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2023-10 October Playlist SunNeverSetsOnMusic

2023-10 October Playlist SunNeverSetsOnMusic

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Jamila Woods - Water Made Us

Water Made Us

by Jamila Woods

Released 13 October 2023

Jagjaguwar

*****

On her expansive new album Water Made Us, Chicago musician and poet Jamila Woods shines anew as she asks the question, what does it mean to fully surrender into love? Across Water Made Us, Jamila embraces new genres, playful melodies, and hypnotizing wordplay, as she wades through the exhilarating tumult of love’s wreckage and refuge.

While 2017’s HEAVN saw Jamila celebrating her community within a lineage of Black feminist movement organizing, and 2019’s Legacy! Legacy! reframed her life’s experiences through the storied personas of iconic Black and brown artists, Water Made Us is self-revelatory in an entirely new way. The album reveals a new side of Jamila never fully shared with her previous work, making this her most personal album yet.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Allison Russell - The Returner

The Returner

by Allison Russell

Released 8 September 2023

Birds of Chicago

*****

Since the release of her debut solo LP two years ago Outside Child, Russell’s often devastating, deeply moving, cathartic celebration of survivor’s joy has become one of the most acclaimed albums of the past 10 years.

Now comes the second chapter in her story, The Returner, a body-shaking, mind-expanding, soulful expression of liberation, love, and self-respect that serves as a fierce declaration of joy for all survivors that have made it to the other side. The album was written and co-produced by Allison along with dim star (her partner JT Nero and Drew Lindsay) and was recorded over Solstice week in December 2022 at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, CA. It features Russell’s “Rainbow Coalition” band of all female musicians - along with special guest appearances from the legendary Wendy & Lisa, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, and Hozier - who built The Returner from the bottom up with a rhythm-first, genre-fluid approach.

The improvisational energy of great female artists sparked the album’s fierce joy, and provided a wider canvas for Allison’s immense, unlimited talent. In all, the new album doesn’t just deliver on the promise of the last two years, it exceeds all reasonable (and unreasonable) expectations and affirms Allison Russell’s place among music’s most vital artists and The Returner, as one of 2023’s most essential recordings.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Kamaal Williams - Stings

Stings

by Kamaal Williams

Released 27 September 2023

Black Focus Records

*****

Informed by isolation, reflection, and profound spirituality, the third full-length album from South London keyboardist and producer Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu) is a cerebral instrumental journey through jazz, classical, dub, downtempo, bossa nova, and hip-hop styles. The front half features the record’s most immediate moments, peaking with the title track and its sweet flip of Soho’s 1995 track “Hot Music,” before diving into dreamy and downright beautiful classical arrangements on the back half. Tacked onto the album’s 10-track run as a digital bonus disc are Stings’ three early singles that includes the distinctive, menacing, vocal-laced “PKKNO.”

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Read more... KEXP

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John Scofield - Uncle John's Band

Uncle John's Band

by John Scofield

Released 13 October 2023

ECM

*****

Named for the Grateful Dead song that concludes this inspired double album, Uncle John’s Band features masterful guitarist John Scofield at his most freewheeling.

Wide ranging repertoire finds his trio with Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart tackling material from Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man” to Neil Young’s “Old Man”, from Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” to the Miles Davis Birth of the Cool classic “Budo”. And jazz standards including “Stairway to the Stars” and “Ray’s Idea” rub shoulders with seven Scofield originals that are variously swing, funk and folk-inflected.

The red thread through the programme is the trio’s tremendous improvisational verve.  “I feel like we can go anywhere,” says John Scofield of the group’s multi-directional versatility.

Uncle John’s Band was recorded at Clubhouse Studio in Rhinebeck, New York, in August 2022.

