Episode 2

Matthias Hacksteiner - This Sound I Ride Jingle

Hello everybody and welcome to the second episode of "This sound I ride“ – an adventurous and inspiring global journey for music lovers. My name is Martin Bleicher, I am an Austrian music lover, DJ and concert promoter, and for the next two hours, it is my absolute pleasure to share some of my favourite music with you.

This monthly podcast is a celebration of the power and beauty of diverse, passionate and contrary musical styles in their often unforeseeable and enthusiastic ways of expression.

You will hear mainly new inspiring global music that stimulates your imagination and curiosity in a way like on a surreal train ride to foreign countries or a trip to new, unknown cultures.

This adventurous approach excites me. I melt together different influences and musical languages and create an exciting and at the same time, unsettling mix.

I have been digging deep to find fascinating music and sounds without boundaries and combine them for you, the listeners of this podcast. I hope you enjoy the show, which starts this time in Hollywood, Los Angeles. We are witnessing a scary second part of a job interview, where our future starlet Sarah tries to catch her chance this time and show that she is determined to go one step further than all other applicants.

Jonathan Snipes - He Wants To Meet You (Starry Eyes Soundtrack – Waxwork Records)

Anunaku & DJ Plead - Haze (032 EP – AD93 Records)

We began our show with the track "He Wants To Meet You“ by Jonathan Snipes. Snipes is a composer and sound designer for Film and Theatre living in Los Angeles. He is also one-third of the Experimental Rap Trio clipping and is occasionally teaching sound design in the theatre department at UCLA.

I took this track from the soundtrack for the film "Starry Eyes“ which is a highly recommended Lo-Fi Horror Film that creates great tension and atmosphere with relatively simple methods. The film is about Sarah, an aspirational actress trying to make it in LA. She’s dealing with the usual garbage: annoying friends, a soul-crushing day job at a cheesy and sexist restaurant, and the stress of giving it your all for auditions only to have the door repeatedly smashed in the face.

Our prospective starlet gets the chance to audition before a well-established production company, but she doesn’t seem to close the deal. That is until she’s caught pulling her hair in frustration in the bathroom. Suddenly, the casting folks seem somewhat interested, so long as she is willing to push herself beyond her pre-existing inhibitions. But as things progress further and further, is there a line she won’t cross to achieve her dreams of stardom?

Snipes provides the wonderful soundtrack, that is very well balanced between the terrifying and haunting sound design that supports the tension of the film and the relatively smooth and sweet synth-pop music that works beautifully with the more hopeful and dreamy parts of the film.

The second track was called "Haze“ which has been released recently on a three-track EP called "032" by Anunaku and DJ Plead. Anunaku is the alter ego of the London based Italian producer and DJ Guglielmo Barzacchini and DJ Plead aka Jarred Beeler is an Australian DJ and producer who was raised by a Swiss father and a Lebanese mother in the suburban parts of Sydney. What I love about this track is the mix of straight techno beats and sounds with the acoustic middle eastern sounding percussion and sound elements. It's just remarkable how the two guys layer and melt together these parts into a mesmerising joyride of a techno track.

Next up I would like to introduce you to the fantastic french Post-Rock Orchestra "Oiseaux Tempete“, which consist of the core duo Frederic Oberland and Stephane Pigneul. Still, on the live version of the following song "Carnaval", they also feature Sylvain Joasson on drums, Paul Regimbeau on Synths, Abed Kobeissy on Buzuk, Ali El Hout on percussion and Charbei Haber on guitar.

Oiseaux Tempete - Carnaval (Tarab – Sub Rosa)

Maarja Nuut - Odangule (Une Meeles – self released)

Oiseaux Tempete invited us to dive into their soundworld, which is in many ways very connected to the Middle East music scene. They have visited Lebanon many times, collected inspiration, learned from the local people and integrated these elements into their music. This unique blend of post-rock elements upscaled to orchestral formats combined with middle eastern atmospherics in an extended live concert context is magical. It's such a joy to dive into this long and great work.

