Episode 5

Matthias Hacksteiner - This Sound I Ride Jingle

Hello everybody and welcome to the fifth 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 great new music with you.

This monthly show celebrates diverse, passionate and contrary musical styles in their unforeseeable and enthusiastic ways of expression.

You will hear music that will stimulate your imagination and curiosity in a way like on a surreal train ride to foreign countries or a trip to unknown cultures.

This adventurous approach excites me, and I melt together different influences and musical languages and create an extraordinary and unsettling mix.

I have been digging deep to find intriguing music and sounds and combine them for you, the podcast's listeners. I hope you enjoy the show, which starts this time in a pretty isolated, lonely and remote upstate New York villa. Hunter, a young woman from a lower-working-class, has recently married Richie, a man from a wealthy family, who is set to take over as CEO of his father's Manhattan corporation. At the beginning of the film, it all looks lovely and beautiful, but we soon realise that Hunter finds herself in an emotionally stifled and lonely place. Enjoy the track "Disquiet" by the US American composer Nathan Halpern.

Nathan Halpern - The Glass House (Swallow Soundtrack – Lakeshore Record)

Nathan Halpern - Disquiet (Swallow Soundtrack – Lakeshore Records)

HHY & The Kampala Unit - Bursting Thru The Gates (Lithium Blast - Nyege Nyege Tapes)

Gum Takes Tooth. - Borrowed Lies (Arrow - Rocket Recordings)

"Swallow“ is the name of the Psycho Horror Body thriller which stars Haley Bennett in powerful form as the protagonist Hunter. Her situation in this massive glasshouse which isn't actually more than a golden cave is getting worse and worse and leaves her increasingly in despair and loneliness. Hunter's situation suits very well the momentary worldwide self-isolation during the pandemic. She develops the strange habit of swallowing and eating inedible objects around the house, including marble, metal figures and even batteries. I don't want to spoil this great film too much but would like to mention that after Hunter becomes pregnant, things are getting turbulent and out of control for Richie's freak family, her beloved strange and rude husband.

The tracks you heard were called "Glass House" and "Disquiet", and they give you a good idea about the wonderful tension and haunting atmospheres throughout the film. Composer Nathan Halpern is one of the upcoming film soundtrack composers. He has done an outstanding job creating a beautiful mix of soothing warm neo-classic and razor-sharp stressful sound design. I also love the pure and straightforward aesthetic and colours of the film, which remind me quite a bit of David Lynch's great work. I can only recommend this unconventional work to you, but being aware of the tension around the scenes when Hunter starts to eat all these objects requires quite a bunch of vital nerves.

The second track "Bursting Thru The Gates" by the sublime HHY & The Kampala Unit is an overwhelming and explosive march of exotic African polyrhythms, percussions, trumpets, dub sounds that sets the perfect tone as the starting track to their new album "Lithium Blast" which was released last year by Nyege Nyege Tapes. The Ugandan record label presents this powerful record, which is the first cooperation between Jonathan Saldanha from Portugal who is also the creative head of HHY & The Macumbas which I played in Episode 2 of the pod, percussionist Omutaba and trumpet player Florence Lugemwa and the Kampala Prison Brass Band. Saldanha and his band take us on a journey through futuristic explorations of sound combinations that are fresh and brand-new to me. The whole album is a roller coaster ride between techniques of Techno elements, Dub roots, traditional African drumming, and cinematic sound design and electronics by Saldanha himself. This record was one of the best records in recent months regarding forward-thinking, new, cool electronic sound variations. Thanks to Saldanha who stayed in the Nyege Nyege camp in Kampala for his artistic residency and developed this excellent sound.

