Welcome to your new Between The Cracks featuring ten releases that need your attention. As always 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! If you enjoy the music we have chosen this week, please click on the links below and support the artists.
Albums
Nate Mercereau – SUNDAYS
We’re enjoying the delicate fusion of ambient jazz and experimental electronic soundscapes of multi-instrumentalist Nate Mercereau’s SUNDAYS on Nice Life. Press play and allow your mind to drift in every direction.
Maya Youssef – Finding Home
Maya Youssef, hailed as the ‘Queen of the Qanun,’ has built up an awe-inspiring body of work since her debut album in 2017. Her new album Finding Home is every bit as beautiful as any of her previous releases and is one of those rare gems that we instantly fell in love with that will appeal to a broad cross-section of music fans.
72-Hour Post Fight – Non-Background Music
72-Hour Post Fight’s electroacoustic, ambient, jazz, math rock, hip hop and emo fusion is impressively twisted. Listen to the incredible album below, and then check out their self-titled debut right after. A great listen from start to finish.
Soccer96 – Inner Worlds
A band rarely sounds completely different on two albums. With Soccer96’s fifth album, they demonstrate their creativity in original and exciting new ways. The duo of Dan Leavers (Danalogue) and Maxwell Hallett (Betamax) describe their new record as “spiritual combat music to steady us through the stormy changes of the outer world.”. Co-written with The Colours That Rise, Tom Herbert, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Simbad and Rozi Plain, this is a genre-defying fusion of psychedelia, jazz, rock and electronica.
JOYFULTALK – Familiar Science
Taking disparate facets of music and making something with a completely coherent vision, JOYFULTALK returns with a new album. With the help of some of Calgary’s finest improvising musicians, he rips up their performances and recreates them into something original with roots in jazz and electronic music. This is also the first JOYFULTALK album to feature his guitar playing in a long time. Fans of Flying Lotus, Makaya McCraven, and mid-70s Ornette will enjoy this.
Kibrom Birhane – Here and There
Later this month, virtuoso composer and pianist Kibrom Birhane will drop his third album via Los Angeles-based label Flying Carpet Records. Across the project, the Ethiopian jazzman experiments with his native culture’s deep jazz roots. Arguably his most refined offering to date, this guy’s special.
Shane Cooper & MABUTA – Finish the Sun
Shane Cooper & MABUTA return with a genuinely thrilling album brimming with invention and surprise. Afrobeat, maskandi, funk, and hip hop mingle with moments of cinematic beauty in a fascinating range of styles. An upbeat, funky, optimistic vibe permeates this album.
Reissues
Los Kenya – Siempre Afro-Latino
A killer alum from the archives! Música Infinita and Olindo Records share the raw and uncompromising Afro Latin sound of Los Kenya, one of the most interesting groups to spring out of the late 60s Venezuelan salsa scene, with the lovingly remastered reissue of their debut album, ‘Siempre Afro-Latino’. Over 50 years old and it’s still an utter joy today.
EP’s
Unknown To Known – Live at The Library Lounge
Unknown to Known features Idris Rahman, Tamar Osborn, Jihad Darwish and Yusuf Ahmed. The four exceptional musicians gathered at Total Refreshment Center to offer a live improvised performance earlier this year. Ahmed has selected the best moments from that impromptu session for this EP. Open your mind, and your ears will follow.
Nina Harries – Water
This project is such an exciting release. Recorded on her narrowboat home during one of the lockdowns, Nina Harries layers vocals and double bass on her gorgeous new EP entitled ‘Water’. The music is unique in its approach, well-performed, and beautifully composed. We love to share this kind of ingenuity here on the site.
