Anduin & Jasper TX

Read my entire review on The Silent Ballet.

This album is gorgeous sounding. Simple and safe, nothing new to the genre is happening here. Anduin and Jasper TX sound relaxed, as if they composed these pieces from rocking chairs on a back porch. It's a summertime drone record! Nothing to prove - we just want to make beautiful music. In this, it is successful. Combining the talents of two of the best drone artists in the world really couldn't go horribly wrong, but I do think there is room for greatness. It all sounds nice on the surface, but other than that standout song, veils are not lifted to reveal deeper mysteries. Something eternal feels missing from the overall picture. It must be that pesky black hole theme. Black holes represent the absence of life and light. Or, I could be wrong, and this is the go-to album for back porch drone enthusiasts!

Fishing With John - Neko Shokan

Read my entire review on The Silent Ballet.

Take one look at the album cover. Accept it. It really is the album cover. The Hallmark faerie didn't accidentally switch it with a get-well-soon card. The choice to employ a cuddly kitten as the ambassador to your third album, as Fishing With John has done, makes a lot more sense if you are a cat enthusiast and you are a regular writer for "Kitten", a Japanese magazine about cats, which Yusuke Igarashi is. I'd expect that the music on Neko Shokan ("Cat Correspondences") would be a precious soundtrack to watching cute animals do their thing, a saccharine ode to all things young and innocent. And that's pretty much what we have here!