Amoeba Music

Fantastic new release of intense, unique music by this incredible, mysterious Texas cabal who blend ominous, desert-fried psychedelic folk & avant-rock with global folkloric traditions, experimental soundscapes, improvisation, modern production techniques & sampling, and some noisier elements. These eclectic influences allow them to craft a dark, post-apocalyptic strain of tribal psychedelia that is laced with ethnic / world music influences (note the overtone singing & chanting, as well as some oud, sitar, saz, balalaika, accordions, & flutes). There is even a little bit of a heavy, metallic edge to it at times, but overall, it's, they have continued to evolve in more of an “experimental rock meets cinematic global psych” burner. This is their 2nd ever LP (both on esteemed French label Akuphone), following their incredible 2020 release The Totemist. This is really awesome stuff, both highly addictive and richly rewarding! RIYL: Comus, Sun City Girls, Master Musicians Of Bukkake, Kikagaku Moyo, Erkin Koray, and all kinds of global psychedelic rock. Read more

New release by this Swedish quartet from Stockholm, an eclectic album of soulful rock and pop, with a mixture of upbeat and more mellow tunes. Gorgeous vocals from guitarist / singer Anna Ahnlund (also of duo Ripple & Murmur), whose melodies often steal the show. She is joined by three fellow Swedes: guitarist Daniel Ögren, upright bassist Love Örsan, and prolific drummer Christopher Cantillo. Overall, they create a lovely mix of both classic and modern elements via their influences… I hear Motown-era soul, oldies girl-group sounds, modern indie-rock, baroque pop, classic rock and sunny 1970s AM radio gems, Laurel Canyon folk-rock, and even a little bit of what sounds like Brazilian Tropicalia meets Indian psych on the final track… It’s got some great lead sitar licks and incredible samba-style drumming & percussion as well. Definitely more retro than modern overall, but they totally transcend their influences and create their own unique identity. Beautiful stuff, with wistful melodies and harmonies, along with some simple yet fitting arrangements all the way through. Every song is gorgeous! RIYL: The Cardigans, ABBA, 1960s girl groups, 1970s folk-rock, along with classic soul music & oldies pop. Read more

Incredible collection of early tracks from the islands of Indonesia, showcasing this beautiful and fascinating historical music from this unique Southeast Asian region that is located between the Indian and Pacific oceans. This compilation has a handful of cuts from the late 1950s, but most seem to be from the 1960s. The influence of popular Latin music of the time (mambo, pachanga, merengue, boleros, cha-cha-cha, bossa nova, etc.) is very prominent here, along with jazz and exotica. Bits of early rock and pop vocal groups of the time seep in at points as well, but it’s all much closer to the latin jazz and even mainstream vocal tunes of the era than anything too wild like psychedelic rock. Traditional Indonesian musical scales and singing styles are subtly utilized at points, but overall a lot of it is indebted to certain strains of western popular music of the time, except that it is sung in Indonesian or various other regional languages. It’s got such a lovely old-fashioned charm to it, and I find it irresistible. The vibe alternates between fun, upbeat grooves, and slower, more haunting pieces that usually have a distinct minor key element. Both modes are great, and this whole set has in depth liner notes (yes!). Overall, the whole things is truly awesome! Read more

Funky, soulful instrumental grooves from this Austin, Texas based musician and producer who is also known for his work with Black Pumas, Money Chicha, Ocote Soul Sounds, Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, & The Echocentrics, among others. Reminds me of other great titles on other kindred modern retro-soul labels such as Daptone, Colemine, and Big Crown. In fact, one track here has Colemine’s great Ikebe Shakedown featured, with their trademark punchy horns and fluttery flute giving it a fantastic upbeat energy. Another trio of cuts feature Neal Francis, who has releases on both Colemine & their sub-label Karma Chief. There’s not really a bad cut here… lots of killer head-nodding rhythms with great in-the-pocket drums, bass, & guitars, some bongos / conga drums, along with some cool spacy synthesizers on a few cuts. Nice! Read more

