Music for 8/31/20!!! Nnamdi, Mike Fahie, Wood Lake, Jimi Tenor

@@@ Nnamdi: My Life (Sooper Records, 2020) I got to this Chicago Nigerian American musician via a feature on the Vice website.  He comes out both retro funky and rockin’.  A drummer, poppin’ off, some guitar riffing that’s a bit aggro but nothing too punky/metal.  Nnamdi layers over this band arrangement which is taking a mild Captain Beefheart turn a bunch of vocal tracks that smooth over the band a bit or contrast with it.  To my ears it’s an excellent smash of white and black musical ideas.  A smashup of Funkadelic and Captain Beefheart/Zappa is pretty unexpected.  

@@@ Mike Fahie: Urban(e) (Greenleaf, 2020) I saw this jazz trombonist’s new record up on the Twatter.  I will be checking out Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 and that makes me feel a bit fancy just typing that.  As the video says below these are Puccini pieces re-imagined by this gent Mr. Fahie and thus far I feel the vibe.  He’s honored the classical heritage while bringing the improvised element into the proceedings. Oh, I’m an idiot there is a variety of pieces here from classical music land — Stravinsky, Bach and Beethoven amongst others.  I’m on the third piece and it feels a bit like a poo poo platter at an old school Chinese restaurant — the playing is extremely polished and thought out producing moments of jazz/classical resolution but I would have preferred a deep dive of all Stravinsky or all Bach.  That’s just me dig it if you will. 

@@@ Wood Lake: Lost Meaning (Lakewood, 2020) Some old school guitar indie I got to via a music publicist email.  Also a dollop of shoegaze up in there.  Rocking and comforting at the very same time, how ’bout dat?  The singer is mad gentle, you might catch him snacking on a vegan brownie in the bookstore, he’s just that friendly.  It comes down t a hippi-ish section with a bowed cello, a little piano, and some mad mellow singing.  And I’m guessing, there it is, the rock is gonna come back and they’re gonna chug out on the intro vibe.  There’s more swirling shoegaze as the tune exits stage right, vegan brownie style.

@@@ Jimi Tenor: Lover’s Bridge (Philophone, 2020)  Some breezy funk out of the same German label that brought you Guy One, one of my favorite records of the 2010s.  This is slotted as funk.  I like the bass player a whole bunch but I’m not a huge fan of the keyboard sound, the smoot vibes of a track called Sugar and Sprice and I’m agnostic on the horns.  If folks like smoother, fusion-y funk then have at it I don’t hold nothing against nobody.

YTD recordings listened to: 664
Good music, not list worthy: 346
Not good music: 299

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr, Nnamdi

Music for 8/28/2020! Jaleel Shaw, Ayalew Mesfin, Cilantro Boombox, Tame Impala

@@@ Jaleel Shaw: The Soundtrack of Things to Come ( , 2013) I saw somebody announcing on the Twatter an interview with this NYC sax player and found this record on bandcamp.   Instrumentation is sax, piano, bass and drums and the record opens with a mournful melody for a tune called I Wish I Didn’t Know.  I like the interplay between the musicians with the sax player and piano player catching my ear the most.  One of my gripes with straighter jazz is the low energy of the horn players, but this is not the case here as Shaw has both a strong tone and high energy.  The production here is a tad clean for my taste but this is pretty standard.  Whether it be heavy metal or jazz I’m always up for more fire so I dig the energy but could use more. 

 

@@@ Ayalew Mesfin: Blindsided by Love ( , 2020) I got to this Ethiopian musician via the reissue joint Stranded Records. There’s a lot of what they called Ethiopian jazz floating around that I don’t much cotton to, but this is a more driving retro, almost gospel rockin’ testifying thing he’s got going on. Very nice horn lines and as it’s a retro recording the drums are lower and the voice cuts through the mix as those frequencies are more evident. I’m wasting some time on the interwebz after this single and the player clicked through to the next track which is even more urgent and higher tempo. The singer is feeling it, he’s really working hard and it makes me like the music much more.  Passion, energy, I love that shit.

