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2023-12 December Playlist | SunNeverSetsOnMusic

2023-12 December Playlist | SunNeverSetsOnMusic

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Ambrose Akinmusire - Owl Song

Owl Song

by Ambrose Akinmusire

Released 15 December 2023

Original Harvest / Nonesuch Records

****-

Described by NPR Music as “a trumpeter of deep expressive resources and a composer of kaleidoscopic vision,” Ambrose Akinmusire has made a home at the crossroads of different musical forms and languages, from post-bop and avant-garde jazz to contemporary chamber music and hip-hop to singer-songwriter aesthetics. He is a rigorous practitioner with an uncompromising dedication to creation.

Owl Song is Akinmusire's Nonesuch Records debut and features a trio with two musicians Akinmusire has long admired, guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley.
“This is my reaction to being assaulted by information,” Akinmusire says of Owl Song. “This record is me wanting to create a safe space. Part of the challenge was: Can I create something that’s oriented around open space, the way some of the records I love the most do?”
“... I wanted to put people together who didn’t seem like they would go together ... and it turns out they haven’t played a lot. So, it was cross generational, cross subgenre, cross whatever.”

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Ambrose Akinmusire - Beauty is Enough

Beauty is Enough

by Ambrose Akinmusire 

Released 23 June 2023

Origami Harvest

*****

Since his 2008 debut Prelude, Ambrose Akinmusire has been nothing if not adventurous; and this latest release consolidates his ambition in no small measure. Solo horn recordings are still relatively uncommon (certainly compared to those on piano) but the trumpeter proves himself more than adept on this set which has many of the qualities that drew audiences to Akinmusire in the first place. Richness of tone; precision of articulation; ingenuity of timbre that, when he pursues microtonal avenues, creates the sense that particular sounds are almost hermetically sealed before being slowly squeezed and pinched into the air. In other words there is a high degree of technical mastery, but, tellingly, it underpins a profound and often engrossing sense of narrative.

The 16 relatively short pieces (the longest ‘To:Taymoor‘ is just under five minutes) are akin to involving short stories or portraits that balance exploratory texture with fraught, concise melody to create a form of blues, which is not reduced to strategies such as the tried and tested ‘moan and groan.’ The late, great Ron Miles was a master in that sense, and Akinmusire is proving to be one of his key heirs. Courageous, creative work from an artist who continues to boldly grow in stature.

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Read more... Jazzwise

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Niecy Blues - Exit Simulation

Exit Simulation

by Niecy Blues

Released 10 November 2023

kranky

*****

South Carolina singer and producer Niecy Blues describes her songwriting process like an undertow: “I feel a strange pull, and let it carry me, following swirling leaves… whole days roll by, forgetting about the body.” Their full-length debut, Exit Simulation, captures this sense of deep-rooted
divination, cycling between simmering ballads, ghosted R&B, downtempo gospel, and looped vocal improvisations – often within the same track. The title is taken from a science fiction novel she read during the purgatory of the pandemic, alluding to a dimensional ideation of departure – “the permission to imagine leaving.”

Recorded in her current home of Charleston, she characterizes the album’s mood in terms both reflective and raw: an exploration of things suppressed, foundations beginning to crack, “talking myself off a ledge.”

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Mon Laferte - Autopoietica

Autopoietica

by Mon Laferte

Released 10 November 2023

Universal Music Group, Mexico

*****

Autopoietica is the consecration of the veteran Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte, in my opinion, the most powerful female release of 2023.
Before starting, a little context, autopoiesis is a word 'created' by two biologists from Chile in which the process of cell reproduction is explained. Perfect to explain this Mon Laferte project, if we look at her latest list of releases we can see her diversity of styles when it comes to playing different genres, a tropical and organic sound with projects like Norma (2018) or a notable interpretation of indigenous sounds from Mexico in SEIS (2021) and it seems that now, Autopoietica is the musical consecration of his career, the masterpiece of a distinguished career.

This album is a musical revolution, it leaves behind that folk past and those northern sounds to embark on a futuristic and cathartic sound, we see everything from neoperreo, salsa, cumbia, electro, hyperpop, glitch pop, sonically it is a musical delight.

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Read more... AOTY

GC OConnor - Soul Lament (EP)

Soul Lament

by GC OConnor

Released 24 November 2023

Low Key Source

****-

The arrival of Soul Lament, the debut EP from Sydney/Gadigal multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and performer GC OConnor, is a beautiful statement of intent.

Having spent the last decade perfecting her craft, solidifying her creative identity across years of performance experience in Australia and overseas, GC OConnor makes her mark with the release of Soul Lament, a striking fusion of soul, jazz and R&B influences that tie in with GC OConnor’s own unique take on the genre standards.

With her sound first teased in October with the release of her debut single, the standalone track ‘Love On High’ produced by The Goods, Soul Lament is packed with rich texture across its five-track runtime and is solely produced by Sydney’s Loraio, the first track off the EP ‘Stay’ highlighted GC OConnor’s talents as a writer and vocalist, setting a great foundation for the rest of the EP to follow.
 

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Kuzco - I Vibe, She Vibe

I Vibe, She Vibe

by Kuzco

Released 26 May 2023

CoOp Presents

****-

'I Vibe, She Vibes' is the debut EP from a brand new artist, Kuzco, following on from their contribution of the single "Immunity" on "They're Energised", a compilation of antipodean bruk curated by Allysha Joy (30/70 | First Word Records).

Kuzco [kuuz-co], is an Australian / Maori vocalist, keyboardist & producer living and creating in Naarm (Melbourne), after growing up in the sunshine state of Meanjin (Brisbane).

A heavyweight session keyboardist, Kuzco is a deeply revered figure on the Naarm and Meanjin scene, and is now ready to bring her own creations to the world.

Slowly forging her own sound, Kuzco's musical background spans countless genres and songs, embodying and reflecting on her musical heritage. In her own words "the intention is to write music that activates the sensuality of feeling music in the body, and reigniting the self with fluid movement."

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Barney McAll - Emerald Hands

Emerald Hands

by Barney McAll

Released 22 December 2023

Barney McAll

*****

Barney McAll’s 2022 album Precious Energy was a revelation, an upbeat funky vocally driven work of good vibes and killer grooves. It was audacious and ostentatious, featuring some incredible vocals fromLaneous, Rita Satch, Jace XL, and Belle Bangard as well as contributions from Julian Wilson and Gary Bartz, alongside numerous other Melbourne players.

McAll has performed with the likes of Sia, Gary Bartz, Dewey Redman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Billy Harper, Fred Wesley, Jimmy Cobb, and Maceo Parker and boasts appearances on over 100 albums as a sideman and a lazy 29 albums in his own name.

Emerald Hands feels thematically linked with Precious Energy, it offers an unrelenting feeling of positivity, and upbeat funky vibe with deep soulful vocals and some killer synth lines. So alongside stupidly high pitched autotuned vocals, we find heartfelt poems about McAll’s childhood chasing spider crabs, wigged out funky spiritual jazz and even a Radiohead cover (Scatterbrain).

Emerald Hands boasts guests of the calibre of Gary Bartz, Rita Satch, Natalie Slade, Belle Bangard, Greta Gertler, Gian Slater, Amethyst Jane and slam poet champion Melanie Mununggurr, who’s poetic musings about lockdown close out the album.

There’s so much going on.

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Read more... Cyclic Defrost

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The National - Laugh Track

Laugh Track

by The National

Released 18 September 2023

2AD

*****

The National are a Brooklyn-based five-piece hailing from Ohio. The group contains two pairs of brothers -- Bryce Dessner (guitars), Aaron Dessner (bass, guitars), Scott Devendorf (bass, guitars), and Bryan Devendorf (drums) -- and features Matt Berninger on vocals.  

Laugh Track is the band's most freewheeling, all-hands-on-deck album in years, follows "First Two Pages of Frankenstein", released in April 2023. If Frankenstein represented a rebuilding of trust between group members after 20+ years together, the vibrant, exploratory Laugh Track is both the product of that faith and a new statement of intent. Revelling in the license to radically upend its creative process, The National honed most of this material in live performances on tour this year, and captured those invigorated versions in impromptu sessions at producer Tucker Martine’s Portland studio, Flora Recording & Playback.

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Read more... Bandcamp

Bryce Dessner - L'Abbe Pierre - Une vie de combats (Bande originale du film)

L'Abbe Pierre - Une vie de combats (Bande originale du film)

by Bryce Dessner

Released 8 November 2023

Origami Harvest

****-

Abbé Pierre – A Century of Devotion (French: L'Abbé Pierre – Une vie de combats) is a 2023 French biographical drama film based on the life of Abbé Pierre, a Catholic priest and national hero in France who devoted his life to helping the poor, homeless people and refugees. Directed by Frédéric Tellier from a screenplay written by Tellier and Olivier Gorce, the film stars Benjamin Lavernhe as Abbé Pierre.

In support of the narrative, the music for the film is for the most part sombre, the tempo raised only in the final tracks / scenes. 

For those who know Dessner only for his output in The National, this album would come as a surprise, however it is one of many such projects for this prolific and endlessly creative artist, who will likely be remembered for his orchestral work long after The National has faded to be as obscure to a future generation as (say) Jefferson Airplane is to today's.

