Album Review: Brin & Dustin Wong – Texture II : An intense connection of micro-beats and shifting loops with a free jazz spirit.
Imagining the outcome of this collaboration is in many ways a bit of a stretch. First there is guitarist Dustin Wong, in the past a key member of the under-valued Ponytail, who rode the first math-rock wave along with Battles, and more recently an explorer of interwoven guitar pieces, often long form, for Thrill Jockey. …
Track/Video: Basinski’s slinky electro funk combo SPARKLE DIVISION introduce new album ‘Foxy’ with the punchy title track.
If you have seen the seminal electronic musician William Basinski live you will know that he’s far from the experimental scene stereotype, more glamour than gloom, maybe in leather or sparkling suit, gorgeously warm and witty, passionate and performative, a free spirit. That’s where SPARKLE DIVISION come in. Starting as a duo of Basinski and …
Track/Video : Producer/drummer SHOLTO previews incoming cinematic soul ep ‘The Changing Tides Of Dreams’ with the dramatic ‘Vampire’.
You’ve probably latched onto the music of producer, composer, drummer and instrumentalist Oscar ‘SHOLTO’ Robertson, many times without ever knowing it. He was part of the indie/r&b leaning, Deltasonic-signed Hidden Charms who in 2015/16 looked set to break through on the back of a series of stomping singles and a spell in LA working with …
Track/video : James Heather re-imagines his poignant track ‘Hidden Angel’ to uncover new dimensions.
This is in many ways a brave record. Neo-classical composer and pianist James Heather has just released the a new version of his track ‘Hidden Angel’ via Coldcut’s label Ahead of our Time and as you would expect from the boundary pushing explorer of ‘pulse’ music, it’s a piece with resounding emotional depth. A re-interpretation …
Track/Video: Soundway announce re-releasing the pre-ambient classic ‘Circus Underwater’ with groovy preview ‘The Surface of the water’.
This feels a bit like Light In The Attic territory but the wonderful Soundway Records have scooped a real lost gem here. They’ll be re-releasing the one and only self-titled album by Circus Underwater from 1984 and coming to shelves near you in newly mastered form on 15th September. It’s a record that’s long been …
Album Review: Oiro Pena – ‘Puna’ : An intense and essential take on spiritual jazz-tones.
You have to be paying close attention to pick up on the whispers and murmurings from the dynamic Finnish underground scene but when you catch the signals it’s usually something that needs shouting about. That certainly goes for multi-instrumentalist Antti Vauhkonen’s Oiro Pena project which has been beaming messages packed with outsider jazz innovation for …
Track/Video: Vibrant and vital nu-jazz vocalist And Is Phi previews debut album ‘Double Pink’ with the bite and beauty of ‘White Noise’.
Maybe vocalist, song writer, dancer and visual artist, Andrea Isabelle Phillips (aka And Is Phi) has finally found the creative anchorage that she has been looking for. On a journey that has taken her from tropical buzz of the Philippines and Norway’s deep chill, it’s the nu-jazz community in London that’s provided a period of …
Album Review: Jim Wallis – In Huge Gesturing Loops: moving ‘ambient country’ way beyond passive mood music.
Drumming and making ambient soundscapes is not a well populated intersection on the musician directory Venn diagram but Jim Wallis sits comfortably within that quirky enclave. Perhaps best known for his stick wielding in Modern Nature, Still Corners and Psychic Markers, he’s also a producer/mixer/engineer (recent credits include Bryde and Ellie James) plus one of …
Track/Video: Experimental duo J Foerster/N Kramer announce new album ‘Habitat II’ with the shimmering spread of ‘Souvenirs’.
The Berlin based experimental music partnership of percussionist Joda Foerster and composer Niklas Kramer are set to continue their exploration of pseudo site-specific music with the release of a new album ‘Habitat II’ on September 15th. It’s their second long form release for the irrepressible Leaving Records following 2021’s ‘Habitat’, the title connection hinting at …
Album Review: Fabiano Do Nascimento – Das Nuvens : New Fusion music for the heart and soul
If you know anything of guitarist/composer Fabiano do Nascimento’s significant back catalogue you will be expecting his new album ‘Das Nuvens‘ to be impressive. Each release from his debut ‘Dança Dos Tempos’ in 2015 onwards has shown: his accomplished instrumental touch, whether on seven, twelve or oktav guitar; his intuitive feel for classic Brazilian music, …