Grafonola

J.H. Guraj - Introspection / Migration ( Maple Death Records ) From an ocean of black, sometimes there is a slim chance you might emerge clean and translucent, with another life chapter under your belt and a renewed story to tell. J.H. Guraj, our favorite wandering bird, is back with his first proper opus on Maple Death: Introspection / Migration. Sometimes records lead off into an unknown path that never considers release schedules or the outside world, inhabiting the abysses of the artists’ mind and dropping a hefty anchor in the murky waters. Dominique Vaccaro, stage name Guraj in homage to an old sage picker from the Albanian rocky landscape, started Introspection / Migration on a two-day recording spree in 2014 using a resophonic guitar, a distinct unifying songbook theme, and his usual freestyle wizardry … then the dust settled. In between releasing Underrated Glances At The Edge Of Town (Maple Death, 2016), Steadfast On Our Sand (Boring Machines, 2018), touring with Be My Delay...

Michael O'Shea - Michael O'Shea ( Allchival ) Having sold his instruments to fund a nomadic 1970s lifestyle, eccentric Irish experimentalist Michael O’Shea was forced to create his own handmade answer to the sitars and zelochords he’d become accustomed to playing on his travels around the globe.  Using an old door, 17 strings, chopsticks and combining them with phasers, echo units and amplification, the new device was to become his signature sound, mixing Irish folk influences with Asian and North African sounds in a mesmerising and soulful new way that brought him to the attention of the leading improvisers of his day - Alice Coltrane, Ravi Shankar, Don Cherry and more.  A logical follow up to AllChival’s recent reissue of Stano's debut LP, Michael O’Shea’s self-titled LP was originally released on Wire's Dome Imprint in 1982.  The background to the album is as interesting and inspiring as the artist who created it - born in Northern Ireland but raised in t...