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Read more... ECM

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Rob Luft - Dahab Days

Dahab Days

by Rob Luft

Released 20 October 2023

Edition Records

*****

With "Dahab Days," Luft embarks on another significant stride in his artistic journey. This album represents a notable expansion of his sound, incorporating a string quartet and reinforcing the contributions of his talented band members, who have become an integral part of his musical identity. Luft's well-deserved reputation as a versatile guitarist shines through as he delivers uplifting improvisations that evolve in hypnotic and contemporary ways, captivating listeners with their compelling and immersive qualities.
The album derives its name from Dahab, a location in Egypt where much of the music was written. Over the past three years, Luft has spent considerable time there due to the Covid-19 pandemic's limitations. While not overtly drawing from the music of the region, "Dahab Days" subtly reflects the influence of his experiences in that unique setting.
Featuring an exceptional lineup, "Dahab Days" includes Rob Luft on electric and acoustic guitars, as well as the kalimba, alongside Joe Wright on tenor saxophone, Joe Webb on piano and Hammond organ, Tom McCredie on bass guitar, and Corrie Dick on drum kit and percussion. The album also boasts special guest performances by Alice Zawadzki on vocals and violin, Byron Wallen on trumpet, and Steve Buckley on alto saxophone and penny whistle.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Javelin

by Sufjan Stevens

Released 6 October 2023

Asthmatic Kitty Records

*****

It's hard to say where pop music would be if it weren't for love songs -– love has been most songwriters' favorite subject for centuries, but beyond the fact that almost everyone wants to be in love and is sad when they're not, there are only so many things to be said about the subject. Sufjan Stevens' 2023 album, Javelin, is that rarity, a collection of songs about love that feels like something you haven't heard before, both in its depth and complexity, and in the way it explores love in both its human and divine forms.

Javelin is an album about the need to be loved, agape and philia, and Stevens shows that he can write about both without trivializing or minimizing the importance of either. That's a commendable achievement in any creative medium, and the fact that he's done so while creating some of the best music of his life makes this essential listening.

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Read more... AllMusic

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Hania Rani - Ghosts

Ghosts

by Hania Rani

Released 6 October 2023

Gondwana Records

*****

Hania Rani announces her new album, Ghosts, bringing her songwriting and beautiful vocals to the fore and featuring special guests Patrick Watson, Ólafur Arnalds and Duncan Bellamy (Portico Quartet).

Ghosts is the sound of an ever-evolving artist and, just as the album’s title suggests she passes repeatedly and gracefully between musical worlds: as composer, singer, songwriter, and producer. This album builds on Rani’s earlier successes Esja (2019) and Home (2020) with an expanded yet still minimal setup of piano, keyboards, synths (most importantly her Prophet) and features more of her mysterious, bewitching voice. Its spirit is warm, beckoning one into an ambitious double album that unfolds at an exquisite pace, informed by her revelatory, exploratory live performances.

A prolific composer and performer, Hani has also completed a number of soundtracks and extended works in recent years including: The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (2023), On Giacometti (2023), Venice - Infinitely Avantgarde (2022), Biala Flaga (Remastered) (2021), Inner Symphonies (2021) and Music for Film and Theatre (2021)

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Elmiene - Marking My Time

Marking My Time (EP)

by Elmiene

Released 20 October 2023

Polydor / Def Jam

****-

Speaking on his new body of work Elmiene says, “The general theme of this project is trying to mark my time not in terms of history but just for me personally, so I don’t get lost. Almost making a checkpoint to anchor myself. Even sonically it’s like I’m marking my stamp that I put on things. Because I’m so deep in looking back behind me, I always found myself stumbling over what’s gonna happen next. So when my life started speeding up massively, I had to learn how to keep an eye on both sides – appreciating the past in order to do the future the right way and do it justice.”

Despite having only released a handful of songs, the 21-year-old, Oxford-based artist has already made waves in the music scene. His 2021 track “Golden” went viral after Benji B handpicked it to soundtrack Virgil Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton show. He was invited again by Benji to perform alongside Robert Glasper and Yasiin Bey for Louis Vuitton in Paris, Elmiene’s first live show ever. Since then, he has appeared on critically acclaimed albums by Stormzy and Lil Silva, performed at Glastonbury, along with making his TV debut performing “Marking My Time” for the first time on Later… With Jools Holland.

