Monolith Cocktail Blog

PART THREE OF THE MONOLITH COCKTAIL’S ALBUMS OF THE YEAR LISTS

Welcome to the concluding part of the Monolith Cocktail’s choice and favourite albums of the year lists (Part One and Part Two). Compiled by Dominic Valvona, Brian ‘Bordello’ Shea and Graham Domain, each entry is in alphabetical order, with this final run down starting at P and finishing at Z.

P________________

Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra ‘60’ (The Village)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Serving the South Central L.A. Black community from within for six decades (and counting), the late Horace Tapscott and his preservation Arkestra ensemble captured and reflected the social and racial injustices of that oppressed community with a righteous politically conscious and radical jazz style blueprint; a documentation, but also self-reliant stand against the state’s brutality and economic suppression.

The 60 album proves an important preservation of a self-reliant social activist institution, integral to the community in which it serves, teaches and rises up. A great encapsulation of that story, musical journey and the changes it has gone through, this will both excite the Ark’s fans and newcomers to the cause.’ DV

Nico Paulo ‘Nico Paulo’ (Forward Music Group)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘This is a wonderful summery album of Bacharach-like melodies by the Portuguese-Canadian singer. A truly remarkable debut of ten self-composed wonderful songs that sound like standards.

Her voice is a bewitching combination of Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood). Musically it covers a wide spectrum of Tropicalia, Folk, Americana, Jazz and Pop. Her voice conveys real emotion and depth that is bounced off the beautiful melodies and lyrics.

A future classic that will undoubtedly have a far-reaching influence on stars not yet born!’ GD

Hawk Percival ‘Night Moods Vol. 1’ (Think Like A Key)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link

‘Oh my god! How I love Hawk Percival. She is like a lo-fi indie Noosha Fox (I am once again showing my age). But come on, ‘S-S-S-Single Bed’ was one of the singles of the 70s and I think that Hawk Percival shows the potential to make something equally as wonderfully magical, as this 6 track mini album shows so much pop suss and quirky originality.

It takes from the past – you can hear the timeless melodies from the 60s/70s – and twists it into something new. She plucks the spinning melodies from the air and weaves them into her own unique creation making an album of future desert island discs. I think Hawk Percival could well be one to watch.

This album is part of the DIY music series released by the excellent Think Like A Key records, and good on them for releasing this little lo-fi treasure.’ BBS

Polobi & The Gwo Ka Master ‘Abri Cyclonique’ (Real World)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Suffused, elevated and morphed with Parisian-based Doctor L’s jazz, electronica Francophone new waves and trip-hop, the ancestral Guadeloupe rural folk traditions of Léwòz and one of its renowned modern practitioners-deliverers Moïse Polobi is transformed into an environmental traverse. As the good doctor has proscribed so well for Les Amazon D’Afrique and the Mbongwana Stars, the roots of another form are, with subtle wondering and sophistication, given a unique sound experience.

A very personal album, this is the first to be released under Polobi’s own name. Previously the Guadalupe star has performed with his Indestawa Ka band, releasing eight albums and performing internationally. But this cyclonic whirlwind is something different, a galvanised, electrified and bolstered earthy and magical vision of his country’s past, present and future. It’s one of the most interesting albums yet in 2023, with a sound that reboots folkloric traditions in the face of an ever-encroaching modernity.’ DV

Psyche ‘Self-Titled Debut Album’ (Four Flies Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘This is a brilliant album of funky Mediterranean psychedelic instrumentals that sits somewhere between Khruangbin and the Barry Gray Orchestra! Every track is a Gem! Wonderful!’ GD

R__________________

Raf And O ‘We Are Stars’ (Telephone Records)
Chosen by Dominic Valvona/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Few artists have purposely entwined themselves so deeply with their idols than the Raf And O duo of Raf Mantelli and Richard Smith (the “O” in that creative sparked partnership). David Bowie and Kate Bush loom large, permeating near every note and vocal infliction of their idiosyncratic, theatrical, cinematic and up-close-and-personal intimate style of avant-garde pop and art school rock experimentation. Raf even has a Kate Bush tribute side project; coming the nearest I’ve yet heard of anyone to that maverick progenitor’s range-fluctuating, coquettish and empowered delivery, and her musicianship and erudite playful and adventurous songwriting.

