Joel Rafael - Baladista

Joel Rafael - BaladistaBaladista, Joel Rafael's ninth album, delivers ten essential ballads that embrace and celebrate the human spirit, and reflect the half century journey of an American songwriter.

his digitized voice chanting widely over the mutated New Wave-esque anthem

an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness

beguiling collection combining classical instrumentation with electronic and electro-mechanical elements

Drawing inspiration from Aphex Twin

'Nervous Records: 30 Years' is both a celebration of the past and of the future

gawking with amusement at it's concocted air of luxury

Amazing live 1978 set recorded at My Fathers Place (owned by Michael \x27Eppy\x27 Epstein in Roslyn

" Their sound takes cues from a variety of cool underground sounds and twists it all into an energetic and exciting fist-to-the-face of dark fury

The album has a flow that grabs you from the first notes and builds monuments from there on

yet it holds together with a late-night woozy consistency while veering from AM-radio jazz ("You Can Never Hold Back Spring") to folk ("Widow's Grove")

Blind Owl's songs for Canned Heat stood in stark contrast to the bands blustery blues rock - his was a gentle and nuanced voice and the themes of his song were all about personal heartbreak

recorded between London and Los Angeles