Kocani Orkestar: The Ravished Bride (Crammed Discs)

A vivacious Romani brass band, the Kocani Orkestar returns after its release of Alone at My Wedding, an album full of Gypsy wedding music.

The Ravished Bride finds the group as powerful as ever, combining wild instrumental runs with the crooning voice of Ajnur Azizov. The album contains a touch of surf influence while also including a Mexican number and a few traditional Macedonian pieces. Guitarist Uri Kinrot (Balkan Beat Box) makes a guest appearance.

Femi Kuti: Day by Day (Wrasse)

The eldest son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, Femi furthers his own legacy with Day by Day, the newest installment in his 20-year career as a bandleader. Like much of his family’s catalog, Day by Day targets the corruption of African politicians, but its soul-jazz influence takes Femi in a new direction — trading his saxophone for a piano and a trumpet, his original instrument.

Ocean: Pantheon of the Lesser (Important)

Two years in the making, Pantheon of the Lesser is Ocean’s brutal new two-song full-length.

The album’s opener, “The Beacon,” is 41 minutes of über-slow doom - which consists of three movements and turns into more than an hour of material when played live. But the songs are more than distorted, minimalist dirges; melancholy chimes combine with clean-channel guitar to give “The Beacon” a downright deathly feel.

Ocean: “The Beacon” (excerpt)

Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid: NYC (Domino)

Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and Steve Reid (Steve Reid Ensemble) present another helping of atmospheric samples, dense sound collages, and jazz drumming. Influenced by New York City and its “infamous energies,” the songs on NYC are time-tested structures — no longer the “instant compositions” that marked the duo’s initial collaborations.

Spylacopa: s/t EP (Rising Pulse)

This five-song debut EP is a studio project from John LaMacchia (Candiria), Jeff Caxide (Isis), Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan), and Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies / Battle of Mice). The disc’s primary style is one of modern metal, but it crosses into alternative sonic territory with the pretty piano work on “Together We Become Forever” and the Pink Floyd-sounding guitars of “I Should Have Known You Would.”

Spylacopa: “Haunting a Ghost”

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Posted to Music Reviews on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 by Scott Morrow.

Tags: Crammed Discs, Domino, Femi Kuti, Important, Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid, Kocani Orkestar, Ocean, Rising Pulse, Spylacopa, Wrasse