An alternative time travelling theatre of interwoven fantasy, dream realism and the reimagined, We Are Stars is as playful with its unique style as it is only too aware of the deep held stresses, strains, pain and detachment that plagues society in the aftermath of a global pandemic, economic meltdown and war. Looking to the stars, but knowing that even escapist dreams of the cosmos have failed us, Raf And O (who I haven’t mentioned in name at all, but is an adroit craftsman of his form, accentuating, punctuating or loosely weaving a meandered musicality around Raf) take their concerns, observations and curiosities into ever more arty and intriguing directions. They remain one of the most individual acts in the UK; true inheritors of Bowie and Bush’s legacy and spirit.’ DV

Refree ‘El Espacio Entre’ (Glitterbeat Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Coming on like an Iberian vision of the Neel Murgai Ensemble and Hackedepicciotto trapped with Nacho Mendez (I’m thinking of the Ángeles y Querubines album) in an undefined, veiled timeline and atmosphere, the follow up sketchbook album of Raul Refree’s imagination is yet again a unique, “seamless”, amalgamation of reflective enquiry, soundtracks, semi-classical etudes and the visceral.

Not so much an album of performances as a quality production of fleeting descriptions, of moments captured in poignant scenery, Refree’s second such album of scores and sound pieces is an incredible, immersive mood board of magical and often plaintive thoughts, feelings, processes and films yet to be made. I’ve been sitting on this album for months and it never loses its initial pull, gut feeling, and yet I can also hear new things on every listen. Raul Refree is a great talent indeed.’ DV

Sebastian Reynolds ‘Canary’ (PinDrop)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘After what seems like an age, and with a prolific string of projects, collaborations and EP releases behind him, Sebastian Reynolds finally unveils his debut solo album. 

A near lifetime’s experience and musicology is called upon for a mostly sophisticated and subtle amalgamation of the electroacoustic, trance, EDM, electronic-chamber music, techno ambience and soundtracks on an album that draws on all of Reynolds passions and emotional threads. Self-help guidance with the neurons fired-up, the mind open, Canary counterpoints mistrust with wonderment, alarm with the rational and the optimistic. It has taken a while to arrive, but Reynolds debut expanded album of thoughts and ideas is a mature statement of quality. ‘ DV

Room Of Wires ‘Welcome To The End Game’ (Ant-Zen)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘A buzz, whine, flex and resonating ring of zinc and alloy, of recondite machines, permeates another heavy set from the Room Of Wires duo. The latest in a strong catalogue of such dark materials and alien mystery, Welcome To The End Game ties together a complex of dystopian woes, rage and dramas into an interlayered twisting and expanding metal muscled album of electronic. 

Room Of Wires navigate and balance the uncertainty with glimmers of escape, and moments of hope and release; the machinations and unseen forces that bear down upon us all at least dissipated enough to offer some light.’ DV

Seljuk Rustum ‘Cardboard Castles’ (Hive Mind)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Imbued by a rich history of place and time, and the trading winds that brought so many atavistic and less ancient civilizations to its natural harbor hub, Seljuk Rustum’s Kochi-base of creative activity is a city steeped in polygenesis sounds and ideas.

For the most part the musical mind of Rustum and his partners on this magical, entrancing and dreamy journey, reveals a great sonic knowledge, both a part of, yet also in some ways, escaping history.’ DV

S___________________

Salem Trials ‘What Myths Are We Living’ (Metal Postcard Records)
Chosen by DV & GD/Reviewed by Graham Domain/Link

‘Crawling along dark streets, shadows loom in every doorway, footsteps echo in the night silence. Cold sweat trickling down spine, dark rumblings from a dirty basement, shadows dancing on the barred windows. Fish bones in a mouth. Coughing up blood and the smell of urine. Decay and aftershave. Cracked voice and beer-stained floor. Each step shoes stick. Black trail like slime from a snail. A coffin landfill club of noise and danger! The night ignites with saw-like melodies and cavernous hypnotic rhythms kicking against the pricks! Smoke and dark truths bounce off the walls shaking flesh and brick, glass and bone. Inspiration as sonic affray, until the last notes flare into a howl of darkness. A murder of youth collapse through doors and out along streets. City centre lights, a loneliness of drinkers cast adrift, flowing like a cut artery in a thrombosis of social isolation. Music smashed against walls! Exciting! Unbreakable!’ GD

