Black Eagle Child - Six Lugubrious Airs

The title of Black Eagle Child's recent cassette on Geology Records is a misnomer. There are eight, not six, musical pieces (airs?) presented here and they are anything but lugubrious. Michael Jantz breaks out banjos, accordions, percussion and waves of acoustic and electric guitar, weaving folky melodies into space jams. The end result is dense in moments and meandering in others, resulting in a psychedelic & joyous journey into the airs. Or clouds. Or dark desert highways.

https://geologyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/six-lugubrious-airs-2

Nick Keeling - Coffee Music

Reviewing is not really my "thing" but I write this blog to call attention to zines, music, and projects that I feel are worthy of exploration. Nick Keeling is a musician who captures the spirit of improvisation within melodic structures via acoustic piano and tape manipulation mixed with field recordings. It's like this music is absorbed into the very DNA of creativity - giving voice to specific times & places, forgotten railroads, rusting avenues, closed steel mills. All of Nick's tapes are brilliant and his music is gorgeous.

Coffee Music is comprised of six dream-like compositions and every note resonates. Soothing and authentic. Make my coffee with some french vanilla, please, and hit "play". 

 https://nickkeeling.bandcamp.com/album/coffee-music

Medline - Solstice

Oh my stars ... those three words could comprise this entire review. To elaborate: it is no secret that Ye Olde DJ is enamored of library music - the jazz / funk / easy tempo / experimental world that inhabits our consciousness just off screen; music made from both necessity and utility, much of it made by session artists who wrote and recorded dozens of tracks every month. Medline has crafted a loving homage to library music, covering eight standout compositions, all of which I am familiar with from original recordings. What Medline lacks in experimentation here, it blooms with integrity, presenting these eight tunes seamlessly with clarifying beauty. The selections are phenomenal: the title theme from Savage Planet; Pete Moore's slinky Shady Blues; Arawak's wonderful Accadde a Bali. Solstice is  a standout cassette (also released on vinyl). Don't snooze on this one.

https://mybags.bandcamp.com/album/solstice