@@@ Cilantro Boombox: Wahoo (Cbbx, 2020) I got to this track via a music publicist email. I like the name of the band, I think it’s funny. Yikers, after an odd pitch shifted intro it gets into an ’80s dance rock, horn driven flow with a synth bass (I like that) frantic hi hat centric drumming (don’t like that), tambourine (agnostic, prefer cowbell). Out of that party section comes a more driving chorus with power chords, a different beat and the refrain wahoo, wahoo wahoo. Pretty much sums up where we’re at, no? Nice horn solo, some janky guitar, but yes, yes I hear it, there’s a cowbell up in there. This track has shot up my list as I’m a huge lover of cowbell and it is deftly deployed here and in large amounts. Fuck me, this is great! Points for weirdness for sure and big ups on the cowbell. This is slotted as jazz on Apple Music but it’s really kind of a Frank Zappa frat boy party track.

@@@ Tame Impala: Is It True (Island Australia, 2020)  Oh boy, the indie folks have gotten super into the retro disco funk which I find a bit regrettable.  I like some of it but it does seems folks forget the success Prince enjoyed with his guitar shredding.  Without some disruptive guitar it gets a bit smooth, in my humble opinion.  Not only smooth it doesn’t grab your attention.  I was surfing the Twatter reading about all this bullshit in Kenosha, WI and I got so engrossed in that so deeply I didn’t even notice how the track had moved on to the video in Apple Music.  The music is fine, it’s polished but it doesn’t hit hard and leave an impression.  I’m guessing that’s by design but I don’t have to like it.

YTD recordings listened to: 660
Good music, not list worthy: 344
Not good music: 297

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/27/20!!! Pharrell and Jay Z, BTS, Nas, Katy Perry

@@@ Pharrell Williams and Jay Z: Entrepneur (Columbia, 2020) Regular readers know I love Pharrell’s hat and I loathe Jay Z as a predatory piece of shit. He does do a lot to blackwash his reputation but he’s strictly a businessman with not much else really going on. Pharrell has always walked a tight line between paying homage to past great African American music and straight copying it outright. Ahem, Blurred Lines. I think there’s a double edge to having the lyrics outside of the chorus whispered during the verse. Lyrically, this is pretty much word salad, most notably the vocal sample of If you want to be let out of here you’re welcome to go. I’m not really even sure I understand what that means. If it’s possible this tune makes less sense than Beyonce’s recent title track, Black Parade. I’m all for these lyrical themes but this track, I’m not sure what to say about it. Put the lyrics and samples from this up against an old Curtis Mayfield track or James Brown or Stevie Wonder and they don’t hang. Lastly I don’t speak for black folks but I’m not sure about getting a lecture from Jay Z. I didn’t think this would be a very good song but it underperformed my expectations.

@@@ BTS: Dynamite (Big Hit Entertainment, 2020) A bunch of Korrean pretty boys rocking some slicked up Michael Jackson pop funk that was pretty slicked out to begin with.  I find much of K pop to be a bit unsettling — the physical alterations to their bodies and the cultural appropriation.  The lyrics here are purposely just stupid by design — light me up like dynamite, whoa ho!!!  The horns are all right, the guitar is a little boring but these guys are worldwide panty moisteners.  To me it’s a bit too corn syrup for my taste.  Earth Wind and Fire wasn’t the heaviest band but they would pick these pretty boys out of their stools in the morning.  It would be interesting to know how this track is assembled, by whom and how.

@@@ Nas: Ultra Black (Mass Appeal, 2020) Off the Apple Music hot music section.  It’s a celebration of blackness which is cool and appropriate in the wake of this summer’s protests, but compared to Pharrell and Jay Z’s plate of sticky pasta that kicked off today’s listening, this is a coherent and really cool arrangement.  Simple shuffle beat with a simple piano part and the Nas makin’ hay all over the top.  Also a playful electro melody flitting around.  This track is so much better than what Pharrell and Jay Z came up with, they should be ashamed of themselves.  Nas goes off like dynamite (little BTS reference there).

@@@ Katy Perry: What Makes a Woman (Capitol, 2020) The last song on Perry’s upcoming full length.  Perry is pregnant and I guess she’s raising some money to purchase cloth diapers.  It’s a slow tune but still with Perry’s signature roar and it’s a female identity track.  The main musical element is an understated arpeggio guitar but it builds and right now I feel a giant cheese bomb coming on.  Maybe it won’t explode cuz she’s preggers and it doesn’t fully roar but it’s Katy Perry so it’s all going to be very familiar and full of positive sentiments that have been recycled so so many times in this case praising ordinary everyday women.  Which I totally get and support even though I have a dick but it’s depressing lack of creativity that forces me into this position.  If you’re not buying into the Katy Perry story and living your life with her and through her then there’s nothing here for you.

