With so much good music coming through thick and fast, it’s easy for new music to drop online and go unnoticed. To help prevent this, we’ve picked five records you don’t want to sleep on. Stream music from Quelle Chris, Escapism Refuge, Banana, The Peter Franks Group and Auntie Flo. If you like what you hear, support the artist.
Quelle Chris – Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often
“For the Mello Music Group release, Quelle assembled a veritable hip-hop Justice League: Roc Marciano, Homeboy Sandman, Denmark Vessey, Jean Grae, Elzhi, Cavalier, et. al. Then there’s the production, mostly handled by Quelle, but aided by crucial assists from MNDGSN, Iman Omari, Chris Keys, Swarvy, and Alchemist.”
★★★★☆
Escapism Refuge – Red Lights EP
“Landing on Smokin’ Sessions, the ‘Red Lights EP’ will form a perfect fit for the label, whose previous efforts from Synkro, DJ Rum and Versa have all reinforced the ambient and bass-heavy 2-step sound chosen by Escapism Refuge on this EP.”
★★★☆☆
Banana – Live
“BANANA adds bright notes of fruit to what exploratory trumpeter Jon Hassell once called the “coffee-coloured classical music of the future.” Composer Josiah Steinbrick works in the best tradition of the so-called Fourth World repertory bequeathed to us by YMO vets Haruomi Hosono and Ryuchi Sakamoto, gay musical polymath Lou Harrison, surfing shape-shifter Mike Cooper, 80s cassette weirdos Rimarimba, spiritual jazz guru and Sun Ra alum Kelan Phil Cochran, and the entire Nonesuch Explorer series of vinyl records, not to mention Hassell himself.”
★★★☆☆
The Peter Franks Group – Days Past
“Deep jazz and beats from Peter Franks and his group of stellar UK musicians.”
★★★☆☆
Auntie Flo – The Soniferous Garden
“Brian d’Souza (aka Auntie Flo) brings together an international group of musicians to explore musical differences and celebrate shared visions across two extended tracks, recorded in the heat of downtown Kampala.”
★★★☆☆