 

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Read more... Jazzwise

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Andrew Gurruwiwi Band - Gatjumak (EP)

Gatjumak (EP)

by Andrew Gurruwiwi Band

Released 23 June 2023

Austudy Records

****-

Just like King Stingray and Baker Boy before them, the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band are the next hot musical act to burst out of Arnhem Land, NT.
The band is led by the one and only Andrew Gurruwiwi - a shy-but-extravagant, blind, keytar-wielding Yolngu elder with a passion to make people dance while sharing his culture.
A high-energy, 8-piece funk band who have honed their chops on the beach at Birrtjimi and in the dirt of Yirrkala, the Andrew Gurruwiwi Band write real funk jams in their native tongue, Yolngu Matha. Their sound is truly fresh - Yolngu Funk - a style only hinted at previously on the impossible-to-find pair of 7-inches cut by George Rrurrambu & Birdwave, that now go for hundreds of dollars on Discogs.

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Read more... SXSW Sydney

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Soli - Daily Thoughts (EP)

Daily Thoughts (EP)

by Soli

Released 1 December 2023

Soli

****-

After years of being a staple in Australia's R&B scene, Soli's highly-anticipated EP Daily Thoughts has arrived.

The smooth and soulful six-track EP boasts production credits from Hamley (PANIA), Aldwin Cajili (RINI), 5am and Iconic Beats. Listeners can expect to be immersed into a world of rich vocals and sliky production, with the EP's lyrical themes ranging from self-love to mental health and gratitude.

Speaking of the EP Soli says, "I've really enjoyed tapping into my R&B and Afrobeat influences, as well as stripping things back with more acoustic vocal performances. I take listeners on quite an emotional rollercoaster with this EP".

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Read more... Complex

Boddhi Satva - Ancestral Soul & Afro House

Ancestral Soul & Afro House

by Boddhi Satva

Released 29 December 2023

Offering Records

*****

Boddhi Satva was born & raised in Central African Republic. now based in Lisbon, Portugal, Boddhi-Satva is known affectionately as the founding father of "Ancestral Soul". 

Boddhi’s music has spirituality as the central hallmark and uses the thread of soul music to weave a seamless tapestry of African music styles, set to the pace of house music changing entirely the way the genre is perceived and experienced. 

Ancestral Soul & Afro House is a compilation of many of the numerous projects that Boddhi released during 2023, with a few additional tracks included for good measure (If I, Reach From The Heart, At Times, Mantra).

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Read more... Bandcamp

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GODTET, Novak Manojovic - +STRINGS

+STRINGS

by GODTET, Novak Manojovic

Released 22 November 2023

La Sape

****-

Fans of the experimental/electronic/ambient jazz of Sydney artist GODTET (and indeed La Sape Records) know that they are partial to a bit of a '+' experiment but this is the first time it's been recorded as a live album and with the addition of Australian pianist Novak Manojlovic and a string quartet.

It's was apparently Novak's idea of the 'classical' strings and it really work as an experimental - lets hope Godriguez / they are all best buds now as we definitely want more of this.  

Love the faint 'Love Supreme' vs shoegaze vs. heavy percussion of 'Lilt' and you can't blame 'em if sometimes it slips in the 70s prog sphere of say a Camel ('Nautical') but not a Gentle Giant.  

Jazz funkers, it's  'broadening'.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Akusmi - LInes

LInes

by Akusmi

Released 6 October 2023

Total Union

****_

 

Akusmi is the new project moniker of French-born, London based composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Pascal Bideau, who signed to the new Tonal Union imprint for the release of his album ‘Fleeting Future.’

With its hallucinatory, genre-defying blend of minimalism, cosmic jazz and Fourth World influences, and in its quest for optimism in the face of unknown and limitless possibility.

‘Lines’ (is) an exhilarating new collection of works born from the desire to take where the acclaimed debut 2022 album ‘Fleeting Future’ left off — in search of a new forms.

Formed with a sense of urgency and a reductive approach ‘Lines’ is almost entirely comprised of alto saxophone, clarinet and piano with embellishments of ambience and minimal percussive elements. Recorded in full at his home studio in London, Pascal Bideau speaks about the process:

“I wanted to go a bit more a bit more horizontal and ambient, work with layers of lines, might they be dotted or straight, and leave them to unfold and see where they would take me.”

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Read more... Bandcamp

Boddhi Satva, Raheem DeVaughn - Finesse Me (EP)

Finesse Me (EP)

by Boddhi Satva, Raheem DeVaughn

Released 8 September 2023

Batakari

****-

Triple Grammy nominee and US vocalist Raheem DeVaughan joins Boddhi Satva for this Afrobeats tinged slice of RnB in a track that pulls in influences as diverse as DeVaughan's New Jersey and Washington DC upbringings and Boddhi Satva's pan-African, Ancestral Soul cultural sensibilities.

Taken from Boddhi Satva's collaborative Manifestation album, Finesse Me is a track that will grace the radio airwaves and the dancefloor with its wonderful vocal performance and lilting melody laid over tuff beats.

Raheem DeVaughan's own musical history comes from an impressive lineage as the son of Jazz and Classical cellist Abdul Wadud and cousin of Grammy winning Soul vocalist Chrisette Michele. His own successes can be heard via his prolific output of eight studio albums plus two more collaborative album releases with Apollo Soul and Bee Boy$oul respectively, his BET Awards and Grammy nominations.

 

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Peter Gabriel - i/o

i/o

by Peter Gabriel

Released 1 December 2023

Peter Gabriel

****-

The concept behind Peter Gabriel’s first album of original material in 21 years, i/o, feels strikingly contemporary. Over the last year, the veteran singer-songwriter has dropped a new song each month, touring arenas leading up to the album’s release. With each song being made available in a “Bright-Side” mix, “Dark-Side” mix, and a third Dolby Atmos “In-Side” mix, i/o effectively allows listeners to pick their favorites among the different versions and create their own playlist.

While the bones of the songs are taken from the exact same performances, the mixes feature major differences in their musical emphasis.

While the “Bright Side” mixes bring out the album’s more dynamic range, the lyrics lack the edge of Gabriel’s early music.

i/o is heartfelt and meticulously crafted, but its impact is muted by its splintered presentation.

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Read more... Slant Magazine

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Le Cri du Caire, Abdullah Miniawy, Peter Corser - Le Cri du Caire

Le Cri du Caire

by Le Cri du Caire, Abdullah Miniawy, Peter Corser

27 January 2023

Les Disque du Festival Permanent / Airfono / L'Onde & Cybele

*****

Cairo, late 2013. In a city in turmoil, where the curfew had just been lifted after a second coup d'état, where the walls were still covered in dreams and revolt, where even the clubs of the city-centre echoed with anti-Islamist and anti-army slogans, I was deeply touched by the voice of Abdullah Miniawy at the 100Copies music studio, a stone's throw from Tahrir Square. A singer, writer, poet, poetry-slammer and student from the El-Fayoum oasis, this spokesman for Egyptian youth was shaking up the music scene and social networks with his hypnotic voice and unique blend of electro, sufism and jazz music, both punk and psychedelic, secular and avant-garde. Three months later, Abdullah's first on-stage revelations took place at the La Voix est Libre festival in Cairo with the "Jimi Hendrix of oud", Mehdi Haddab, followed by his first meeting with composer and saxophonist Peter Corser at the D-CAF festival (Downtown Contemporary Art Festival), created in the aftermath of the revolution by leading figure in theater Ahmed El-Attar. After three years of administrative battles, while censorship was making a comeback in Egyptian artistic circles, Abdullah finally arrived in Paris where he recorded an initial version of Purple Feathers with Peter Corser, which was broadcast on Soundcloud.

In 2017, gripped from the very first seconds by these soaring vocal and instrumental performances, Erik Truffaz accepted our invitation to become involved with Peter's hypnotic loops and Abdullah's electric vocals, and was soon joined by the visceral strings of cellist Karsten Hochapfel.

Five years later, Le Cri du Caire is still turning heads, and often moving audiences to tears. Both free and spiritual, sensitive and elusive, their music elevates the soul to giddy heights and flies towards what may well be one of the shortest paths from zero to infinity.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Peace Flag Ensemble - Astral Plains

Astral Plains

by Peace Flag Ensemble

Released 14 July 2023

Peace Flag Ensemble / We Are Busy Bodies

****-

Peace Flag Ensemble are a free jazz collective from Saskatchewan. Astral Plains is their sophomore album.

The group’s 2021 debut Noteland was described as “akin to getting stuck in a sensory deprivation tank with Keith Jarrett.” By contrast Astral Plains opens up, offering spacious and blue-sky arrangements and production. Perhaps it’s closer to laying in a prairie field looking for animals in the clouds with Mark Hollis.

