Jonathan Koven

#MWE

Thx everyone who followed along. Hope you discovered something too. Big thx to other participants—hyped to listen to what y’all shared.

For new folks, I’m a published author/poet. Check the 🔗 in bio if you’re so inclined. My latest—Spark Bird—is about a musician! I’m writing my next one now.

The Raincoats - Odyshape (1981)

#MWE
The Raincoats - Odyshape (1981)

An excellent album to end the month on, a dissonant, deconstructed post-punk affair that’s more like abstracted art-rock—with exotic instrumentation, off-kilter melodies, & a free-jazzy ethos. Kurt Cobain was apparently a huge fan. For fans of weird, good stuff!

Roberta Flack - Quiet Fire (1971)

#MWE
Roberta Flack - Quiet Fire (1971)

My introduction to this legendary soul artist, an underrated early album by her. It’s subtle yet exquisite, quietly stunning all the way through. Roberta’s interpretations triumph over the originals she covers. The intimate passion of her voice is dazzling.

Soapkills - Enta Fen (2005)

#MWE
Soapkills - Enta Fen (2005)

Enjoyed floating away to this dubby post-war Lebanese indie duo. Mellow, melismatic vocals sung in Arabic glide over layers of sophisticated downtempo & trip-hop beats, casting an ethereal atmosphere. It's delicate & melancholic, a lovely dreamscape to get lost in.

Patti Smith - Horses (1975)

#MWE
Patti Smith - Horses (1975)

Cited as "the first punk rock album," but it's much more than that. Adored this prophetic bridge between spoken-word poetry & music, between generations of rock, between the personal & the universal—that still resonates over 50 years later. Inspired & empowering.

Be sure to check out Akina Nakamori’s Fushigi before the month is over. All-timer.

Jlin - Black Origami (2017)

#MWE
Jlin - Black Origami (2017)

This experimental footwork album tore my face off. Brings to mind gamelan music in its total sensory overwhelm. An Afrofuturist explosion of tribal, Eastern, & industrial influence. No choice but to submit to this thunderous barrage of drums flurrying over darkness.

Precarious Sound, Precarious Being: Eliane Radigue’s Feedback Works Feedback emerges within a zone of sonic precarity, intensifying into the intolerable on its hither side. As anyone who’s used a microphone knows, the most obvious factor in determining this zone is…

Highly recommend. Listening to it didn’t feel like three hours at all. It felt like it transported me to a place where time didn’t exist. Reading about her recording process made it even more special. This was a good read: mandelcabrera.com/2019/06/17/p...

Éliane Radigue - Trilogie De La Mort (1994)

#MWE
Éliane Radigue - Trilogie De La Mort (1994)

Dedicating the rest of today to this French ambient pioneer who passed away yesterday. Inspired by her son's death & Tibetan Buddhism, this monument of precisely-arranged drone massaged my brain & provided a spiritual medicine of the infinitesimal.

Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun (1968)

#MWE
Grateful Dead - Anthem of the Sun (1968)

Unsure if I'll ever be a Deadhead but I enjoyed this grandiose psychedelic swirl of an album. More my vibe than American Beauty which struck me as merely pleasant. Awash in kaleidoscopic acid-fueled jams & humming feedback, it's kind of a cosmic gumbo 😉

Litto Nebbia- Bazar de los Milagros
Arrange- Their Bodies in a Fog
How to Dress Well- I Am Toward You
Lizzy Mercier Descloux- Mambo Nassau
Ferkat Al Ard- Oghneya
The Appleseed Cast- Illumination Ritual
Sonya Spence- In the Dark
Jonsi & Alex- Riceboy Sleeps
Ziad Rahbani- Houdou Nisbi
Gal Costa- S/T

Wow that is sick! Was it in Japan?

She rules!!

glad you enjoyed! also check Litto Nebbia if you're want more stuff like this. I love these by him (he's had a v prolific career)

Bazar de los Milagros
Creer
Muerte en la Catedral
Fuera del Cielo
1981
En Brasil Aqui y Ahora
Despertemos en América
Canciones para perdedores
Toda Canción Será Plegaria

Debutaca - S/T (1991)

#MWE
Debutaca - S/T (1991)

This Uraguayan group has 23 monthly listeners & hardly any info online about them. That's how you know it's great. Sophisticated arrangements pull from candombe, tango, & murga, while approaching a frenzied jazz-fusion tinged with electronics. A unique, rewarding listen.