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Read more... Discover Music

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Elmiene - EL-MEAN (EP)

EL-MEAN (EP)

by Elmiene

Released 10 March 2023

R&R Digital

*****

Elmiene's voice is undeniable. Born Abdala Elamin and raised in Oxford since the age of 5, the now 21-year-old has been called on for his sweetly soulful croons. And yet, despite his love of performance and a knack for poetry and writing, it wasn't until he was discovered via his effortlessly silken cover videos on social media that he realised he could merge the worlds of his words and melodies and shape a future for himself. The next chapter of unearthing who he was as an artist was another fairly speedy one. Within the span of a week, he'd experimented with incorporating spoken word alongside singing on a track, then just spoken word over an instrumental. And then it hit him: "I realised that marrying the two doesn't have to mean them being separate things, like water and oil in a song. It could be the same thing. And the first song after that was 'Golden.' 

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Read more... Wasserman

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Robbie Robertson - Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack

Killers of the Flower Moon Soundtrack

by Robbie Robertson

Released 20 October 2023

Sony Masterworks

*****

Over 40 years, Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese collaborated on 11 projects. Today brings their final joint effort, as Sony Music Masterworks has released Robertson’s posthumous soundtrack for Scorsese’s new film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon explores the murders of native Osage peoples in Oklahoma in the 1920s after oil deposits were discovered on their land, in a saga that came to be called the Reign of Terror.

Robertson himself spent much of his childhood on the Six Nations Reserve as part of his mother’s Mohawk community. As he explained in a posthumous statement, he leaned on this personal history as he crafted the film’s accompanying soundtrack. “I was gathering pictures in my head of music I heard as a child at the Six Nations Indian Reserve. My relatives are all sitting around with their instruments, and one guy would start a rhythm, and then somebody would start singing a melody to that, and it was just haunting. The feeling of the music beside you like that, humming and droning – the groove and the feel of it got under my skin and it lives there forever.”

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Read more... Consequence of Sound

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The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds

Hackney Diamonds

by The Rolling Stones

Released 20 October 2023

Polydor

****-

On their first album of originals since 2005, the Rolling Stones walk a tightrope between slick modernity and the quaint notion that their music still packs any grit. “Hackney diamonds” are the broken glass shards left after a smash and grab, but muscular US producer Andrew Watt ensures Hackney Diamonds is a far more polished-sounding record than its insalubrious title would suggest. Full of defiant brio and what you might charitably call unreconstructed Stonesiness – the Sydney Sweeney-starring video for Angry is a case in point; the LP’s Bill Wyman cameo is another – Hackney Diamonds is packed with convincing echoes of the band in its pomp. Two of its quieter moments steal the show however: a cover of Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ Stone – titled Rolling Stone Blues – featuring only Keith Richards and Mick Jagger; and Dreamy Skies, a bittersweet country turn whose Dylanesque weariness provides a welcome respite from all the precision-tooled vim.

Late drummer Charlie Watts plays on a handful of songs; Paul McCartney guests and Elton John tinkles a game-faced piano on the comically lairy Live By the Sword. More lovely keys come from Stevie Wonder, who joins the Stones and a turned-up-to-11 Lady Gaga for a climactic Sweet Sounds of Heaven.

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Read more... The Guardian

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The Blind Boys Of Alabama - Echoes of the South

Echoes of the South

by The Blind Boys Of Alabama - 

Released 8 September 2023

Single Lock Records

****-

In a 1940s brochure for the Alabama radio station WSGN, one page was given over to promote their ‘Negro Programs’. These ‘programs’ mainly consisted of one music show called Echoes of the South. 

Blind Boys Of Alabama’s new album Echoes of the South honours the radio show that offered their first break.

No original members survive, but the band’s gospel blueprint is intact despite numerous celebrity collaborations. The songs still offer a sense of chumminess with God rather than a fearful connection, ranging from butt-swinging rhythms to bone-deep weariness. Yes, there’s a suave elegance in the production, but gospel has long served for both entertainment and enlightenment.

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Read more... Folk Radio UK

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Energy Exchange Ensemble - Energy Exchange Vol. 1

Energy Exchange Records Vol. 1

by Energy Exchange Ensemble

Released 22 September 2023

Energy Exchange Records

****-

Bursting into the summer with a vibrant and dynamic debut album, Energy Exchange Ensemble (EX Ensemble), assume their position as innovators of contemporary organically engineered dance music inspired by collaboration and that “special sauce” born from improvised jam-style musicianship.