The final track of this sound triple took us from Uganda to London, England where we enjoyed the thunderous, eclectic track "Borrowed Lies" by Gum Takes Tooth. They consist of Jussi Brightmore and drummer Tom Fug. Even though the track is already two years old, I just love their unusual mix of experimental post-punk combined with various electronic sounds, percussive and noise elements. This dynamic, rhythmically driven classic is overwhelmingly beautiful because it works with distortion, beats, sound manipulations and creation of this uncertain, dystopian atmosphere. On their latest album "Arrow" they seem to have found a way of expressing themselves which sounds dreadful and gorgeous at the same time. They describe the landscape they explored with this album in the following way: The twenty-first-century acceleration of culture is such that the mundane every day increasingly seems to be spinning out of control, amidst a warp and distortion of reality whereby alienating modes of contact interweave with intimidating power structures. Inhabiting the city thus quickly becomes no less than a constant battle for both time and space. Check out the terrific video for the song. It's a vast ride of fast cust, flashlights and heavy sounds. Great work as well.

Our next artist takes us from the UK to Argentina. His name is Federico Durand, and he creates brilliant and extremely warm sounding ambient music. On his latest album "Alba" which was released on the great US American label 12K, you can find plenty of his timeless, humble, and lovely everyday life sounds. He calls it also music for dawn listening, or making music how children play. I love the simplicity, the atmospheres, the stillness and even the room he gives his music to breath and I want to play you two tracks by Federico now. The first one is called "Jardin de Musgo" and the second one is "Alba", the title track of his latest album. By the way, Alba is the Spanish word for the moment when the first light of day appears, before the sun rises, and all things seem magical. And as a contrast, you will hear the distinctively divine music from Ece Canli in between Federico's songs. I hope you enjoy this mix.

Federico Durand - Jardin De Musgo (Alba - 12k)

Ece Canli - Su-Ma (Vox Flora, Vox Fauna - Lovers & Lollypops)

Federico Durand - Alba (Alba - 12k)

Sound whispers, crystalline noises, very carefully arranged and brought together. Attention and space are crucial elements that I love in Federico Durand's fantastic work. He creates these soothing and relaxing atmospheres. The album was recorded in the Patagonian Andes and spreads so much warmth and peace - just amazing.

The second track you heard was called "Su-Ma" by the Turkish vocalist and composer Ece Canli. Her extended vocal techniques paired with extralinguistic poetry and various electronic sounds make her debut solo album "Vox Flora, Vox Fauna" a divine atmosphere. Ece is combining various styles from ancient threnodies to experimental music with a singular narrative. The exploring and adventurous character of her music were what convinced me from the first listen. Like Federico, she also allows simple, single sound elements to take space in her tracks and gives them time to unfold and develop this convincing soundworld. I just thought that her very human aspect with her voice being the central ingredient to her music makes a great contrast to the warm, analogue electronic soundworld you heard from Federico. I love this mix of music for the heart - from both a human and a machine created sound. Ece who lives nowadays in Portugal, is also our featured artist of the month. If you are interested in finding out more about her inspirations for her latest album, the story behind the song you just heard or what music inspires her, then please check out our feature on thissoundiride.net.

Liraz, a highly praised Israeli, Persian singer, takes us on a trip to the Middle-East. Enjoy her gorgeous and mystical song "Lalai".

Liraz - Lalai (Zan – Glitterbeat Records)

Soley - Improvisations (Harmonik I & II – self-released Bandcamp)

Veyrouz Mint Seymali. - Tendeynidane (Music From Saharan Whatsapp 09 - Sahel Sounds)

"Lalai" was the name of the first track that you heard in this exotic female sound triple. Liraz is a highly praised singer based in Tel Aviv, Israel and for her new album "Zan" she worked together with composers and musicians from Iran. They exchanged and developed their collaborative ideas online, and everything had to be secretive to avoid the attention of Tehran's mullah regime and their secret service. She calls the result her private revolution, songs with an actual message, music to make people dance and smile and above all, think. Whilst most of the tracks on the album are great versions of her electro-pop version the final track on the album stuck out to me. The cinematic guitar tones, the distant atmosphere, Liraz's lone voice at the heart of it all set the perfect tone for me. The songs on "Zan" are stories her parents told her as a child. They were written for the women in her family and to connect with her own history. The chosen song "Lalai" is a lullaby that her grandmother sang to her, and Liraz sings it to her daughter. It's been in her family for generations, and it's a song that tells you to fight for your own life, my girl. What a great and convincing message coming from Liraz, whose family are Iranian Jews, that moved to Tel Aviv in the 1970s, and although Liraz was raised in Israel, she believes that her culture is Iranian. Lovely story.

