MISHA PANFILOV – FRUTARIA ELECTRÓNICA

(LP, Digital on Miraaz Records)

MISHA PANFILOV SEPTET – LIVE IN STOCKHOLM AND TALLINN

(LP, Digital on Funk Night Records)

You never know, it’s true, but if I ever manage to meet Misha Panfilov, I imagine he’d be 1) very busy, either writing or recording, and 2) extremely affable.  Panfilov is the ultra-prolific composer and multi-instrumentalist from Estonia, lately of Portugal.  His music is shot through with imagination and never fails to lift my spirits, even though it’s so varied from release to release.  Here we have not one, but two fine albums, released a mere four weeks apart, and that’s only about half of his output for 2024 so far.  They couldn’t be more different and they’re both superb.

First up, we have Frutaria Electrónica, the instrumental album which is pretty much what the title sounds like, electronic music about fruit.  Panfilov doesn’t often center his music around synthesizers, so this is a bit rare for him.  It has a retro-future, exotica-meets-library music flavor, and isn’t a million miles away from some Ghost Box releases, except there’s no hauntological aspect.  The nine main tracks all have a fun-loving sensibility about them.  The vintage analogue synth sounds and themes about growing things also plant the album (see what I did there?) in similar territory to Mort Garson’s Mother Earth’s Plantasia and contemporary works by Green-House.  That’s very good company indeed.  It’s nearly impossible to listen to this album without breaking into a grin.  The pieces all seem to revel in a sense of eyes-wide-open wonder and pleasure about their fruity subjects.  Doubt me?  Just put on “Whale Song” (darn, I picked one song he didn’t name about a fruit!) and see if you don’t feel like smiling, chuckling and floating about the room.

Next, we have Live in Stockholm and Tallinn by Panfilov’s septet.  A completely different kettle of fish than its predecessor album, this is straight-up jazz from Misha’s seven-piece ensemble recorded in the two Baltic cities in August 2023.  The eight tracks, sequenced on the record in different order/locations than originally performed, are all highly accessible, tuneful songs.  Instrumentation includes Panfilov on guitar, lap steel and percussion; Monika Erdman on bass; Leonid Galaganov on drums, tabla and percussion; Ilja Gussarov on flute and percussion; Volodja Brodsky on piano; Sasha Petrov on tenor saxophone and percussion; and Kino Toshiki on trumpet and percussion.  If jazz isn’t your thing, don’t let that scare you away.  Like everything Misha Panfilov does, these tracks are massively catchy and likeable.

These records represent just two styles Panfilov does and does extremely well.  On other releases, he plays funk, garage and more library music-leaning sounds.  Staying within a one-year timeframe, I’ll also highly recommend his Atlântico from late 2023.  Recorded in and influenced by a sojourn in the island of Madeira, it’s another corker, and yet another wholly different sound.  Also, I was today years old when I learned the jam band Phish apparently plays Panfilov’s music between their sets.  Give Panfilov’s music a spin; it’ll lighten up your day.

(Mark Feingold)

Rǝhman Mǝmmǝdli – AZERBAIJANI GITARA VOLUME 2

(LP, Cassette, Digital on Bongo Joe Records)

An incredible overview of recordings by an incredible guitarist, this collection showcases an artist until recently little known in the West, Rǝhman Mǝmmǝdli from Azerbaijan.  The electric guitar was introduced to Azerbaijan several decades ago.  Since the region was cut off to Western commercial guitars like Fender and Gibson, the popular Eastern Bloc stand-in was from the Czechoslovakian company Jolana, which Mǝmmǝdli plays.  Much of his music is in the traditional Caucasus classical style known as mugham, as well as folk and dance varieties.  Self-taught, he emerged in the 1970s, and is still actively performing at 63.

Yes, there was an Azerbaijani Gitara Volume 1, released in 2020 also on Bongo Joe, featuring the work of his countryman Rüstǝm Quliyev.  It’s well worth checking out, but in my opinion, this is much more stylish.  Hitting Play on the first track “Qoçǝli,” the listener is met with almost a shock to the senses.  Mǝmmǝdli plays quick, stabbing, highly distorted notes over an exotic melody and rhythm.  The background instruments on the tracks typically include accordion, synth, and percussive beats.  The backgrounds can sound canned, a simple vehicle for Mǝmmǝdli to paint his guitar strokes over.  An initial listen to the album might lead the listener to think after a while the songs lack variety since we’re not used to this style.  But further listens reveal just how different each track is from the others, and how perfectly Mǝmmǝdli attacks them individually with his frantic guitar style.

Known in Azerbaijan by a moniker which means “the one with the singing fingers,” Mǝmmǝdli certainly makes his guitar sing.  He bends the strings with his wrist, modifies the tuning with quarter tones, and liberally applies hammer-on and pull-off techniques to his rapid-fire note splaying.  His playing is emotive, and at times sounds almost like a rapid-fire conversation in song, with the guitar as voice.  Many of the songs are tailored to life cycle events such as weddings and community celebrations.

Rightly celebrated in his homeland, Mǝmmǝdli has finally begun to get some of the attention and accolades he deserves elsewhere.  He performed at the Le Guess Who festival last year, toured in Europe this past June, and of course there’s this album release.  There are also some fascinating videos on social media of him playing.  Well worth a listen.

(Mark Feingold)

THE DECLINING WINTER - LAST APRIL

(Available on Second Language)

Second Language has been busy in recent years releasing/reissuing albums from several Terrastock performers, including Sharron Kraus, Glen Johnson (Piano Magic and several collaborative projects), and Hood’s Richard Adams (The Declining Winter, Memory Drawings.) Last April follows 2023’s Really Early, Really Late and is a sparser effort, written in a single night in honour and memory of Richard’s mum’s sudden passing. Eschewing the traditional band line-up on previous releases, Last April whittles the instrumentation down to Adams (guitar, voice) and violinist Sarah Kemp. There’s a bedsitter quality to some tracks, with creaking chairs, barking dogs, and fluffed notes adding to the intimate vibe. Comparisons with Nick Drake, Dodson and Fogg, and early Red House Painters may set the mood, but Adams’s conversational, occasionally cracking vocals (and cathartic lyrics) and Kemp’s serpentining, melancholic interplay puts you right at their feet as if they’re delivering a private performance just for you.

     There’s also an improvisational, in-the-moment aspect as Adams reaches for the next note and Kemp almost intuitively follows his lead. This is a quiet album that develops a path of its own as a song progresses from thought to action. As such, you’ll need to patiently let it envelop you with its introspective charm and elegance.

[Note] The digital download features two bonus tracks in a similar vein, ‘One Year’ being particularly heart-wrenching.

(Jeff Penczak)