I also want to use the opportunity here to remind everybody that if you are able, please support NGO's that are active on the ground in Beirut, Lebanon to build up and support the people that need help the most after these catastrophic events that happened there recently.

After this stop in between France and Beirut, we travelled further to Tallinn, Estonia. We visited Maarja Nuut, a singer, violinist and composer whose work spans a vast range of musical genres. The track "Odangule“ is already a couple of years old, but with these lucid and dreamy vocal loops, she creates a beautiful lullaby. She likes to explore the boundary between reality and dreams and her albums sound to me like a very colourful, but often melancholic candy box, filled with lots of very different surprises.

Or as Maarja describes it, "For me, music and the images and stories hidden in it offer an opportunity to travel from one reality to another, visit a place where everything is possible. I clearly remember the times when I've had lucid dreams. It is an experience where the reality and imagination get mixed up, and you can choose where, how and in which direction you move. You are away but very much present at the same time. Or as the Quietus described it once: "There's a touristy pub in Tallinn centre called Hell Hunt that boasts a painting above the door showing a naked girl, eyes shut and smiling, riding on the back of a grinning wolf. That's what her music sounds like.

To follow up this acoustic lullaby, we travel back to America to meet up with William Basinski and Preston Wendel and their new project called Sparkle Division. Basinski, one of the worlds most famous Avantgarde Music producers and ambient tape loop pioneers teams up with his young studio assistant Preston Wendel to present a dynamic and often groovy mix of Lounge, Disco and Jazz. It may be surprising to many, but Basinski plays the sleazy saxophone on this record. To start this joyful ride, I give the stage to Mrs Leonora Russo, who Basinski calls "the true Sicilian Sparkle Division, my Brooklyn Mom and the Queen of Williamsburg. She offers her sparkling voice to the track "Queenie got her blues“ which is followed up by "You ain't takin my man“ from their debut album "To feel embraced“. Enjoy

Sparkle Division - Queenie got her blues (To Feel Embraced – Temporary Residence Ltd)

Sparkle Division - You Ain't Takin My Man (To Feel Embraced – Temporary Residence Ltd)

Phurpa - 02.3 (Hymns of Gyer – Ideologic Organ)

To provide a proper contrast to this show, I decided to move to Moscow, Russia, after the sleazy sounds of Sparkle Division. And as different as the two countries USA and Russia are, as distinct is the music that I played you from Russia. The band/choir is called Phurpa, a Moscow based group of musicians led by contemporary artist Alexei Tegin. They are specialised in an ancestral cult known as Bon, which is a practice that involves shamanic rites from various ancient cults. This Tibetan monastic choir sound uses a specific kind of overtone chanting which is based on the principle of the singer's transmo-grification during the "chanting meditation“. This hypnotic track is from the album "Hymns of Gyer“, which was released in April on Ideologic Organ, the inventive label run by Steve O Malley from Sunn. For this incarnation of the band, they consist of Alexei Tegin, Daniil Zotov and Nikita Korolev all on voices and additional two singing bowls.

Next up I want to play you the excellent dubby grooves of Diego Gomez aka Cerrero from Columbia. The Llorona Records' founder and producer behind the Dub de Gaita series and De mar y río by Canalón de Timbiquí explores the possibilities of Colombian roots music through the lens of dub and electronic music. The results are what he calls “Dub criollo”, hypnotic sorcery, raw and ethereal minimalism, a journey to timeless ancient sounds through echoes, reverbs, sampling and dub mixing techniques.

Sutileza is the name of the track, and it also features the Brazilian duo Coladera. Canalón de Timbiqui's rhythm section recorded the guitar-driven hypnotic acoustic track with deep, powerful percussion. The amazing Vitor Santana sings longing poetic lyrics about the strange feeling of tense calm and distress experienced during these pandemic days and the soothing need for contact. I love the mix of the folky Latin American elements with the electronic dub technology of Cerrero, which delivers an exciting melancholic atmosphere.