From the mysterious Israeli / Iranian music we move further north to meet up with Soley Stefansdottir from Iceland. I enjoy her dark fairytale-like songs that are mainly composed and played on an accordion very much. I think she has an excellent feeling for creating these melancholic, droney, experimental slow tracks that give me goosebumps. Whispering voice elements in the background, create pictures in my head of these rugged, huge Icelandic landscapes with all its raw and harsh elements. Very cinematic as well. Dreamy and eerie at the same time. Great work from Soley - which she released at the end of last year on the album "Harmonik I & II.

And as the final song I chose the lo-fi track "Tendeynidane" performed by Veyrouz Mint Seymali from Mauretania. As part of the sound series "Music From Saharan WhatsApp" presented by the wonderful Sahel Sounds label the five songs on the "pay what you want" Bandcamp release were recorded on an iPhone at Veyrouz home, transmitted over WhatsApp and uploaded to Bandcamp. For the October edition of the series, Sahel Sounds chose to focus on Veyrouz brilliant music, which offers a glimpse into classical Mauretanian music's beauty and complexity. Even though the recording isn't perfect or professionally recorded in a studio, I just love the purity and adventurous idea behind the concept and especially dive a little bit into music from Mauretania, a country I almost know nothing about except the capital which is called Nuakschott excited me. Excellent instrumentation, her beautiful voice, all together sounding a bit awkward but absolutely superb to me. Hope you liked that one too.

We leave Mauretania and join a meeting between Camae Ayewa aka Moor Mother and Billy Woods. The two paired up for their latest experimental hip hop album called "Brass", and I play you the awesome song "Furies".

Moor Mother & Billy Woods - Furies (Brass - Backwoodz Studios)

MinaeMinae - Nackenwirbel (Gestrüpp - Marionette)

Mysterious samples introduced you to "Furies" by Moor Mother and Billy Woods, which was taken from their first collaborative album "Brass" released at the end of 2020. A laid back smooth drum sample and the hypnotic brassy jazz sample are the base for this great track, which sees Moor Mother and Billy Woods show their strengths in their respective and distinctive rap styles. I already loved the track from Armand Hammer's album "Shrines" where Moor Mother collaborated with them, and this album is another highlight in the extensive discographies of both artists. What I love about this album is the mix of so many exciting and unusual sounds, the great collaborators but in the end, Moor Mother and Billy Woods build the foundation for this brilliant work.

From the USA, we travelled to Stuttgart, Germany, to hear the playful, trancey, exotic, and very melodic electronic track "Nackenwirbel" by Bastian Epple MinaeMinae. This sound was introduced to me by Azu Tiwaline, the featured artist from our last episode, and I'm just blown away by the smooth ease this sound has on me. The soft, exotic percussive elements, the playful synth parts all bathed in a warm sound texture, are great examples of how psychedelic electronic music could sound. There comes a lovely and funny video with this track that I recommend you to check out to understand what "Nackenwirbel" means in this context. Really great fun and if you liked this song, then please check out Bastian's full album "Gestrüpp" which offers a lot of interesting trancy psychedelic deliciousness for your everyday listening pleasure.

Next up we just fly further North to Haugesund in beautiful Norway for a heavy dose of Antonin Artaud's influenced dark Post Punk - Noise Rock by the magnificent Arabrot. Enjoy "Another Hallucinatory Dream".

