Untitled (Rise)
by SAULT
Released 12 September 2020
Forever Living Originals
*****
SAULT's second release for 2020, "Untitled (Rise)" equals and perhaps surpasses the quality and impact of their previous release "Untitled (Black Is)", from just a few weeks ago (June 2020). They will be hard to dislodge as potential candidates for album of the year.
Even more remarkably, this is SAULT's fourth release in 18 months - and fifth, if you include participant Cleo Sol's solo debut "Rose In The Dark", which was released in March 2020. Each album has surpassed its predecessor in lyrical content, musical ambition and quality. The songs stand out strikingly when dropped into a playlist or shuffle play.
Once again with this release, SAULT's music draws from a wide range of jazz, funk and soul influences. "Untitled (Rise)" is as much a dance album as it is protest music, yet lyrics address complex racial and social themes with a lyrical mix of wisdom, humor, optimism and political outrage.
SAULT (pronounced S-A-U-L-T) provides no details to identify who does what on the album packaging, web pages or streaming platforms, except that songwriting credits on all tracks are given to Dean Josiah Cover (UK producer Inflo), shared variously with Cleopatra Nicolic (UK vocalist Cleo Sol), Melisssa Young (LA rapper Little Sister) and Kadeem Clarke (UK based producer / Michael Kiwanuka, Little Simz collaborator).
Dyson Stringer Cloher
by Dyson Stringer Cloher
Released 4 October 2019
Milk Records
*****
"Dyson Stringer Cloher" is the work of Melbourne trio Mia Dyson (Vocals / Guitar / Bass), Liz Stringer (Vocals / Guitar / Bass / Keys) and Jen Cloher (Vocals / Guitar) who were joined by Wilco's Glenn Kotche (Drums / Percussion) and recorded at Wilco's The Loft studio in Chicago April 2019 under the technical guidance of Grammy Award winning engineer Tom Schick.
In many ways this is an old-fashioned rock album, with meaningful lyrics, a mix of hard and soft tracks and even a concluding track that is sung as a folky, a capella three-part harmony.
However, the album is dominated by the opening track "Falling Clouds", already considered an Australian classic, that deals with gender identity and concludes with a once-heard, never-forgotten final verse:
Underrated, overlooked
A woman’s work is never done
Or it’s erased from history books
Nothing against Paul or Nick
But if you want to be remembered
Then you better have a dick
There's much more to discover and learn in Jen Cloher's thought-provoking essay, written in the aftermath of the song.
Follow this link: https://medium.com/@jencloher/this-is-a-photo-of-me-in-1980-after-my-mother-relented-and-let-me-dress-myself-fb3a183194ff
Shore
by Fleet Foxes
Released 22 September 2020
ANTI Records
****-
In his Bandcamp entry for this album, Robin Pecknold, lead songwriter for Fleet Foxes, says:"Since the unexpected success of the first Fleet Foxes album over a decade ago, I have spent more time than I’m happy to admit in a state of constant worry and anxiety. Worried about what I should make, how it will be received, worried about the moves of other artists, my place amongst them, worried about my singing voice and mental health on long tours. I’ve never let myself enjoy this process as much as I could, or as much as I should. By February 2020, I was again consumed with worry and anxiety over this album and how I would finish it. But since March, with a pandemic spiraling out of control, living in a failed state, watching and participating in a rash of protests and marches against systemic injustice, most of my anxiety around the album disappeared. It just came to seem so small in comparison to what we were all experiencing together. In its place came a gratitude, a joy at having the time and resources to devote to making sound, and a different perspective on how important or not this music was in the grand scheme of things. Music is both the most inessential and the most essential thing. We don’t need music to live, but I couldn’t imagine life without it. It became a great gift to no longer carry any worry or anxiety around the album, in light of everything that is going on".
This album marks a positive shift and progression in Pecknold's songwriting and considering the quality of it's predecessoers "Crack Up" (2017), "Helplessness Blues" (2011) and "Fleet Foxes" (2008), this release elevates Fleet Foxes to the very top rank of contemporary popular music.
