LIGHT ON THE HORIZON

 RIPPED & DUBBED mixtape #13

This mix has been a few months in the making, and reflects a transformative reorientation toward optimism in future days. These are the sounds that have accompanied recent major life shifts, and I hope they find resonance with your lives and ears as the apex light of Summer Solstice approaches. 

- ML

LIGHT ON THE HORIZON

1. Nicklas Sørensen - "L I V E 3" from L I V E 1 [Aural Canyon]
2. Seawind of Battery - "Light on the Horizon" from Clockwatching [Island House Recordings]
3. Tarotplane - "Transitions Of Possibility" from Light Self All Others [Impatience]
4. x.y.r. - "secret path to north cliff" from vision quest [Good Morning Tapes]
5. Spiral Galaxy - "Volo Bog" from Live [Cardinal Fuzz]
6. Ariel Kalma - "Astral Enigma" from MetaMorPhantasy [self-released]
7. Etran de L'Aïr - "Toubouk Ine Chihoussay" from Agadez [Sahel Sounds]
8. Bent Arcana - "Sprites" from Bent Arcana [Castle Face]
9. Chris Forsyth & Koen Holtkamp - "Early Astral Part 2" from Early Astral [Blackest Rainbow]
10. Les Rallizes Dénudés - "The Last One (version 2)" from The OZ Tapes [Temporal Drift]
11. Kryssi B - "Earthlings" from DotDash Radio Presents - Guitar Works [WFMU]
12. Permafrost AC - "Just nu kan man i alla fall låtsats" from 16e Januari, blekt solsken [Fluere Tapes]
13. Katie Lou McCabe - "Evanescence of Colour" (single) [self-released]
14. Rosa Beach Mason & Sean Conrad - "Ardor" from Wake [Inner Islands]
15. 音羽信 (Shin Otowa) - "山小僧 (Mountain Child)" from わすれがたみ (Memento) [Eye Vybe Records]

TRANSMUTATION

 RIPPED & DUBBED mixtape #1o

Ripped & Dubbed #10 lands with 2+ hours of contemporary underground sound, charting a course from experimental stringwork through New Age and Berlin school electronics, jazz- and roots-deep rhythms, and psychedelic astral jams. Bandcamp links to all tracks below!

TRANSMUTATION

1. Richard Youngs - "Solo Guitar 2" from Solo Guitar [No Fans]
2. Gerycz/Powers/Rolin - "Lamplighter" from Lamplighter [American Dreams]
3. Hakobune - "A Fan, Strings, and Two Guitars" from A Fan, Strings, and Two Guitars [Patient Sounds]
4. Channelers - "Serpent In The Sky" from Another Entrance [Inner Islands]
5. Green-House - "Peace Piece" from SC25 Anniversary [Secretly Canadian]
6. Hiram - "Breath Escapes" from Artemisia [Home & Garden]
7. Ulrich Schnauss - "Improvisation #5 Part 2" from Improvisation #5 / Improvisation #6 [self-released]
8. Nimbudala - "Exaltation" from Universal Compassion [Inner Islands]
9. Tikkun Olam - "Sentient Ocean" from World Ov Light [The Jewel Garden]
10. Kafari - "the gift" from Blanket of Black [Hot Record Societe]
11. Luka Productions - "Forêt" from Falaw [Sahel Sounds]
12. Les Filles de Illighadad - "Chakalan" from At Pioneer Works [Sahel Sounds]
13. Oriente Lux - "The River" from Oriente Lux [The Jewel Garden]
14. Osmium House - "Tidal Recital" from Mendocino County [self-released]
15. Alligator Crystal Moth - "No Wave Nor Pulse Can Render" from Spectral Lysergics [The Jewel Garden]
16. Jakob Battick - "Slow Motion Heavy Syrup" from Rabbit's Moon [self-released]
17. Daniel Bachman - "Transmutation" from Axacan [Three Lobed Recordings]

STAR STITCH

 RIPPED & DUBBED mixtape #9

This month's Ripped & Dubbed mix gathers disparate threads from different eras, areas, and genres, with the usual lean toward experimental underground music released in the past few months. The set opens with a selection of tracks I picked up during August's Bandcamp Friday, from Arushi Jain's stunning translation of traditional Indian classical music onto ambient modular synthesizers to Kafari's transcendent and highly emotive melding of piano loops with synth pads and staggering beats. Links to all tracks (where available) included below!

