Abraham ‎– God / Traditional Height 12"

Another totally random purchase I've made that ain't what I usually listen to. Guess  the seemingly short-lived Abraham is somewhere between trip hop and downtempo with touches of dub, but it kind of reminds me also of the great Boston indie band 27, both in the low-key style and the similarity between the female vocalists of both groups. Not a stellar recording, but relaxing music for a summer day-off. 1999 12" on Junior Boy's Own.

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Ken Ishii ‎– Circular Motion (Remixes) 10"

Completely random purchase I made years ago (I think I liked the packaging) by an artist I knew nothing of. It's two remixes of Ken Ishii's track "Circular Motion," an addictive track of good techno music. The remixes are vastly different. The first one, by Red Snapper, has an dub/electronic jazz/drum 'n' bass/ambient feel to it, with a far more natural and jam atmosphere that accentuates the original version's bass background. Remix no. 2 by Patrick Pulsinger is closer to techno but with a more relaxed style (floating synths and flutes) that suits a cocktail bar. 1997 10" on R & S Records.

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Dälek ‎– Respect To The Authors 12"

One year and a half after hip hop giants Dälek's true return to form with Endangered Philosophies, they return with a new 12" that showcases some of their more relaxed material. There's an increased dub atmosphere in the beats and the sounds here, and a very ambient feel, pretty similar to their greatest masterpiece Abandoned Language, but with a denser, darker and more industrial-urban approach. It's a great new recording by one of my favorite groups of all time, regardless of any genre. 2019 12" on Exile On Mainstream Records.

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3/4 HadBeenEliminated ‎– Dimethyl Atonal Calcine 7"

Inspired by Bleak Bliss's post of this Italian group's album Oblivion, here's an 7". This is some weird shit, don't know how exactly to describe side 1; something like electroacoustic folk/indie with an endless lock groove at the end? Side 2 is a nice ambient/dub remix of one track from another album of theirs. Cool. 2006 self-released 7".

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The Embassadors ‎– Coptic Dub cd

Second (and sadly, last) album by The Embassadors, this time completely instrumental, without Michel Ongaru. The atmosphere is jazzier, even calmer than on Healing The Music, with more psychedelic dub effects and a jam mood, but less African/world influences. At some point I think I can hear a hang instrument (on "Desdemona Breathes") and this makes for a nice alternative to Bohren as night-time driving music. Not many activities are better than this anyway, so you understand that this is good music. 2009 cd on Nonplace.

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The Embassadors Feat. Michel Ongaru ‎– Healing The Music cd

German-based group headed by saxophonist Hayden Chisholm collaborates with Kenyan baritone singer Michel Ongaru creating a landscape of jazz, dub, gospel, and African musical influences and a pop sensibility. There's a nice laidback warm afternoon feeling to this; imagine them as the dub and a little bit happier little cousin of Bohren & Der Club of Gore. 2007 cd on Nonplace.

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Misha Mishajashvili

Misha Mishajashvili is a dub/ambient artist from Lasnamäe, Talinn, Estonia and he kindly sent me some of his stuff to listen to. One of the labels he uses to describe his music is "stalincore," which is a very intriguing concept in itself given this blog's fascination with Georgian mustaches. The "Stalin" aspect lays in Misha's inclusion of speeches of various CCCP officials in his tracks It is also quite interesting to see a guy from Estonia, which is a country that was incorporated into the Soviet Union under - to put it mildly - dubious conditions. So, Misha's music is heavy industrial/dub drum rhythms and distortions - that would sound in place in a dark decadent post-Soviet club - over samples of old Russian orchestrated music pieces and choirs (and possibly other sources). So, if I had to draw comparison, I'd say this is like a rhythmic version of The Caretaker (due to the ballroom pieces) and perhaps of Quantic (due to the cinematic quality created), thereby creating a dystopian but also dreamy feeling that is accentuated by the Soviet speeches.

 

Misha's blog is https://misha-mishajashvili.bandcamp.com and you can go there to listen to his stuff and perhaps contribute something. I'd recommend the most recent 2018 album as a good start, and perhaps 2011 which includes more traditional music samples.