Peace Flag Ensemble brings together a curious range of artistic backgrounds from studied players to left-field experimentalists. Their recordings are a pastiche of improvisation, composition, and collage. Centered around Jon Neher’s piano improvisations and Travis Packer’s electric bass, Astral Plains sees the collective expanded in both size and sound with the addition of percussionist Michael Thievin and contributions from guests including Patrick Shiroishi and Nick Walters.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Lakecia Benjamin - Phoenix

Phoenix

by Lakecia Benjamin

Released 27 January 2023

Whirlwind Recordings

*****

'Phoenix' is the highly-anticipated, expansive new album in the musical evolution of alto saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin. The album was produced by the multi-Grammy-award winning Terri Lyne Carrington and features a star-studded line up of specially curated guests Dianne Reeves, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Patrice Rushen, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis and Wayne Shorter. The band is composed of trumpeter Josh Evans, Victor Gould on keys, Orange Rodriguez on synths, drummer Enoch (EJ) Strickland, percussionist Nêgah Santos and bassist Ivan Taylor. Trumpeter Wallace Roney Jr, Rhodes organist Anastassiya Petrova and bassist Jahmal Nichols all join for one track each.

“When we came out from the pandemic we weren't allowed to be broken,” Lakecia shares while describing the deeply personal outing Phoenix became for her. The record presents mostly original compositions written throughout the seasons: “we had to be these beautiful absorbent birds and get to work. I wanted to highlight each month of that.” By design, the compositions on 'Phoenix' are written around the skillsets of her triumphant guests, a handful of women in jazz who have had prominent influences on Lakecia.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Ukandanz - Kemekem ከ​መ​ከ​ም

Kemekem ከ​መ​ከ​ም

by Ukandanz

Released 27 January 2023

Compagnie 4000

****-
Combining Ethiopian musical tradition with a contemporary and libertarian
reinterpretation, Ukandanz continues its work of public utility with this new opus. With
as much subtlety as savagery, the band offers a new version of the Ethiopian crunch
whose it is an inestimable pioneer. The fundamental polyrhythms explode on contact
with progressive rock, punk music and sound experiments of this pack tightened by
years of live music. New instrumental textures stay printed from the last album
recorded without Asnake Gebreyes. His come-back raises the temperature a bit
more… He is an incandescent prophet of a powerful and unbridled celebration!

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Read more... Bandcamp

Rodolphe Burger, Sofiane Saidi, Mehdi Haddab - Mademoiselle

Mademoiselle

by Rodolphe Burger, Sofiane Saidi, Mehdi Haddab

Released 3 March 2023

Deniere Bande

****-

The ghost of Rachid Taha (the late great Algerian singer. songwriter 1958 - 2018) so haunted some of his former musical collaborators - Rodolphe Burger (vocals, guitar), Mehdi Haddab (electric oud) and Sofiane Saidi (vocals, keyboards, machines, bass) - that they formed themselves into a supergroup in tribute, and released the album Mademoiselle.

The trio booked a residency at a Paris club (Dynamo de Banlieues Bleues) and honed a set of new songs in French and Arabic, with credits shared by Rodolphe Burger and Sofiane Saidi, as well as covers of songs by George Thorogood (I Drink Alone) and Jimi Hendrix (Hey Baby).

Under her title of civility, Mademoiselle hides three biting personalities whose association produces a poetry that would greatly please the beloved ghost.

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Read more... Bandcamp (via Google Translate)

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Waak Waak Djungi - Waak Waak Ga Min Min

Waak Waak ga Min Min

by Waak Waak Djungi

Released 1997

Wak Wak Djungi

*****

Waak Waak ga Min Min is an collection of the little-heard recordings of three Yolngu songmen from Northeast Arnhem Land - Bobby Bunnungurr, Jimmy Djamunba and Peter Milaynga (d. 2007) - working in collaboration with Victorian musician Peter Mumme.

Yolngu are the indigenous peoples of Arnhem Land in Northern Territory, Australia; their clans are the Marangu and Malabirr, the languages Djinang and Gannalbingu. Their songs are of instruction, story and ceremony.

A connection first initiated by Yolngu actor David Gulpilil, Waak Waak Djungi’s mid-90s recordings were preceded by years of respectful sharing of culture.

Mumme explains that “the aim was to produce something that is new, not in the sense of a breakthrough, but what emerges from the combining of existing ideas”.

What developed was sonically unique - sprawling vocal/electronic soundscapes and field recordings that reimagine the traditional songs of black crows and white cockatoos, sharing, creation spirits and of leaving and returning home to country. Spacious and patiently durational, the songs resound in a big land with a big story to tell.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Peter Somuah - Letter To The Universe

Letter To The Universe

by Peter Somuah

Released 28 April 2023

ACT Music

*****

For many centuries, Ghana has been regarded as a land of storytellers. However, this rich tradition doesn't necessarily have to continue through words or voice alone. Peter Somuah continues the storytelling tradition through his instrument: as a young trumpeter, he embarks on a fascinating quest for identity, weaving together the highlife music of his homeland, the influence of his idol Miles Davis, and the cosmopolitan musical language of his new home in Holland. This journey is his "Letter To The Universe."

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Read more... ACT Music

Kiefer - It's OK, B U

t's OK, B U

by Kiefer 

Released 22 September 2023

Stones Throw Records

*****

It's OK B U is the fourth long-player from L.A.-based keyboardist, composer, and producer Kiefer. While 2021's When There's Love Around showcased him along with a jazz band for the first time, this 16-track set is a return to solo playing, beatmaking, and production. The album's selections range from just under five seconds to five-and-a-half minutes. The music is tenderly introspective, lushly melodic, and clean with inventive rhythm tracks framing stellar piano skills. While his last outing registered firmly on the modern side of contemporary jazz (in spiritual and aesthetic kinship with John Carroll Kirby), this one claims a space on its bleeding edge. Kiefer is a key part of the current generation of L.A.-area musicians erasing boundaries between jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, funk, electronic, and pop, calling into question more traditional notions of composition, production, and performance.

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Read more... AllMusic

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Special Feelings - Special Feelings

Special Feelings

by Special Feelings

Released 10 November 2023

Rhythm Section International

*****

Under the guise of Special Feelings, multi-instrumentalists Naomi Robinson and Poli-Pearl unveil their debut full-length record courtesy of the hallowed walls of Rhythm Section International.

With both Robinson and Pearl hailing from Perth and having collaborated together for four years now, their music is very indicative of the litany of progressive soul and jazz music collectives emanating from the proverbial hot bed of innovation, Australia.

Along with bands and artists like Kyoshi, Mildlife, The JK Group, Leisure Centre and of course Rhythm Section label mates, the 30/70 Collective, Special Feelings continue to wave the flag for an indelible lineage of music-making with an album that introduces their name(s) as essential inclusions to the conversation.

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Read more... UKVibe

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Joshua Moshe - Inner Search

Inner Search

by Joshua Moshe

Released 6 October 2023

La Sape

****-

Formerly known as Josh Kelly and as the main men behind the JK Group project, Joshua Moshe unveils his debut album under his own name . Released via La Sape Records, Inner Search is the result of a very challenging recovery period in late 2021, when Moshe was under chemotherapy, exploring his artistic self and solo identity in a transformative musical journey.

Comprised by 10 magnificent tracks, the record assembles rejuvenated lineup of incredible collaborators: Felix Bloxsom, Erica Tucceri, Angus Radley, Cazeuax O.S.L.O., Phil Noy, Niran Dasika, James Bowers, Javier Fredes, and Matthew Hayes, whilst maintaining a strong partnership with long-standing producer, Lewis Moody.
Inner Search showcases an eclectic blend of influences drawing inspiration from late modal jazz, indebted to the works of Pharaoh Sanders, Joe Henderson or John Coltrane, Afro-Cuban music, Jewish music, garage, broken beat, nu-jazz, and modern outputs of the main genre here explored. Such breadth of influence signifies a departure from the traditional dancey-crossover style, evolving the JK Group sound into something truly distinctive and extraordinary - expanding the creative parameters beyond the work done under JK Group into a new territory spanning the breadth of his heritage, jazz, and electronica.  A beautiful and essential piece in 2023

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Read more... o sotao

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Thandi Ntuli, Carlos Nino - Rainbow Revisited

Rainbow Revisited

by Thandi Ntuli, Carlos Nino 

Released 17 November 2023

International Anthem

****-

On her Bandcamp entry for this album, South African artist Thandi Ntuli writes:

I travelled to Los Angeles and the USA for the first time in 2019. Although I had not met Carlos in person, we connected via Instagram where he saw a video of me playing a piano motif (titled ‘The One’ in this sequence) that he really liked and expressed a wish to record. This was around 2017. We tried a few times to get me over to Los Angeles, but the timing was always off. Through a performance organised by a creative collective called The Nonsemble at The Ford Theatre we finally got the opportunity to meet, play together and subsequently go into studio to record some improvisations as he guided the recording process.

Having been aware of some of his work – in particular his collaborative projects as Carlos Niño & Friends, as well as with his friend and long-time collaborator, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – I knew that, with Carlos as producer, the artistic direction of the album would likely take me to a place I’d never considered going. A fact that had me both curious and terrified (as one tends to be when stepping into the unknown) Lol!