The Ascension
by Sufjan Stevens
Released 25 September 2020
Asthmatic Kitty Records
****-
"The Ascension" is Sufjan Stevens' first solo album since his grief-laden, autobiographical masterpiece"Carrie & Lowell" (2015), which was on most top 10 albums that year. Since then Stevens has been very prolific: he collaborated with Bryce Dessner (of the indie rock band The National), drummer James McAlister, and contemporary classical music composer and arranger Nico Muhly on the cinematic "Planetarium"(2017); he released "The Greatest Gift", an album of outtakes from the "Carrie & Lowell" sessions; he scored "The Decalogue" (2019), a ballet choreographed by Justin Peck for the New York City Ballet and he released "Aporia" , an ambient music album that celebrates the retirement of his stepfather and business partner Lowell Brams (March, 2020).
Considering the very personal nature of "Carrie & Lowell" and the geographic or seasonal inspiration of his very early work, it is interesting to note that apart from "The Age Of Adz" (2010), "The Ascension" is Steven's only album of songs, that is not thematically inspired.
NPR's Robin Hilton summarised Stevens' approach to"Age of Adz" as "[replacing] delicately plucked banjo lines, wispy vocals and sentimental melodies with glitchy soundscapes, hip-hop beats and heavily filtered vocals". This remains a generally accurate description for the current album, however the mood of the current music is frequently more claustrophobic and it is at times challenging.
I suspect that because of this and because this album does not break new thematic ground, or contain the surprisies and novelty of much of his back catalogue, that "The Ascension" may not be as well reviewed as it possibly deserves. This would be to underestimate the quality of this record, in my opinion. At 1hr 20 minutes in duration, Stevens clearly considers this as a major musical work. Perhaps "The Ascension" should be appreciated as a point of consolidation in the development of Stevens' songwriting and compositional progress, one in which he shifts to addresses personal, rather than historical and external events.
To Know Without Knowing
by Mulatu Astatke Black Jesus Experience
Released 3 July 2020
Agogo Records
*****
Black Jesus Experience (BJX) is an eight piece band playing an irresistibly danceable blend of traditional Ethiopian song and 21st Century groove. With backgrounds as diverse as the 5 countries the members hail from, BJX's music reflects the multicultural vibrancy of the band’s hometown, Melbourne, Australia.
Mulatu Astatke (born 1943) is an Ethiopian musician and arranger who is considered the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music. Astatke led his band while playing vibraphone and conga drums - instruments that he introduced into Ethiopian popular music as well as other percussion instruments, keyboards, and organ.
The Guardian said: "Like one of its sinuous melodies, Ethiopian jazz continues to take unexpected turns. Melbourne’s Black Jesus Experience are one such, an eclectic eight-piece fronted by a female Ethiopian singer, Enushu Taye, with members of Australian, Moroccan, Māori and Zimbabwean heritage. This, their second collaboration with Mulatu Astatke, founding father of Ethio-jazz, proves an absorbing ride. Astatke, now in his 70s, gets to reprise a couple of his quirky, groundbreaking classics from half a century back, his vibraphone skills intact, but now with a rapid-fire rap or Afrobeat drums dropped in. The musical palette is broad, driven by a fierce horn section led by co-founder Peter Harper, with reggae, funk and Cuban flavours in a mix that’s softened by Taye’s vocals on a brace of Ethiopian wedding songs. The band wear their politics on their sleeve, whether from the gloriously named MC Elf Tranzporter or on the 10-minute centrepiece, Living On Stolen Land, about Indigenous Australian rights. Like other antipodean bands – say, Fat Freddy’s Drop – collectivity, groove and a powerful live show are prized and shine through; perfect for the festival season we are sadly missing".
Bandcamp Link: https://mulatuastatkeblackjesusexperience.bandcamp.com/album/to-know-without-knowing
All Rise
by Gregory Porter
Released 28 August 2020
Blue Note Records
****-
Gregory Porter is the world’s best-selling contemporary Jazz/Soul artist with over 3 million worldwide album sales.
Following 2017's "Nat King Cople And Me" and a brace of "Live" albums. in 2016 and 2018, this album marks a return to Porter’s beloved original heart-on-sleeve, lyrical songwriting style that produced his Grammy Award winning albums "Take Me To The Alley" in 2016 and "Liquid Spirit" in 2014.
Produced by Troy Miller (Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum, Emili Sande) "All Rise" is a timeless, flawlessly executed jazz vocal classic.
