Foxy Digitalis
I first learned of Bios Contrast’s (aka Nilotpal Das) work while tag-hopping on Bandcamp and ending up on his release, Meltwater Pulse. The two side-long pieces are expansive and immersive, overwhelming the senses with harmonium drones, violin, processed vocals, and more. Digging further into Das’s work revealed an extensive discography built around heady concepts and interesting […]
I’m honestly unsure what else to say about Mayssa Jallad’s brilliant Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels. I have written and talked about it and told everyone within earshot to listen. It’s an album with everything; vital history, experimental melodicism, inventive structures, mountains of emotion, and Jallad’s stunning voice. There is so much to learn, so […]
Maryam Kiani is an Iranian-born-and-raised musician and composer, and her debut album, Embrace, is out today on Low Versions. It’s an emotional record with visceral throughlines, building on the concept of changing life’s trajectory. Kiani uses an array of instrumentation and compositional techniques to create unique sound worlds filled with emotive synth passages, angular rhythms, and […]
There are so many layers and corridors on Rosso Polare’s new album, Bocca D’Ombra, to get lost within, but I keep returning to the ancient tendrils twisting through each layer. Cesare Lopopolo and Anna Vezzosi tap into something primal, taking listeners on a time-traveling journey. Even though this music feels from another era, the compositional and […]
The first three albums from the Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble feel like a growing tree, emerging each season with massive new branches and forming elegant skyward pathways. Melodies from another time mesh with inventive song structures and engaging timbres to create a still-unfolding narrative. Their latest, III, expands the ensemble’s aural worlds with new sonic elements and […]
I am smitten with Carmen Jaci’s debut, Happy Child. It’s an album filled with joy and wonder, all communicated through compelling compositions and intricate sonic patterns. There are so many elements whirring and singing at any given moment, and it can be dizzying but in an engaging, whimsical way. Everything in the world of Happy Child sounds pristine, […]
Jack Prest’s The Risk of Hyperbole is such an engaging, expansive interdisciplinary work that it feels like scaling a sonic mountain to get a full view. What always comes through, though, is the clarity of his vision and the freedom with which he shares it with his collaborators. While this is Prest’s work, it has the fingerprints […]
A mirror is a canvas. A mirror is a void. Cruel Diagonals shatters the barriers between perception and reality on “Vestigial Mythology,” with Megan Mitchell’s voice conjuring ancient spells via electric rituals. Bass rattles the inner sanctum, a shockwave blooming within spiraling vocal arrangements teeming with mantras obscured by doubt. Cascading musical shapes climb across […]
Katie Lou McCabe’s music transmits something well beyond the sonic shapes and sound forms. Her new album, Innersense, is a diaristic reflection that can almost feel like too much. All of McCabe is buried within the aural atmospheres and hypnotic vocal wanderings. Still, it is less a looking glass than an invitation to find our own […]