STAR STITCH

1. Arushi Jain - "My People Have Deep Roots" from Under the Lilac Sky [LEAVING]
2. Grant Beyschau - "Nama" from Munds Spring [Astrological Unfolding Music]
3. Field Patterns - "Salamandering" from Field Patterns [Aural Canyon]
4. Arian Shafiee ft. Chuck Johnson - "Luscher Cascades" from Pastorale [Constellation Tatsu]
5. Kafari - "way of the intercepting fist" from Blanket of Black [Hot Record Societe]
6. Wednesday Knudsen & Willie Lane - "Star Stitch" from Long Time 'Til Tomorrow [Feeding Tube Records] aka NATCH 9 [Black Dirt Studios]
7. Rob Noyes & Ryan Lee Crosby - "Improvisation 3" from Modal Improvisations on 34 Strings [Cabin Floor Esoterica]
8. Répéter - "The Armchair Explorer" from Bad Twang [Bokeh Versions]
9. Brenda Ray - "Swirlin Hearts" (Scientist Production ft. Sir Freddie Viadukt aka The Minister Of Noise) from Walatta [Tamoki-Wambesi-Dove]
10. Lucas Santtana - "Awô Dub" from 3 Sessions In A Greenhouse [ Diginois / Mais Um Discos]
11. Sir Tad - "Deeper & Deeper" from Sir Tad Goes Deeper & Deeper [Purple Akronym]
12. Rob Frye - "Jupiter Control" from Exoplanet [Astral Spirits]
13. Osmium House - "Dawn of Pisces (Full)" from Live Elements [self-released]
14. xPOEMSx - "We Were Golden" from Who Makes The Summers (do ya mind tellin' me?) [Easy Tapes Subcult]
15. Nashville Ambient Ensemble - "Conversion" from Cerulean [Centripal Force]
16. Charlatan - "Saturnine" from The Glass Borders [Moon Glyph]
17. Six Organs of Admittance - "Messier 42" from Sleep Tones [Hermit Hut]
18. Drew Gardner - "The Road To Eastern Garden" from Drew Gardiner [Eiderdown Records]
19. Rosali - "If Not For Now" from No Medium [S P I N S T E R]

EARTHSEED

 RIPPED & DUBBED mixtape #8

Ripped & Dubbed is back with our first new mix of the summer! Earthseed connects 18 tracks that commingle with the season's environment: drones, field recordings, terrestrial folk experiments, odes to the cosmos and its elements, and genre-melted beats. Settle in for a two-hour communion with the Earth and its resonance.

EARTHSEED

1. Daniel Bachman - "Blue Ocean 0" from Axacan [Three Lobed]
2. Powers / Rolin Duo - "Tea Lights" from Strange Fortune [Astral Editions]
3. Claire Rousay - "a kind of promise" from a softer focus [American Dreams]
4. The North Sea - "Last of the Silverbacks" from Internal Monologue: A Collection of Solo Bouzouki Recordings [The Jewel Garden]
5. rootless - "earthseed" from places remember us [Aural Canyon]
6. Lake Mary & Oxherding - "Traces of Water" from With The Windows Open [Distant Bloom]
7. Aura Gaze ft. Ariel Kalma - "Cloud Temple" from Sky Mind [Aural Canyon]
8. Green-House - "Rain" from Music for Living Spaces [Leaving Records]
9. Solid Waste - "Deep Forest Portal" from City Of The Cosmos [Distant Bloom]
10. Inner Travels - "Ocean's Edge" from Yonder [Sounds Of The Dawn]
11. Kenji Kihara - "Early Summer" from Scenes of Scapes [Inner Islands]
12. Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi - "Shepherd's Stroll" from Setsubun (節分) [Cached Media]
13. Future Museums - "Shelving the Mist" from Transitional Spirit Mirror [Aural Canyon]
14. Six Organs of Admittance - "Somewhere in the Hexagon of Saturn" from The Veiled Sea [Three Lobed]
15. Répéter - "Excellency, Black Pyramids!!" from Bad Twang [Bokeh Versions]
16. Tikkun Olam - "Daughter of the Moon" from World Ov Light [The Jewel Garden]
17. Hiiragi Fukuda - "Breeze" from Seacide [Sloow Tapes / Trouble In Mind]
18. Lucas Santtana & Seleção Natural ft. Gilmar Bola 8 - "Pela Orla Dos Velhos Tempos" from 3 Sessions In A Greenhouse [ Diginois / Mais Um Discos]

UNBROKEN CIRCLE

 RIPPED & DUBBED mixtape #7

Brand new two-hour mix this week, gathering together beautiful new expressions in folk singer-songwriting, instrumental guitar, widescreen kosmische, and jazz-adjacent experiments. I picked a lot of these up during the most recent Bandcamp Friday, and I'll drop links to where they can be had in full below. 

It was wonderful to hear of a new Rosali album due soon - her last LP, Trouble Anyway, has been a favorite of the past few years, and the stunning first single from the forthcoming No Medium has been living rent-free in my brain for two weeks. If its grace and melodic swagger signals what's to come on the full-length, there's no doubt it will make it to the top of 2021's stack. 

