalizing and no doubt contemporary melting pot of sound. Led by [...]
Richard Wagner & The Klezmer Band
Ever since Russia unleashed its senseless imperialistic fury on neighbouring Ukraine some 268 days ago, our dear friend Yuriy Gurzhy (The Disorientalists) has become a voice of the local cultural resistance and extremely active on all artistic fronts. Originally from Kharkiv yet based in Berlin, the multitalented musician, former DJ of the legendary "Russendisko" party series and co-founder of multilingual Berlin band RotFront began writing a regular 'war [...]
Mariage
In 2021, the group's genre-defying debut full-length "Yaral Sa Doom" ('Educate the Young') set the tone for a promising career and no doubt put them on the global map. Now, Senegal's cross-continental Wau Wau Collectif returns to Christopher Kirkley's Sahel Sounds to unveil their sophomore full-length, building on their initial themes and expanding on their stylistically diverse approach, quite literally wedding a plethora of musical hues. Some of the rhythms [...]
Fantômes... Futurs
Having grown up in the immediate environment of a 'Kontrabass', this one was born out of a personal interest to see what sounds this particular double bassist would be able to produce. After spending more than a decade as the bassist of French band Lo'Jo, Kham Meslien decided to test the waters and embark on a solo project with an instrument still commonly considered to be more of an accompanying voice. His recently released debut solo album "Fantômes... [...]
Maracas, Tambourines & Other Hellish Things
With 'spooky fest' rapidly approaching, we decided it's due time we introduce you to Amsterdam-based multi-instrumentalist, DJ, record junkie and producer Alex Figueira's latest outing on his very own Music With Soul imprint. Also known as the "hardest working man in tropical music," Figueira recently dropped this original nine-track collection and "multi-layered kaleidoscopic musical ride" titled"Maracas, Tambourines and Other Hellish Things", a cinematic [...]
Throisma
Big sounds coming from the island of Cyprus once again, produced by none other than the mastermind behind groundbreaking and award-winning outfits such as Monsieur Doumani and Trio Tekke, Antonis Antoniou. Hot on the heels of his critically acclaimed 2021-released debut solo album "Kkismettin", the extraordinarily skilled composer, sound artist, producer and unconventional collector of experiences returns to Ajabu! Records with another adventurous full-length, [...]
Estrellas
Had it not been for the pandemic, the music currently streaming out of our speaker system would probably have a different spin to it. But that, of course, is somewhat speculative. Fact is, in 2020, French DJ, beatmaker and producer GUTS had a new album lined up to be entirely recorded on the island of Cuba. Due to strict travel regulations, however, the itinerary was altered accordingly and GUTS decided to set up camp on the West African coast instead of in the [...]
Honey & Groat
You might say we were just waiting for their debut full-length to hit the shelves. Swiss-French four-piece KUMA ('bear' in Japanese) released its debut EP "Kumadé" on Barcelona's Rocafort Records imprint back in 2020, showing obvious flashes of brilliance, reconciling a classically trained foundation with hiphop culture and a freeform electronic undercurrent. KUMA are very much a contemporary jazz outfit blending whatever comes to mind and always eager to go [...]