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Read more... Bandcamp

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WAAN - Echo Echo

Echo Echo

by WAAN

Released 24 February 2023

Sonar Kollektiv

****-

WAAN represents the musical marriage of seasoned saxophonist Bart Wirtz and keyboard wiz Emiel van Rijthoven. As a pair of self-confessed tech nerds hailing from The Netherlands, their bromance was a slow burning one, but nevertheless their eventual collaboration fulfilled a dream that they’d both held close since first working together back in 2010.
The symphonic soul mates formed WAAN - a Dutch word literally meaning “delusion” but in the more positive sense of “living in the moment” - originally as a collaborative live band but eventually came to the conclusion that the creative process was best kept between the two of them. Any other instrumentalists were used as guest session musicians and the pair found themselves running the project in a way more akin to dance music producers. This of course had an influence on the music itself, which the duo wanted to be more crossover and have a more experimental edge to its sound.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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OK EG - Rivulets

Rivulets

by OK EG

Released 8 January 2023

Bathtub Music

*****

Naarm|Melbourne's OK EG, AKA Lauren Squire and Matthew Wilson, take intrepid recce’s on a Kalahari debut of fathoms-deep techno minimalism and opiated braindance styles. (NB - these are their words, not ours).

With release titles like ‘Intertidal zone', 'Anther' and 'Prismatic Spring’, their ambition to evoke natural worlds is evident. But these tracks aren’t of this planet. Navigating truly alien terrain, ‘Rivulets’ finds the duo imagining uncharted environments into existence through the medium of analogue hardware.

This is very much an album of two halves; the first on heads-down tip aimed straight at the dancefloor, with a second plate that veers further into abstraction. That said, they’re all the kind of far-reaching explorations where close listening yields great rewards.

Read more... Bandcamp

Squid Nebula - From Here To You

From Here To You

by Squid Nebula 

Released 20 October 2023

Squid Nebula

*****

Naarm's groove-jammers Squid Nebula have taken their time with their debut album, From Here to You, but with a little help from Northside Records, it's finally here for everyone to enjoy.

“We’ve been predominately live and do have two EPs, but after the big Covid hit, we just wanted to bunker down, get our debut album ready and really come out with a bang,” explains Bumpy (the band’s vocalist Bumpy, an established solo artist and Triple R presenter). (Guitarist Mick Power) adds, “Being in the room together with each other, or an audience, that’s what it’s all about for us, and we strive to capture that (on the record)."

From Here to You is a very good time. The record is funky, groovy and beautifully driven by Bumpy’s strong, smooth vocals.

The record is (also) a concept album about the emotional response to a world ending and how people react to one another and maintain relationships through it all. 

So we have a record about a (not the) world ending set to a vibe that will make you want to party. 

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Read more... Beat

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MODHA - Through The Cycle

Through The Cycle

by MODHA

Released 31 March 2023

Modha

****-

‘Through The Cycle’ is the expansive debut album from Berlin-based Production duo Modha ( AKA Dhanya Langer and Max Scholl) Following 2019’s EP ‘Getting By’, this highly anticipated 10-track project aims to open up a considered and personal dialogue on mental health.

Journeying through a collaborative medley of Jazz & Soul laced cuts, and stand-out guest collaborators including LA’s Phabo, Berlin’s Noah Slee, Manchester’s Jermaine Peterson and newcomer, okcandice. Each artist brings about a unique take on the album’s arrangements, exploring personal musings on grief, love, loss and emotional violence.

With this album Modha has created a truly immersive and irresistible piece of work. Pondering the complexities of life, and tapping into the mysteries of the human condition, and the trials and tribulations that we all face. 

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Bokoya, Gianni Brezzo - Minari

Minari

by Bokoya, Gianni Brezzo

Released 30 June 2023

Melting Pot Music

****-

Minari is an exciting collaboration between experimental hip-hop/jazz Cologne-based quartet Bokoya up and fellow Cologne-based producer / guitarist Gianni Brezzo (Jakarta Records).

Bokoya describe themselves as a four-headed human drum machine that play impro-vised beat music. You can call it jazz if you like (all four members are graduated jazz musicians btw) but be ready to stumble over some Dilla, Kraut Rock, Ambient or Dub in the mix. Their double-album ‘Hausensession’ (Melting Pot Music, 2022) as a reference point.

Gianni Brezzo's music is a bit easier to access but not less leftfield. Jazz is a major influ-ence, but it goes way further. On his album ‘Tutto Grosso’ (Jakarta, 2022), Brezzo rides a sonic wave similar to Matthew Halsall, Surprise Chef, El Michels Affair and BADBADNOTGOOD.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Astrocolor - Moonlighting - Astrojazz Vol. 1

Moonlighting - Astrojazz Vol. 1

by Astrocolor

Released 31 March 2023

Softone / Amelia Recordings

****-

Considering the title of the recording, Moonlighting—Astro Jazz Vol. 1, and its futuristic cover art, the Canadian ensemble Astrocolor brings to mind the mid-1950s/early-1960s music that claimed the tag "Space Age Jazz," an offshoot of exotica or lounge music. It was a music considered by some at the time as schlocky, lacking a serious intent. It is, nevertheless, a somewhat forgotten genre that has taken time's test well. 

Moonlighting—Vol 1 continues along those space-age lines, mixing ambient soundscaping with early 1970s Herbie Hancock grooves, synthesizer-applied electro stardust and interplanetary soundtracks.

"An exploratory trip into deep space?" Perhaps, though the bass/drum grooves suggest the effect of gravity, the proximity to Jupiter and Saturn, and maybe a slingshot trip around the sun that sends things to the far reaches of the home star's influences, flavored by sprinklings of the keyboard spicing along the lines of what is heard on In A Silent Way, trumpeter Miles Davis' 1969 Columbia Records Astro Jazz offering.

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Read more... All About Jazz

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Sholto - The Changing Tides of Dreams

The Changing Tides of Dreams

by Sholto

Released 10 November 2023

Root Records

****-

Oscar 'SHOLTO' Robertson is a drummer, instrumentalist, producer & composer based in London. Growing up with a love for jazz, soul, kraut, and 60s & 70s soundtracks, his music expresses a warm array of colours, analogue instrumental grooves and euphoric sentimentality. His music career began in 2013, when a record deal took him to LA, leading to him working with producers like Nick Waterhouse (Allah-Las) before returning to the UK and collaborating with the likes of Inflo (Cleo Sol), and Dan Carey (Wet Leg, Squid).

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Horatio Luna - Support Your Local Jazzy House Producer

Support Your Local Jazzy House Producer

by Horatio Luna

Released 15 June 2023

Wooo! Records

*****

Adding to a young but magnificent discography, both individually and as an integral member of the 30/70 Collective, Lush Life, John Henderson and Teymori, Horatio Luna presents high-karat-gold grooves in his latest project: Support Your Local Jazzy House Producer.

The Australian multi-genre bass guitarist, producer and composer based in Naarm, Victoria, delivers a ten-track jam of eclectic textures and dancefloor-paced rhythms, crossing the bridge between deep house and jazz music.


Support Your Local Jazzy House Producer is a natural successor of Boom Boom and Yes Doctor (both released in 2020) and represents a deeper dive into afro-american deep house influences. Luna’s infectious basslines, easily recognizable for the ones who are familiar with his work, snake through high-class sonic choices. The intentional blend of rawness and refined sounds is very well expressed across the entire work, leaving us with one of our favorite records of the year. 

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Read more... o sotao

Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova

Strata Records – The Sound of Detroit – Reimagined by Jazzanova

by Jazzanova

Released 22 April 2022

180 Proof Records / BBE Music

****-

JHow does the Berlin-based production collective Jazzanova find itself reimagining songs from the iconic, Detroit record label Strata? “I couldn’t think of a more perfect band to do this work,” DJ Amir says about Jazzanova, a combination of DJs, record collectors and musicians, “because they brought passion and love to the project, because they know the music and love the music. And on top of that, they know how to play.” This unlikely, yet ideal pairing is the result of years of work and passion from Amir Abdullah, the crate-digging, DJ and label- head for 180-Proof Records which in 2011 began reissuing the groundbreaking Strata Records back catalog and unreleased gems from the vaults

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Read more... Jazzwise

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Berke Can Ozcan - Twin Rocks (EP)

Twin Rocks (EP)

by Berke Can Özcan featuring Arve Henriksen & Jonah Parzen-Johnson

Released 10 November 2023

Omni Sound

*****

Istanbul born performing artist, producer, composer and instrument builder Berke Can Özcan takes you on a captivating journey through the depths of nature on the Lycian Way -a 520 km long hiking trail in southwestern Turkey around part of the coast of ancient Lycia, named after the Lycian civilization that once ruled in this region.

As Özcan ventures deeper into uncharted territory on the trail, he stumbles upon a sight that sparks an artistic flame, the Twin Rocks.