Ryuichi Sakamoto ‘Ongaku Zukan’ (WeWantSounds)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘A timely, special release in the wake of the Japanese icon’s death in March of this year, the impeccable vinyl specialists WEWANTSOUNDS have reissued Sakamoto’s cult 1984 solo album Ongaku Zukan (or “Musical Encyclopedia”).

Sakamoto assails the mid 80s with his own manual, a merger of signatures and fresh horizons, but above all, rewriting the Japanese cannon whilst reaching into a future yet unwritten. There will be a lot of people very happy that this classic has been rejuvenated, whilst a new generation can hear what all the fuss is about. Not his best by any stretch of the imagination, but everything Sakamoto touched is worthy of investigation, and this feels like a bridge between periods. WWS has done us all a great favour in resurfacing this lost class piece of experimentation and groove.’ DV

Schizo Fun Addict ‘Love Your Enemies’ (Fruits Der Mer)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link

‘This album is one of the best and wormiest sounding albums I have heard in many years. It has the same magic and otherworldly but inwardly peaceful calmness about it as Pet Sounds, and there is something about Schizo Fun Addict that reminds me of the Beach Boys but without ever actually sounding like them – I will put it down to musical genius and heavenly inspiration.’ BBS

Seaming To ‘Dust Gathers’ (O Sing At Me)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by Gillian Stone/Link

‘The structure and tracking of Dust Gatherers are utterly brilliant. Instrumental “AnOverture” introduces the juxtaposition of the electronic and symphonic elements the make up the album’s ethos. The next three tracks, “Blessing”, “Tousles”, and “Brave” are imbued with choral synths and swirling vocals. It is not until the fifth track, “Traveller”, that acoustic instruments come back into the fold, with the introduction of Seaming To’s clarinet. Clarinets then mesh beautifully with synths on “Water Flows”, followed by the instrumental synth piece “xenanmax”. The album then takes a left turn into the string-quartet-driven “Hitchhiker”, and pivots again into the Björk-style melodies and microbeats of “Look Away”. The final two songs on Dust Gatherers, which appear to be companion pieces, harken back to the golden era of jazz, finishing the record with a sense of timelessness. Piano ballad “Pleasures are Meaningless” alludes to the final track, jazz standard “Tenderly”, which is tethered down by pulsing clarinets and synth glitches. Ever present are Seaming To’s profoundly strong character vocals, which evoke goosebumps at every turn.’ GS

Silver Moth ‘Black Bay’
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘Cinematic tracks full of atmosphere and grandeur! 45 minutes of Bliss! It may become the holy grail of lost albums in future years – if it slips under the radar!’ GD

Slow Readers Club ‘Knowledge Freedom Power’ (Velveteen Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘The fifth (official) album by Manchester band The Slow Readers Club comes across like a live album such is the energy captured in the recording. First track ‘Modernise’ is perhaps the most powerful, if least representative, song on the album. With its Chemical Brothers rave intro and pounding rhythm it also has the most individual sounding vocal on the album, a bit PIL like! It’s a song created to be exciting live and it serves that purpose well!

A great album of powerful anthemic songs and possibly their most consistent effort to date.’ GD

Lonnie Liston Smith ‘Cosmic Change’ (Jazz Is Dead)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Smooth soulful vibes, bulb-like notes and cosmic fanning rays from the great jazz-funk doyen Lonnie Liston Smith, who released his first album in 25 years in 2023. Thanks to the overseeing facilitators of the enriching Jazz Is Dead label project, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad have coaxed the legendary artist, ensemble bandleader and sideman for such impressive luminaries as Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Leon Thomas, back into the studio; just one of many great names from the spiritual, conscious and funky-jazz rolls of inspiring talents.