Cerrero feat. Coladera - Sutileza – Version de Alborada (Sutileza – Llorona Records)

Laurence Pike - Prophecy (Prophecy – The Leaf Label

Backxwash feat. Ada Rook - Black Magic (God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It– self-released on Bandcamp)

Starting this sound triple you heard the Colombian Dub incarnations of Cerrero, which was followed up by a new release from Laurence Pike called "Prophecy“, which is the title track of his new album by the same name. He is a percussionist, composer and producer from Sydney, Australia and his musical style can be best described as cutting edge of electronic and jazz music. And precisely this blend between the acoustic percussions, drums and the electronic sounds create a unique world for me, which is great in its unforeseeable tendencies. I love the whole album, but this track stands out for me.

On his Bandcamp Site, Laurence mentions interesting details around the creating of the album which I want to share with you. "The music on Prophecy was made during an intense period of climate-related disasters in my home of Australia last summer that seemed to represent the beginning of a strange new way of existing on earth.

The pieces were developed in the space of four weeks at my home and then captured in a single day of studio performances. As a result, the music is as much an assemblage of moments from the days leading up to the recording (stepping into my garden to be greeted by a dark pink sun against a brown sky, and ash gently raining on me) as it is a reflection of how I felt in the moment playing them live in the studio. In the short time since, we’ve gone from staying inside and wearing face masks because the city was surrounded by fire, and the air filled with acid smoke, to staying indoors to stop the spread of a global pandemic.

I often think of something that the great saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter said: “Play and write the music the way you want the world to be”. If nothing else, I’d like my music to present the possibility of a way of being; a space that is dynamic in its intent – drawing on the language of the past, yet responsive to the moment, interpreted with tools of the present, and open to the narrative of the future being one that has yet to be told.

And the final track you heard is called "Black Magic" by Zambia born, Montreal, Canada based Ashanti Mutinta aka Backxwash feat Ada Rock. The Bandcamp only release is a pure explosion and protest against a broken society. The dark, spooky atmosphere at the beginning, the aggressive rapping and the straight forward – in-your-face lyrics impressed me a lot, so I had to choose this great track for the podcast.

From Canada, we travel back to Europe and meet HHY & The Macumbas in Portugal. Emerged in 2008 in Porto from the Soopa collective, a group of musicians and artists who were responsible for the local experimental scene explosion they are nowadays a shifting musical entity, that works as a rhythm laboratory founded by Jonathan Saldanha. They mix circular percussive elements, brass riffs, electronics, noise and strange beats. In their live shows, these elements are dubbed by echoes in often sensory-overload live actions. On the track "Gysin Version“ the mighty Adrian Sherwood joins the group probably for some of his well-known dub magic behind the mixing board. The whole record consists of live recordings from 2017 – 2019 and was edited and mixed earlier this year by Saldanha in the Nyege Nyege camp in Kampala, Uganda. I actually had the pleasure to see the group live last year during the Le Guess Who Festival in Utrecht, Holland and I highly recommend the extraordinary and breathtaking performance, which saw us dancing like crazy in the unique atmosphere of these wild percussive explosions. Probably one of the best shows during the festival, for sure the one with the most euphoric and longest-lasting impression.

HHY & The Macumbas - Gysin Version feat. Adrian Sherwood (Camouflage Vector: Edits From Live Actions 2017–2019 – Nyege Nyege Tapes)

Protomartyr - Processed By The Boys (Ultimate Success Today – Domino Recordings)

Portuguese Percussion mayhem edited in Uganda was followed up by the brilliant Post Punk Rock outfit Protomartyr from Detroit, Michigan. The track "Processed By The Boys“ sees them on top form – delivering a straight forward hymn but this time the sound palette gets expanded by a clarinet and a saxophone which gives them an enriching, different and new sound. Whilst I love the simplicity of this band, I think that the addition of this new sound palette is just exciting and 100% fitting to make the result better.