Arabrot - Another Hallucinatory Dream (The World Must be Destroyed EP - Pelagic Records)

3phaz - Phase #5 (self-released on Bandcamp)

Chant Electronique - Osu Se Nebo (Chant Electronique Vol. 1 - Rika Muzika)

This sound triple started off with the archaic, heavy sounds by the Norwegian band Arabrot. The track was taken from their latest EP "The World Must Be Destroyed" which was released in January 2021 and features many songs inspired by Antonin Artaud's insane masterwork - his biography of child emperor Heliogabalus. Hallucinatory, sadistic, overly sexual and above all just wholly nutters. The harsh euphoric vocals by Arabrot mastermind Kjetil Nernes are the backbone of this straight forward Post-Punk Rock Hymn. Distorted synth and noise sounds, a very simplistic drum set drive this incredible haunting and epic track. I just love the combination of these unusual elements that create their own and unique sound. Looking forward to catching this fabulous band live after the release of their new album in spring.

After this Noise Rock inferno out of Norway, we continued our journey down South to Cairo, Egypt to meet the innovative electronic music producer 3Phaz. Whilst the artist wants to keep his identity secret I love his deconstruction of Electro-Shaabi, which he blends together with samples of traditional live drums and percussions, and fuses it together with elements of dystopian Techno, Footwork or Harddrum on the other side. He takes all these sound ingredients' raw energy and develops his own artistic voice out of it.
Whilst the shrill original Electro-Shaabi was played a lot on weddings together with funky beats 3phaz launches a hard-hitting extraordinary sound interpretation that also draws inspiration from the already very explosive Mahraganat sound. I fell in love with the way how he combines all those different elements and creates such a potent, heavy mix that sounds like nothing that I have heard before. Very worth to check him out on Bandcamp - his album is called Three Phase.

Our latest stop was in London where we were introduced to the sublime sounds of Chant Electronique, an international collective of musicians that explores the possibilities of ancient singing traditions and electronic sound excursions. With this approach, they want to open new doors, discover new ways to exist, reveal new places to meet each other. They also mention that their approach is their excuse to think about culture, tradition, identity and discover new parts of themselves. They have respect for the voices of the past, are fully committed to the present moment of creation and are very curious about the future. This adventurous and multi-cultural attitude convinced me from the moment when I heard the first song from their debut album "Chant Electronique Vol 1" a couple of weeks ago.
The pure voice gives me goosebumps, and the combination with the electronic beats and sounds is gorgeous - as if two worlds would collide - the ancient singing techniques clash with the modern sound. The group consists of seven members who bring a particular cultural aspect to the project. Their debut album is an excellent example of how such adventurous projects could be done at their best.

From the multi-cultural group dynamics out of London, we move further to Sao Paolo, Brazil, where we meet Mauricio Takara and Carla Boregas, the rhythm section of the tremendous genre-bending ritual percussion monster Rakta. They have produced their first album as a duo in 2020. The song is called "Rosa de Areia".

Mauricio Takara & Carla Boregas - Rosa de Areia (Linha D'Agua - Bokeh Versions)

Venus Ex Machina - Elephant (Lux - AD93 Records)

Floating synth waves, playful drumming and drum-triggered electronics give this magnificent sound a feeling of cosmic music from 70s Germany. And all these ingredients are brought together in an echo chamber that provides it with a bit of a dub feel. Both are iconic figures in the Sao Paolo music underground, and on their album "Linha DÁgua" they explore the possibilities between abstract improvisation and propulsive rhythm. Whilst Carla sculpts the sound with her synthesisers, Mauricio fires melodies and rhythmic patterns from his drums. This is not a record based on genres but an album that navigates through atmospheres, curiosity and discoveries. Very well done atmospheric work - highly recommended to check out the whole album.

