Ben Monder - Oceana (2005)

Related:
Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra - Evanescence (1992)

A wide-ranging album of contemporary jazz/fusion from American guitarist Ben Monder. Solo pieces for acoustic guitar; abstract vocal fragments; woozy, low-key epics; and more. I found Monder through his affiliation with the brilliant Maria Schneider (see above) and was thrilled to discover that he's a gifted composer in his own right.

P.S. I found out like five minutes after initially posting this that he also played on motherfucking Blackstar, my favorite album of the past 10 years or so.

Track listing:
1. Still Motion
2. Light
3. Oceana
4. Echolalia
5. Double Sun
6. Rooms of Light
7. Spectre

Dinosaur skies

If you like this, listen to:

Terje Rypdal -
Terje Rypdal (1971)

Henry Threadgill & Make a Move -
Where's Your Cup? (1997)

Oliver Lake - NTU: Point from Which Creation Begins (1976)

Fiery, Afrocentric, avant-garde soul-jazz led by saxophonist Oliver Lake. Clattering, insistent rhythms, angular melodies, bits of full-tilt chaos, and an overall heavily spiritual, almost ritualistic impact.

On an entirely unrelated note: I've been meaning to mention that if you've left a comment anytime in the past like six months or so that hasn't been published, it's because it's regarding a specific request or recommendation, and if I publish it I'll I forget it, so it's just stuck in limbo. Hopefully I'll be able to burn through them all at some point soon if I ever have a life again.

Track listing:
1. Africa
2. Tse'lane
3. Electric Freedom Colors
4. Eriee
5. Zip

Life dance of is

You should also listen to:

Elvin Jones -
Genesis (1971)

Horace Tapscott & the Pan-Afrikan
Peoples Arkestra - Flight 17 (1978)

Kenichiro Isoda (磯田健一郎) - クラムボンの瞑想 (1990)

Absolutely breathtaking new age from Japanese composer Kenichiro Isoda. I'm still buried way too deep in schoolwork hell to feel anything but mildly anxious at best, but this is at least reminding me that tranquility still exists, and I'll probably get there again at some point.

Track listing:
1. クラムボンの暝想 (with Stream)
2. 青い幻燈 (with Stream)
3. 水車小屋について (with Stream & Birds)
4. ゴーシュの夜 (with Raindrops)

Good morning

If you like this, listen to:

Emerald Web -
Dragon Wings and Wizard Tales (1983)

Rudy Adrian -
The Healing Lake (2000)

Goatfire - Sacrophobic Initiation (2001)

Oh hey. I'm super busy with dumb school bullshit, but how 'bout some Italian raw black metal? It's fucking good.

Track listing:
1. Monumental Transfixion
2. Enlightenment in Primeval Chaos
3. Infernal Ascension
4. Unveiling Prometheus
5. Dormant Vortex
6. Petrified in Darkness [bonus]
7. The Fifth Fulmination [bonus]

Gutted hell

More like this:

Baptism -
The Beherial Midnight (2002)

Near - The Dark Art of the Death
Hidden in the Castle (2003)

The Bible - Walking the Ghost Back Home (1986)

British indie/pop rock that's somewhere in the same sophisticated new wave realm as Prefab Sprout. Jangly guitars, fretless bass, bittersweet vocals, and a lonely saxophone echoing from around the corner.

Track listing:
1. Graceland
2. Mahalia
3. Walking the Ghost Back Home
4. Kid Galahad and the Chrome Kinema
5. King Chicago
6. Sweetness
7. Spend, Spend, Spend
8. (Talk to Me Like) Jackie Kennedy
9. She's My Bible
10. High Wide and Handsome
3. Walking the Ghost Back Home

Your twisting days are over

Also listen to:

Anna Domino -
East and West (1984)

Telefilme -
Fade In, Fade Out (1995)

Memory Garden - Tides (1996)

Way-too-obscure Swedish traditional doom. Mid-paced headbangers with killer guitar work and vocals that would sound right at home on a power metal record.

Track listing:
1. Genesis
2. Dream Horizons
3. The Rhyme of the Elder
4. Trapped at the Pharoes
5. Judgement Day
6. The Innocent Sleep
7. A New Dawn
8. Blissfull

I close my eyes
No need to see
As nature is delivering me

Also listen to:

Count Raven -
High on Infinity (1993)

Dantesco -
De la Mano de la Muerte (2005)