From the USA we take a quick trip to Kenia, where we meet up with Kenyan rapper MC Yallah, one of the most talented MC's around at the moment. Debmaster, a French electronic sound producer featured her on a great release a couple of months ago on the Hakuna Kalala label. Still, I would like to play you the explosive and powerful new track called "Kakana“ which was produced by the Irish electronic music composer Eomac. A powerful and impressive first collaboration between the two, which makes me curious to hear more great tunes from Yallah in the future. The mixing of languages and styles during the tracks is only one of her many strengths, as you will realize.

Eomac & MC Yallah - Kakana (Mama Waliwamanyii – Phantom Limb Records)

Steve Von Till - The Old Straight Track (No Wilderness Deep Enough – Neurot Recordings)

Following the electronic beats and MC extravaganza from Eomac and MC Yallah you heard the ethereal and sublime "The Old Straight Track" from Steve Von Till's new album "No Wilderness Deep Enough“. Von Till, who is well known for his work in the heavy post-psychedelic punk legends Neurosis delivers his version of ambient or neo-classic music with this new album. Combined with his powerful and clear voice and lyrics that provide his version of existential wisdom and experience to offer comfort and perspective in an era of uncertainty and insecurity everywhere. Especially on this track, his lyrics and the way how he sings them in combination with the relatively simple music that supports the track is gorgeous and overwhelming to me. He can transfer this calmness and serenity. To me, this is an epic record that delivers a soothing result in times where many people might exactly look for art like this—highly recommended.

Next up I would love to play you a song by the Iranian-born, now Berlin-based artist called Mentrix. And again this brilliant fusion between Eastern-Arabian sounding percussions melted together with the electronics and dynamics of a western orientated kind of pop song is phenomenal. She calls herself a Sufi-inspired singer and composer that draws her sacred music practice into a secular exploration of the illusive dualities of existence and belonging and she describes her music on the debut album "My enemy, my love“ as luminous post-immigrant-tribal-pop. The haunting voice throughout the track, the forward pushing percussion and the atmosphere that she creates are fantastic. The album was released on her House Of Strength Record Label, which is created by women to record, inspire and release bold new voices and original art that contributes to female empowerment. Great.

Mentrix - Nature (My Enemy, My Love – House Of Strengths)

Roly Porter - Inflation Field (Kistvaen – Subtext / Multiverse Ltd)

The mesmerising masterpiece of a wide-screen cinematic sonic extravaganza you just heard is called "Inflation Field" by Roly Porter. Porter is an electronic music composer from Bristol, UK and his latest album is called "Kistvaen“. A Kistvaen is a type of granite tomb found predominantly in Dartmoor, South-West England. Scattered across the moorlands, the kistvaens were often found covered in a mound of earth and stone. They housed dead bodies, allowing them to lie facing the sun. With this album, Porter speculates on the burial site as a mirror or a gate in time. Excavating stories and images of ancient burial rituals, the record teases out similarities in emotional and social traditions between the Neolithic period and today. Porter soundtracks a moorland burial unanchored in time and with this profound approach combined with immersive sound design, he has created one of the most interesting albums this year.

From burial rituals in England, we move further south to join a Sufi trance ritual in the Tunisian desert. Ifriqiyya Electrique was formed in the Djerid desert in southern Tunisia, home to the Banga ritual of Sidi Marzuq. The Banga is a key annual event in the lives of the black communities of the oasis towns, descendants of the Hausa slaves. It is a ritual of adorcism and not exorcism, of accomodating the possessing spirit rather than expelling it. Francois Cambuzat and Gianna Greco who are the core of Ifriqiyya Electrique, initiated this experiment. On the next two pieces, you will get an impression of the sheer power and spirit that went on during their time in Tunisia. Or as Cambuzat describes it: "This is most certainly not a "world music“ project, but a wild process of improvisation and re-composition that brings traditional instruments face to face with computers and electric guitars. It is driven towards elevation, sweat, blood, poetry and tears – not to some pretty colour postcard.

