Eclectic Vibes

Filastine - L00T

Splitting his time between activism and artistry, Filastine has melded together a blanket of polyrhythmic input assembled at street level from Bangladesh to Bornio. Using gritty acoustic inputs and modded-out metal shopping carts as “the perfect modern instrument”, he rides the intersection of unabashed globalism and bass music as an audio-visual nomad and percussionist. Whether bringing a spectrum of instruments into a low-frequency dubstep grind or sampling multilingual tales of environmental implosion, this artist has a lot to say and says it his own way. Brilliant! 

Boban I Marko Markovic Orkestar - Golden Horns

In a flutter and flurry of horns, this Balkan brass band takes the centuries-old sounds from generations of Romani musicians and infuses it with contemporary flair and a danceable direction. This release serves as a career encapsulating ‘best of’ from Boban Markovic with his son, prized protégé Marko, and shows off their Southern Serbian Roma roots which are then spiced up and blended with jazz, soul and disco to produce a sensational sampling of their craft.

Freak Kitchen - Land of the Freaks

Touted as ‘Europe’s best musical secret’ due to limited distribution, Freak Kitchen has just had their back-catalog released and this one from 2009 is the first in line. The progressive power trio consists of three renowned virtuoso musicians - Mattias “IA” Eklundh (guitar/vocals), Christer Ortefors (bass), and Bjorn Fryklund (drums). When these hard-working musicians are not performing in a band, they are out teaching clinics. The music contains creative progressive rock elements with a healthy dose of Frank Zappa influenced humor plus musical shenanigans and acrobatics galore.

Kottarashky and the Rain Dogs - Demoni

Intent on creating a sonic collage and not some dance floor revolution, this minimalist ethno-electronica from Bulgaria is centered around Nikola Gruev aka Kottarashky who has joined forces on this release with a live crew of old friends and noted Sofia musicians, The Rain Dogs. The eclectic tracks found here are built from folksy samples spun out of traditional Bulgarian singing and are occasionally mixed with overblown flute and whirling clarinet.

Mucca Pazza - Safety Fifth

A 2-dozen member Chicago marching band that refuses to behave like one. Amalgamating elements from a variety of genres, attitudes and cadences, this band of musical geeks revel in territories of eccentricity beyond simple classification. Experience their full tilt performances at a variety of Chicagoland summer events.

Prong - Carved Into Stone

When bands create seminal music in a given genre, what do they do in the years and releases that follow? Prong guitarist Tommy Victor took time off to play with Danzig and Ministry before revisiting his roots and getting revitalized enough to assemble and pen a contemporary sonic barrage under his old moniker that is ready to flood your senses with signature riffs and aggressive themes. The Prong sound is back and ready to exceed the neck- and finger-snapping experiences of the past.

Choban Elektrik - Choban Elektrik

Although Brooklyn is their home, this progressive power trio finds their musical roots in Albanian, Macedonian, Greek, and Armenian folk melodies. Choban Elektrik means “Electric Shepherds” and is a name that fits them sublimely. ” Vintage Hammond organs and Fender Rhodes are harnessed along with guitar and bass to further bend and blend genres and global visions within their improvisational platitudes.

Everyone Orchestra - Brooklyn Sessions

Smooth and flowing as well as rich and varied improv jam-rock featuring a bunch of stellar musicians ranging from Jon Fishman (Phish) to keyboardist/pianist Marco Benevento to saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Dave Mathews Band) to guitarist Steve Kimock, and bassist Reed Mathis (Tea Leaf Green), among others. They are all harnessed and conducted by the electrifying Matt Butler, the force and vision behind the group.  By managing to focus the collaborative talent in an ambitious but ultimately gratifying direction he has managed to produce a noteworthy and highly listenable release.

Morbid Saint - Spectrum of Death

Wisconsin grown - gurgling, growling, gnarly thrash metal with ridiculous and blistering solos plus breakneck rhythms a la early Slayer, which is appropriate for this 1988 thrash vinyl reissue. Although production values weren’t what they are now, the spirit, energy and vitality of the time soars through every note!

Mörglbl - Brutal_Romance

With a name like this, you may expect punishing death metal, but this is not that. Instead, this French instrumental trio blends a progressive energetic jazzy element with their hard rock and technical metal to create a tantalizing full flavored offering. Additionally, band members Christophe Godin (guitars), Ivan Rougny (bass), and Aurelian Ouzoulias (drums) are each also valued clinicians when not busy crushing and destroying the world as Mörglbl.

Nickodemus - Moon People

From hip hop to Afropop to jazzy funk to flamenco among a multitude of other influences, the Brooklyn based Nickodemus connects an endearing amalgamation of world beats, electronica and worthwhile innovation by utilizing and orchestrating his network of collaborators ranging from Puerto Rico to Beirut and beyond. A surprising complexity of approaches and fresh musical infusions.

Niyaz - Sumud

The album title, pronounced “soomood,” translated from Arabic means steadfastness, which also represents the thematic lyrical philosophy of this release. Continuing to evolve the contemporary sound of Middle Eastern music, this superstar trio composed of Azam Ali, Loga Ramin Torkian and Carmen Rizzo splashes us with electronically-infused Arabic melodies and entrancing vocals that every global citizen will find mesmerizing.

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