YTD recordings listened to: 656
Good music, not list worthy: 342
Not good music: 295

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

 

Music for 8/26/20!!! DUCKWRTH, Be Well, Namir Blade, Hepcat

@@@ DUCKWRTH: Super Bounce (Republic/UMG, 2020) Some major label r&b/slow funk.  I think I got to this via a small feature on the front page of the Guardian website.  I like the minimal beats and I’m a bit tired of all the chill keyboards going on right now. Mr. Duckwrth goes full loverboy on the microphone.  He got an MC sounding a whole bunch like Jay Z (which is unfortunate to me).  I think we might be seeing a lot of this slow funk because of the wide availability of weed, everybody has settled into a blunted groove.  I could use a bit of Funkadelic right now.  They’ve even imported a low ass Barry White voice in parts of the tune.  The song stays in the pocket and remains a groove for its entirety and I coulda used some musical changes.  The multiple voices doesn’t quite substitute for the lack of section changes.

@@@ BE WELL – MAGIC (Equal Vision, 2020) Some rock from upstate New York independent label Equal Vision.  It’s an emo banger with a bunch of self-hatred emanating from the singer.  The lyric spray painted on the white wall in the video below is a repeated line in the track.  About a third of the way through it kicks it up a notch.  I think the drummer could use a Red Bull, his beats are bit heavy and a tad uninspiring.  It’s by no means bad music, but the player clicked through and the heat of this track Strength of Breath is much more to my liking and I like the drummer much more in this context.  I would say this would appeal to diehard emo punk folks.

@@@ NAMIR BLADE – THE HEAD (Mello Music, 2020)  A pre release track from an upcoming full length and I urge hip hop/r&b listeners to try to check out Mello Music releases as they put out some high quality business.  This a slightly retro funk (with a big shout out to the flute sample/playing) sound that gives way to a transition section that leads out to a slightly more standard hip hop track.  Then it moves on again and this is a pastiche of sections united by an MC but against very different musical backgrounds.  I’m not sure what to do with this track — it’s an odd choice for a pre-release single but my guess from listening to this is that this is a bold record with a lot of influences and jumping around.  I would check out more knowing that this label is tasteful and that’s the power of a good label, they keep you listening.

@@@ Hepcat: One (N/A, 2020) Not available on the streaming services these guys are old time ska punks with mad roots flavor.  I wish I could find this tune to download on bandcamp as it’s got everything I like in a song — melody, rhythm, soul, humanity, and lack of cheese.  I like the violin/fiddle as it’s a unique and dramatic addition to the standard ska punk horn section.  Excellent, excellent track.  These guys have always had it going on, check it out!

YTD recordings listened to: 652
Good music, not list worthy: 340
Not good music: 293

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/25/20!!! Sevdaliza, Glassing, Unknown T, Phase Fatale

@@@ SEVDALIZA – HABIBI (Twisted Elegance, 2020) Via Brooklyn Vegan.  Meh, Brooklyn Vegan.  Opens with solo piano and heavily reverbed and partially auto-tuned vocals.  Also chainsaw synth (understated) and a few pretty tasteful electro garnishes.  It’s a torch song sonically and tempo wise despite the electro sounds.  I find the various waves of processed sound that spin into the mix to be the highlight of the track and I find the mixture of sounds to be fresh.  Lyrically it almost feels like a chant, lots of the lines are repeated in succession which keeps the track more like a hypnotic sound piece than a traditional song.  I guess that’s the point of it, it’s straddling the line between a song and being about sounds.  I liked the piano playing in places and think it could stand to be decreased.  The piano that is.

@@@ Glassing: Twin Dream (Brutal Panda, 2020) Off an upcoming full length I got to via Brooklyn Vegan.  Meh, Brooklyn Vegan, hipster PR stooges.  Get ready for some rawk!  After a small intro we get into the hard rock drumming and some epic guitar, at least it wants to be epic guitar.  On top of that comes a vocal that hangs out there like a whisper, the opposite of what you expect in a rock track. After it establishes itself it could use a few changes to the formula to keep my interest.  I don’t want to speak about anyone else’s interest.  The production here is simultaneously interesting a tad stifling.  The vocal is well placed and reverbed within the track so the vocalist is very quiet but you can hear it.  At the same time the track is very manicured and could use a bit of mess to increase the energy level.  It also could use a turn down on the guitar reverb imho.  The singer morphs out into an emo screamer at the end section and I dig that contrast.  The last 45 seconds brings a pretty complete meltdown both vocally and sonically.  What a journey.