Enya - Watermark (1988)

#MWE
Enya - Watermark (1988)

Enya has unfortunately become somewhat of a punchline due to media oversaturation & a general skepticism to spiritual/new age music. But if you can overcome that bias, this is a blissful work of Celtic art whose influence is felt everywhere. Oceanic, hymnal, heavenly.

Otim Alpha - Gulu City Anthems (2017)

#MWE
Otim Alpha - Gulu City Anthems (2017)

A burst of joyous celebration from Ugandan “rapper” Otim Alpha (not really rap, but there’s a likeness). His sound is “electro acholi,” blending East African traditional wedding music & electronic dance. Listened while running yesterday & it kept me hyped!

Rayuela - S/T (1978)

#MWE
Rayuela - S/T (1978)

Exactly what I was hoping for. Each time I listen to 70-80s Argentine prog, I'm further convinced it's the best genre. Autumnal, energetic gusts of keyboards swim alongside sax, flutes, & dreamy jazz-fusion guitar with soulful Spanish vocals. Enchanting, romantic, perfect.

Yeah, it’s softboy shit. Garfunkel held back everything potentially good about them. Now check out Paul Simon’s Graceland and/or Rhythm of the Saints and have your mind blown.

I Promised the World - S/T (2026)

#MWE
I Promised the World - S/T (2026)

Throwing a bone to the ex-scene kids. Somehow this still scratches an itch for me. Unreal how these guys are a time machine to Myspace era post-hardcore/screamo: breakdowns, blast beats, soaring guitars & all. They pull it off. RIYL: Saosin, Underoath, Chiodos

The Analog Africa label has spent 20 years bringing us African scream contests, cosmic sounds of Cape Verde, Brazilian western soundtracks and Beninese vodou, now @mojomagazine.bsky.social wants to know your pick of their releases. Hit me with the what and the why and let's make this definitive.

I listen to everything they put out. Truly impeccable label that consistently delivers. I think Mambo Loco is an underrated one--and in general the offbeat latin stuff hits the spot for me. Really enjoy the Somalian releases too. But I think Hallelujah Chicken Run Band reigns supreme.

Elin Kåven - Jikņon Musihkka (2009)

#MWE
Elin Kåven - Jikņon Musihkka (2009)

A self-described "Arctic folk pop" debut from indigenous Sámi songwriter, blending the modern & archaic into mystical soundscapes. Enjoyed these richly layered, meditative songs that transported me to the glacial heights of Norway. RIYL: a poppier Sigur Rós.

excited to receive this and read it in print!!

Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii (1989)

#MWE
Baaba Maal & Mansour Seck - Djam Leelii (1989)

A dose of intimate, ethereal elegance from Senegal. The cyclical guitar & Afro-Islamic vocals mesmerize, evoking a nocturnal tone that left me thinking of sorrows across the world. A meditative listen if you allow yourself to sink into its beauty.

James Brown - The Payback (1973)

#MWE
James Brown - The Payback (1973)

Everyone drop what you’re doing and listen to this! If someone told me this was the greatest album ever recorded, I wouldn’t bat an eye. This timeless, landmark funk/soul thrill-ride sounds like JB meets Fela Kuti, while laying the foundations for gangsta rap 🔥

Definitely agree!

The 80s are constantly under-appreciated! Tons of great stuff yet people always call it the worst musical decade 😤

Violent Femmes - S/T (1983)

#MWE
Violent Femmes - S/T (1983)

Boyish teenage angst oozes from blistered (😉) proto-indie anthems that beg to be adored. Delightful, heart-on-sleeve folk-punk—more earthy than rowdy—with tons of personality. You can't help but be charmed. Everyone knows the singles, but this whole album is great.

Joe Zawinul - S/T (1971)

#MWE
Joe Zawinul - S/T (1971)

Serene & cosmic, an early jazz-fusion masterpiece that ranks among the best of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, & Chick Corea. Makes sense as Zawinul played with all three, wrote the title track for In a Silent Way & performed on the album. Highly rec’d for the jazz heads!