With so much good music coming through thick and fast, it’s easy for albums to drop online and go overlooked. Each week we select new records from across the musical soundscape that requires your attention. So happy listening – and don’t forget to hit the links and support the artists.
Albums
Joaquin Joe Claussell – Raw Tones
Released initially on uber limited cassettes, Joaquin Joe Claussell lands on Radio Slave’s Rekids with ‘Raw Tones’, a nine-track excursion through the sound of his exquisitely soulful house music. As soon as you hear the first track, Lock Down, you will understand why Radio Slave, aka Matt Edwards, was eager to get the album out to a wider audience. It’s a deep, powerful, and entrancing LP.
Kinkajous – Being Waves
Cinematic jazz / experimental outfit Kinkajous returns with album number two. Being Waves comes two years from the quintet’s last album, 2019’s Hidden Lines, and it sees them blend acoustic and orchestral instrumentation, analogue synthesis, and sampling processes. Highly recommended.
Run Logan Run – For A Brief Moment We Could Smell The Flowers
Bristolian duo Run Logan Run returns with a third studio album, produced by Nostalgia 77’s: Riaan Vosloo. The latest LP sees free improvisation mix with electronic soundscapes, propulsive rhythms, and spiritual jazz as the duo pushes their sound in an exciting new direction.
Soccer96 – Dopamine
‘Dopamine’ is Soccer96’s fourth studio album and first album on Moshi Moshi. Keyboardist Dan Leavers (a.k.a. Danalogue) and Maxwell Hallett (Betamax) use the idea of humanity’s ever-increasing entanglement with technology and artificial intelligence to balance moral concerns and fears, as well as the possibility of evolution’s next phase, as their inspiration. Dopamine will conjure a mind-movie in adventurous listeners ‘ minds with its heady mix of experimental electronic music, cosmic jazz, and punk spirit. Essential.
Virke – Hovsjö 80
I didn’t know I needed a soundtrack to a nonexistent movie about a teenager during the 1980s in Hovsjö, but after listening to Virke’s new album, I guess I do.
EP’s
Cloud of I – Gazing
Cloud of I was conceived by Yuli Shafiri in her squat in the 18th District of Paris and realised in Tel Aviv, her spiritual home. As a musician, Sharfiri draws inspiration from nature and the earth. Her music blurs between a fuzzed-out psychedelic acid folk sound and an intense, layered electronic sound influenced heavily by the Middle East. This one is hitting the freak-folk sweet spot.
MMYYKK – Science
MMYYKK examines themes of accountability and materiality across r&b/soul, ambient, Astro beat, cosmic jazz, and hip hop on this 6-song EP, which includes cameos from artists in MMYYKK’s adopted hometown of Minneapolis and a contribution from London’s own Demae.
Àbáse x Zeitgeist – Body Mind Spirit
In ‘Body Mind Spirit‘, multi-instrumentalist Abáse and drummer/producer Ziggy Zeitgeist showcase their collaborative skills, moving fluidly through future funk, deep electronica, house, and techno while demonstrating their depth of musical understanding. Merging traditional African oral culture with global-minded poetics, Dumama from Dumama + Kecho lends her voice to the project, seamlessly bringing the past and future together. Ace!
t-woc – Pantangle
The On-U inspired, Anatolian melody weaving, Caribbean steel drum pounding, and carefully blended experimental electronic sounds of t-woc, on Strangelove, has many peaks but no lows, in my opinion. Turn it up!
Lauren Duffus – SULK
There’s no typical Lauren Duffus sound judging by SULK. Her first proper release features three unique tracks that draw from diverse genres creating a listening experience that feels and sounds invigorating every time. Her unique hyperchoral sketches transmit a sense of heartfelt abandon and drama with offbeat vocal samples, dub-pop rhythms, and layers of atmosphere. Killer EP!
