Nickie’s Niches #50: February 2026

Start Artist Song Time Album Year 0:01:54 Venus Loon The Eternal Amicus Dance 4:08 Ophanim 2025 0:06:21 Jason Blake Pluvial Thoughts 5:03 Ethereal Dialogue 2024 0:11:46 Ævestaden Jag vill ut och du vill ner i jorden 5:44 Ni blomster i en åker 2025 0:18:21 Rubi Ate The Fig Gilgamesh 3:55 Desert Electric 2025 0:22:52 Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore Perpetual Adoration 5:26 Tragic Magic 2026 0:28:43 Europa String Choir Waterfall 4:46 Lemon Crash-25th Anniversary Edition 2025 0:33:55 Tyler Kamen Spirit Box (The Call / The Dream) 10:10 Echoe’s End 2026 0:44:29 Estas Tonne Wheel of Life-The Insight 6:41 Sound Ceremony (Live in Zurich, 2024) 2026 0:51:37 Ashley Reaks Deep Inside Our Silent Sorrow 5:21 Nature Reversed 2026 0:57:18 Faun Drei Tage 4:35 Drei Tage 2026 Ophanim by Venus Loon favorite track The Eternal Amicus Dance Peter Lawson and Wolfgang Ostermann have teamed up as Venus Loon, bringing a fine release of progressive/space rock. Peter plays guitars, bass, keyboards, and mandolin, and Wolfgang provides the drums for the tracks. Ethereal Dialogue by Jason Blake favorite track Pluvial Thoughts Chicagoan Jason Blake plays Warr guitar, often in a more progressive rock style rather than this atmospheric outing. He combines looping and various echo effects into resplendent meditations Ni blomster i en åker by Ævestaden favorite track Jag vill ut och du vill ner i jorden This Norwegian trio of multi-instrumentalists play fiddle, jaw harp, lyres, kantele, cow horn, and electronics. They expertly blend vocal harmonies into a rich pastiche which harkens to ancient Nordic traditions. Desert Electric by Rubi Ate the Fig favorite track Gilgamesh Based out of New Mexico, the core band is led by composter Sharon Eliashar on vocals and guitar, members add qanun, drums and other percussion, guitars, keyboards, bass, saz, cello, and buzuq. Guest musicians play ney, Arabic strings, additional percussion, duduk, oud, zourna, farfisa organ, additional backing vocals, a string quartet, and probably there’s a kitchen sink in there, too. The music is a heady amalgamation of rock and psych, blended with Middle Eastern traditions. Tragic Magic by Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore favorite track Perpetual Adoration Here is a collaboration of vocalist and electronica composer Julianna Barwick and harpist Mary Lattimore. Recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris, they utilized the Musée de la Musique’s instrument collection, which included ancient harps and analog synths. Together they have created a bewitching musical spell. Lemon Crash – 25th Anniversary Edition by Europa String Choir favorite track Waterfall around for just a little while. This is a release with the pieces being reworked with modern equipment for superior sound. Instruments are 6-string violectra, guitars, and 8-string touch guitar, producing a heady blend of acoustic and electric music. Echoe’s End by Tyler Kamen favorite track Spirit Box, Pt. 2 – The Dream New York psych/folk/blues-tinged multi-instrumentalist and composer Tyler Kamen returns with this lovely, layered, lysergic plunge deep into the otherworld. There is no mistaking his signature sound for anyone else, yet each release is not merely delving into the same territory as the ones before. Dreamy and phantasmagoric. Sound Ceremony (Live in Zurich, Spring 2024) by Estas Tonne feat. Ali Ghamsari, Sylvia Kirchherr, Ben Aylon, Yonatan Bar Rashi favorite track Wheel of Life-The Insight This superb guitarist and composer is joined live with guests on Iranian tar, various percussion instruments and vocalists. He has indeed created somewhat of a ceremonial atmosphere for this show, with several extended pieces, which are stunning. For brevity’s sake, I am choosing Wheel of Life – The Insight, which reflects most of what you will find here. Nature Reversed by Ashley Reaks favorite track Deep Inside Our Silent Sorrow Ashley Reaks has issued another fine release, which sounds unmistakenly like him, and no one else. These songs are all inspired by the Yorkshire Dales, but don’t expect them to be cheerily bucolic because of that. These are dark dales, where the wanderer is struggling with angst and faces his own inner familial demons. He eventually succeeds, finding a sort of peace after he has faced them and the storms have passed. FAUN “Drei Tage” Single 2026 FAUN return with their superb amalgamation of traditional and modern instrumentation that places them squarely at the leading edge of the dark/pagan/medieval folk pack. Drei Tage features dulcet vocals and lush orchestration, it’s full of mystery and Nordic darkness.