In collaboration with critically acclaimed Norwegian trumpet mastermind Arve Henriksen and Brooklyn-based baritone saxophonist Jonah Parzen-Johnson, Özcan immerses the listener in a mesmerizing soundscape that echoes the wonder and mystery of the trail leading to ancient Lycia.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Nils Okland, Sigbjorn Apeland - Glimmer

Glimmer

by Nils Okland, Sigbjorn Apeland

Released 16 June 2023

ECM

*****

Violinist Nils Økland and keyboardist Sigbjørn Apeland, musical partners for thirty years, have long explored the interface of Norwegian traditional music and improvisation. Glimmer, an exceptionally beautiful and touching album, takes as its starting point folk music from the Haugalandet region of Western Norway.  Apeland’s collection of pieces from local singers who have helped to keep the traditions alive forms the basis of the repertoire here, along with original compositions. The latter range from pieces written for a film about Lars Hertevig, the great Norwegian landscape painter of the 19th century, to music inspired by modernist composer Fartein Valen. Throughout, the combination of Økland’s Hardanger fiddle and Apeland’s harmonium is marvellously evocative.

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Read more... ECM

Piano Stool - make it rain

make it rain

by Piano Stool

Released 23 November 2023

Piano Stool / Holiday Maker Records

****-

14 original compositions and an interpretation of 'This Loneliness' from The Godfather. Recorded with the windows open on a rainy day in North Carolina.

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Read more... Holiday Maker Records

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Tatsuro Murakami - An Imaginary Autumn

An  Imaginary Autumn

by Tatsuro Murakami

Released 16 September 2023

Whitelabrecs

*****

Whitelabrecs is a record label established in 2016, specialising in highly limited runs of vinyl-effect CDrs and occasional digital-only editions. The discography focuses on contemporary Ambient music, including Drone, Modern Classical and Electro Acoustic.

Tatsuro Murakami is an artist originally from Tokyo, Japan, who spent several years Brazil before returning home, to rural Japan. After emerging from his earlier work as part of a progressive rock band, Tatsuro began to make Ambient and Experimental music. In the year that he graduated from a conservatory in São Paulo, he released his debut album on La Petite Chambre, a label from Belo Horizonte in Brazil. A few years later ‘The Sound of Living Things’ followed, on Italian imprint ROHS! Records. He has also headlined with many well-known compatriots including Shuta Yasukochi, Rhucle, Ken Ikeda and Ayami Suzuki.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Hako Yamasaki - Tobimasu

Tobimasu

by Hako Yamasaki

Released 1 January 1975

Reissued 24 February 2023

1975 Elec Records Japan

2023 WRWTFWW Records

*****

​

Official reissue of the debut album from fabled Japanese folk singer / songwriter/actress/writer Hako Yamasaki, released in 1975, at only 18 years old, on legendary independent label Elec Records.

Tobimasu is a masterpiece of melancholy carried by one of the most beautiful, emotional, melodic, and haunting voices in the history of Japanese music.

Hako Yamasaki is considered a pioneer in both the creative boom and the rise of feminism of 1970s Japan.

This album is released in conjunction with her follow-up Tsunawatari, also available on Geneva, Switzerland label WRWTFWW Records*

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Read more... Bandcamp

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* wereleasewhateverthefuckwewantrecords

Hako Yamasaki - Tsunawatari

Tsunawatari

by Hako Yamasaki

Released 1 January 1976

Reissued 24 February 2023

1975 Elec Records Japan

2023 WRWTFWW Records

*****

Official reissue of the sophomore album from fabled folk singer-songwriter/actress/writer, and one of the most gorgeous voices of Japanese music, Hako Yamasaki, originally released in 1976 on the legendary Elec Records, one of the first independent labels in the country.
Tsunawatari is a perfect follow-up to her classic debut Tobimasu, immortalizing the bitter beauty of heartache with tearful performances and nostalgic empowerment..

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Digital Africa, Cazeaux Oslo - Heart of Drums

Heart of Drums

by Digital Africa, Cazeaux Oslo

Released 22 April 2022

Awesome Soundwave

****-

Digging deep into the depths of African rhythms and melodies, and influenced by international club music from Lagos to New York, Melbourne | Naarm based DIGITAL AFRIKA is pushing the frontiers of live dance floor orientated Afro House in Australia and beyond.

With obvious intent Nui and Simon set out to create an album that encompasses all of their influences and experiences as musicians and journeymen in the world of African inspired rhythm and sound and have arrived at a work that is at once global, innovative and deeply funky !

It’s been an incredible journey that has taken them from the wilds of the northern hinterlands of New South Wales in Australia to the dreamy secret gardens of Marrakesh, from the onsite recordings of Afro-Cuban choirs of Havana, to the Gnawa street sounds of Moroccan medinas.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Kali Malone - Does Spring Hide Its Joy

Does Spring Hide Its Joy

by Kali Malone

Released 20 January 2023

Kali Malone / Ideologic Organ

****-

Stockholm, Sweden composer Kali Malone’s new album Does Spring Hide Its Joy is a triple LP set of two-hours duration, an immersive piece featuring Stephen O’Malley on electric guitar, Lucy Railton on cello, and Malone herself on tuned sine wave oscillators.

The music is a study in harmonics and non-linear composition with a heightened focus on just intonation and beating interference patterns. Malone’s experience with pipe organ tuning, harmonic theory, and long durational composition provide prominent points of departure for this work. Her nuanced minimalism unfolds an astonishing depth of focus and opens up contemplative spaces in the listener’s attention

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Asteroid Ecosystem - Asteroid Ecosystem Live

Asteroid Ecosystem Live

by Asteroid Ecosystem

Released 27 September 2023

Asteroid Ecosystem

****-

Pianist, improviser and composer, Alister Spence has established a reputation as a creative force in jazz and improvised music in Australia and beyond. He has performed with and composed for some of the world's finest musicians.
Projects include: Alister Spence Trio; Asteroid Ekosystem; Kira Kira with Satoko Fujii, Natsuki Tamura; Sensaround; Spence / MacDonald; Spence / Williamson / Cantillo.

Asteroid Ecosystem comprises -

Alister Spence - piano, percussion, samples
Ed Kuepper - electric guitar
Lloyd Swanton - double bass
Toby Hall - drums, percussion

Asteroid Ekosystem Live is the second album by this remarkable band. The album was recorded during run of concerts at the Great Club in Sydney following a year of touring. Asteroid Ekosystem Live showcases the band in full flight: the seamless blending of Ed Kuepper's exploratory guitar playing, Alister's wide roaming piano forays, and the musical intuition, inventiveness, and experience that Alister, Lloyd, and Toby share after 30 years of performance together.

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Read more... Bandcamp

Philip Selway, Elysian Collective, Chris Vatalero - Live at Evolution Studios

Live at Evolution Studios

by Philip Selway, Elysian Collective, Chris Vatalero

Released 8 December 2023

Bella Union

***--

Philip Selway is an English musician and the drummer of Radiohead. His debut solo album Familial was released in 2010, followed by Weatherhouse in 2014 and Strange Dance in 2023.

This session with Elysian Collective and Chris Vatalaro was recorded at Evolution Studios in Oxford, where I recorded the bulk of Strange Dance and also my soundtrack work. It took place at the end of April ’23, just before I went out to do my UK and European dates. I originally brought this ensemble together to play at the launch event for Strange Dance back in February, as I felt this combination of string quartet and percussion, together with my vocals, piano and guitar would be a compact way to capture the scope of the varied musical textures on the album. I was so made up with how it sounded and how it reframed the songs, that I wanted to capture this dynamic in a recording.

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Read more... Jazzwise

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Chiminyo - NRG 1

NRG 1

by Chiminyo

Released 28 April 2023

NRG Discs

****-

The brainchild of drummer/producer Chiminyo, NRG is more than just an album, label or event. It’s a concept. Born out of a discussion about the UK Jazz scene, Chiminyo realised that this musical expression is less about ‘jazz’ and more about energy (NRG).

No labels, no promoters, no industry. Just Chiminyo and members of his musical community exchanging (strictly improvised) NRG with audiences.

NRG 1 features an all-star line-up (band members of Jorja Smith, Nubyan Twist, Gary Bartz, Nightmares on Wax, Yussef Kamaal) 

Drums : Chiminyo
Trumpet : Yelfris Valés
Synths : Amané Suganami
Bass : Luke Wynter
license
all rights reserved

Read more... Bandcamp

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Chiminyo - NRG 2

NRG 2

by Chiminyo

Released 27 October 2023

NRG Discs

****-

NRG 2 features an all-star line-up (band members of Blue Lab Beats, Ezra Collective, Gary Bartz, Celeste, Nightmares on Wax)

Chiminyo - Drums
James Mollison - Saxophone
Axel Kaner-Lidstrom - Trumpet
David Mrakpor - Keys/Bass Guitar
Wonky Logic - Bass Synth/Synthesisers

+ featured vocalists
Dunja Botic (Mirrors)
Plumm (We Fall)
Solomon O.B (Changing Shape, Pressure)

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Read more... Bandcamp

The CB3 - Six Castles

Six Castles

by  The CB3

Released 9 November 2023

the cb3 / Ditto Music

*****

Blending class-act musicianship with a rare gift of both conviction and restraint, the creative prowess of Melbourne band The CB3 defines new parameters for contemporary music.

Their funk, jazz, RnB and neo-soul influences bind an offering that is equal parts unbridled and deliciously refined. 

