Intensely psychedelic free jazz from Larry Young’s Lawrence of Newark album independently released in 1973 and not-so-secretly featuring Pharaoh Sanders on tenor saxophone. The whole record is great, but this song in particular blew me away. It just keeps getting better and better. Totally overwhelming, but also somehow digestible if you’re keeping a steady ear.
Got some more rare groove for you this morning. Enter Olivier Rogg, experimental Swiss midi composer and his record Variations Sur GE/CH. I honesty can’t find much on the record aside from the label it was released on Mega Wave Orchestra, a small label or series ran by a Swiss art gallery in 1988.
The record as a whole has some pretty lovely grooves, but this song in question, “M7”, is likely my favorite. It’s got some great midi-tone mallet percussion, plus some great punchy keys, triangle, complex clarinet and “Moments In Love”-like impacts of sound. In terms of modern comparisons, the Nonlocal Forecast record from last year reminds me of it in a way, mostly just through its use of midi and complex melodies. All in all, it made me smile, so I knew I had to share here.
Some days, sometimes I just find things in my iTunes library I don’t remember downloading and decide to put it on. This is only when I’ve exhausted all the new music that interests me, plus the old favorites are hitting like they used to. Sometimes I turn the unknown additions off shortly after starting them, or they become new obsessions. In the case of Max Cilla’s 1981 record La flûte des mornes: Volume 1, it’s on the side of obsession.
Composed and recorded in Paris by Martinique’s Max Cilla, the record is full of bamboo flute ultra-jams, inspired by Cuban and Latin jazz & native rhythms. If you’re looking for any flute-heavy latin funk jams, this should be in your library. The track in question, “Crépuscule Tropical”, starts off simple enough with a fluttering flute solo. Then, around the 1:45 mark, the song really kicks in, with great percussion and a punchy piano line. I imagine some record store owner playing this record in his shop to their unsuspecting customers, then once that moment hits, everyone brings out their phone to try and figure out what this song + record are. It’s a magical moment that caught me off guard. It’s a fabulous groove that I wanted to share with everyone immediately. Dude is still out here playing the flute on projects, too. Hell yes. The vinyl was recently reissued by Bongo Joe, so if it interests you, go out and grab it now before it’s too late!
I posted about India Jordan’s great single “For You” back in my GR8 TRACKS of APRIL 2020 list (find that in my Recommended Albums of April 2020 post!), and they recently just released an EP of the same name via Local Action. Stretching across multiple spectrums of dance music, from drum & bass, to heady techno, to vocal house, to deep house approaching trance-states, For You is a masterful flex of fun with tunes MADE to be played loud in clubs and on dance floors. It’s almost a tease that it’s come out now, when those settings are boarded up. Jordan also comes from the north of England, so from what little I know about the country, I know they’re blazing a trail + being an inspiration for other queer, gender-nonconforming youth that are also up there. Inspirational!
I wanted to feature the opening track only because it has fit itself into my recent rotation of soul-chopped vocal house that I’ve been exercising to lately. I’m not one to go to clubs per se, but this really does make me want to jump out and get down with my partner in a crowded room. Just FEELING it. And that’s what this EP does best – it helps you FEEL it. It meaning yourself, the environment, the music. It’s sick. I would have happily shared any other track on the project here, but this one has just been speaking to me recently. Expect to see For You in my Recommended Albums of May feature coming in the next few weeks.
I want you to get into queer female Filipino via Toronto ensemble Pantayo, who are making some absolutely radical pop with heavy emphasis on working in traditional southern Philippines musical style called Kulintang, similar to that of Indonesian Gamelan. Percussive metal gongs chime along with modern electronic instrumentation, adding a timbre rarely ever heard in most western music at all. One thing similar that I can remember is Danny Brown sampling Gamelan on “Pneumonia”, which to this day stands as one of my favorite and most adventurous sampling decisions I’ve heard.
The one streaming track the group has on their Bandcamp, “Divine”, doesn’t show off their full breadth of kulintang in their sound, but hearing the warm, hanging-drum-esque tones in the background amongst more metallic sounding gongs and traditional electric bass + drums + mellotron combo is a lovely combination. Gamelan has been one of my favorite sounds for a while now, so hearing more similar styles of music from the same region incorporated into more digestible formats is super inspiring to hear. Hopefully there will be more like it in the future. Not just people sampling it – but like Pantayo, actually playing the dang instruments. Their new, self-titled album is out NOW via Telephone Explosion!
