Music I Liked – Nivhek, Wired Anxiety, Jì Lú, ÚIR, Leslie Winer, Earth

Nivhik

Sometimes Grouper is too weird for me. But her side project Nivhek, popped up on lots of blogs so I gave it a listen. After its Own Death/Walking in a Spiral Towards the House is an ambient album that reminds me a lot of Sara Davachi’s exploration of sacred architecture last fall.

Wired Anxiety

It was the hook in “Heavily Sedated” that caught me. Here’s another metal band from India, doing everything just right on The Delirium of Negation.

Jì Lú

Mountain Traveler Listener by Jì Lú is like listening to a classical Chinese painting. You know the ones, where a tiny human traveler is nestled nearly invisible at the bottom of a huge mountain landscape.

ÚIR

ÚIR is a slightly different take on a classical tradition. I’ll let ÚIR explain Oenach Tailten for themselves.

In pre-Christian Ireland, the Óenach were public gatherings brought about by catastrophe, death or reverence of the ancestors. The semi-mythological origins of the Óenach at Tailten refer to ancient rites occurring from the depths of pre-history until the end of the dark ages.

Over three movements, we explore significant manifestations which set in motion changes that remain apparent to this day. A retrospective offering of deceit, perception and confrontation.

Bandcamp bio

Leslie Winer

Largely unkown and almost lost to time, the album Witch by Leslie Winer was a predecessor to and probably an influence on Massive Attack’s earliest albums. I often forget the very existence of Massive Attack, but they provided the soundtrack to several years of my life. They and Winer prove that forgettable is not necessarily the same thing as bad.

Earth

There are many people who might say that all Earth albums sound the same. On the surface I have a hard time disagreeing with them. But if it is really true, why have I spent so many hours working to the drone of And the Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull while ignoring all the others? And if they are all the same, why am I so hooked on “Cats on the Briar” from the upcoming album Full Upon Her Burning Lips?