Down To The Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions
by Steve Arrington
Released 18 September 2020
Stones Throw Records
****-
As the drummer and, eventually, lead singer for the legendary Dayton combo Slave, Steve Arrington played a significant role in shaping the history of funK and, thanks to numerous producers’ penchant for sampling the band, his music has been foundational to hip-hop as well. His recordings stretch back to the 1980's, but (despite the retro-looking coverart) this is not in any way a legacy release: he’s still making active contributions to that lineage. Arrington released a collaborative album "Higher" with Dam-Funk in 2013 and as recently as this year he appeared on Thundercat’s “Black Qualls” alongside Childish Gambino and Steve Lacy. Nonetheless, this is his a proper solo album since "Pure Thang", the 2009 comeback LP he released after taking two decades off to work as a minister.
The New York Times said: "The first album in a decade from Steve Arrington, “Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions” is the sound of an artist savoring the fruits of his own influence. The sort of velvet-gloved funk that Arrington made with Slave in the 1970s and ’80s has become a guiding influence for a new generation of musicians, particularly in Los Angeles. (Thundercat featured Arrington on his latest album).
Sunset Cities
by So.Crates, Alnitak Kid. Nelson Dialect
Released 22 February 2020
Badroom Suck Records
****-
When was the last time you watched the sunset? Sunset Cities is a new musical project created to explore this and many other questions concerning one’s own presence, spiritual essence, belief, love, and mindfulness while in rotation around the life light.
The group is comprised of two emcees and two producers; four human perspectives judging the light and the dark of life, manoeuvring between the two while the fundamentals of hip-hop culture and psychedelic soul simmer on the coasts of South Australia.
Last year in Adelaide over a plate of Ethiopian food, MC’s Nelson Dialect and Cazeaux O.S.L.O. crafted the basic principles for waxing poetic over two distinct sonic dimensions - a record made up of two sides, the first produced by Melbourne beatmaker Skomes (known for his work with Caseaux O.S.L.O under the moniker SO.Crates) and the second by Adelaide resident Alnitak Kid. The record follows the cycle of the sun, no beginnings and no endings, just answers to this and many other questions using the voice, the drum and the body electric.
https://bedroomsuckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sunset-cities
All News Is Good News
by Surprise Chef
Released 10 July 2020
Mr Bongo
****-
There is something simultaneously both brand-new and retro about "All News Is Good News", the debut album from Melbourne's instrumental soul group Surprise Chef. It sounds like something dreamt up by lo-fi cousins of David Axelrod and Janko Nilovic, with dramatic Library-music-eqsue cinematic arrangements echoing both light and dark, delving into moments of dissonance and positivity.
There is a meticulous education of 1970’s soul on display that touches on the legacies of the great composer / producers, yet at the same time this is a truly contemporary record that could have only been made now.
MOJO Magazine called it “Soothing, atmospheric, disquieting”.
Bandcamp:https://surprisechef.bandcamp.com/album/all-news-is-good-news-2
The Age of Heironymus Dros
by Heironymus Dros
Released 5 June 2020
Heironymus Records
****-
This outstandng album is the work of the mysterious Melbourne-based producer, arranger and keyboardist Andrew "Dros" Allister.
Dros. That’s what people called me. But who is “Dros”? Just some bum like anyone else I guess. A nobody. I made beats for years and threw them into the ether to no avail. Staring for hours on end towards the man in the mirror and seeing nothing but a godless visage gleam back towards me. Horrifying.
But “Hieronymus Dros”. Now THAT’S a name. THAT’S a somebody. THAT’S the type of guy who’d be just dumb enough to believe he could make a jazz-funk album and just smart enough to pull it off. Well, that’s what I did.
These tracks jump right out of your speakers or headphones with all the attitude and style of "Superstition"era Stevie Wonder.
Bandcamp: https://hieronymusdros.bandcamp.com/album/the-age-of-hieronymus
Doğu Çiçekleri / Eastern Flowers
by Sven Wunder
Released 20 August 2019 / 17 April 2020
Light In The Attic Records
****-
Eastern Flowers is the US issue of Sweedish musician Sven Wunder's 2019 debut "Doğu Çiçekleri"l. This music has been described as psychadelic Turkish funk, as it conjures moods of the eastern Mediterranean. Wunder describes the music as a mix of "Anatolian (Turkish) rock and European jazz-funk with ponderous drum patterns, groovy organs, far-out synthesizers, enchanting Saz (Persian / Turkish lute-like instrument) and impetuous bass lines". He adds "Eastern Flowers sweeps through time and space and points towards the future. It could appeal both psych and prog listeners, folk or jazz aficionados and as well the gourmet hip hop connoisseurs."