Co-composing and collaborating with their chagrin Younge and Muhammad both work in the old magic with a sense of the new and forward; paying homage yet creating something new, performing the very kinds of influential music that had an impact on those who came later, namely the hip-hop fraternity (Jazzmatazz era Guru and the Digable Planets being just two such notable collaborators and acolytes). and of course, Liston is in supreme form as sagacious keyboard foil.’ DV

Snowcrushed ‘Snowcrush’
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link

‘Snowcrushed’s A Frightened Man debut album was one of my fave albums of 2021; an album of beguiling atmospheric found sounds ambient gems. But on Snowcrush he’s gone on an alternative music journey of post-punk, Goth and Darkwave, and on occasion lo-fi folk – the excellent ‘Cowardice’ sounding like someone has taken Kurt Cobain’s tortured soul and spread it on Johnny Cash’s toast, which he ate before recording the American Recordings series of albums: A truly dark wonderful song.  Although nothing else on the album quite matches up to the brilliance of ‘Cowardice’, which is no slight as not many other tracks I have heard this year matches up to it, the rest of the album is still full of unsettling dark gems.’ BBS

Samuele Strufaldi ‘Davorio’ (Música Mascondo)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Every expression has meaning, a story, which is then transformed by Strufaldi’s production into something almost dream like and cosmic yet still connected to the villagers’ roots. A transistor radio collage here, some Songhoy Blues on a bustling street with a small amp there; a display of rattled and scrapping percussion and hymnal stirrings merge with zaps, warbles and various embellishments. This cultural exchange with the Ivory Coast blurs the lines between worlds; an act of preservation, but much more, as the foundations of this culture prove intoxicating, dynamic and mesmerising.’ DV

Susanna ‘Baudelaire and Orchestra’ (Susanna Sonata Label)
Chosen by GD

T____________________

Tachycardie ‘Autonomie Menerale’ (Un-je-ne-sais-quoi) 
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘This is the third album in a trilogy of ambient sound-art works by French composer Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy. Consisting of seven pieces of strange, dark, tribal, alien ambient dissonance and warm unnatural half-light!

In the first piece, ‘Parties sud puis nord’, tribal drums and hyper percussion are intermittently infiltrated by reverberating clangs and deep disturbed atmospheric noise. It is a strangely compelling listen! Although if listened to by those of a disturbed mind it may likely trigger psychosis, one-legged.

You will not find another album like this. It will penetrate your dreams bringing raptures of nightmare terror, joyous pain and nerve scraping pleasure. As the stones with eyes move closer, watching, surrounding your house, you may never ‘escape into night’ or feel at ease again!’ GD

Tele Novella ‘Poet’s Tooth’ (Kill Rock Stars)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘A wistful, almost disarming, Tele Novella weave their magic on an album that takes its cues from Harold & Maude and a removed version of the heartbreak yearning vulnerability of Nashville and Texas country music; albeit a version in which Cate Le Bon and Aldous Harding sip despondently from a bottle of life’s despair. Better still, Mike Nesmith writing for Patsy Cline.

As whimsical and beautifully executed as it all is, Poet’s tooth is a moving album of timeless tropes, somehow delivered musically and visually through a slightly off, sometimes surreal, vision of the familiar. Natalie Ribbons and foil Jason Chronis dream up an idiosyncratic staged world, their moniker taken from the serial drama/soap opera phenomenon of the “television novel”, a format most prominently produced for the Latin American markets.

Adolescence escapism wrapped in a softened, but no less stirring, epiphany, Tele Novella has a surreal, dreamy quality about them. From the Tex-Mex border of yore to the contemporary Austin scene of City Limits, they weave a really impressive songbook that’s as Hal Ashby and Sidney Lumet as it is pining Country and Western. Poet’s Tooth is both lyrically and musically perfect; one of my favourite albums of 2023 – no idle boast. Prepare to be equally charmed and moved with a counterculture resurgence of quality, subtle comedy and tragedy, eccentric disillusion.’ DV

Tomo-Nakaguchi ‘The Long Night in Winter Light’ (Audio Bulb Records)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘This is a beautiful album where each piece conjures-up a different vision of winter – the wonder of nature surviving and flourishing as the seasons change! As the composer himself says, the music reflects the beauty of nature – frost glistening on grass – a field of snow lit by moonlight – the night sky filled with stars! Like a ray of light, a ray of hope, this is beauty that shines through the darkest of times!’ GD

Ali Farka Touré ‘Voyageur’ (World Circuit)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘This latest project, produced by the label’s Nick Gold who spent time with the late Ali (his brilliant accompanying notes are full of vivid anecdotes and adventures spent with the Mali icon) and his scion, the equally gifted virtuoso Vieux Farka Touré is the first album of ‘unheard’ material from the legend since his 2010 posthumously released partnership with Diabate.