Cristian Barbieri: guitar, percussion
Caleb Shand: bass guitar, claps, whistling
Tim Coghill: drums, percussion, talking, count ins
Xani Kolac: violin
Audrey Powne: trumpet

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Loraine James - Gentle Confrontation

Gentle Confrontation

by Loraine James

Released 22 September 2023

Hyperdub

*****

With Gentle Confrontation, Loraine's third album for Hyperdub, she lets us into a new chapter of her real and sonic life in which she examines her past and present. She says this is the record a teenage Loraine would like to have made, with musical tendencies that reflect that time, too. It's a positively languid, enjoyably disjointed set made while listening to her teenage favorites: math rock and emo-electronic such as DNTEL, Lusine, and Telefon Tel Aviv, which drew her back to her adolescence. Featuring an ever more diverse set of peers, the album places them into Loraine’s unusual musical settings and draws out sensitive and reflexive performances. At other times the album stretches out into a drifting ambience as if trying to find a sense of bliss in the everyday.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Ganavya, Munir Hossn - sister, idea

sister, idea

by Ganavya, Munir Hossn

Released 7 April 2023

Ropeadope

****-

Born on November 24, 1981 in Mandaguari, Brazil, Munir Hossn is an award-winning producer, composer and multi- instrumentalist. His incredible mix of heritage reveals itself in his sound: he is African,  Italian, Middle-Eastern, and Brazilian Indigenous, making his music  undeniably original, and deeply authentic.

Ganavya (Ganavya Doraiswarmy) is a transdisciplinary scholar, vocalist, word-craftswoman, jalatarangam* artist, and double-bassist.  

Together they have crafted a gentle, mostly-acoustic, set of songs that seem to reflect their influences and interests, in an uplifting folky fusion, 

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Read more... Bandcamp

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* The jal tarang (Hindi: जलतरंग) is a melodic percussion instrument that originates from the Indian subcontinent. It consists of a set of ceramic or metal bowls filled with water. The bowls are played by striking the edge with beaters, one in each hand.

George Riley - Un/limited Love (EP)

Un/limited Love (EP)

by George Riley

Released 10 November 2023

Ninja Tune

****-

George Riley is one of London’s most unstoppable R&B forces. Through a progressive sound that encapsulates soul, forward thinking electronics, ambience and so much more, Riley has, over the space of two critically acclaimed projects in interest rates, a tape and Running In Waves, carved an abstract yet wholly relatable niche within London’s thriving music scene. Collaborating with Anz on a club-pop modern classic in the form of ‘You Could Be’, Riley’s capabilities to be able to cross over into a more mainstream leaning space without sacrificing any of the left-of-centre creativity that has become her staple has always been clear, but today with brand new single ‘Elixir’, as well as the news that she has signed to legendary electronic label Ninja Tune for a new EP titled Un/limited Love (due for release on 10th November 2023), Riley’s emergence from her chrysalis a fully fledged crossover proposition has been realised.

Read more... Jazzwise

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Daffaduck - The Timekeeper

The Timekeeper

by Daffaduck

Released 24 November 2023

Post Culture Records

****-

Daffaduck is a Melbourne based producer, DJ and saxophonist. Born and raised in the Melbourne music scene, Daffaduck performs with many Melbourne based groups such as Teymori, The Tapeheads, Now Here This and The Shaky Knees band.

The Timekeeper is not a person nor a being but something that is in charge of time and how we perceive it. We are constantly worried about the time and how it fleets quickly by. Our life span is a piece of time that is personal to us and those we get to meet along the way. We never know when our time on this earth will end. One day our time will come to an close and it's what we left behind that will survive another cycle.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Quantic - Dancing While Falling

Dancing While Falling

by Quantic

Released 10 November 2023

Quantic / Play It Again Sam

****-

The new album by Quantic aka multi instrumentalist, DJ, composer and producer Will Holland is in many ways an evolution. Now 20 years into his career, ‘Dancing While Falling’ is the British born New York based artist’s most live sounding, euphoric and, in his own words, grown up release to date.

Predominantly recorded at his own Brooklyn studio, Selva, Quantic’s initial idea for his new album was to experiment sonically. However, after a while, he changed direction and realised that the record needed to also relate to the human condition not just his “singular pandemic wormhole”. The demos, then, started off as symphonic, loosely disco era dance music a departure from his previous Latin and Spanish instrumental releases. Influenced by legendary artists in the scene like Bohannon and Larry Levan, Quantic wanted to make a disco leaning album at first. “I’m really interested in Latin music and Afro Caribbean rhythms and I think there's a really amazing point in history where the emergence of those rhythms and its combination with American soul sparked what we now know as disco,” he says.

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Read more... Bandcamp

Polito - Collapse Phase

Collapse Phase

by Polito

Released 22 September 2023

Butter Sessions

****-

Polito is a collaboration between musicians Robert Downie and Finnian Langham, and dancers Arabella Frahn-Starkie and Hillary Goldsmith. 

Collapse Phase is the debut full-length release from Naarm quartet, who are perhaps first recognised for their venerable live shows.

Collapse Phase gathers the most cohesive body of work from the group to date. Self-described as "a meeting of improvised contemporary dance and live improvised techno music, working together to create entrancing performance experiences", the project translates impressively to the long-player format.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Various Artists - Searchlight Moonbeam

Searchlight Moonbeam

by Various Artists

Released 10 November 2023

Efficient Space

****-

Searchlight Moonbeam is the new narrative compilation from Time Is Away (Jack Rollo and Elaine Tierney) whose eponymous monthly NTS Radio shows, tinctured fusions of fugitive sounds and reverie-inducing archival speech, have won them an ardent following.
Searchlight Moonbeam is an autumnal dreamscape, intimate and vespertine, pensive and irresolute. An imagined community where differences drop off and resonances emerge.

Searchlight Moonbeam showcases Rollo and Tierney’s still-unrivalled talent for gloaming melodies, disques du crépuscule and ensorcelled storytelling. 

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Read more... Bandcamp

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James Sherlock Trio - The Verb Not The Noun

The Verb Not The Noun

by James Sherlock Trio

Released 30 November 2023

902200 Records DK

****-

James Sherlock's eighth album as leader sees the Melbourne-based guitarist return to the trio format for the first time since Domestic Arts (Jazzhead, 2010). Where that album was predominantly standards-weighted—a gorgeous version of The Strangler's "Golden Brown" apart—this one, Sherlock's first with bassist Sam Anning and drummer Danny Fischer, showcases his songwriting chops as much as his stellar guitar playing. All originals, the eight compositions encompass swing and blues alongside Sherlock's more contemporary frameworks. The results are uniformly satisfying.

A fine addition to his consistently impressive discography, The Verb Not the Noun makes the case for Sherlock as one of modern jazz's most elegant guitarists.

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Read more... All About Jazz

Nigel Wearne - The Reckoning

The Reckoning

by Nigel Wearne

Released 3 November 2023

Nigel Wearne

****-

Nigel Wearne saunters after dark in the music of the night, blending blues, jazz and Americana-noir.

Hailing from Gunditjmara country in South-West Victoria, he’s a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist with diverse influence from Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones. A deep thinker and truth speaker, with a penchant for all things peculiar. Songwriting that cuts to the bone.

'The Reckoning' is an album of contrasts. Rollicking, rumbling, sneering, reflective. A full band explosion of songs, stories and musical mayhem; Gretsch electric guitar, horns, reeds, Hammond organ, drums and bass. All the while, Wearne's crooning, cutting, monolithic vocal keeps lyricism and poetry at the forefront. An enlivening experience that inhabits the after-dark realms of blues, jazz and soul; this is Americana-noir.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Nora Stanley & Benny Bock - Distance of the Moon

Distance of the Moon

by Nora Stanley & Benny Bock

Released 9 June 2023

Colorfield Records

****-

Two facts jump out about the duo collaboration of saxophonist Nora Stanley (Beth Orton, Shahzad Ismaily) and keyboardist Benny Bock (Sam Gendel, Feist, Weeknd): Distance of the Moon. is their first collaboration, yet, at the same time, it’s something that the duo has been working on for more than 10 years now.

When you combine these two facts you get this natural, organic music that uses not just the audible notes, but also the spaces between them to create music that is at the same time structured and free-flowing, something listeners who want their music finely categorized would label ambient jazz.

For such music to make sense you have to have the involvement of artists who have some substantial experience (both Stanley and Bock obviously do), but also a strong feel for what each of them is doing, and that is exactly the feel you get from the 10 tracks here.

That feel is something you can only build through continuous joint work, and those 10 or so years of building and playing music together obviously comes into play here.
What Stanley and Bock have come up with on Distance of the Moon is music that is on one hand seemingly unassuming but also music that reveals its intricacies and subtleties as it evolves.

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Read more... Living Life Fearless

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JSPHYNX - Reflex

Reflex

by JSPHYNX

Released 10 March 2023

Sekito

*****

Following two standout releases from Rudi Creswick and Jamie Leeming, Alfa Mist’s Sekito Records imprint release their third LP project. Continuing their showcase of some of the most impressive up & coming Jazz players the UK has to offer, they are proud to present JSPHYNX’s debut LP Reflex. Hailing from the coastal town of Broadstairs (Kent), JSPHYNX (AKA Johnny Woodham) is a talented trumpeter, who cut his teeth performing alongside the likes of Barney Artist, Mr Jukes, Corto Alto, Ego Ella May, Tom Misch, Loyle Carner, Ashley Henry, Jordan Rakei, Tertia May, Subculture and Maisha.