Count me in!
Bandcamp:https://svenwunder.bandcamp.com/album/eastern-flowers
Wabi Sabi
by Sven Wunder
Released 21 July, 2020
Light In The Attic Records
****-
For hs follow up to his 2019 debut "Doğu Çiçekleri / Eastern Flowers", Sweedish composer and musicioan Sven Wunder travels further east and creates a funky new fusion of jazz, rock and East Asian sounds.
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".
Sven describes the music as "a deep inhale and a slow exhale. It has a mix of jazz (both funky and progressive), East Asian and South Asian sounds. The idea of fusing these styles and reframing them with the aesthetic of wabi sabi is to reconnect with nature and concentrate on asymmetries and emphasize ornamentation to generate new ways of looking at the world, here and now".
Bandcamp:https://svenwunder.bandcamp.com/album/wabi-sabi
Note: Look forward to Sven Wunder’s forthcoming album, due in October, of interpretations of ”Tōryanse” and ”Sakura”, two traditional Japanese songs from the Edo period.
Aeons
by CB3
Released 28 February 2020
The Sign Records
****-
Stars above, evil below and fire in between. A trinity in peace for aeons.
CB3 (Charlottas Burning Trio) is here to bring you on a journey with their explosive rock jams and mind-bending cosmic soundscapes.
CB3 brings the spirit of psychadelic music to the 21th century; close your eyes, set your mind free and drift away into the musical universe of CB3.
ZFEX Vol. II
by Zeitgeist Freedom Exchange
Released 3 April 2020
The Jazz Diaries
****-
Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange is the meeting point of improvisation and dance music. Headed up by drummer Ziggy Zeitgeist, a staple of the Australian music scene, most prominently touring and recording with Melbourne Nu-Soul/future-jazz collective "30/70". Ziggy’s music has already been championed across the breadth of the jazz and dance world, with support from the likes of Gilles Peterson, Kamaal Williams, Byron the Aquarius and Alexander Nut just to name a few.
Growing up in Australia, with no real club culture in sight, Ziggy’s formative years were at the "bush doof" - an outback rave where speakers were driven to remote lands and dance music would blast from the wee hours in the morning to the wee hours at night. This is what Ziggy describes as the playground of Australian Electronic Music. “This is our culture of electronic music. It’s about exploring the spectrum of consciousness and a connection with ourselves, one another and the land.”
ZFEX is the synthesis of dance music in human form. A live band experience humanising the extended DJ set. Heavily influenced by club culture and transcendent psychedelic experiences - Z*F*E*X is a continuous odyssey of sound, where synths intertwine with flutes, jazz drums are played with the raw energy of classic broken beat records, and natures call and response is mimicked in musical form.
Bandcamp: https://zeitgeistfreedomenergyexchange.bandcamp.com/album/zfex-vol-ii
Inner Song
by Kelly Lee Owens
Released 28 August 2020
Smalltown Supersound
****-
"Inner Song" is convention-blurring techno producer and musician Kelly Lee Owens' second album and follows the release of her much lauded self-titled debut in 2017, last year’s remixes of St. Vincent and Björk, (“Let It Go" & "Omen”) and her recent collaboration with Jon Hopkins on the one-off "Luminous Spaces."
Pitchfork said: "Few artists are as adept at fusing electronic music’s warmth and coldness as Kelly Lee Owens. What makes Owens’ work so distinctive is her equal proficiency as a songwriter and producer; her vocals are as confident and captivating as her beats. Inner Song, her second album, boasts a variety of styles, floating between tight pop structures and extended club grooves. What ties the record together is her unusual ability to join the physical with the emotional".
Bandcamp: https://kellyleeowens.bandcamp.com/album/inner-song
The ExPerience
by Lila Ike
Released 15 May 2020
In.Dig.Nation Collective
****-
Bashy, the Jamaican digital quarterly said: "Lila Iké is a woman bursting out from solitude, with the stars clearly aligned as her future is bright and forgetting her won’t be happening anytime now. What makes the “I Spy” artist exciting to watch is her effervescent display of dynamism and and lyrical potency. What makes her pop is her down-to-earthness, talent and just the unbelievably huge aura she exudes from her petite figure.