@@@ Unknown T: Deh Deh (Unknown T/UMG, 2020) I got to these last two listens via Crack Magazine.  British rap, I love British rap!  The beats here are not retro and not trap, very nice bass sound and motion in the bass, some reverbed out piano that washes over the track and there’s Mr. Uknown T.  He’s got a thick accent, I know there’s a variety of accents in the UK and I’m not sure which one he’s rocking.  He’s slapping up clowns and pressuring fools or the other way round.  He sounds like a cross between a junior high school physics teacher and a pissed off motorist stuck in a parking lot after a football match.  Very literate and precise in his delivery.  That combined with that piano loop makes for a more highbrow listening hip hop experience.

@@@ Phase Fatale: Binding by Oath (Ostgut Ton, 2020)  Electronic music I got to via that aforementioned Crack Magazine.  Aggressive, rock flavored frat boy drum machine beats right upfront with some Hollywood menacing synth accompaniment.  More of a pulsing bass that’s tied to the kick.  I could use more musical elements — if these beats were sufficiently funkafied to my liking I could deal but I need more flavor.  Maybe if the beats were turned down?  It’s quite possible that there’s something wrong with me but this feels like 5/8s of a track — it could work in a video game or in a low end Mission Impossible satire, but not much after that.  Mr. Fatale does seem quite interested in handing you a beat down with his beats and I respect that but I would like more sauce.

YTD recordings listened to: 648
Good music, not list worthy: 338
Not good music: 291

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/24/20!!! Nubya Garcia, Samia, Alex the Astronaut, Jeremiah Cymerman

@@@ Nubya Garcia: Inner Game (Concord, 2020) The first three listens today are from last week’s Line of Best Fit email.  These days jazz out of London is a blend of Afrobeat, fusion jazz and a bit of what I guess I would call more American style jazz.  And right on time this opens up with a Tony Allen style beat, a little proggy/fusion flavoring, some chill keyboard action and a sax melody.  I could use some more fire here from the sax player, the drummer is doing all right.  It’s a 7+ minute banger which does build slowly.  Just after 4 minutes the keyboard player finishes up his/her Red Bull and shreds the keyboard with the drummer joining in.  I dig this part for sure and wish they had started here and burned the whole thing down.  Give the drummer some, he/she’s been rocking all the way through.

@@@ Samia: Big Wheel (Grand Jury, 2020) A pre-release track and it’s similar to the track below (I started listening on the third track today).  Strummed acoustic guitar, same quasi confessional style lyrics.  More rock production with a big straight laidback rock beat sitting underneath a lot of ambient sounds.  Everbody must be refilling their coffee shop playlist so people can hang before this covid shit heads around for a second round through the human population to pick off the stupid and/or compromised animals.  She’s got bad news but she didn’t fight, that’s the vocal hook.  I like some of the ambient business that garnishes the track, the singer is a bit of a downer which she cops to — she got bad news but she didn’t fight.  This could work for all you mopers out there!  All right-y then.

@@@ Alex the Astronaut: Caught In The Middle (Nettwerk, 2020)  From a record called The Theory of Absolutely Nothing.  It opens as a modern Irish pub track, a bit melancholic, some acoustic guitar strum dee dum and sorta confessional lyrics.  Rolling snare beat and electric guitar joins in for the second chorus and it’s a rollicking self aware party track with a bit of something blue in it.  Some massive whoa-ah-ohs before it goes out on that rock with a bit of folk to it tip.  This gal is Australian, I like her voice, the tunes are a bit staid for my taste.

@@@ Jeremiah Cymerman: Decay of the Angel (5049 Records, 2020) I saw this jazz composer/musician featured on a weekly email from the Brooklyn club Roulette.  Cymerman is a clarintet improviser who lives in Brooklyn and he processes his instrument a bunch as well as celebrating his Jewish heritage.  These are things I’ve read in the course of getting a tune.  This is a 22 minute banger so I will check his flow and hang for a bunch of it.  This opens with a lot of ambient feels — long notes on the clarinet and a slow emerging sub bass tone which may be a pitchshifted clarinet as it’s certainly not an upright bass.  I’m not 100% but I believe this is going to be a solo clarinet piece, I’m not hearing anything besides clarinet and clarinet derived sounds.  I like the electronic, staticky garnishes that come in.  This works well as background music for me but as ambient music it’s a bit above average.  I listen to a fairly large amount of ambient music and it could use a bit more development to get into the upper echelons of ambient.