Finding inspiration during the lockdown, JSPHYNX began crafting loops at home before bringing them to his bandmates to help add some meat to the bones of the tracks. With an impressive roster of musicians on board (including Rudi Creswick on Bass duties, and Richard Spaven on drums) label boss Alfa Mist adopting the role of executive producer, Reflex is positioned at the sonic intersection of UK Jazz & Bass music.

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Read more... Discogs

Matt Wilde - Hello World

Hello World

by Matt Wilde

Released 14 July 2023

Band On The Wall Recordings

****-

Matt Wilde is a Manchester-born keyboard player and producer whose music blends jazz-inspired keys, rich harmonies and pocketed drums
‘Hello World’ is an audio catalogue of personal experiences, thoughts and feelings, shared with honesty and curiosity for the human condition. Matt crafts emotive and uplifting compositions denoting a tender illustration of the human experience, finding and celebrating the simple and beautiful moments of life.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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mohs - Mirage

Mirage

by mohs

Released 31 March 2023

BMM Records

****-

After a convincing debut release in 2019 and a first introduction on BMM Records last October with a track feature on the "Groove Dingueries Vol. 1" compilation, Swiss quartet mohs. present their new album "Mirage", an ode to creativity.
Guitarist Erwan Valazza, trumpeter Zacharie Ksyk, bassist Gaspard Colin and drummer Nathan Vandenbulcke distill jazz, hip hop and afrobeat elements in an ocean of blissful synths while keeping a wary eye on the sound texture.
From the funky instrumentation surrounding Fang The Great's vocals on "Heartbreaker" to the nostalgic guitar loops of "Mirage", all the way to the relaxing, almost ambient soundscapes of "Lonely Cowboy", this album will comfort your ears like a warm blanket.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Nick Walters - Padmasana

Padmasana

by Nick Walters

Released 15 March 2023

Nick Walters

****-

Trumpeter, composer, bandleader & producer, Nick Walters delivers his 2nd studio album of the year for D.O.T. Records, an exquisite mix of jazz fusion, electronic and traditional Indian sounds. Padmāsana is inspired and constructed from experiences and samples he encountered whilst travelling around the Indian subcontinent. It was all pieced together at his studio in East London, featuring live contributions from Tenderlonious on flute, Kieran McLeod on trombone, Tim Carnegie on drums, and Walters himself on trumpet and synthesisers. Padmāsana was mixed by Sam Interface at More Time Studios.

‘Padmāsana’ is an album inspired by the sights, sounds and smells of a trip travelling around the Indian subcontinent. Nick was lucky enough to travel around India on two separate occasions (2017 and 2019), both times carrying with him a portable sound recorder to document some of the interesting sounds he encountered. Each of the tracks on this album are built around samples recorded on the streets of India.

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Read more... Bandcamp

Scrimshire - Paroxsym

Paroxsym

by Scrimshire

Released 26 May 2023

Albert's Favourites

****-

Scrimshire is Adam Scrimshire - singer, songwriter, producer, DJ and founder of the Albert’s Favourites record label - has made his mark as one of today’s most forward-thinking producers. As a direct response to the frustration and anger that he felt in October 2022 related to the ongoing failures of the UK government, along with the horrible treatment of refugees, lower income individuals and more, he teamed up with an impressive cast of UK musicians and recorded this remarkably passionate new album, titled Paroxysm (which means: any sudden, uncontrollable outburst; a fit of emotion or action).

This brilliant recording, released on Scrimshire’s own label Albert’s Favourites, blends together a wide range of keys including Fender Rhodes, Moog Grandmother, Arp Odyssey, Sequential Prophet 6, and more with spacey cosmic textures, and programmed drum beats. A number of the tracks also feature some incredible special guest UK-based saxophonists in Idris Rahman (“Your Invasion Is A Lie”), Nat Birchall (“Unforgotten, Unforgiven”), and Tamar Osborn (“Flames”), in addition to guest vocals from Faye Houston (“Eyes Shut” and “Flames”) and spoken word from The Repeat Beat Poet (“What Is The State Of Our State” Part 1 & 2), who provides the overall powerful narrative for the album.

In channeling his overall frustration and emotions into a more positive and creative outlet, Scrimshire has put together one of this year’s most standout and important recordings. Highly recommended!

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Read more... Beat Caffeine

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Boof - Being Good Makes Me Sad

Being Good Makes Me Sad

by Boof

Released 17 November 2023

Boof

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BOOF is a quirky little Melbourne-based band that performs regularly to their ever growing fan base of Boofheads .

Boof was formed by Jody Bell, formerly of The Jam-tarts, an extremely hard working and popular all girl band from Fremantle that toured Australia and Europe thru the 80’s into the 90s. Jody moved to Amsterdam in '94, meeting up with Melbourne musician Steve Purcell (Swinging Sidewalks), writing songs together and busking their way around Holland and beyond, eventually forming BOOF.

After signing a record deal with Sony Holland and releasing ‘Cheap Dinner for Two’ BOOF toured back and forth to Melbourne, recorded singles with Paul Hester , played great ripper gigs and handy support spots with Lauren Hill, Paris combo and Tim Rogers . It was a great way to make friends but ‘we didn’t make much money’ .. times were tight in Holland and Melbourne was calling us home.

Fast forward 30 years and BOOF are now a tight 5 piece, harmony driven, swampy, pop, funky wah-wah, tell-ya ma, bar band..

BOOF are: Jody Bell (ex Jam-tarts - singing and playing rockin guitar), Steve Purcell ( ex-Swinging Sidewalks, Pearly Shells - singing & playing bass),  Gavin Gray (ex-Pearly Shells and piano tuner to the whole of Melbourne - drumming and singing with Don Voyage (ex-Jazz Party and one of the best bone players in the country - playing Trombone) and Camilla Hodgkins (ex-Perch Creek Family Band - on piano, melodica and sometimes banjo).

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Read more... Settlers Tavern

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Chaos In The CBD - Fabric Presents Chaos In The CBD

Fabric Presents Chaos In The CBD

by Chaos In The CBD

Released 31 March 2023

fabric Records

*****

New Zealand brothers Ben and Louis Helliker-Hales are Chaos In The CBD.

With their ever strengthening production credentials, the brothers have been able to mark themselves out as one of the most eminent underground duos to emerge out of the South Pacific.  

This release is part of the 'fabric presents' mix series and contains their own new track 'Higher Elevation' and 22 additional remixed tracks from Hanna, JUZU, J.D. Hall, Joshua, Raymond Castoldi and plenty more, in a mesmerising homage to the hidden gems of house.

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Read more... Fabric London

Actress - LXXXVIII

ALXXXVIII

by Actress

Released 3 November 2023

Ninja Tune

****-

‘LXXXVIII’ is the ninth Actress album to be created by London based Actress (Darren Cunningham) and the very first presentation of Actress’ voyage into luxury sonics.
A lifetime in the making, ‘LXXXVIII’ is the culmination of 25 years’ honing mind-shorting, soul-igniting audio infusions for dance floors, rave dens, festivals, and concert halls.
‘LXXXVIII’ pays dividends to meditate on an instrumental facet of its creation: game theory. Indeed, deep strategic thinking – more readily associated with economics and chess than artistic practice – was fundamental to Actress’ process as ‘LXXXVIII’ was channelled into existence

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Joey Alexander - Continuance

Continuance

by Joey Alexander

Released 3 November 2023

Mack Avenue Records

****-

One of the world's most loved jazz pianists, Balinese artist, Joey Alexander burst on to the scene via Motema Music with his astonishing, twice Grammy nominated top-selling debut album 'My Favorite Things' recorded when he was just 10 years old. He followed up with his albums 'Countdown', and "Joey Monk Live' and 'Eclipse' each one furthering his fame and his acclaim as one of the top jazz pianists of today.

At some point, even a child prodigy grows up. Now 20 years old, Alexander has come long way from the six- year-old exposed to Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, the eight-year-old playing in front of Herbie Hancock and the ten-year-old winning improvisation competitions. It may be hard to believe but Continuance is his seventh release.

Given his age, ability and meteoric rise, expectations are always high, perhaps unfairly so. In his expected progress towards becoming one of the elite names in jazz piano, he seems to have reached the point that improvement is made in smaller incremental stages, rather than the giant steps (no pun intended) of his youth. Or perhaps he is just enjoying the love of making music, having passed the point of needing to prove himself long ago.

For the first time, all the tracks on Alexander's previous album, Origin (Mack Avenue, 2022), were his own compositions. This album builds on that with five self-penned tracks along with two covers.

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Read more... All About Jazz

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Orions Belte - Women

Women

by Orions Belt

Released 6 October 2023

Jansen Records

****-

Orions Belte has been a steady supplier of groovy, catchy and dreamy instrumental pop since their 2018 debut album Mint. Women is their third studio album, but that doesn’t tell the whole truth when you also count their two live albums with accompanying films, three EP’s and a huge project where each of the members released their own solo album under the Orions Belte moniker. The three musicians rarely sit still, and the inspiration seems to be endless. This is probably also why their music is in such high demand.