Lila is a prime example among many of the modern, millennial Caribbean woman: unapologetic about the complexities of life and aspiring to be anything that she wants to be. Using her microphone as the key, her sound is a vehicle blaring across the world. Although her debut is entitled The ExPerience, her sound is still a novelty, luring you into her project that navigates the thresholds of her own experiences as a woman in a changing world.
The street reaction to this musical masterpiece is astounding as local transport operators blast the sound of “Forget Me” loudly from their personal transportation hubs.The artist’s ability to connect with the common person shows her range is wide like the mocho mountains and her talent as tall".
Link: https://bashymagazine.com/article/2020/7/2/lila-ikes-music-provides-the-score-for-lifes-complexities
Be Somebody (EP)
by Sevana
Released 31 July 2020
In.Dig.Nation Collective
****-
This is another remarkable new reggae release from the In.Dig.Nation stable, home to Lila Ike, Protoje and others.
Writing for PauszeRadio.com, reviewer Mr Topple wrote: "There’s a broader point to be made with Be Somebody, too. And it is that between Sevana and Iké (and most likely Protoje’s upcoming release as well), the In.Digg camp is redefining the sound of modern, Revival-led Roots.
Gone are the more obvious elements of Hip Hop that stood out in the early days. And in its place, you have two women; both vastly different artists, but who both have pushed Roots-derived music forward at a pace. The sound now is utterly 21st century Neo Soul: the amalgamating of devices, sounds, techniques and vibes from Jamaica with heavy doses of RnB, Soul and Jazz. It feels like a pivotal, precedent-setting moment in the movement. And of course, these are just EPs. You can only dream what their full albums will be like. Sevana has firmly cemented herself as one of the most powerful and talented artists to emerge from Jamaica – ever".
Better In Blak
by Thelma Plum
Released 12 July 2019
Warner Music / Everyone Sang
****-
Released a little over a year ago, "Better In Blak" is the chart-topping debut from Australian songwriter Thelma Plum. This is a refreshing collection of original songs from a new voice in the Australian music, who has already been recognised with nominations for the Australian Music Prize in 2019 (which was won by Sampa the Great with "The Return").
Josh Leeson of The Newcastle Herald wrote: "Emotional, and unapologetically honest, the Indigenous artist addresses racism, sexism and her broken heart", adding, "Plum's voice is placed at the forefront of the mix, allowing the sparse indie-folk instrumentation to provide casual direction."
Al Newstead from Triple J wrote that Better in Blak is "an album of healing, [and] transforming the pain and sadness of a dark few years into a courageous, self-assured debut album."
Thomas Bleach described the album as "a collection of hard-hitting and thought invoking [sic] moments", and "one of the most impressive debuts of the year".[12] He also wrote that Better in Blak "embodies the different sides of her artistry in an honest and endearing way."
Official website: https://thelmaplum.com/
Done. Undone. Redo
by Zola Marcelle
Released 21 August 2020
Zola Marcelle
****-
"Done. Undone. Redo" is the second EP from emerging London-based Zimbabwean new-Soul artiust, Zola Marcelle. Zola describes her music as "bass-and-voice".
Previous releases
"Burning" (Single) released 16 April 2020.
"A Peaceful War" (EP) released 28 March 2020
"Crying In The Dark" (Single) released 19 June 2019.
Bandcamp: https://zolamarcelle.bandcamp.com/album/done-undone-redo
Fenfo - Something To Say
by Fatoumata Diawara
Released 12 April 2018
Shanachie Records
****-
Fatoumata Diawara (a.k.a. Fatou) was born of Malian parents in the Ivory Coast in 1982. As a child she became a member of her father’s dance troupe and was a popular performer of the wildly flailing didadi dance from Wassoulou, her ancestral home in western Mali. She was an energetic and headstrong girl and at the age of 12 her refusal to go to school prompted her parents to send her to live and be disciplined by an aunt in Bamako. She was not to see her parents again for more than a decade.
