Companyia Electrica Dharma - L’Oucomballa
CED have never struck me as creating music above second or third tier. Their early albums have all the elements to put them in the same league as their cousins Iceberg, although the model for CED seems a little less Canterbury and definitely nothing like Return to Forever. It’s very pleasant music and probably 10ish overall, but considering this is about where their peak should be, that’s not very high.
Tisziji Munoz - River of Blood
Not a bad title given that most of this is a raucous slaughter, Munoz’s considerable Sanders/Coltrane-inspired pyrotechnics bludgeoning you over and over. Even the low roars are just preparing you for the next beating. I happen to love it for the most part, particularly if I’m in the mood. Often when the click it’s pretty blissful.
Byron Metcalf & Marc Seeling with Steve Roach - Wachuma’s Wave
I’ve spent a decade or two listening to and reviewing this sort of tribal-ish ambient music, so there’s very little of it that’s surprising or interesting anymore. It’s certainly nice enough, but I’m starting to detect that this is becoming style over substance. Nothing can beat a good Timeroom treatment but this album gives me the impression it’s mostly drums with the treatment. Soothing enough, but it’s buried under a number of good titles (all the way back to Dreamtime Return, Origin and Artifacts) that I’d choose first.
Stephan Micus - Darkness and Light
It’s strange to hear something so akin to the Roach style from a totally different vantage point, but this continued the spacy mood of Wachuma’s Wave while switching to more acoustic instrumentation. I don’t remember liking this as much the first time around but did so more here.
Atomic Rooster - Metal Dawn
A collection of outtakes mostly revolving around the Chris Farlowe period, it really doesn’t hold any surprises and the band doesn’t vary enough for subpar sound quality versions of the same songs to make a difference. But it’s certainly got some pretty good moments.