New 2023 release from this Portuguese-born and raised musician who is now based in the UK. She’s been a core member of modern heavy psych band Gnod for 10+ years, but recently stepped back from that group to focus on her own work, and this debut solo album is the fantastic result of that choice. It’s a lovely mixture of dream pop and psychedelic rock, with incredible sound design and some very interesting found sound type textures throughout (footsteps, birds, ocean / water sounds, etc.). Main instrumentation includes drums & drum machines, percussion, guitars, bass, synthesizers, clarinets, and kalimba/mbira, among others. Most lyrics are in Portuguese, but some are in English as well. Overall, a really strong artistic statement from her. RIYL: Warpaint, Jane Weaver, Slowdive, Broadcast, Vanishing Twin, Tomaga. Read more

Sophomore LP by this duo from Finland, featuring Finnish producer Tatu Metsätähti (aka Mesak) and Norwegian-Azerbaijani musician & vocalist Zuzu Zakaria. It’s an incredible blend of tasteful electronic rhythms and magnificent middle eastern melodies, like a bizarre (and much cooler) version of modern Arabic pop music, but actually quite amazing! Zakaria is the primary creative entity behind Ya Tosiba, crafting the music, lyrics, & arrangements. She says that their music is a post-modern homage to a traditional form of Azerbaijani music called meykhana, a lyrical style that began in the early 1900s, and has generally only been performed by men (and for men), usually at weddings. Free from that patriarchal standard here, her sensuous & sumptuous vocals are an obvious highlight, along with the exotic sounding middle eastern sounding scales played on tar, lute, zurna, and various synths. Mesak’s production is strong but understated, perfectly supporting the songs. He dials up the perfect riddims for each selection… everything from classic and modern style electronica, techno, & house music underpinned by booming bass, to dubby, percolating snakecharmer grooves with boom bap beats, and even the R&B inspired synth leads and funky basslines of skweee, a Finnish style that Metsätähti is well known for (he co-founded Harmönia, one of the main labels that released Skweee music during the genre’s early heyday). Azerbaijan borders Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and Russia, so it’s right at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, and you can definitely hear the music of those connected regions reflected in this musical mixture. I absolutely LOVE this album! Read more

Beautiful, moving music on a brand new soundtrack release from this talented local Oakland musician, for a new HBO TV show in the mystery / drama / documentary / true crime genres. Features an eclectic assortment of pulsating organ & keyboard workouts, twangy pedal steel laced ambience, subtle yet dynamic symphonic cinematic themes, elements of avant-classical style beauty, along with some lush, enigmatic ambient drift. Gripping stuff that feels like much more than just background music, this is gorgeous music that also works well outside of the soundtrack realm for which it was composed. Great additional instrumentation including cello by Clarice Jensen, trombone by Andy Strain, violin by Emily Packard, & percussion from Corey Fogel. Although he has also made music for a couple of other TV shows and films, this is the first one published on either LP or CD. With a musical past going back to the early 1990s in Chapel Hill’s vibrant alt-rock scene, his music has evolved from the guitar-led indie rock of Spatula & later Shark Quest (who had 3 albums on Merge) to the ethnic folk stylings of Idyll Swords (with Dave Brylawski of Polvo). After moving to Oakland and earning an MFA in Electronic Music and Intermedia Art from Mills College, he made some great modern acoustic & electric guitar based work in the 2010s, followed by the recent gorgeous ambient pedal steel albums Balsams and The Cinder Grove. He’s also collaborated with Golden Retriever on an LP on Thrill Jockey, and with Marielle Jakobsons (in their lovely duo Saariselka). Read more

Really interesting new release by this group of five queer women of Filipina heritage, based in Toronto, Canada. It blends modern indie rock and soul / R&B styles with Filipino Kulintang music, a style of gong and drum based percussion music that originated from the Sulu and Mindanao islands in the southern Philippines and northern Borneo. It’s similar to Indonesian Gamelan music, but it’s from a slightly different location & culture in the same region of the world. The music on this album is an incredible mixture, with their melodic, tuned gongs integrated into all of the pieces here. Five of the eight tracks are instrumental, and the rest have vocals in English. I love the pulsating metallophone rhythms, and the way they use their keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, and other percussion excellently to craft these cuts is really cool too. Nice vox too, soulful singing with a modern feel. All in all, a fantastic record! Read more