Her life story, culminating in her ongoing career as recording artist and performer is summarised on her Soundcloud biography (link below). It is a fascinating and colourful story that is worthy of a major mini-series.
Her music is pure West African magic.
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/fatoumata-diawara-official
Mama, You Can Bet!
by Georgia Anne Muldrow (Jyoti)
Released 3 September 2020
eOne Music / SomeOthaShip Connect
****-
For her latest album, Georgia Anne Muldrow assumes the identity of Jyoti - a name said to have been given to her by the late Alice Coltrane - for an exercise in avant-garde soul-jazz. It’s not unreasonable to believe that America’s most complete soul artist could have been a bigger star had she not consistently yielded to her most experimental proclivities. Still, it would be a tragedy to temper the instincts that brought us an album like Mama, You Can Bet!, a boundary-testing collage of piano stool lounge music, electronica, jazz fusion, and hip-hop.
Bandcamp: https://someothaship.bandcamp.com/album/mama-you-can-bet
A Dark Murmuration of Words
by Emily Barker
Released 4 September 2020
Everyone Sang
*****
"A Dark Murmuration of Words" is the fourth solo album from prolific UK-based, Australian Emily Barker and despite her many previous succeses, this is arguably her most assured collection so far. Barker established her reputaion and learnt her craft with her band The Red Clay Halo, whose first album "Despite The Snow" (2008) opens with the song "Nostalgia", which was discovered by composer Martin Phipps who re-recorded it with Emily for use as the theme tune for the hit BBC television series Wallander, starring Northern actor Kenneth Branagh. The series won a slew of awards, including several BAFTAs and a Royal Television Society award for its theme tune. Barker has continued to hone her folk and Americana songwriting skills through constant touring, performing and recording over the intervening years, including to record her album "Sweet Kind of Blue" in Sam Phillips' Memphis studio, all the while continuing to contribute to movie and television soundtracks, particularly for Martin Phipps.
Recorded at StudiOwz in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a crack band that includes Rob Pemberton (drums, percussion, synth, backing vocals), Lukas Drinkwater (bass, guitars, backing vocals), Pete Roe (guitars, keys, backing vocals), Misha Law and Emily Hall (strings) and produced by Greg Freeman (Portico Quartet, Peter Gabriel, Amy Winehouse), the album is a collection of evocative, quiet protest songs whose themes include environment, sexism, racism and society.
This is a recording that will reward repeat playing and an attentive ear.
Bandcamp: https://emilybarker.bandcamp.com/album/a-dark-murmuration-of-words
Control
by Natalie Slade
Released 5 June 2020
Eglo Records
*****
Control is the incredible debut album from Sydney based vocalist Natalie Slade, produced by Hiatus Kaiyote’s Simon Mavin and featuring contributions from other members of the Grammy Nominated group.
Combining Soul, Jazz, Folk and RnB, Natalie’s timeless vocals dazzle across 10 stunning tracks, perfectly complimented by rich, live instrumentation and Mavin’s vibrant production. The album is classic to its core, whilst taking a fresh and energetic approach to a long tradition of Soul/RnB long players. Familiar broken rhythms and jazz heavy motifs, notorious with Hiatus Kaiyote’s writing and arrangement style are present, reminding us throughout that we are in the hands of true masters.
The result is a kaleidoscopic reimagining of sounds and styles from an exciting new vocal talent.
We hope you enjoy it just as much as we do.
Needle Paw
by Guwanbal Jason Gurruwiwi, Nai Palm
Released 20 October 2017
Sony Music
****-
Nai Palm (Naomi Saalfield ) is the frontwoman of Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote; a wildling rock star with soul-music chops and a steampunk aesthetic.
HK's 2012 debut album, "Tawk Tomahawk{, positioned them as key purveyors of future soul - a sound that marries the spacious production values of EDM and jazz with the lush harmonies and boom-bap rhythms of neo-soul.
Pitchfork describes Needle Paw as "a whisper-close collection of songs that connect the dots between Hiatus Kaiyote’s music and (Nai Palm's) own inspirations ... with Needle Paw, Saalfield returns to the sounds, songs, and voices—particularly those from historically marginalized communities, which often go unheard—that helped her to define her own. Needle Paw is, in part, a way of correcting that silencing. Singing in tribute to the voices that are most important to her, she is at her best"
Made For This
by JK-47
Released 4 September 2020
New World Artists
****-
Jacob Paulson, born mid-1997 and known professionally as JK-47, is an Indigenous Australian rapper and musician from Tweed Heads South, New South Wales - a Minjungbal/Gudjinburra man of the Bundjalung community.