As usual, all the songwriting and production is done by the band members themselves, and this time they have put a lot of effort into making everything bigger and more powerful than on the previous records. The string arrangements flow easily throughout the record. It almost feels like releasing a million balloons all at once while lying looking at the night sky and dreaming of road trips on bumpy country roads through the Amazon in Brazil.

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Read more... Bandcamp

Malombo Jazz Makers - Down Lucky's Way

Down Lucky's Way

by Malombo Jazz Makers

Released 5 May 2023

Tapestry Workshops

****-

Lucas ‘Lucky’ Madumetja Ranku (1941-2016) was one of the greatest African guitarists of his generation. He first made his name with the Malombo Jazz Makers – the successor group to the legendary Malombo Jazzmen, formed in Mamelodi township by guitarist Philip Tabane, drummer Julian Bahula and flautist Abbey Cindi.

When Tabane left the Jazzmen in 1965, Bahula and Cindi called on Lucky to replace him, and the Malombo Jazz Makers were born. Building on the popularity and success of the original Malombo Jazzmen, the Malombo Jazz Makers become immensely popular, touring widely, winning numerous jazz competitions, and recording two successful albums for the Gallo label.

The deep and hypnotic 'Down Lucky’s Way' was their third album. Recorded in 1969, it was the first Malombo Jazz Makers album to feature additional instruments, and the first to feature Abbey Cindi on soprano saxophone as well as flute. But more than anything else, 'Down Lucky’s Way' is a transfixing showcase for Lucky Ranku’s sui generis guitar virtuosity. Quite different from their previous recordings, the album shifted the Jazz Makers’ sound toward hypnotic, extended compositions, layered by organ bass and guitar overdubs.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Innanen, Pasborg, Piromalli - Can You Hear It

Can You Hear It

by Innanen, Pasborg, Piromalli

Released 20 October 2023

Clean Feet Records

*****

An organ trio like no other, Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen, Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg and French Hammond hero Cédric Piromalli are back to twist traditions and confound conventions.

Following on from their gloriously impish Clean Feed debut, 2021’s This Is It, comes the uber-fusion feast of Can You Hear It?, an album giving the eminent Blue Note histories of Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff and Larry Young an extra adrenaline hit, Piromalli souping up the keys for extracurricular soul-fusion kicks and spacing out like Sun Ra hammering the hyperdrive on an interstellar love mission.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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jaimee branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))

Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war))

by jaimee branch

Released 25 August 2023

International Anthem

****-

In July of 2022, just one month before jaimie branch’s death sent shockwaves around the world, the trumpet player and composer was in Chicago at International Anthem studios putting finishing touches on an album. It was a suite of music she had composed and then recorded with her flagship ensemble, Fly or Die, over the course of a residency at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska. In her wake, the album was near complete, with only mixing tweaks, final titles, and artwork to be fully realized.

In the months following, her family (led by sister Kate Branch), her band (Jason Ajemian, Lester St. Louis, and Chad Taylor), and her collaborators at IARC banded together to gather memories, texts, emails, photographs, artwork and fragments belonging to jaimie to light the path forward. The goal was always to do what jaimie would have done.

Packaged in stunning artwork by John Herndon, Damon Locks, and branch herself, Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) is jaimie’s final album with her Fly or Die quartet.

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Read more... Bandcamp

Malla - Cycles

Cycles

by Malla

Released 13 October 2023

Malla

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Malla are a Melbourne-based nu-jazz collective that fuse boom-bap beats, jazz harmony and chaotic soundscapes. Their music intertwines each individuals voice to create a liquid sound breaching styles of house, future-jazz and drum and bass. Their energetic live performance will transfix and transcend those around them into a sonorous dreamland.

Malla is a supergroup of the city’s up and coming talents, featuring Emma Volard (Bumpy), Jake Amy (Kaiit), Uno Lizard (Proto Moro), Moses Carr (Plastiq), Patty Danao (Billy Davis) + T-EDD (Ebiphe).

‘CYCLES’ is an exploration of a musical friendship that delves into longform jams, house inspired grooves, folk fragility, shoegaze ambience and post-punk grit.

Written during a period of love and loss, the album follows elements of heartache, loneliness and self-worth, forming a therapeutic collage of the act of moving on and upward.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Epsen Berg - Water Fabric

Water Fabric

by Epsen Berg

Released 24 November 2023

ODIN / Grappa Musikkfortag AS

****-

With nine exceptionally strong trio and solo albums Espen Berg has become one of the most central and tone-setting Norwegian jazz musicians today. Nonetheless, his new album Water Fabric on Odin Records, shows completely new sides of Espen
as a composer.

He has put together a hand-picked ensemble consisting of six high-profile Norwegian musicians with a background in jazz, classical, Norwegian folk music and Indian classical music.

This composition reflects Espen's ability to make any musical expression his own, and with Water Fabric he has created a melodious, boundary-breaking, and breathtaking work that both oozes with the joy of playing and also shows a deep respect for musical traditions and craftsmanship.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Yuhan Su - Liberated Gesture

Liberated Gesture

by Yuhan Su

Released 10 November 2023

Sunnyside Communications

*****

New York-based vibraphonist Yuhan Su, a Taiwanese native, has built a reputation as “among the most prominent contemporary voices” (Jazziz) on her instrument. Liberated Gesture, her second release for Sunnyside (and fourth album overall), follows up City Animals from 2018 with a new set of original compositions, a new band of heavyweights and a renewed outlook on art and possibility.
Joined by altoist Caroline Davis, pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Marty Kenney and drummer Dan Weiss, Su brings to life an ambitious set of music with the common theme of finding freedom. “Throughout the years,” she says, “I’ve come to realize that to be free, to break from all constraints and preconceived notions, is what I’ve been chasing all along. I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders, and as I opened my eyes again, I found nothing but wild and eerily beautiful things on the road in front of me. This album represents the freedom that I’ve been searching for, a more polished version of myself and a message about the time that we are in.”

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Read more... Bandcamp

Louis VI - Earthling (Instrumentals)

Earthling (Instrumentals)

by Louis VI

Released 8 December 2023

HiyaSelf Recordings Unlimited

*****

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Louis VI - Earthling

EARTHLING

by Louis VI

Released 31 March 2023

HiYaself Recordings Unlimited

*****

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EARTHLING is the hotly-tipped second album from musical all-rounder Louis VI and the debut release on the newly-minted HiyaSelf Recordings Unlimited, helmed by Nightmares On Wax.

Here, the rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist draws on hip hop, jazz, electronic, afrobeat, funk, RnB, and soul to create a melting pot of future-leaning sounds that directly challenges the colonial legacy of climate change.

EARTHLING is stacked full of features from the friends and musicians that surround Louis – including Lex Amor, Oscar Jerome, Moses Boyd, Bluestaeb, Alex Cosmo Blake. On new cut ‘Orange Skies’, Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins drops by for a verse…

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Read more... Bandcamp

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories 10th Anniversary Edition

Random Access Memories 10th Anniversary Edition

by Daft Punk

Released 12 May 2023

Columbia Records

***--

Random Access Memories, which swept into homes 10 years ago on the back of the most fulsome rollout imaginable, arrived with “Classic!” practically etched into the lacquer. Yet Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo’s fourth and no-fooling final album is their only one to see its reputation stall, or even backslide when put under scrutiny—unlike the rest, which all traveled from varying shades of skepticism to being regarded as either significant, genius, or both.

RAM is slow, it’s said, a long 75 minutes; the airlocked grooves are linear and the opening run sags under the weight of treacle. This was an undeniable event record, but does the lore supersede the songs themselves? Where Homework and Discovery teem with eternal youth, RAM’s unyielding devotion to the past can fix it in time.

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Read more... Pitchfork

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Drumless)

Random Access Memories (Drumless)

by Daft Punk

Released 17 November 2023

Columbia Records

**---

What are we doing here? Honestly, what are we doing with this “drumless” edition of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories? What possible lessons can we learn from 2023’s second re-edition of Daft Punk’s third-best album, in which every sonic detail is the same, other than the absence of drums? Why on earth did Daft Punk, one of the savviest musical duos in modern memory, choose to release a largely superfluous album, when they could have simply ridden the residual good vibes of RAM’s 10th anniversary reissue from earlier this year? Why would anyone choose to listen to Daft Punk’s meticulously crafted fourth studio album with the work of two of the world’s best session drummers wiped from the surface?.

A drum-free album is really pushing the limits in a music business that has never been shy about overselling fans on albums they already own. At its worst, Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition) feels like a concept album so theoretically pure that it didn’t need to exist, a joke without a punchline. But brief moments of drumless enlightenment and acoustic revelation are just about enough to rescue it from the vast cosmic bin of pointlessness. Neither victory lap nor walk of shame, RAM Drumless is a curious, unfulfilling end to the RAM saga. And while a Drumless Version of RAM 10th-anniversary bonus track “Infinity Repeating” would be an intriguing prospect, now, surely, is the time to let Daft Punk’s fourth studio album take a well-earned rest.

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Read more... Pitchfork

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