Album Review: Portico Quartet – ‘Monument’
I can still remember the kerfuffle Portico Quartet sparked off at Womad 2012…Where’s the hang drum? What’s this, loops? Is this dance music? For a crowd expecting the pastoral acoustic soundscapes of their first two records, the Mercury nominated ‘Knee Deep in the North Sea’ and follow up ‘Isla’, the sweeping electronica fused with upfront …
See: Global beat fusionists Black Flower preview ‘O Fogo’ from incoming album ‘Magma’.
The pronunciation might be tricky but you can’t question the discerning taste of Belgian label Sdban Ultra in the nu-jazz, funk and grooves department. More proof comes with the label’s first taster from Black Flower’s soon-to-come ‘Magma’LP (due 28th January), ‘O Fogo’. Four albums in and Black Flower have been steadily sharpening their kaleidoscopic blend …
See: Richard Dawson/Circle reveal ‘Methuselah’, an epic rush of folk /metal story telling.
Ever tried keeping up with Richard Dawson? It’s a challenge that always pays off. Over the past couple of years we’ve been gifted his reflective and resonant song craft on ‘2020’, the poptastic quirkiness of Hen Ogledd’s ‘Free Humans’ and the woozy, lockdown ambience of ‘Bulbils’. Now comes more news of Dawson’s restless musicality shooting …
Album Review: Meridean Brothers & Conjunto Media Luna- Paz en la Terra
Nothing about the Meridean Brothers is as you would expect unless you are prepared for the unexpected. The name might suggest a collective but in the studio the ‘Brothers’ focal point is the mercurial talents of Colombian composer and multi- instrumentalist Eblis Alvarez. As an established player in Bogata’s energetic experimental scene Alvarez has always …
Album Review: South African be-bop trailblazer Kippie Moeketsi’s Blue Stompin receives long-awaited reissue
Over forty years on since its original release in 1977 those intrepid sound seekers at We Are Busy Bodies have just re-issued, in partnership with Rashid Vally’s seminal South African Jazz label As- Shams /The Sun, Kippie Moeketsi/Hal Singer’s ‘Blue Stompin’. The album’s title track and centrepiece highlights an intriguing jazz intersection from the two …
Track: Quantic & Nidia Gongora- new track, Balada Borracha, plus album announcement
The story goes that musician, producer and global fusion pioneer Will ‘Quantic’ Hudson first heard Colombian singer songwriter Nidia Gongora’s singular voice through the wall of his Cali apartment busting out from his neighbour’s CD player. So we can be forever thankful for next door’s exquisite taste in repeat plays and the low grade partitions …
Album Review: Amami- Soleil
‘Got to find a city, find myself a city to live in’ pleaded David Byrne a good while back- well if he’s still looking or fancies a change after his decades of globetrotting then Geneva may be worth a punt. There you will find Bongo Joe records, the forward thinking outer-national label headed up by …
Album Review: Sarah Davachi – ‘Antiphonals’
Sarah Davachi is a composer and performer who, like fellow keyboardists Ana Roxanne or Anna Von Hausswollf, relentlessly navigates the tidal intersections between electronic and drone music. As an artist she has serious collaborative credentials, having worked with such luminaries as Basinski, Grouper, Donald Buchla and Loren Connors, but since 2018 Davachi has focused more …
Track: Sarah Davachi releases single ‘Border of Mind’ from forthcoming album ‘Antiphonals’
Sarah Davachi is a composer and performer who, like fellow keyboardists Ana Roxanne or Anna Von Hausswollf, relentlessly navigates the tidal intersections between electronic and drone music. As an artist she has serious collaborative credentials, having worked with such luminaries as Basinski, Grouper, Donald Buchla and Loren Connors, but from 2018 Davachi has focused more …
Album Review: Cochemea- ‘Vol II: Baca Sewa’
What is roots music? Well Cochemea Gastelum’s earthy new album, ‘Vol II: Baca Sewa’ out via Daptone from 16th July, would pretty much nail it if you’re searching for definitives. Roots has nothing to do with retro, it’s not about seeking to sound like the past, it’s about connection and inspiration, exploring a personal heritage …