Hallucinatory techno master Black Merlin joins us for the third in our Buy Music Club series.
Multi-talented artist UK DJ and producer George Thomson aka Black Merlin is known for his darkly atmospheric to downright mind scrambling productions, all mutually connected by his signature, hypnotic synth-lines and eerie atmospheres. A DJ loved by many due to his ability to traverse the weird, wonderful and interesting slower BPM’s to peak time techno dance-floor madness. That’s without mentioning, his frequent trips to Papua New Guinea where he has spent time with some of the remotest tribes on the planet. As a result of this, in 2018 he served up the acclaimed ‘Kosua’ album that provided a high tension journey through the jungle and the project continues to be part of his lifetime mission to document the people and beautiful cultures on the island.
In the hot seat for our latest edition, George shares a weird and wonderful selection of music from across the globe including music from the Philippines, Japan to Mali and Uganda. Amongst these hidden gems you feel a common thread of authenticity and atmospheric components which cross boundaries and genres. Shout outs Eight Tower Records, 9.7%, Phurpa, Hainbach, Luka Productions and Abul Mogard amongst others.
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Words and curation by Black Merlin.
Music From The Mountain Provinces: Recorded in The Philippines – David Blair Stiffler – Numerophon
A beautifully captured field recording album by David Blair Stiffler from his Expedition to the mountain regions of the Philippines in 1988. Risking his own safety to capture sounds for his studies, he visited different groups living at high altitude, many of which at that time hadn’t seen outsiders.
Interstellar Ethnographies (Vol.1) – A study on Xenomusicology – Nicola Renzi
I came across this music very recently, I found the recordings to be really engaging and well recorded.
Fasokan – Luka Productions
I like how rich his sound is, it’s got great restraint giving the sounds space and freedom to breathe which is always nice for the ears.
Arab Spring (Side B) – 9.7%
I don’t know much about this release from 9.7%, except the artist comes from Japan. There is a lot of imagination in the music for me and like other 9.7% releases, it has a strong theme visually.. I’m totally sold.
Kimberlin (Original Soundtrack) – Abul Mogard
A wonderful soundtrack made by Abul Mogard for the short film by visual and sound artist Duncan Whitley. The experimental film based on the discovery of an underground cinema cavern on the Isle of Portland, United Kingdom. Abul’s music brings you deep into the film and expresses great emotion. Check out the film Kimberlin by Duncan Whitley to see how this collaboration works so well.
Violin Forms – Hainbach – Hainbach Musik
I’m a big fan of Hainbach and his approach to music, he’s a super interesting experimental artist and his music focuses a lot around Reel to Reels, Test Equipment , Tape saturation and modular… He also uploads regular videos on youtube which I recommend. His approach to music is really unique which really picks up on my ears.
Witchcraft and Black Magic in the United Kingdom – Various Artists -Eighth Tower Records
Avante Garde witchcraft music from the label eighth tower records.. This various artists compilation is full of weird and wonderful tracks. A stand out for me is ‘Sky High Diamonds – The Discoverer’ which is a brilliant track that certainly earns its place on this comp.
Trowo Phurnah Ceremony – Phurpa
Kyle Martin from Vactrol Park introduced me to Phurpa, he sent me the live gig they did for the Boiler room and it blew me away. If you’ve never heard of them, I urge you to find them on youtube as well as supporting there music on band camp.. We need people with this kind of imagination and dedication to the arts to be around. Super inspiring music from the 3 Russian members taking the spirit from their studies of Buddhist, Tibetan and Mongolian music. What they deliver is dark yet pure in the same way.
Ewaffe Ngoma Finale – Sadam Seguya
Coming from Kampala in Uganda, Sadam Seguya’s music is hopeful and positive, via his use of traditional sounds fused with a minimal drum machine. The track ‘Talll Ngoma’ stands out, as I love the natural low frequency bass from the recording session, its a really warm and inviting album.
2012 Cargo Cult Papua New Guinea city of Mandang – 9.7%
Delving into 9.7% music again with this offering titled ‘2012 Cargo Cult Papua New Guinea city of Mandang’. Whilst this genius track name which seams to have no connection musically with the country, it does inspire you to think what this title could mean at the same time 9.7% untangles your mind with this piece.
Check out the full list on Buy Music Club HERE.
