This week’s guide is by CF Smith and contributors Arifur Rahman, Neil G, and Irfan Ayaan.
Between The Cracks lands on the site once again. You know the deal, our little esoteric wander for the music heads who like their discoveries slightly left of centre. We feature six, strange, beautiful, underground gems that need your attention. This week, Harriet Tubman, Andreas Tschhopp, Jonathan Levy, FVL and more. We hope youโll find some music you love and feel excited to hit the buy button. Check out our latest picks below.
Albums
Harriet Tubman – Electrical Field of Love
Harriet Tubman is a quality jazz-based power trio from New York that went off my radar for a while, up until now. With the constant flood of new music, a group that goes quiet for eight years inevitably slips out of sight, and, regrettably, sometimes out of mind. But now they reโemerge, it becomes clear very quickly how much we’ve been missing: the perspective, the craft, the particular soundworld only they can build. Electrical Field of Love draws on an array of genres, delivering crisp, concise results. The trio of Brandon Ross (guitar), Melvin Gibbs (bass), and JT Lewis (drums) is joined by the equally gifted Georgia Anne Muldrow on vocals. It’s tough to choose a standout when ‘Flowers’, ‘Isom Dart Was’, ‘Insisting’, ‘When You Rise’, and ‘Assata’ all hit with their own kind of brilliance. We’ll keep this brief because the music speaks louder than anything we could write. Listen to the album below, and welcome back, Harriet Tubman. – CFS
Andreas Tschopp – What if We Align Our Breath
What If We Align Our Breath lands with the quiet confidence of a record that knows exactly how little it needs to say? Swiss trombonist and composer Andreas Tschopp may be its centre of gravity, but the album’s real shape comes from the way its guests alter the air around him: Koleka Putuma brings an intimate spoken presence Shane Cooper’s bass gives the music its weight and shadow; Ben LaMar Gay adds flashes of cornet that widen the frame without crowding it; and Gontse Makhene’s udu drums keep everything tethered to the ground. What’s striking is that none of these contributions feels like “features” in the usual sense. They don’t arrive to decorate the music or rescue it from abstraction, they deepen its sense of listening, making the record feel less like a showcase than a conversation carried by breath, wood, brass, clay and silence. The album holds together beautifully as a complete work, though Sounding the Voice, The Poetry of the In-Between, and Everything is Connected to Everything Else rise to the surface as the moments that linger. A really impressive album, and one you definitely shouldn’t sleep on. – NG
Jonathan Levy – Farewell Metro Boy
I’ve been tuned into Raw Tapes since 2014, ever since KerenDun’s Shakin’ the Tips EP caught my ear. I’ve covered so many of the labels’ releases since then, yet it still baffles me how such a deep well of talent can remain so under the radar. Case in point is Jonathan Levy, an awardโwinning producer, bassist, guitarist, and composer active across Israeli and international scenes, whose work somehow still feels like a bestโkept secret. Levy has contributed to 200+ recordings and is a former member of Izabo and co-founder of Duo Brothers. His new album carries that unmistakable Raw Tapes blend of looseness and precision, always rooted in groove but unafraid to wander into stranger, more exploratory corners. On his swirling, musical collage ‘Farewell Metro Boy’, we find Levy working alongside label stalwart Nitai Hershkovits. Also along for the ride are trumpeter Avishai Cohen, synth-master Rejoicer, drummer Daniel Dor, and more, who build playful, poignant, groove-driven, and jazz-tinged tracks that allow each to evolve in unpredictable ways. As you would expect from all involved, the playing is of the highest standard. Stand-outs include ‘Lunar Thread’, ‘Please Repeat’, ‘Heaven Is Space’, ‘The Good I Have’ and ‘Salt and Smoke’. Very nice and accomplished album. – CFS
Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart – BODY SOUND
Ever since hearing ‘Stone Piece I’ and ‘Stone Piece II’ back in August last year, I’ve been looking forward to BODY SOUND, the collaborative album from Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart. The trio are a vital thread in Chicago’s experimental scene and a wonderful addition to the ever-growing family of International Anthem. Moving between drone, abstraction, and psychedelic haze, Whitney Johnson’s experimental practice showcases her voice as a composer, singer, violist, and synthesiser artist. Her time in the psychโrock group Verma eventually gave way to the hypnotic, loโfi avantโpop world she shapes as Matchess. Rooted in an interest in how bodies inhabit and shape space, the work of composer and cellist Lia Kohl folds in field recordings and the subtle music of daily life. From her base in Chicago, she has developed ensemble pieces, built sound installations, released albums and appeared at a range of galleries and festivals. A stringsโ and pianoโfocused multiโinstrumentalist, Macie Stewart spans classical, avantโgarde jazz, and indie spheres. She coโfounded Finom (formerly Ohmme) with Sima Cunningham, known for its bold vocal interplay, and has contributed to projects by SZA, Whitney, and Chance the Rapper. Her solo debut arrived in 2021 with the chamberโfolk record Mouth Full of Glass. Built from viola, cello, violin, voice, and hand-worked analog manipulation, the eleven pieces on BODY SOUND feel simultaneously ancient and unstable: folk memory smudged by reel-to-reel drag, chamber music left out in strange weather. The trio’s great trick is refusing the usual chill-out promise of drone. Even at its most serene, dawn | pulse carries a low electrical tension; laundry | blood and burning | counting (sleeping) turn repetition into something almost bodily, a pulse felt in the teeth rather than merely admired from afar. What’s striking is the record’s sense of space: every scrape, hum, and vocal bloom seems shaped by the room that held it. BODY SOUND is intimate, eerie, and overwhelming, music that listens as intensely as it speaks. – AR
Carol Maia & Jeremy Gustin โ it’s nice to see a lake in your eyes
This transatlantic collaboration between Carol Maia in Rio and Jeremy Gustin in Brooklyn feels intimate and gently haunted. The album grew from tracks traded back and forth across thousands of miles. You can hear that slow, careful exchange in how each song unfolds. Bubbles sets the tone with small, glistening details and soft edges. It feels like a thought rising to the surface. Aloe moves a bit deeper into dream-pop territory, with Carol’s voice and Jeremy’s percussive choices wrapping around each other in a loose embrace. Um Pouco Vivo and Um Lugar add a distinctly Brazilian sense of melody and phrasing. The drums and textures remain slightly off-centre, creating a pleasant sense of disorientation. Side Mirror hints at road-movie imagery and shows how well the duo handles space and echo. The whole record feels like looking into still water and seeing overlapping reflections. It is gentle but never weightless, carrying a quiet emotional charge. – IA
FVL โ Land of Siesta (ๅ็กๅณถ)
Land of Siesta is the debut from FVL, the project of Hom Yu and sound designer Chia-Yu. It merges folk-inspired sci-fi electronica with tribal ambient and bass-driven psychedelia. The track titles move through a small island ecosystem. The Land ๅณถ sets the scene as a drifting overture. The Frog ่ introduces playful yet slightly warped motifs. The Hen ๆฏ้ and The Eagle ้ทน build more dramatic arcs and suggest small myths being enacted in sound. The production keeps one foot in earthy percussion and another in synthetic pads and effects. Bass often arrives in warm swells rather than heavy drops. This keeps the overall feeling hypnotic rather than aggressive. As the record unfolds, it feels like walking through a dream park where each creature has its own tiny theme. The sci-fi touch comes through in the sound design and stereo movement. Land of Siesta feels transportive and slightly uncanny in a very pleasant way. – IA