JK-47 is typical of the new generation of indigenous Australian rappers who are speaking out about society and culture, directly and uncompromisingly. JK-47 won this year's National Indigenous Music Awards, performing at the virtual ceremony earlier this year - following in the footsteps of past winners like Baker Boy, Thelma Plum, Alice Skye and Dallas Woods.
Album highlights include singles "The Recipe" and "I Am Here (Trust Me)", the former a classic boom bap heater, showing off JK’s wit and wordplay, while the latter is warm yet weary track that has been described as “thought-provoking, uplifting and powerful".
The rest of the album is just as strong, with JK showing off the rhyming and writing he’s honed since age 14. He lets rip with stylish bars and punchlines on "Guess Again" and "The Recipe" but also goes deep, rapping about mental health, fatherhood, and the ongoing struggles facing First Nations people in Australia.
Production-wise, the album is influenced by ‘90s-era hip hop rather than contemporary drill or trap trends, with a focus on atmosphere rather than beats in reflective tracks like "Marathons" and "Outta Time"
Bed I Made
by Audrey Powne
Released 25 September 2020
Everyone Sang
****-
Vocalist, Trumpeter and Songwriter, Audrey Powne is a prolific young musician and a stalwart of Melbourne’s burgeoning jazz/soul scene. Audrey is known for fronting sweet soul band Leisure Centre and her dynamic, genre defying, electro funk project Au Dré. Having recently re-located to New York, Audrey has spent the last 12 months working on her debut solo EP “Bed I Made”.
Recorded in Brooklyn (USA), with celebrated producer/engineer Tariq Khan (Bilal, Slingbaum) the project's strength comes in it's amalgam of the improvisatory and explorative characteristics of live jazz with sophisticated and intentional post production techniques, sonically expressing the sentiments of Audrey's song writing.
The EP moves through intimate and warm vocals to wide and spacey instrumental passages showcasing Audrey's unique ability to harmoniously incorporate her Trumpet into the landscape of traditional songwriting.
Bandcamp: https://audreypowne.bandcamp.com/
La Promesa (EP)
by Cumbiamuffin
Released 22 June 2017
Cumbiamuffin
****-
Cumbia is the most contagious, joyful rhythm from Latin America, played as a big band orchestra, combining elements of Reggae, Ragga and Roots.
Cumbiamuffin is an iconic and unique 15 piece Cumbia orchestra based in Sydney whose wall of sound, created by one of the country's finest horn sections, is not only unstoppable on the dance floor on it's own, but is complemented by the collective energy of authentic Colombian singers.
Put together by Colombian and Australian musicians, the project has the overriding vision of introducing and promoting the purest sounds of traditional Cumbia to Australian audiences.
Bandcamp: https://cumbiamuffin.bandcamp.com/album/la-promesa-ep
Rivages
by Jean-Louis Martinier & Kevin Seddaki
Released 29 May 2020
ECM
****-
Accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier has long been a creative presence on ECM recordings, heard with the groups of Anouar Brahem (on Le pas du chat noir and Le voyage de Sahar), Louis Sclavis (Dans la nuit) and François Couturier (Nostalghia, Tarkovsky Quartet), as well as in duo with Marco Ambrosini (Inventio).
Now comes the first documentation of a new endeavour, with guitarist Kevin Seddiki, whose far-reaching musical imagination matches Matinier’s own.
Sedikki, who makes his ECM debut here, studied classical guitar with Pablo Márquez and has also worked with many improvisers across the idioms, from jazz to transcultural projects.
The range of music addressed on Rivages runs from the traditional “Greensleeves” to Gabriel Fauré’s “Les Berceaux” to compositions and improvisations by both of the protagonists.
Rivages was recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo Studio in April 2018, and produced by Manfred Eicher.
ECM Records link: https://www.ecmrecords.com/shop/1580224264/rivages-jean-louis-matinier-kevin-seddiki
Telemetric Sounds
by The Heliocentrics
Released 7 August 2020
Madlib Invazion
****-
The Heliocentrics have been playing together for nearly two decades and their collective drive is to find an individual voice. The Heliocentrics search for it in an alternate galaxy where the orbits of funk, jazz, psychedelic, electronic, avant-garde and “ethnic” music all revolve around “The One.”
