Weird broken dub for a weird broken world, Damos Room’s new E.P. on Nudibranch is both funny and dark. Eccentric in a very British way, its paranoid rambles and subsonic trembling will shake your speakers and ruin your picnic. With guest remixers such as LA’s hip hop brutalist Gonjasufi along for the ride, be ready. Read / Listen.
Read MoreArnau Obiols & KAYYAK 'Faith / San Diago EP' (Compost Records) - a review
The electronic music producers Arnau Obiols & KAYYAK have a new release on the mighty German label Compost Records and their inspired ability to blend West African inspirations, disco and psychedelia into loose dancefloor anthems continues. With outstanding remixes from Medlar & Dele Sosimi, Prins Thomas and Chicago’s Rahaan also in the package, this is seriously good party business. Read / Listen.
Read MoreChampagne Dub 'Rainbow' (On The Corner Records) - a review
The artwork on this debut album by Champagne Dub seems an appropriately disconcerting image for the kind of ‘dub’ contained. Apocalyptic at times, raw, improvised and very leftfield, the misfit band pulled together by Maxwell Hallett aka Betamax (Soccer96, The Comet Is Coming etc) have delivered a heavyweight dub patchwork that is brimming with post-punk energy and wild cosmic agitation. Ruth Goller, Clive Bell, Ed Briggs (laser bagpipes) and the masked Peruvian performance artist and vocalist, Mr Noodles, have brought flammables to the party. Read / Listen
Read MoreMORRR 'Marrow Weavers' (MFZ Records) - a review
The Italian musician MORRR aka Dario Gatto released his EP ‘Marrow Weavers’ on MFZ Records back in July but its aching post-rock beauty stands up better in the cold months of winter in our opinion. Songs of grief and heartbreak shrouded in beautiful melodies and FX heavy drones make this a strangely comforting record. Read / Listen.
Read MoreFuture Sounds Of Kraut Vol. 1 - Compiled by Fred und Luna (Compost Records) - an interview / review
Fred und Luna are two plastic mannequins who live in Karlsruhe, Germany and are the creative muses for their human Rainer Buchmüller, who has compiled this forthcoming and inspired compilation of international artists who make music inspired by the varied ‘Krautrock’ sounds of the 60s and 70s. Psychedelic, groove heavy tracks that are as fun as they are weird-funky. I asked Rainer a few questions about the release but it was Fred und Luna who replied. Read / Listen.
Read MoreArthur Hnatek Trio 'Uncertainty' (Bridge The Gap) - Premiere!
We are pleased to premiere the new single from the award-winning Swiss drummer, composer and producer Arthur Hnatek. Like Sons Of Kemet in a rhythmic duel with Steve Reich, Arthur, saxophonist Francesco Geminaini and bassist Fabien Iannone manage to become a single pulsating organism, somehow creating a soothing meditative track that also contains a powerful organic groove. Read / Listen
Read MoreWoxow 'How Many Ancestors Do We Have' (Little Beat More) - a review
DJ and beatmaker Woxow’s new E.P. for his own label Little Beat More is a hip hop-jazz-dub release that hits all the right notes. Boom bap drums, live horns and bass with masterful vocal turns from Reggae Roast MC Natty Campbell, US MC’s Azeem and Raashan Ahmad alongside remixers Luke Beats, Deela, Koralle and Paolo Baldini Dubfiles make this a must for fans of Fat Freddy’s Drop, Roots Manuva or Doom. Read / Listen.
Read MoreError Subcutáneo 'Temporada Ciclónica' (Running Circle) - a review
The new 7 track E.P. that Dominican Republic duo Error Subcutáneo have released today on Summer Solstice is a provocative and wild ride of free jazz, soundscape interventions and modular experimentalism fueled by the chaos of life in the Caribbean and the wider uncertainties of our world right now. Band member Mauro Ferreiro is a frequent contributor to our magazine and this record is released on Nottingham imprint Running Circle so somehow, a kind of harmony has arrived from the chaos. A lot like the music. Read / Listen
Read MoreYandl Shyr 'EAD Vol. 1' (Phlexx Records) - a review
Yandl Shyr’s new album for Nottingham’s Phlexx Records is a sprawling and surprising record of psychedelic-indie-electronica initiated by a 6 month journey across Europe and the entwined connections that revealed themselves to him. Not an artist easy to pigeonhole, fans of Tame Impala, Beta Band, UMO, Deerhunter et al will surely find something here to love. Read / Listen
Read MoreAlex Figueira 'Mentallogenic' (Music With Soul) - a review
Considering the amount of other projects he has headed, it is surprising how it is only now that we have a debut solo album from the Tropical-Punk auteur Alex Figueira! Written, performed and recorded over a nine day sleepless session, the Venezuelan Amsterdam-based one-man bandito has created an hallucinogenic funk album that draws as much from African, Caribbean and South American music as it does weirdo European cinematic and krautrock ingredients. Read / Listen
Read MoreTell No Lies 'Hide Nothing' (Aut Records) - a review
Tell No Lies are an Italian avant-jazz outfit led by pianist and composer Nicola Guazzaloca and they have a new studio album that traverses modal, free and South African inspired jazz with ease, fire and substance. We asked our friend Mauro Ferreiro, a producer and writer from Dominican Republic to share his thoughts on this excellent new recording. Read / Listen.
