I'm not trying to provoke any cosmic backlash unto me but the fact is that today is Equinox and here I am talking about a record by Oberon called Midsummer Night's Dream.

I just found it by simple hazard (I prefer to call it serendipity) and fell in love with it. It's extremely rare (I think only 150 original copies were made!) and it features some of the loveliest folk sounds you'll likely to hear in quite some time. For seasoned folk lovers, maybe you won't find here nothing new but in my opinion, it has that one ingredient that separates it from most of what you've heard so far: magic.

I especially like the treatment they made to one of Debussy's classic pieces: Syrinx. I could hear it ad eternum and imagine myself daydreaming in a meadow somewhere. Maybe I just will.

Genre-hopper extraordinaire Ryuichi Sakamoto's Smoochy album is one I find myself listening to from time to time always with a renewed sense of wonder. It's almost like I keep finding new things about it everytime I listen to it.

And this is a crucial album if you want to find out what this man's music is all about and how it got where it is today. In it are the seeds of everything he went on to do, be it his electronic explorations with Alva Noto, his acoustic albums with piano and strings, or even his ongoing romance with bossa nova and other latin american music languages. It's all here.

I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite tracks - Bibo No Aozora - one that has been reworked by him in multiple ways in the past and always successfully, which only goes to prove just how simple in their complexity his songs really are. And in this lies his greatest gift. Enjoy it.

I've just found out about this amazing album through some friends of mine. I honestly (and foolishly) thought that Mike Patton, of Faith No More fame, had sort of abandoned his musical career after the band's breakup but I had no idea how wrong I was! He has apparently been involved in a myriad of musical projects with other bands, artists and movie soundtracks so I guess the man is here to stay, after all. And this particular album - Mondo Cane - might just prove to be his biggest claim to musical legitimacy he'll ever do. I sincerely hope he can prove me wrong because now I really want to know what he's going to do next.

Mondo Cane was apparently inspired by the fact of Patton having married an italian girl and moved in to Italy where he started to realize that italian radio stations filled the air with old italian pop songs. Which I simply love, in case you haven't noticed yet! This album is a sort of hommage to those years and those songs and that kind of sound that I guess you can instantly recognize in some Morricone soundtracks. And that's exactly where I'm going to leave you: a rendition of Deep Deep Down, a track that can be found on the soundtrack of Danger: Diabolik, a key movie of those times. And prepare to be amazed.

The funny thing about listening to film soundtracks is that you are liable to find something exquisite laying there, just waiting to mesmerize you for days and weeks on end. Karl-Heinz Schäfer's Les Gants Blancs du Diable is one such case.

If you've never heard of french fille Leonie, you may consider yourself automatically forgiven: she is just being rediscovered thanks to the ever-surprising world of the blogosphere and is creating a small phenomenon. I must say I'm intrigued and would love to see an official compilation of her recordings released in the near future. Her voice is quirky, child-like and dreamy and these characteristics alone are enough for me to enjoy her without even wanting to know who she is. Which I won't. Oh, by the way, this following track would've fit like a glove in the compilation I posted about just below.

So, without further ado, here she is, singing Couleurs. Enjoy.

Continuing in French Lands of the Weird Instrumentals, this one I bring you here today is essential listening to anyone interested in Gainsbourg and funky imaginary soundtracks. Confused? Don't be.

Jean-Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin des Mouches (The Child Fly-killer) was recorded during the sessions for Gainsbourg's classic masterpiece, Histoire de Melody Nelson. Vannier being Gainsbourg right-hand man during those historical sessions (he was responsible both for the production and string arrangements), he then went off to make this extremely other-worldly album that is at times innaccessible, bewildering, mesmerizing and polarizing. It's one of those that you have to be in the right mood for it or you'll find it completely bonkers and instantly dismiss it. Which you definitely mustn't.

It's a concept album before concept albums became the "thing" to do and it tells the story of a small child travelling through the Fly Kingdom (concept by Gainsbourg, no less). I'm going to leave you with one of its most accessible tracks: Danse des mouches noires gardes du roi, which roughly translates as Dance of the king's guards' black flies. See you soon.

And while we're on synthesizer music around here (see below), why not remember a true classic of the genre? And here it is: Jean-Jacques Perrey's Moog Indigo, a trail-blazing work of unlimited fun whenever you put it on.

Perrey started his career by selling Ondioline synthesizers and from there to making albums with another very famous synthesizer - the titular Moog - was a shortcut. Funny thing is, he never intended or pretended to be part of some kind of avant-garde movement with a grand scheme of things. His only goal was to popularize the electronic instrument and let's just say that he did more than alright with it!

I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite tracks from this enormously influencial album (just ask any rap or hip-hop artist about the Moog and you'll get some pretty awkward smiles in return...) and while I'm at it, I'm going to wish you a great week. Listen to E. V. A..

I told you I was listening to all sorts of different music, didn't I? Well, here is another example of my recent Aural Adventures into the Sound Unknown!

Birds Do It - Music From German Sex Education Movies is the title of this great little compilation and I should think it is self-explanatory! No puns here, as you can see - or maybe one or two...! If you lived in Europe some 25 to 30 years ago and had the good fortune of owning a sattelite disk in your home (remember them?), maybe you too ventured into the wild and wonderful world of late-night TV watching, surfing those euro channels up and down in search of that elusive glimpse of a, how should I put it, model for your nude painting project... (wink, wink, nudge, nudge and all that) usually found in german TV stations.

If you are lucky enough to have those kind of memories, then this compilation is really a treat from bottom to end. If not, consider yourselves lucky too and start your education per se by clicking on the play button below! This track is called Sunny Honey and it's sung by one Uschi Moser. Enjoy it!

I bet you didn't see this one coming, did you? Well, neither did I. It's just that lately I've been having to deal with very hard situations and having to take a lot of tough decisions that I really need to listen to some harmonious music to get myself together. And this one here by japanese genius Ryuichi Sakamoto is just the perfect thing for that.

Probably my favorite Sakamoto album (alongside BTTB), 1996 consists of musical reinterpretations of his own compositions arranged for a trio. The results are wondrous. It's quite amazing the way in which he succeeds to perfectly translate a totally different sonic arquitecture into the world of chamber music, which is basically what this album really is. Old classics next to then current favorites, they're all here and for me the key for the success of this album lies in the absolutely gorgeous melodies he's been able to produce all these years as a recording artist. That's the basis and sine qua non of the perennial charm of his compositions. Hats off, then.

I leave you with the song that most of us got introduced to his very own particular brand of music: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Enter bliss.

And the aural journey takes yet another detour. A left-field one, in fact. Ever heard of Popol Vuh? Well, now you will.

I first got acquainted with the music of this german band when I happened upon the films of Werner Herzog. I think a lot of people can relate to that since they produced some of their most well known work with the equally famous german director. Their soundtracks are objects of cult following all over the world and for a reason: the atmospheres created are otherworldly and help transport the images to another realm altogether.

And so I wanted more. Hosianna Mantra (which presents itself as a marriage between western and eastern religions) is a masterpiece of ambient sounds and pastoral melodies. At the time, it represented both a break-up with their more krautrock oriented sound and a breakthrough to a more transcendental way of making music. It really is an aural delight from start to finish. Listen to Ah!, the album opener: