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The heat continues to bake everything in sight. I was foolishly out in it yesterday for too long, and have been feeling utterly zapped ever since. It’s no joke (not that I thought it was). So, I’m staying in for now after 10 AM. It’s a bummer.
You know what isn’t a bummer? The two new Jewel Garden releases coming on Friday from Wet Bear and Peak Eloquence. Very excited about both of these and I hope you’ll take a few minutes at least to check them out on Friday.
With that, here’s some other great stuff to check out.
Freddy Muia & Ng’at Maler There Is Time (Self-Released)
Gentle soundwashes lilt amongst swaying trees, the rippling textures of leaves waving as a sonic backdrop. Muia and Maler cast resonant spheres into the distance as beacons. Synths rise into melodic sky patterns pulling us forward, buoyed by the unique timbres of African instrumentation (the lyre-like Agunda and flute-like Endere). There Is Time creates soft, warm landscapes with an emotive sting. Glitch-infused rhythms spark new life toward the end, a surprising aural combination that further builds out this luminous world. Caught inside the drifting flows, There Is Time glows for eternity.
Sofía Bertomeu The Uncertainty Principle (Low Versions)
There’s an almost claustrophobic cadence to The Uncertainty Principle. Sofía Bertomeu stitches electronic rhythms into pulsing orbs moving in every imaginable direction. Laced with a shimmering iridescence, the music is hypnotizing and poisonous. Voices are like shadows lurking behind us just out of reach. “Ajena” finds Bertomeu teaming up with Spanish legend, Isabel Fructuoso, for an ephemeral, romantic dance. Aqueous arpeggios glisten across emotive chord progressions and spectral vocals. It is unforgettable. The progressive beats return with subterranean expressiveness so The Uncertainty Principle can lodge itself in our collective psyche before romping through angular corridors deep into the night.
Olson Dew Drop World (Interworld)
The fourth world becomes a liquid, rhythmic reality on Dew Drop World. Glittering melodics move with unfettered joy, spelling out secret messages and leaving a slithering, silver trail. Movement comes at different speeds across sinewy layers, and emotions spread out through an aqueous labyrinth. Certain moments carry a timeless spirit with ethereal voices floating across the intricate sonic structures, while futuristic visions spark to life elsewhere. Throughout Dew Drop World, we explore the hidden parts of ourselves, letting this rich music guide us and soften the cracks in the mirror. A beautiful album.
Tiny Leaves Mynd (Self-Released)
I love that Joel Pike’s solo moniker is Tiny Leaves as certain aspects of Mynd feel like an articulation of the hidden foliage’s secret lives. Beautiful string melodies dance with an air of wistfulness, following the pathways various field recordings lead us down. Electronics bubble beneath the surface like pooling rain where memories float in thin sheets. There’s an understated drama in the chord progressions and layered sonic movements, but it’s small and otherworldly. Instrumentation comes in all shapes and timbres, but the star of Mynd is the outside world itself. Recorded at The Long Mynd, the landscape is the ultimate instrument that brings these stunning pieces to life. Pike lets these field recordings guide the music into a place of peaceful expression and tranquil warmth. Stunning.
Andal Sukabe “Debbo” (Sahel Sounds)
When “Debbo” hits the sound system, there’s no way to sit still. This band of siblings from the Mojamani family from Niamey, Niger unlock an utterly infectious groove buoyed by catchy, mesmerizing vocal melodies lithely slithering across pentatonic scales. Free-flowing and multi-headed, “Debbo” is tethered at the surface, but each sonic layer moves in its own effervescent space. Andal Sukabe has taken their Wodaabe roots and grown them into a unique, modern interpretation that is irresistible and unforgettable.
Kid Millions and Sarah Bernstein Forest Park Live (Island House)
I can’t tell if the Earth is standing still and I’m trapped in some kind of endlessly swirling vortex, or if everything has been blown to bits and I’m just along for the free ride. Either way, Forest Park Live is an enigmatic, shapeshifting slab of exploration and sonic catharsis. Kid Millions and Sarah Bernstein chart their own language across these two sprawling pieces. Bernstein stains the air with stilted pizzicatos and emotive, rolling drones. When her voice emerges, cast in fire, everything goes black and the music echoes in undulating waves. Everything is grounded by Millions expressive frenzies. He is always in control, but the edges are ready to break. Strings pierce the veil and ring out from the mountaintop, but the world is tumbling down violently underneath. I am ready for the eventual cataclysm.
Adam Void STOWAWAY on a Sinking Ship (Cult Love Sound)
Backwoods fuckere gets massaged through magnetic junkyards and country-fried poetics. Adam Void unearths dirt-soaked memories and plasters them across tracks with weird melodies and horror movie spectacle. He may have the keys to the kingdom scuttling along guitar lines pulled from dead trees, but the ramshackle sonic architecture of STOWAWAY is looking for any excuse to implode into dust. Casio rhythms mix with circular tape chew while Void hollers away, putting spells on the voices in his head. Something about this reminds me of the great Charle McAlister, but a bit more demented, and I can’t stop going down these weird rabbit holes with Void. Wild times.
Duncan Park Traveller’s Peace (Aural Canyon)
This has quickly become my favorite Duncan Park album. Traveller’s Peace is a sonic travelogue documenting adventures through real and imagined worlds. Rustic guitar serenades flicker for moments before synthetic rain washes us into a roiling sea. Voices come from all sides in every direction, recounting techniques and whispering secrets before winding back up the path toward home. Sequencing on Traveller’s Peace is magnificent, elevating these 14 tracks into a narrative series of recollections. Shruti box drones provide brief warmth before we’re back on the road, rambling deep into the woods, singing and hollering until everyone we know are ghosts. This is an absolute delight.
odd person ▲▲▲▲▲ (Poverty Electronics)
Crack open the future and maybe neon will spill out and become liquified. Globular synth textures bounce on disjointed rhythms throughout these angular improvisations. Minimalist patterns are a shapeshifting horizon, constantly changing the view while keeping the pointillistic electronic moving forward. A robotic cadence intersects with joyous sonic qualities, giving this music an air of whimsy while still feeling oddly post-apocalyptic. So many dichotomies could be overwhelming, but this music is so much fun that it’s easy to just go along for the ride.
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