With so much good music coming through thick and fast, it’s easy for albums to drop online and go overlooked. No lengthy write-ups as who reads those anyway? We keep it short and to the point because you’re here to listen to the music! Check out our weekly mini-guide below and if you like what you hear, click the links and support the artists.
Albums
MNTH – MNTH
If you want to hear an album that brilliantly combines Afrobeat-inspired polyrhythms, ambient and hardcore punk, look no further than MNTH’s eponymous new offering. São Paolo-based producer and musician Luciano Valério a.k.a. MNTH, presents a chasmic 30-min round trip of São Paolo’s deviating and restless musical underground featuring contributions from percussionist M. Takara and co-production work from Psilosamples. Undoubtedly one of the most distinctive-sounding albums you’ll likely hear all year.
Błoto – Kwasy i zasady
If you’re curious about how an album blending jazz improvisation, dingy rap from Memphis, cassette tapes, trap, drill elements and hip-hop loops would sound like, click play on Kwasy i zasady. Another stellar release from Błoto.
Sons Of Kemet – Black To The Future
The brilliant afro-jazzers Sons of Kemet (Shabaka Hutchings, Tom Skinner, Theon Cross, and Eddie Hick), have released their fourth album titled Black To The Future via Impulse! Records. It features many excellent collaborators, including Moor Mother, Angel Bat Dawid, Kojey Radical, and more. As always, the sax, tuba and dual drum outfit are in blistering form.
Ann Margaret Hogan – Funeral Cargo
This second album from ex post-punk/new wave hero Ann Margaret Hogan is an addictive and rewarding listen. The eight gorgeous improvised solo piano pieces are the balm to ease the most troubled mind. A must-try for fans of Satie, Virginia Astley, Sarah Davachi.
Trees Speak – PostHuman
Now on their third Trees Speak album in the space of one year, the Diaz brothers fuse 1970s German electronic, ‘motorik’ Krautrock instrumentals, and film soundtrack work of the Seventies with the DIY attitude of New York’s Eighties underground scene. So much to love in less than 40 minutes of the brothers signature style that manages to be quirky yet familiar. Highlights are the brilliant ‘Glass’, ‘Chamber of Frequencies’, and ‘Steckdose’, my three favourite tracks.
Sam Gendel – Valley Fever
The soundtrack to a film about sister and brother who are in Death Valley National Park to find the time capsule their deceased parents left for them. The short yet subtly intricate piece will keep you on your toes for the six-minute run time.
Sven Wunder – Natura Morta
Natura Morta is the third album on Piano Piano Records by Swedish artist Sven Wunder. The album finds Wunder exploring art as a bridge between nature and the human ability to judge and observe in eleven musical compositions with brightly coloured textures and vibrant melodies. Drawing on elements of library music, Natura Morta blends a chamber orchestra and a jazz ensemble. A lovely ear-worm of an album!
Compilations
Color De Tropico Vol 2 – Compiled by El Drágon Criollo & El Palmas
Continuing where the first compilation left off, DJs El Palmas and El Dragón Criollo return to Venezuela’s hedonistic and hugely creative period of the 60s and 70s to curate another selection of rare musical gems reissued here for the first time on vinyl. Essential!
EP’s
Kolonel Djafaar – Cold Heat
Belgian instrumental jazz outfit Kolonel Djafaar, land on Batov Records with their latest EP. A bold mix of Afrobeat, Ethio-jazz, and Middle Eastern psych, its four tracks pack a mighty punch. If you’re on the lookout for genuinely original new music, then look no further. A must-listen for fans of The Comet Is Coming and Melt Yourself Down.
Singles
SW2 ft. Moses Boyd – Bridge The Gap / Dirty South
Like Rice Krispies, this one snaps, crackles, and pops. SW2 and Moses Boyd connect! I don’t think we need to say much more except press play and enjoy the vibes.
Also worth your time…
LIFAFA – SUPERPOWER 2020 सुपरपॉवर २०२०
Natural Information Society with Evan Parker – descension (Out of Our Constrictions)
James Brandon Lewis / Red Lily Quintet – Jesop Wagon
Forthcoming
Naya Beat Volume 1: South Asian Dance and Electronic Music 1983-1992