New collection of classic cumbia (and closely related styles such as gaita and porro) from Colombia, primarily from the 1950s & 1960s, with a couple of cuts from the 1970s. Lots of legendary names from that golden era are featured here, performing typical bouncy cumbia grooves in a range of tempos. Instrumentation includes the always present drums & percussion, bass or bass guitar, & some combination of accordions, horns, & clarinets. There is a sweet simplicity to the style, but similar to early ska music in both rhythm and vibe, it is super infectious and fun music, with a joyous, upbeat energy. Overall, an incredible overview of this wonderful Latin American / Afro-Caribbean musical style, which came about through a fusion of American Indigenous, African, and Spanish musical elements. Originating from a traditional folkloric dance style in the region along the northern coast of Colombia (facing the Caribbean), what began as some initially fairly simple, repetitive vocal chants set to Afro-Latin drumming has slowly evolved, adding more instruments along the way to become what you hear here. Cumbia is still very popular throughout both South & Central America, and has also continued to grow in popularity recently around the globe, notably going into more modern, often electronic realms. There are 3 instrumental tracks, and all the rest have vocals in Spanish. Read more

Impressive new album of instrumental guitar-oriented psychedelic folk-rock, with deeply groovy rhythms, trippy textures, and some motorik Krautrock rhythms too. Lee is from Sheffield in the UK, but despite his country of origin, this is Postmodern Cosmic Americana at its finest, a heady swirl of earthy & spacy influences and ideas, with lots of tasteful guitar moves, and nicely tripped out production touches. At certain points, it sounds like a twangy, jammier, acoustic version of Neu! Overall, this is heady, charming, accomplished work with a unique psych vibe. RIYL: Neu!, Tom Verlaine, Brightblack Morning Light, Richard Thompson, JJ Cale, Ryley Walker, William Tyler, and Bruce Langhorne’s incredible score to Peter Fonda's "The Hired Hand" film. Really nice stuff! Read more

Excellent new 2023 compilation with 18 fully awesome (and mostly instrumental) killer cuts on this nicely curated set, expertly selected by a London based DJ based who also serves as head of Batov, the label that released it. Upbeat, fun, high energy contemporary music featuring Middle Eastern scales / maqams, often played on keys / synths and sometimes horns, along with the standard guitars / bass / drums combo providing fantastic funky beats. The music ranges from trippy surf-rock and global funk to exotic disco pop and punchy percussive psych pop, all with a distinctly Middle Eastern, Turkish, or Mediterranean vibe. RIYL: Altin Gun, Erkin Koray, labels like Habibi Funk, Soundway, Analog Africa, Strut, Les Disques Bongo Joe, & Wonderwheel Read more

Experimental Afghan-American artist N. R. Safi initially formed this project in the desert of Tucson, Arizona, but he now lives in the Netherlands, in Eindhoven near the Belgian border. While living in AZ, he also formed a now defunct experimental psych-folk band called The Myrrors, using the name Nik Rayne. Naujawanan Baidar was named in tribute to his Afghani heritage, and the phrase means “enlightened youth” in Farsi. The music here blends classic Afghan and Pashtun music from the 1960s-1980s with psychedelic rock & acid folk vibes, tripped out effects via guitar pedals, layers of noise, elements of found sound & collage, & samples from old cassette tapes of traditional music from the region. Heavy, ominous drones are powered by hypnotic tribal drum & percussion grooves, with leads from traditional string instruments such as the rubab (Afghan lute), baglama (saz), and tanbur often playing the main melodic role. There is also a lot of murky ambiance & atmosphere in these pieces, making for some monstrous sounding epic jams… RIYL: Fans of the Sublime Frequencies label’s work should dig this, as well as anyone into Turkish psych or Arabic funk, along with middle eastern music in general. I also hear similarities to heavy Swedish drone rock legends Pärson Sound (later aka Harvester), eastern-leaning indie rockers Polvo (and the awesome side project Idyll Swords), along with the percussive industrial post-punk collective Savage Republic. Read more