Ifriqiyya Electrique - Mawwel (Ruwahine - Glitterbeat Records)

Ifriqiyya Electrique - Stombali – Baba Alaia (Ruwahine - Glitterbeat Records)

J. Zunz - America Is A Continent (Hibiscus – Rocket Recordings)

After this Tunisian ritual sounds, we went over to Ensenada, Mexico to be enchanted by the hypnotic repetitive sounds from J. Zunz. The track "America is a continent“ is one of the highlights from her new album "Hibiscus“. With her stripped-back sound approach and the perfect and very thoughtful combination of the single elements involved, she creates a haunting and beautiful result at the same time. What I like about this track, in particular, is the progress from a spooky lullaby in the beginning into a noise-beat driven crescendo. Great execution as well. I think this one was actually the hardest to choose for the podcast because there are so many excellent tracks on this new album. So highly recommend you to listen to this great album by J. Zunz, which is out on Rocket Recordings, the fabulous UK record label.

Now I want to invite you to Nairobi, Kenya to meet a brutal but overwhelming sound project by Martin Khanja (aka Lord Spike Heart) and Sam Karugu called Duma. This sound project evolved from the Kenyan metal underground. It is often described as grindcore but I m not sure if you can categorise this music at all. For me actually, the power and the beauty of this sound mayhem here are the unpredictability and euphoria that you can hear throughout the record. I listened to the whole album couple of times already, and it is just undescribable – like a bone-crushing-cleansing experience. The mix of brutal drums, harsh vocal noise by Lord Spike Heart, industrial elements, grindcore inspired guitars, and permanent speed changes are just glorious. Or as they describe it: "A sinister sonic aggression of feral intensity with disregard for styles. Duma promises to impact the African metal scene, moving it into totally new, boundary-challenging experimental territories. Booom

Duma - Sin Nature (Duma – Nyege Nyege Tapes)

Keeley Forsyth - Look To Yourself (Debris – The Leaf Label)

As you probably have already recognised, I love strong contrasts in my music mixes – but I think this one was extraordinary. From the brutal sonic assaults of Kenya's own Duma to the very heartfelt song "Look To Yourself“ by Keeley Forsyth from Oldham, England. The minimal arrangement combined with her distinctive voice and the honest but sparse lyrics is just a pearl of a song. "Look to yourself, and you will know, everything that there is to know“. Self-reflected and beautiful execution. This fragile interplay between the voice and singular instruments gives me goose-bumps each time I listen to this song. But again I think the whole album can't be recommended highly enough. It is called "Debris“ and was released on The Leaf Label earlier this year.

Ok, so we have reached the end of the show again. I hope you liked the second episode of This Sound I Ride.- the adventurous music podcast. If you did it is, of course, a great help if you share it with one friend. For more information,the full tracklist or other details please visit our website www.thissoundiride.net or our Facebook and Instagram or twitter sites.

I want to thank Marta Witkowska for the great images for our cover artwork, Wolfgang Gollmayer for the fantastic video teasers and Matthias Hacksteiner for all his generous help and professional advice with regards to recording technics, the podcast jingle and everything how to set up a podcast.

Thanks again for listening and I wish you all the best and hope you join again next month. The new episode will be released on the third Sunday in December, but if you subscribe on your usual podcast platform, you can make sure that you don't miss a show. And to close our circle this time we want to wish Sarah, our starlet from the beginning good luck with her future career in Hollywood. This track is called "Sarah" by Jonathan Snipes.

Jonathan Snipes - Sarah (Starry Eyes Soundtrack – Waxwork Records)