"Telemetric Sounds" is the Heliocentrics second release on Madlib’s Madlib Invazion label and with it, they continue to develop their epic vision of psychedelic funk, while exploring the possibilities created by their myriad influences including Latin, African and more.
Bandcamp: https://theheliocentrics.bandcamp.com/album/telemetric-sounds-2
Infinity of Now
by The Heliocentrics
Released 14 February 2020
Madlib Invazion
****-
The Heliocentrics’ albums are all confounding pieces of work. Drawing equally from the funk universe of James Brown, the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra, the cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone, the sublime fusion of David Axelrod, Pierre Henry’s turned-on musique concrète, and Can’s beat-heavy Krautrock, they have – regardless of the label on which they’ve released their music - pointed the way towards a brand new kind of psychedelia, one that could only come from a band of accomplished musicians who were also obsessive music fans.
Drummer Malcolm Catto and bassist Jake Ferguson are the Heliocentrics’ masterminds and producers, and they are obsessive weirdos in today’s musical climate, searching, progressive humans who are often out-of-time with current trends.
This is the Heliocentrics first album on maverick producer Madlib’s label, Madlib Invazion.
Bandcamp: https://theheliocentrics.bandcamp.com/album/infinity-of-now
The Journey
by Lionel Loueke
Released 28 September 2020
Little Tribeca Records
****-
Bornin Benin in April 1973, guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke moved to Ivory Coast in 1990 to study at the National Institute of Art.
Known for his ability to “transform the guitar into a virtual Afro-Western orchestra” (Jazz Times), Loueke is a musician who transcends genre to create unparalleled sounds.
In place of his long-standing trio, comprised of drummer Ferenc Nemeth and double bassist Massimo Biolcati, Loueke has assembled a divers array of guest musicians for subtle accompaniment when needed. The fifteen songs compiled on this album exhibit some of the most versatile music the guitarist has created to date, and represent a sort of summary of his career- spanning works. The creator himself states "This album is a very personal project - it is the clearest reflection of the melodies and musical atmosphere that I carry within me every day."
AllAboutJazz: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-journey-lionel-loueke-aparte-review-by-friedrich-kunzmann.php
The Journey, The Bonuses
by Lionel Loueke
Released 8 May 2020
Little Tribeca Records
****-
The great guitarist Lionel Loueke marks his comeback with this recording, that includes some exclusive tracks and delivers an overall message of hope and confidence.
Freer than he had ever been, Loueke reveals a deep and intense part of himself and his music, blending his various influences to his bewitching rhythms and voice. As a result, this is a deep, intense and absolutely captivating musical portrait.
AparteMusic: https://www.apartemusic.com/albums/lionel-loueke-the-journey-the-bonuses/?lang=en
Hope
by Kevin Hays, Lionel Loueke
Released 30 August 2019
Edition Records
****-
"Hope" is a 2017 collaboration between guitarist Lionel Loueke and pianist Kevin Hays.
The album is a collection of acoustic duets that are enhanced by Loueke’s percussive vocal touches and the duo’s graceful interplay feel inviting and warm, beckoning all within earshot to come closer and bathe in its glow.
The sensation of listening to the album is well reflected in its underwater album art, depicting a whale accompanied by a small group of dolphins. The 11 tracks evoke the weightless drift of the ocean, punctuated by moments of splashy playfulness.
Bouncier tunes like “Aziza” and “Veuve Malienne” push Loueke’s Xhosa-inspired scatting to the fore, his ebullience egged on by Hays’ flickering solos. The experience of listening to it is excitable, making the control that both performers exhibit in not letting volume or tempo get away from them even more remarkable.
The power of "Hope", though, is provided by the ballads. They’re gorgeous, maze-like tunes that are easy to get lost in. And they open up each player to their most expressive moments. Loueke’s baleful vocals and wandering solo on “Feuilles-O” and Hays’ fragile playing on “All I Have” seem to emanate from somewhere deep within, where their inmost aches reside and echo through each musician’s soul.
Downbeat: https://downbeat.com/reviews/detail/hope