Ignatz

 'I Don't Know' by Ignatz. Ignatz is Belgian musician Bram Devens.

Sparse haunting piano over (and below) soundscapes created from electronic effects and ghostly voice. 

From 2025 on the By the Bluest of Seas record label, discovered through Carbon Records which has been a great source for independent, different and unusual sounds and consistently quick deliveries of orders.

Code Girl

It's likely been stated here before but I've been going through a new jazz sounds discoveries phase for a few years now. Wanting something different than the usual bebop and classic jazz standards that previously made up the bulk of my jazz collection and listening experiences ....

Mary Halvorson is a guitar player. She leads a quintet along with both male and female vocalists on this record. The songs often venture into unexpected directions. Occasionally into the possibilities that exist between and beyond jazz and rock.  

Released in 2020 on Firehouse 12 Records. Imaginative cover art is what caught my attention initially causing themes of distance, dreaming and searching to appear for consideration.

Classical Vinyl Find

Occasionally, while browsing through the vinyl bins and racks, I'll pick up a classical recording .... not because I know anything about the music but just because it looks interesting, usually music of a lesser-known and more modern period composer. Tonight's used bookstore vinyl find (after deciding against the $70 and $100 priced jazz records) .... 

From 1973 on Nonesuch Records. The vinyl surface looks to be in pristine condition.

I'm not qualified in the least to offer words of opinion or commentary on classical music. I'll just be happy listening late tonight with the lights down low, while wearing my gray button-down old man sweater and with bifocals set aside.

Two violins, viola and cello .... how could I not enjoy that?

I'm People

One thing about me has never changed. I get absolutely giddy about new album releases with new songs ......

For the fifty-five plus years that I've been listening to and buying records, I've had different favorites, mostly defined and separated by a few years or a decade of close attention. As the years pass, favorites in my ears and eyes may fade a little, and new names enter for consideration. Over the last 10-15 years, there's been three or four musicians/bands that I've followed closely. One just released a very anticipated (by me) new record which arrived at my front door a few hours ago.

'I'm People' by Hiss Golden Messenger. 

For the past month or two, I've purposely avoided listening to anything online from the album other than the first single that was released, (I couldn't resist all temptations), opting to let anticipation build and to wait (very impatiently) for its arrival so I could plant myself in front of my stereo system and take it in, song-by-song, for the first listen, in its entirety ..... like we did in the days before the internet and song samples and previews galore.

First listen and I've given three songs, 5-star ratings ....  Shaky Eyes, Mercy Avenue and Depends on the River.

I'm sure that with time, one or two others will also end up on that list.

And I'm thinking I'll be listening again tomorrow .... that's if I don't wake up at 3am and listen again tonight.