Category: Reviews & Commentary

Ozric Tentacles, Natural Born Chillers and YumYum Music

Ozric picks the fruit of The YumYum Tree & Natural Born Chillers Return Two slices of downtempo psychedelia have crossed over recently. Ozric Tentacles follows up their last studio album, The Floor Is Too Far Away with a new one called The YumYum Tree.    It’s another foray of deeply electrified psychedelic journeys.   Synthesizers pulse while…

Echo Location: The Doctor is In

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090401.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSEchoes April CD of the Month: Morgan Doctor: Other Life You can hear an audio version of the Echoes Blog, with Morgan Doctor’s music. Morgan Doctor is one of those musicians who finds herself between worlds. The music on her new solo album, Other Life, is marked by…

Echo Location: Bill Bruford Redux

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090325.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSBill Bruford brings Plays Taps to Progressive Rock. ((((( You can hear an audio version of this blog, with music ))))) No one gives the rock drummer much attention, unless he happens to be the signature progressive rock drummer of the last 4 decades. That’s the case with…

Electric Face Music

Turn your face into a visual tweak fest with Electric Face Music.  Apparently a Japanese man named Daito Manabe has been wiring electrodes to his head and stimulating his face muscles in synchronization to music.  He calls it a “Face Visualizer.”  It can be a little creepy. There’s already copycat versions up on YouTube.   I…

Echo Location: Steve Roach and Erik Wollo

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090318.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSSteve Roach & Erik Wollo: A Norwegian ambient artist descends in the Arizona Desert. You can hear an audio version of this blog, with music. Steve Roach lives on a horse ranch in Arizona, surrounded by saguaro cactus and 100 degree plus heat.  Erik Wollo lives in Norway…

Echo Location: Roger O’Donnell Finds the Voyager Cure

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090311.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS Echoes plugs in ex-Cure keyboardist, Roger O’Donnell You can hear an audio version of this blog, with music. In his London apartment, Roger O’Donnell only has one keyboard, the Mini-Moog Voyager that he’s playing as we speak. For the last few years, the Voyager has been pretty…

Andreas Vollenweider Announces New CD: AIR

After an absence of a couple of years, Swiss harpist Andreas Vollenweider has announced his return with a new CD call Air. Not much info yet on release dates. But Andreas has a very charming video up on his site. Here’s the press release: We are very exited to present to you AIR, a very…

Echo Location: David Darling’s Ambient Cello

http://media.blubrry.com/echoespodcast/www.xpn.org/podcasts/echoes/echoes20090225.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSSCellist David Darling, the avatar of ambient chamber music returns with Prayer for Compassion, Echoes March CD of the Month. You can hear an audio version of this blog with music. David Darling is the Lord of Largo, the Maestro of Melancholy. Classically trained and jazz converted, he…

Vangelis Documentary

News is afoot that a documentary on Greek synthesist, Vangelis, has been produced by British cultural documentarian Tony Palmer.  Knowing a little about the culture surrounding the acclaimed, Academy Award-winning composer, I’m not sure if it will be more than a puff piece, but the list of commentators is pretty impressive, including all the film…