YTD recordings listened to: 644
Good music, not list worthy: 336
Not good music: 289

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/21/20!!! Sugarcane Jane, Eves Karydas, Harry Styles, Marcus Whale

@@@ Sugarcane Jane: I’m Gonna Grow Me a New Mind (Self released, 2020) I got to this via the indie music blog Indiepulse.  It’s a country rock jam with a pretty fascinating title.  Two acoustic guitars panned left and right, husband and wife sharing vocal duties, a bare beat in the back, an electric guitar filling in spaces and spitting out a bit of rock flavor, and a lot of aspirational lyrics that bounce between patriotism and a desire for a better life.  I’m gonna grow me a new mind from a seed I know to be pure, that’s pretty out there, intended to be or not.

@@@ Eves Karydas: Complicated (UMG Australia, 2020) I got to this via the Australian music magazine Happy.  Slick production and a vocal style that is a grittier Taylor Swift flow.  I like the pre chorus that leads to the chorus — when did everything get so fucking complicated?  How did I get so jaded?  I don’t know if that’s Karydas pictured in the video below but if it is she looks 12, how complicated could her shit be?  I like her voice and the melodies, I think she wears the hook out a bit, maybe more than a bit.  Sounds are pretty standard but fewer rather than more which gives more room for the vocals to have impact.

@@@ Harry Styles: Watermelon Sugar (Sony, 2020)  When I think of Harry Styles I just feel so juicy inside, he’s so passionate and British hot.  This tune is a bit retro soul (filtered through by white folks) and framed up in a high end pop studio setting.  A driving guitar figure here and a little rock spicing but over the top is that sweet Styles vocal stack saying ‘watermelon sugar high’.  Midtempo beat and lyrics that make no sense.  I don’t know how watermelon sugar tastes like strawberries on a summer evening but this is the essential unreality of pop music, it doesn’t have to make sense.  Speaking of making no sense if this tune was made by someone not Harry Styles it would be nonsensical pop dreck but since it’s by Mr. Styles it’s especially nonsensical pop dreck.  He just wants that feeling, yeah I get it.

@@@ Marcus Whale: A Ghost (Lucifer, 2020) I got to this track via an online Australian music magazine.  The track is slotted as dance on Apple Music and it opens up with a basket of synths and some beat free vocalizing.  The synthesizers vary in tone from dark chainsaw-y bass patches to high tingly arpeggiated ones.  I could use a beat, especially if this is dance music.  When the beat comes, it’s pretty vanilla and could use some swing.  I appreciate some of the darkness in this track found in the bass sound and some of the vocal melodies, but if it came out fat funky on the beat side I would really feel that contrast.  I haven’t heard much goth dance music outside of Nine Inch Nails and when they bring in some squally feedback and a high church organ sound at the end of the track it all makes sense.  It’s not really my cup of tea but it makes sense and these days I’m grateful for that.

YTD recordings listened to: 640
Good music, not list worthy: 333
Not good music: 288

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/20/20!!! Paul Grabowsky, Dubmatix, Kamaal Williams, All We Are

@@@ Paul Kelly & Paul Grabowsky: True to You (Cooking Vinyl, 2020) Off this week’s All Music notable release email.  Retro jazz vocals with just a piano.  Certainly not as croony and Vegas-y as Tony Bennett but still polished in its way.  It is interesting to hear how far our culture has travelled — from lightly cheesy romantic poetic ballad anthems to love all the way to Wet Ass Pussy by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion.  That is a journey!  Mr. Kelly is the gruff singer here and Grabowsky the piano player.  The sound is modern and intimate. Modern production is about soaring spaces but this thankfully is not one of them.  The piano is pretty epic here but there are no Celine Dion reverb patches at play here.  It’s a nostalgic club set of original straight piano jazz tunes for the Covid era.

@@@ Dubmatix: Rub a Dub (Kingston Express, 2020) Off a reggae compilation I got to via the WRIR weekly charts email.  A bit retro and a bit modern with some low and rough side of town toasting style.  He’s all about the rub a dub style with some tasty guitar and bubbling organ sounds with additional dub spaceship action.  If you Google rub a dub style what do you think it would return?  Rub a dub refers to the transition between reggae and dancehall.  Exactly.  This is a really solid compilation out in 2020 referring back to musics that went down a long time ago.