Energy Exchange Records Vol 1. pays homage to the transcultural projects curated by iconic label, ECM, capturing the impassioned spirit of spontaneity. Delivering a fully realised debut deeply rooted by a core house band that facilitates a flow of many ideas to take shape in an innovative form, where amorphous sound reigns supreme.

Recorded in three cities over 12 months, EX Ensemble spawned from numerous impromptu after hours sessions under the guidance of the Energy Exchange Records production team, united by a passion for transcendental experiences on the dancefloor, driven by a kind of retro-futurism, where analogue meets futuristic soundscapes, and instruments made of wood, steel and animal skins are fused with the elusive realm of electronic music.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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Sampha - Lahai

Sampha

by Sampha

Released 20 October 2023

Young

****-

It seems like whenever music's A-listers require a strikingly vulnerable male vocal, Sampha gets the call-up.

The London-based singer, songwriter and producer has been enlisted by Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Solange, Drake, Alicia Keys, Stormzy and more, making him one of the most in-demand collaborators in the business.

Lahai – titled after both Sampha's middle name and his grandfather's first name – is besotted with notions of family, spirituality, and self-acceptance. The result is music that thrives in complex emotions and compelling contrasts.

Intimate yet animated, sonically gorgeous yet lyrically anxious, steeped in familiar musical traditions – soul, hip hop, jazz, RnB, British electronic music – but with a forward-facing fusion that sound like little else in the contemporary landscape.

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Read more... ABC

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JD Allen - THIS

THIS

by JD Allen

Released 20 October 2023

Savant Records

****-

In 2021, Kenya-born, New Orleans-based multimedia artist Phoebe Boswell collaborated with tenor saxophonist JD Allen for her acclaimed installation Do We Muse on the Sky or Remember the Sea? Problem was, when Allen heard the finished mix, he was perturbed to hear his horn placed in an electronic soundscape he never authorized. but his initial anger was replaced by curiosity and then appreciation. He dug it.

So when it came time to follow up his brilliant 2022 album, Americana II, Allen decided he would zag, rather than produce more of the same - because he’s an artist. The result is the stark, terrifying THIS, Allen’s seventeenth leader date, and his twelfth on the Savant/ HighNote imprint.

Allen said that his conscious influences for THIS were the rather improbable pairing of death metal and Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE, with early Cecil Taylor and late Arnold Schoenberg thrown in for spice.

 While a left turn, THIS is not completely out of left field. the bare distillation of horror and beauty was foreshadowed by the “mini-suite” of “Jackie and Johnny”, “Mickey and Mallory” and “A Mouthful of Forevers” from Americana II. There’s also plenty of swing here too. This is highly recommended work from one of our foremost artists.

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Read more... The New York Jazz Record

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Menagerie - The Shores Of Infinity

The Shores Of Infinity

by Menagerie

Released 1 September 2023

Freestyle Records

****-

Australian 9-piece Spiritual Jazz group Menagerie announce their highly anticipated fourth album 'The Shores Of Infinity' - the 3rd LP to be released by Freestyle Records the Melbourne-based Jazz ensemble, founded by producer, songwriter, guitarist, DJ and recording artist Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos, Lanu, Rare Groove Spectrum, Machines Always Win).

Menagerie released their debut album They Shall Inherit in 2012, The Arrow Of Time in 2018 and the critically acclaimed Many Worlds in 2021.

Inspired by both the post-Coltrane generation of the 70's and the current "New Wave Of Jazz", Menagerie have made serious waves internationally, being championed on Worldwide FM, Jazz FM and Jazzwise. They were nominated in the Best Jazz Act category of the 2021 Music Victoria Awards, and in 2022 performed as part of the esteemed Melbourne International Jazz Festival.

The Shores Of Infinity, further expands their sound out into the music universe - a forward-looking, rhythm-heavy expression of contemporary Jazz that is steeped in the tradition but somehow also defies genre pigeonholing.

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Read more... Bandcamp

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