Ok alright I gotta come clean – all I’ve been listening to for the past week or so has been Charli XCX’s new album how i’m feeling now, made entirely during quarantine. The album is full of highs are spare on lows, but “anthems” might be my biggest jam. As someone who goes to a surplus of shows, this quarantine has really cut out a vital part of my life. Although this song more deals with partying and debauchery, I think we can apply its booming and stomping sound to craving the burst of bass and electricity from fellow music surrounding you, automatically making it one of THE go-to songs for us to turn to once COVID has packed its bags. Where is all this energy we’ve been collecting going? Not out into venues and onto bands. That’s a damn crime.
Warm Visions back at it again sharing more city pop & jazz funk. Even though I just put out another playlist compiling 50 more great songs from 1970s & 80s Japan, I’m still on the hunt for more. I was introduced to this album after seeing great NYC-based record store Face Records share they had a copy of this in-store on their instagram account. The colorful, cartoony cover instantly drew me in. If I’ve learned anything from this era, it’s that you should absolutely judge by covers, because they’re usually all great. The song I’ve shared here is a luscious slow burn, powered by the dramatic vocals of the lead singer, some ripping guitar solos, subtle woodblock percussion and a general anticipatory air surrounding the track.
I can’t find much about this group except for this one-off album, Street Sensation, released in 1979 via Polydor. I do know that Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore chain that has also made its way over to the states, so my first thought is this might be a collaboration of players that would play in a cafe of a Kinokuniya store? Like a fabulous open-mic night? Some of the songs on record are definitely from a live setting, as applause can be heard at the end of some songs + the singer thanking the crowd. There’s also a cover of Taeko Ohnuki’s “4AM”. Either way, it’s a lovely addition into the canon of jazz funk from the time & place, and should definitely be picking up more attention than it currently is from city pop fans (just based on the royal quantifier of this – youtube views).
I featured Kalbells’ great 2020 EP Mothertime in my Recommended Albums of April 2020 feature, but man, I really gotta give it some individual shine in its own post. I’ve been listening to it pretty regularly and continue to marvel at the elasticity of the synths and the palpable personality of the vocals. Solo artist Kalmia Traver has whipped up a short, satisfying product featuring awesome sound design, lovely little accents of marimba + mallet percussion, and subtly addicting songs that reel you back in with inventive melodies and lots of KICK. For some reason it reminds me of the mushroom town level in Super Mario Sunshine. Anyone else?
This is an artist I would kill to see live one day once we’re allowed to do that. Maybe at like, The Sultan Room in Brooklyn or something. (Editor’s note: just looked into Kalbells’ fall tour dates and she is in fact going to play Sultan Room, and is also touring with blog favorite Bernice. Unfortunately not in NYC, but alas – hope shows can happen by then). Until then, please enjoy this EP + hope that there’s more music from Traver in the near future.
An old acquaintance of mine recently reached out to tell me about this great record they found in their uncle’s vinyl collection that featured production from none other than the great Ryuichi Sakamoto. This record was Virginia Astley’s 1986 record Hope In A Darkened Heart, which also happens to feature additional work from Japan’s David Sylvian. Hope is a lovely dream pop record, harkening parallels to Julee Cruise, Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush to more modern examples like Julia Holter. It’s a lovely record and I’m VERY grateful that that person reached out and told me about it.
DANG Y’ALL. April 2020 was absolutely bananas for new music. I mentioned a few weeks ago on my twitter that five records featured here have already comfortably become obsession-worthy favorites. Can you guess which ones? The gag is that the five others I’ve selected are also approaching that territory. Not only are the 10 records I’ve selected here quality, they also beat out plenty of other great albums from artists like Empress Of, Purity Ring, Why Bonnie, Thundercat, Jackie Lynn, Crisman, Rina Sawayama and more. There are obvious selections of course (Fiona Apple, Laura Marling, Yves Tumor), but hopefully a few names that are new to you. But most of all, I hope you enjoy and stay safe!
Warm Visions 