This mix closes on a trio of sidelong instrumental kosmische odysseys, and I wanted to draw attention in particular to the final track. This absolute high-water mark in contemporary duo improv from Zelienople’s Matt Christensen and Neatly Knotted / Nevada Greene’s Ben Chlapek has gone so outrageously under-the-radar in the four years since its release that the label is currently selling the remaining cassette copies for a single dollar. I myself fell victim to ignorance on this should-be grail, until a kind soul (remind me / forgive me - I've forgotten who) just up and mailed me a copy this summer with a very kind note to the effect of "I thought you'd like this".. Well, they were right! How about that for community? Get one for a buck, please - it's the deal of the century.

UNBROKEN CIRCLE

1. Keven Louis Lareau - "Not All Songs Have Been Sung" single [self-released]
2. Rosali - "Mouth" from No Medium [S P I N S T E R]
3. Meg Baird and Mary Lattimore - "Fair Annie" from Ghost Forests [Three Lobed]
4. James Jackson Toth - "Stumpranchers" from The Hired Hands: A Tribute to Bruce Langhorne [Scissor Tail]
5. Gerycz / Powers / Rolin - "Untitled" (lathe-cut bonus track from Beacon vinyl reissue) [Centripetal Force / Cardinal Fuzz]
6. Landon Caldwell - "Lathe of Heaven" from Deep Strand [Trouble In Mind]
7. Wau Wau Collectif - "Si Tu Savais Juste" from Yaral Sa Doom [Sahel Sounds]
8. Yasmin Williams - "Guitka" from Unwind [self-released]
9. Ezra Feinberg - "A Spider Painted Over" from Recumbent Speech [Related States]
10. Rob Frye - "XC175020" from Exoplanet [Astral Spirits]
11. Bil Vermette - "Kuiper Belt" from Hunting For Planet 9 [Trouble In Mind]
12. Ashan - "Unbroken Circle" from Sacred Spring [Inner Islands]
13. GROWING - "Primitive Associations / Great Mass Above" from The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light [Laffs & Danger]
14. levinson / mahlmeister - "Ascend" from Shores [Trouble In Mind]
15. Prana Crafter - "3rd Ear Incantations" from 3rd Ear Incantations [Null Zone]
16. Christensen & Chlapek - "B" from Unknown Pressures [Dismal Niche]

FUSION SWIRL

RIPPED & DUBBED mixtape #2

A two-hour mix celebrating some favorite global, jazz, and electronic music from 2020, featuring a heap of Sahel Sounds, obscure Bandcamp digital exclusives, and limited edition cassette and vinyl releases from around the world. 

FUSION SWIRL

1. Hama - "Alhoria" from Music from Saharan WhatsApp 08 digital [Sahel Sounds]
2. Lingo Seini et son groupe - "Arne" from Musique Hauka LP [Sahel Sounds]
3. Mdou Moctar - "Ibitlan" from Ibitlan 7" single [Sahel Sounds]
4. Rüstəm Quliyev - "Əfqan Musiqisi" from Azerbaijani Gitara LP [Bongo Joe]
5. NOON - "Elevens" from NOON live at Al Serkal Avenue digital [self-released]
6. Jeff Parker - "Fusion Swirl" from Suite for Max Brown LP [International Anthem]
7. Bent Arcana - "Oblivion Sigil" from Bent Arcana LP [Castle Face]
8. Angel Bat Dawid - "Transition East" from Transition East 7" single [International Anthem]
9. rootless - "more me than them" from emptied spaces cassette [Null Zone]
10. Carlos Niño & Friends - "Actually" (with Deantoni Parks, Jamael Dean, and Nate Mercereau) from Actual Presence LP [self-released]
11. Stonegrass - "The Highway (To All Known Places)" from STONEGRASS LP [Cosmic Range]
12. Mark Tester - "Universal Window" from Super Hiss cassette [Moon Glyph]
13. Spliff Jacksun - "Glow" from Sanctuary cassette [Crash Symbols]
14. Naquadah - "Ruff Stuff" from Ruff Stuff digital single [self-released]
15. FINE JUICE - "Play Today" from Play Today digital [self-released]
16. PERSONABLE - "U OWE" from TUMBLE digital [self-released]
17. Big Flite & Velkro - "Littleslip" from Mutual Aid 2020 digital [Bokeh Versions]
18. The Fairy - "Fantasia" from Lost World digital [self-released]
19. Roger Robinson - "Forward" from Mutual Aid 2020 digital [Bokeh Versions]
20. Ras Michael - "History of the Drum Music" from Live by the Spirit digital [Hen House Studios]
21. Skyminds - "Beyond the Clearing" from Shapes & Traces cassette [Internal Rhythm]
22. Tidiane Thiam - "Djatasoun" from Siftorde LP [Sahel Sounds]