by JennyWren and has (with a smattering of help from Joη)
Michael Nystrom fans know all about his penchant for weirdness—his subject matter often verges on being eccentric and other times outright bizarre—but even long time listeners well acquainted with his conceptual approach to music will find his latest offerings full of refreshing, new material.

Following an 8 year hiatus, Nystrom is finally releasing the long awaited Kitchen of Soul & Electric Boogie Joint on May 3rd. The album, for reasons that still remain unclear at the time of this publication, will be made available exclusively in vinyl. Doubtless, the content of the album, the medium of it's issue, and also the timing of it's release were all part of a bigger picture that was painted years ago. That's just the way Nystrom works, though sometimes it seems that even he doesn't know where the journey he takes his listeners on will end. There are four different covers for the album, each featuring art from Edo period Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's (link is external) collection "Large Flowers".

Unsurprisingly, Kitchen of Soul is overflowing with Nystrom's distinctive iconoclastic style. Fans of his previous offerings, Things, Creeping and *******, both of which have achieved cult underground status, will be delighted in his latest work. While incredibly nuanced (several odd-ball instruments like the Heckelphone being featured throughout) it is at the same time somehow simple and straight forward enough as to be imminently listen-able and instantly accessible to any fan of music.