Damaged Magazine

The following recording sums up almost three decades of my work – work which has had diverse routes and focal points in its journey. It is not obvious how to apprehend the changes that my work went through during this long period, but that is exactly what Michael Kudirka has accomplished in this recording; from the meditative In Winter Garden to the full-blooded Lament’s Commentary, he has captured different facets of my music with great transparency and expressive subtlety. While some of my works have been composed with microtonal guitar in mind, Michael has envisioned the entirety of this recording reinterpreted and enriched with microtonal tunings. Here, every piece becomes a unique sound world.

The Italian guitarist Angelo Marchese introduced the music of the Serbian-US composer Dušan Bogdanović to the Brilliant Classics catalogue in 2015 with an album of sonatas, bagatelles, studies and dances (95194). His second recording dedicated to Bogdanović concentrates on a single collection, the 48 Seasonal Preludes which gradually took shape over several years as a fusion of classical, jazz, and ethnic styles.

The recorder played a huge part in 18th-century European music, so it’s strange that this beautiful instrument doesn’t command the attention it deserves today. Enter Dutch player Lucie Horsch with a Baroque feast of thrilling arrangements and wonderful, original works for recorder. Dive into the magical, virtuosic worlds of Castello, Naudot, and Sammartini—whose Concerto in F Majoris a sparkling discovery—and relive famous pieces that shine anew. The voice flute used for “Erbarme dich” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion has a breathtaking vocal quality, while Horsch joins fellow recorder player Charlotte Barbour-Condini for a joyful, energizing performance of Handel’s “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.” Utterly inspiring.

Long on the Creel Pone radar has been this pair of LPs by French bandleader Philippe Doray, recorded in conjunction with the aid of his five "Asociaux Associés" & issued in 1977 & 1980, respectively, via Jean-Marc Patrat & José Serré's Gratte-Ciel & Invisible, the house-label of the inimitable Jacques Pasquier's Société Coopérative d'Ouvriers-Producteurs Artistiques. Centered around Doray's Synthi VCS3 playing & sprech-stimme vocal stylings, the selections here run the gamut from puerile, absurdist ad hoc rants, munged ring-modulated rhythm box experiments & general minimal-synth filigree, to straight up octave-pedal choogle, all laced with a particularly gallic sensibility. This is one of the more deconstructed and head-scratchingly odd entrants into the canon, with a similar studio-as-orchestra modus as Faust in spots, tethered by Doray's group of droogs, his "Asociaux Associés" who provide more traditional rhythm-section moves, only to disappear into voids of effects & Electronic treatments. One of the truly great, outsider statements from the late 70s Francophone Art / Punk / Damage milieu, on par with La Perversita, Ilitch, Pascal Comelade, Jac Berrocal, and Regrelh's formative work.

The Vanity Records box sets present a comprehensive anthology of releases by legendary Japanese DIY label Vanity, active in the late 70s and early 80s. It was conceived by Studio Warp, in collaboration with Agi Yuzuru and the whole roster of artists involved with Vanity. Eight years in the making, the limited edition project is finally seeing the light of day on October 21st 2019, with distribution duties handled by Kyou Records in Japan and WRWTFWW Records in the rest of the world.

Now comes a remarkable set, sure to be cherished by Ochs fans and followers, Phil Ochs, The Best Of the Rest: Rare and Unreleased Recordings, which comes out on CD on May 22nd. It consists of many demos he made for Warner-Chappell music which have not been heard by the public ever, some of songs that he recorded on his albums, but also many of songs never recorded and unknown.

Countertenor Tim Mead presents Beauteous Softness, a programme containing restrained yet profoundly moving songs by seventeenth-century English composers such as Purcell, Blow, Humfrey and Webb, in collaboration with La Nuova Musica and David Bates. The album also showcases the rich musical context that provided the foundation from which Purcell rose to prominence.

Singer-songwriter and producer Katie Herzig has released a new tune off her highly anticipated 6th studio album Moment of Bliss. The track entitled “Beat of Your Own” is a follow-up to her 4 previous singles which she unveiled throughout 2017. Now a veteran in the pop game, Herzig has already garnered attention from the likes of Interview Magazine, Noisey, Paste Magazine, TIME, andUSA Today on her work as an artist and producer. She is additionally recognized for her collaborations with Ingrid Michaelson and RAC.