Voyageur is a welcoming addition to the catalogue, an incredible nomadic traverse of songs that capture Mali’s diversity and rich musical heritage; especially with his celebrated guests opening the sound up, travelling even further afield to those bordering regions that meet Mali.

Ali Farka Touré aficionados will find this a welcome addition to the chronology, with recordings that many will have either never known about or been anticipating. But I’m sure there’s going to be surprises for even the most committed of fans. And for newcomers to Ali’s legacy, this album will prove a great entry point with its diversity and range, showing Ali with various collaborators and paying homage to several cultural styles, traditions. These songs are anything but unfinished scraps, demos, or downtime experiments. Instead, Voyageur is a collection of real quality.’ DV

Trupa Trupa ‘ttt’ (Glitterbeat Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘The Polish outfit Trupa Trupa fashion their very own Faust Tapes out of an accumulation of sonic explorations, unfinished jams and rehearsal sessions, field recordings and play.

In the interval between recording new martial ttt is an almost seamless cassette offering of two experimental sound collages – coming in at just under the forty-minute mark. A development played out under the spell of psychedelic hallucination, mirage and more caustic machined distortions and abrasions, the triple “ts” experiment could be read as a really untethered avant-garde outlet for the band. Not that they’ve ever been conventional on that front with previous works melding and contorting, as they do, psych with no wave, post-punk, the industrial and indie to produce a multi-limbed psycho drama or revelation, the hypnotic and propulsive.

Trupa Trupa are in their ascendency all right, their creative collective consciousness constantly dreaming up fresh ways of hearing and articulating the wastelands of what was once called civilisation; the discourse all but filtered out for the most part on this immersive experience. They can do no wrong it seems at the moment, and must be considered one of the most important bands to emerge from Europe in the last decade. On the strength of this latest release it will be very interesting to know where they will go next.’ DV

V______________________

Various ‘New No York’ (Metal Postcard Records)
Chosen by BBS/Reviewed by BBS/Link

‘A compilation of music from Metal Postcard bands, but what all these bands have in common is Andy Goz. Yes, the guitar genius who’s in all these bands, and all the bands are of course pretty darn special.

New No York is a quite wonderful comp of post-punk invention and fury and no doubt will be soundtracking my next few weeks.’ BBS

Various ‘Parchman Prison Prayer – Some Mississippi Sunday Morning’ (Glitterbeat Records) Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Back in the state penitentiary system, the producer, author and violence prevention expert Ian Brennan finds the common ground once more with another cast of under-represented voices. Eight years on from his applauded, Grammy nominated Zomba Prison Project, Brennan, thousands of miles away from that Malawi maximum-security facility in the deep, deep South of America, surprises us with an incredible raw and “uncloyed” (one of Brennan’s best coined interpretations of his production and craft) set of performances of redemption and spiritual conversion.

There’s music, song and litany that would be recognizable to inmates from the turn of the last century, whilst others, tap right into the modern age. The Gospel’s message runs deep in the Southern realms, and encouragingly seems to motivate even those with little hope of being released. Hard times are softened by belief and redemption on a revelatory production. Returning to America after a myriad of recordings throughout the world’s past and present war zones, scenes of genocide and remote fabled communities, Brennan finds just as much trauma and the need for representation back home.’ DV

Various ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ & ‘Intended Consequences’ (Apranik Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link /Link two

‘As the West’s attention is quite rightly invested in the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, it’s fallen on artists, musicians to draw that intense scrutiny on the Iranian regime and its heinous treatment of women. Prompted by the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in the custody of the authorities last year, an ensuing battle of ideals and freedoms has ensued that threatens to topple the tyranny. However, the regime has pushed back harder and with an almost unprecedented violence started executing (mainly men so far) supporters and activists on trumped up, tortured confessional charges of treason. But even in the face of this bloody repression history is on the side of Iran’s younger more liberal generations.