It seems to me that we have forgotten something in the UK, oh so let's take the trip back and meet Venus Ex Machina, a composer, sound designer and interdisciplinary artist. Her debut album "Lux" was released at the beginning of the year and without a doubt, this is already a strong contender for album of the year. This powerful, multi-layered, diverse album which moves between cinematic electronic sound design, haunting dark ambient fields and pulsating rhythm tracks that could be best described as leftfield dance music thrills me with every listen.
This one was a significant compromise which track to feature in the pod, but the hypnotic feel, the excellent sounds and the overall result of "Elephant" - the name of the chosen track is just great. Absolute killer track, but and in this case the but is very important - please listen to the whole album and enjoy Venus Ex Machina's journey through the world of modern electronic music. She is so versatile, and the album has such a widescreen spectrum that one single track can never do it any justice. Give it an extended try. Worth it.

From English electronic sound design deliciousness we travel further to Poland to meet Polish composer and multi-instrumentalist Olga Wojciechowska and her splendid track "Labyrinth Made Of Labyrinths". Take a deep breath and enjoy this drifting delight.

Olga Wojciechowska - Labyrinth Made Of Labyrinths (2020 Label Compilation - A Strangely Isolated Place)

Emmanuelle Parrenin / Detlef Weinrich - Gelbe Schlange (Jours de Greve - Versatile Records)

Dreamy sounds, ambient atmospheres combined with lovely piano drops, a lightweight bassline and aerial sounding strings. What a fantastic and well-structured neo classic - ambient track from Olga Wojciechowska. Her feeling
to make these simple and yet effective sounds interplay with each other is like sitting on my terrace and watching the sun go down in slow motion. After a beautiful day, these sounds sum up the experience - satisfied and yet curious what's to come but just happy to enjoy these moments.
A stunning example of how simple and yet so overwhelming music can be. Olga has released albums on various labels, is a member of multiple live ensembles, work with contemporary artists like Nils Frahm, Greg Haines. Her compositions are also sought out by directors and choreographers for dance, theatres and visual projects. Understandably as one can hear the great cinematic feeling in her music.

From Poland to Paris, France was our next way to join a sound session, that took place during an intensive time of public strikes in the French capital, that tied up the public life of Paris and gave birth to the splendid album "Jours de greve" by German producer Detlef Weinrich aka Tolouse Low Trax and French cult singer, hurdy-gurdy, spinet and harp player Emmanuelle Parrenin. The track "Gelbe Schlange" = "Yellow Snake" is one example of the pleasant, hypnotic, dub-driven music that you can hear throughout the whole album.
Again a tough decision for me, which song to choose as the album is such great work, but I hope you liked the selected track. The smooth and sexy beats, combined with the exotic-sounding saxophone, the layers of percussion, strange noises, and mystical voices in the background. All combined into a tripping meditative piece of music that avoids stylistic categorisations in a beautiful way. To me, this is just heartfelt, passionate music that looks over the edge of genres and defines its own soul and playful style. I also think this album is already a strong contender for album of the year. With this free spirit, the lively mixture of the diverse soundworlds and the superb result we can enjoy here makes it a really fantastic, joyful, at times very unusual, surprising and a bit awkward experience. Just how I love to be surprised by great art.

From German/French friendship we take a trip to Kiyv, Ukraine to meet the trio Tvii Son and their retro-futuristic song "Am I". Enjoy:

Tvii Son - Am I (Tvii Son - MIC Records)

Rian Treanor - Mirror Instant (File Under UK Metaplasm - Planet Mu)

The first track in this sound double took us from Paris to Kiyv, Ukraine, where we enjoyed the repetitive, weird, maybe strange track called "Am I" by Tvii Son. The trio consists of Mika Shkurat, vocalist Lucy Zoria and Florian Zimmer and develops their sound between the Ukraine and Berlin. The simple sounds, the repetitive synth patterns, the almost spoken-word vocals, the industrial sounds, percussions create an unforgettable and at times even catchy feel. There are familiar elements that remind me of early Pan Sonic sound aesthetics, but Tvii Son and especially their band approach with Lucy's wonderfully strange vocals are extraordinary.
They released their debut self titled album last year, and if you are up for original, offbeat and eccentric sounds, I could only recommend you this trio. They call their sound a mix of stripped-to-the-bone industrial dub, fizzing with white noise and quivering with sound system bass - but given pop infectiousness, thanks to earworm phrases by Lucy.