Read MoreInsólito UniVerso 'Ese Puerto Existe' (Olindo Records) - a review
For their second album for Olindo Records, the Venezuelan trio Insólito UniVerso have gone deep into their country’s musical heritage, exploring rhythms and musical strains whilst adding their own psychedelic, experimental vision. With guests including Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier, the trio have produced a brilliantly written and produced record that is our favourite album of the year so far and one likely to stay in our boxes for a long time. Read / Listen
Read MoreNick Walters 'Udaipur' (D.O.T. Records) - single premiere!
We are mightily pleased to premiere ‘Udaipur’ from Nick Walters’ forthcoming album ‘Padmāsana’! Built up from field recordings of a trip to India and transformed into a funky modal composition with stellar contributions from collaborators 22a’s Tenderlonious and Kieron McLeod. Read // Listen
Read MoreSilvan Strauss 'Facing' (Kabul Fire) - a review
Hamburg-based drummer and composer Silvan Strauss has created a debut album of ten short but dazzling micro-instrumentals. With fifteen collaborators in total, his creations veer between Madlib style jazz cut-ups to filmic beatscapes that showcase his brilliant drumming chops, never taking the focus away from the audience. “I wanted to make it so that people love to listen to it. It’s a little wonky, sure a few imperfections but fuck it, it’s fun and alive!”. Read / Listen
Read MoreAgile Experiments 'These Are Times For Mind And Spirit' (DDR Records) - a review
Probably my fave Agile Experiments record to date. Spacious, abstract experimental jazz with krautrock, funk and electronica in the mix played by a trio of exceptional improvisational musicians that include bandleader Dave De Rose, Jon Scott (Go Go Penguin) and George Crowley (Melt Yourself Down. Read / Listen
Read MoreGuinu 'Palagô' (Razor-N-Tape) - a review
Known mainly for their underground housey/disco dancefloor projects, this could be a surprising album release from New York’s Razor-N-Tape label. Though maybe it’s not. Brazilian musician, songwriter and producer Pedro Guinu has delivered his own respectful exploration of Rio de Janeiro’s musical heritage with great original songwriting that takes inspiration from 50 years of Rio’s musical treasures. Touching on MPB, AOR, Brazilian Boogie, Samba, Bossa and more contemporary genres, it’s complimented with a rock solid dancefloor-ready bottom end that makes this much more than a tribute. Read /Listen / Buy
Read More“Pierre Barouh and the Saravah Sound” (WEWANTSOUNDS) - a review
Saravah was one of the most influential French labels of the 60s and 70s, and Pierre Barouh, singer, composer and producer extraordinaire, was a master at harnessing disparate talents, creating one of the best musical catalogues anywhere. Out there jazz and French underground pop collide with Brazilian and African flavours that sound as exciting now as when they were created. In partnership with Barouh’s son, Benjamin, WEWANTSOUNDS have given us the first ever retrospective of the revolutionary Saravah sound on vinyl and it is immaculate. Read / Listen
Read MoreRumpistol 'ISOLA' (Raske Plader) - a review
Award-winning Danish pianist, composer and electronic musician Rumpistol (aka Jens B. Christiansen) has created a beautifully immersive album that sits somewhere between neo-classical composition, slow-burning jazz and pastoral whimsy, and should tickle the heartstrings of fans of Max Richter, Nils Frahm and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Read / Listen
Read MoreAlawari 'Alawari' (April Records) - a review
Alawari are a young 7 piece jazz collective from Denmark and this, their debut album, is a truly stunning musical document that seems to manage to capture the troubled times that we are living through. A brilliant mix of lush classical arrangements with levels of uninhibited free jazz expression, the record is “Inspired by the spirit of revolution and ancient war” and it sounds like it. Exceptional. Read / Listen here
Read MoreMusic That Speaks To.... Jules Brennan
Jules Brennan is a British born, Kyoto-based multi-instrumentalist, DJ and producer and as he has just released his brilliant new solo album of Japanese inspired funk-jazz-soundtracky grooves called ‘Wamono’, we asked him to choose some music that speaks to him. From Jimmy McGriff to funky anime soundtracks, we can hear how he created his own unique sound. Read / Listen here
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