In bringing that plight to Western attention and ears, Iranian artists AIDA and Nesa Azadikhah announced two volumes of not-for-profit compilations.

Both platform a multi-diverse cosmology of electronic female artists working both under endurable pains and censorship inside Iran, or self-exiled and making waves in the diaspora. Each compilation is a discovery of riches in the field of the avant-garde, techno, sound experimentation and protest. There’s been few worthier causes, and few that have been so ignored: the outrage, protests and marches here in the West sadly lacking and silent.’ DV

Violet Nox ‘Vortex And Voices’ (Somewherecold Records)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘A sci-fi chemistry of vapours the Boston, Massachusetts electronic outfit Violet Nox once more entrance with a futuristic new age album of psy-trance, cerebral techno and acid ethereal-voiced self-realization/self-discovery. Wired into the “now” however, messages of self-love and inclusiveness waft and drift to a rhythmic, wavy vision of EDM, crossover rave music and soulful electronica.

For this newest venture – their first for the highly prolific and quality North American label Somewherecold Records – features, more than ever, the experimental, often effected, vocals of group member Noell Dorsey: a mix of hippie cooed yearn, Tracey Thorn, Claudia Brücken and Esbe if you will.

Whether it’s journeying into the subconscious or leaving for celestial rendezvous’, Violet Nox turn the vaporous into an electronic art form that’s simultaneously yearning and mysterious. Fizzing with techy sophistication and escapism, the American electronic group continue to map out a fresh sonic universe.’ DV

W_______________________

The Waeve ‘The Waeve’ (Transgressive)
Chosen by GD/Reviewed by GD/Link

‘The WAEVE are a new band formed by Blur’s Graham Coxon (vocals/sax/guitar/medieval lute) and The Pipettes’ Rose Elinor Dougall (singer/songwriter/piano/ARP 2000 Synth).

The interaction and balance between the two voices is perfect with each singer excelling in their introversion and reserve! The band do have their own sound – a strange mix of folk-rock, punk, no wave, psych and easy listening! A truly great album that deserves a wide audience! Give it a listen – you may be surprised!’ GD

The Wedding Present ’24 Songs’ (HHBTM Records)
Chosen by BBS

‘An album that collects the A and B-sides to the series of singles released last year by the mighty Wedding Present, so obviously one of the best of the year.’ BBS

Y__________________________

Dhafer Youssef ‘Street of Minarets’ (Back Beat Edition)
Chosen by GD

Z___________________________

Zohastre ‘Abracadabra’ (ZamZam)
Chosen by DV/Reviewed by DV/Link

‘Spinning and dancing around the phosphor glowing fire whilst invoking a polygenesis array of pagan, hermetic and galactic deities, the French-Italian combo cast magical spells of progressive, psychedelic, noise, primitivism, electronica and cosmic krautrock on their conjuring sonic Wurlitzer.

Reworking references from each of the duos respective countries into a dizzy and often accelerated kaleidoscope of acid-trip occult ritual and more moody, near eerie, mystical uncertainty, Héloise Thibault and Olmo Guadagnoli combine an electronic soundboard with drums as they hurtle, collide and work a frenzy around the maypole.

For those seeking to discover some lost tribe of extraterrestrial worshipping acolytes with a penchant for Zacht Automaat, Sunburned Hand Of Man and the Soft Machine then ZamZam Records have you covered with an occult and tripping invitation too good to be missed.‘ DV

Hi, my name is Dominic Valvona and I’m the Founder of the music/culture blog monolithcocktail.com For the last ten years I’ve featured and supported music, musicians and labels we love across genres from around the world that we think you’ll want to know about. No content on the site is paid for or sponsored and we only feature artists we have genuine respect for /love. If you enjoy our reviews (and we often write long, thoughtful ones), found a new artist you admire or if we have featured you or artists you represent and would like to buy us a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/monolithcocktail to say cheers for spreading the word, then that would be much appreciated.