Aurgasm

jazz // noir // lust

Is to give your heart or have it taken all of life? Nothing else seems relevant in Nicole Simone’s music, and that’s something I can relate to. She loves me, she loves me not - a field of daisies ravaged by uncertainty. Her sultry persuasion can caress or carve out a heart with paralyzing euphoria and inflict stoic men with boyish war. A silky smooth trumpet coats one’s will, the gentle bass thump removes your armor, as marxophone, guitar and piano fastens temptation. Dark, moody, passionate desire, eerie and erotic - provocative songs that linger like an eternal flame, reducing your soul to brimstone ash.

Our saintly hearts.
Nicole Simone - Melt
Nicole Simone - Teach Me (stream only)
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Orchestral // Jazz // Dark Ambient

Overtures creep towards you bearing ominous insight. A ravenous beast of symphonic scale lurks behind every measure; its teeth a menacing discord that devour your surroundings presence. Henryk Górecki could be leading The Cinematic Orchestra through such a place, yet the scourge of blaring horns and thunderous storms resemble unknown regions. This elegant, brooding ardor bleeds from The Netherlands as The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble; a project originating with Jason Köhnen and Gideon Kiers to recreate scores for classic movies like Nosferatu and Metropolis. Angelic offerings scarcely appear to cradle your stay, but whirlwind strings and industrial plight will have their say. Aching with beauty and purpose, Here Be Dragons is a story I do not want to unhold. A modern-day masterpiece.

Arrangements for Hallows’ eve.
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Caravan!
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Embers
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ambient // electronic // guitar

Wilco fans (you know who you are) will recognize Nels Cline as that band’s lead guitarist, but he’s been doing other stuff on his own (collaborating, featuring, musicating, etc.) for a little over thirty years, now — and yet, still, his solo stuff seems to remain under-appreciated. Perhaps some of it is too experimental for a big following (and I don’t mean that as any kind of affront to Wilco fans), like the opening track from Coward, his latest album; it’s called Epiphyllum, and is basically a wall of foamy, pulsating sound. The rest of the album, though, gets a little more melodic, borrowing heavily from Middle-Eastern sounds and even The Twilight Zone at one point, and rounding out nicely with Cymbidium, yet another wall of sound — but one with cracks in it, chinks of guitar and scars of bass. There are shades of Susumu Yokota and maybe Faithless, too, and overall of quiet, confident comfort. Close your eyes and let it grow.

Soothing, glowing noise
Nels Cline - Cymbidium
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punk-pop // dance

Shock waves of keyboard & drum jubilee!
Matt & Kim - Daylight
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hypnotic // folk-soul

Vocalizing together since middle school choir in Oregon might be part of what gives Emily and Theresa, of L.A.’s Warpaint, a helpful halcyon effect when becoming sound with Jenny and David. Sailing through tiny hairs standing upon your skin, a respite, uplifting pleasure occurs from within celestial bounds of their hymn. While bats with lashes are subdued, a euphonic fountain trails exhales and relics of past revive with splendor. Revealing love with truth and care, held tight then let go as each plume chord feathers your heaven, until it’s over.

Sirens sing a ghostly Motown classic.
Warpaint - Billie Holiday
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