Tvii Son's industrial dub sounds were followed by the ultra-energetic singeli inspired high-def bass killer track "Mirror Instant" by one of UK's finest electronic music producers Rian Treanor. Inspired by the sheer power, speed, and passion he experienced at the Nyege Nyege festival in Uganda he created his latest album "File Under UK Metaplasm", which was released at the end of 2020 on the innovative, always forward-thinking UK label Planet Mu. This album is one of the greatest and most unusual electronic music albums I have heard in a long time. It always rides on the ridge between high energy dance music for the club and speedy, noisy, contemporary sound design injected with Tanzanian speed and madness that we know from the ultra-fast singeli sound.
Rian himself describes the marvellous result best himself: "It's using all those formulaic dance structures but just slightly mangled or messed up. I'm still focused on making functioning dance music for clubs, but I'm really interested in how far you push that before it's just like - no - doesn't work anymore. I highly recommend you to give this excellent album a listen - even if you feel a bit overwhelmed or probably overrun by the speed and madness that happens in some of these songs - it is worth the trip - in the end, you will find one great piece of art that is just so unique and brilliant that I can't get enough of it. Looking forward to going mad on a sweaty dancefloor once we can handle the consequences again. Cheers.

Our final trip takes us to Jajouka, a mountain region in the North of Morocco, where I would love to introduce you to the Sufi trance music group Master Musicians Of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar and their exceptional and marvellous track - sorry for the pronunciation "A Habibi Ouajee Tállel Allaiya".

The Master Musicians Of Jajouka feat. Bachir Attar - A Habibi Ouajee T'allel Allaiya (Apocalypse Across The Sky - Axiom)

No matter if you consider the Master Musicians Of Jajouka a "4,000-year-old rock‘n‘roll band” (William S. Burroughs) or even "6,000 years old“ (Ornette Coleman) – without a doubt, the music of the ensemble in all its incarnations over the centuries is deeply rooted in Sufi mysticism, paganism and the cult of the goat-god Boujeloud. According to a myth, many centuries ago Boujeloud appeared to a shepherd called Attar, an ancestor of today‘s ensemble leader Bachir Attar and till today every year at the end of Ramadan a fire in honour of the goat-god is ignited.
This pagan root aside, the music performed in several hour-long rituals on traditional instruments like tebel and tariyya (drums), ghaita (a woodwind instrument), lira (flute) and gimbri (stringed instrument) reveals hypnotic, trance-inducing qualities and is considered to have magical and healing properties. If you want to dive into these hypnotic rituals out of the Rif Mountains of Morocco, I urge you to check out the album "Apocalypse Across The Sky", which rereleased last year. What an emotional joy-trance-ride this sound is. Just so pure, powerful - absolutely brilliant.

Well so we have already reached the end of the show again. I hope you liked it and found some great new music that you haven't heard of before. I loved it very much to put together an adventurous and inspiring global journey for you. If you did like it, it is, of course, a great help if you can recommend the show to a friend or visit our website www.thissoundiride.net or our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter sites for more information, the full tracklist or other details.

You can also find an extended feature including many beautiful images and an interview with the great Turkish vocalist and composer Ece Canli on our website.

I want to thank Marta Witkowska for the great images for our cover artwork and Matthias Hacksteiner for all his generous help and professional advice, the podcast jingle and everything on how to set up a podcast.

Thanks again for listening and I wish you all the best and hope you also join next month. The new episode will be released on the third Sunday in March, but if you subscribe to your usual podcast platform, you can make sure that you don't miss a show. Finally, we follow Hunter, our lonely and pregnant main actress from the beginning of her escape into the woods. Cheers, and stay healthy.

Nathan Halpern - Woods (Swallow Soundtrack – Lakeshore Record)