@@@ Kamaal Williams: Street Dreams (Black Focus, 2020) The opening track on a record entitled Wu Hen, which makes you wonder if this musician was inspired at all by the Wu Han virus.  Probably not but you never know.  Prominent New Age/fusion-y feels as this tune opens.  Soft jazz melody, some harp (yes!), swolled strings, I want to take a nap in the clouds!  It’s a table setter, that’s how I hear it, it’s bringing you into the record so I will check a bit of the second track to see if it switches up.  The second tune goes electro, also with a Brit spoken word making threats, and some pretty chopped up funky drums.  Proggy Prince, that’s how I hear it.  Super clean production and jazz fusion/prog is a tough sell for me.  It comes off nerdy to my ears and I prefer fire.

@@@ All We Are: Providence (Domino, 2020) Also off this week’s All Music notable release email, this time in the indie electronic part of town.  You never know what you’re gonna get with Domino — it could be pleasantly weird, it could be whacky, it could be art school dreck.  This is pretty straightforward ’80s inspired white people dancefloor business with a slight shout out to the ’70s.  After the falsetto chorus you do get an atypical thick guitar solo sound, and other unique garnishes.  I like the bass sound, a tad rocky and funky in a first grade sorta way, and I like the vocal harmonizing as you get the males and the females and everything in between and not that and I like the Prince feels.  It’s pretty straight rhythmically, it could use some swing or drag or something.  Oh boy, the second tune clicked on and it’s an ’80s flavored guitar ballad, oy.

YTD recordings listened to: 636
Good music, not list worthy: 331
Not good music: 286

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/19/20!!! Josh Johnson, Russell E.L. Butler, Duval Timothy, Bill Frissell

@@@ Josh Johnson: 856 (Northern Spy, 2020) A just over two minute electronic jazz single I got to via the label email list that I’m on.  It opens up with a couple of breathing synths, one fast and one slow, and then one really fast, and then one more serpentine and that one sounds like a processed sax but I could be wrong on that.  Then a sound like a two note bowed sound, and then some super high bird like sounds, and my impression of the whole track is that it’s pleasantly kaleidoscopic, defined by all the layers and not anchored in a particular melody.  A lot of this kind of music can easily collapse into New Age feels and this doesn’t which I’m grateful for.

@@@ Russell E.L. Butler: I Know I Am Petty (Ghostly, 2019) I’ve been finding slightly off the radar African American electronic musicians via this onlin music mag Crack.io so the next two listens are from that weekly email.  I try to check out Ghostly releases but this one slipped past me.  This musician lives in the Bay Area and is of Caribbean descent — I seen that on his Apple music blurb.  A squoinking active bass sits in the middle of a lot of layers of rhythms — tambourine (what no cowbell?) classic open hi hat, four on the floor and then garnished with spaceship delayed synth bleeps.  It’s all right, very groovy, and a bit straighter than what I hope for.  He gets into a repeating wind patch melody as well as adding an alarm type sound.  I want this to work for me but I’m only halfway there.

@@@ Duval Timothy: Slave (Carrying Color, 2020)  Not electronic but a slow piano jam.  Oh I went back to the GooglePimp and it says Mr. Timothy blends jazz with electronic music here.  The most notable feature is the singing of the word slave – sung alone and sung in chorus and it’s really impressively jarring — then a spoken word section comes in discussing how a record label owns the master and the artist is a slave.  I like harmonizing most of all and am agnostic on the piano and kinda feel like I wish it had stuck with slave but not introduced the side concept of musicians as slaves (which I don’t disagree with).  More sounds get added to the mix as the song progresses — a shreddy guitar, etc.

@@@ Bill Frisell: Valentine (Blue Note, 2020)  Are you having trouble sleeping?  Can’t settle down at night and get a solid 8?  Try some Bill Frisell, one of the sleepiest motherfuckers rocking a jazz guitar that you will ever come across.  He is joined here by drummer Rudy Royston who I really like and he perks up the business as is his steady contribution across jazz, but he ain’t playing the guitar!  He can only do so much, he is just one man.  I like the upright player but this is straight vanilla, missionary position action here.  However I can recommend this as outstanding brunch music as well as a sleeping aid.  Or a sleepy brunch where you’re chewing a bagel and nodding off at the same time.  Or a get together for folks on opioids who are staring out into space all numbed out in a chill manner.  So many uses.  The sounds are great, the drumming is lively, big fat bass sound.

YTD recordings listened to: 632
Good music, not list worthy: 322
Not good music: 283

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr

Music for 8/18/20!!! The Japanese House, Her Songs,Oscar Jerome, Ofege

@@@ The Japanese House: Dionne (Dirty Hits, 2020)  The first three listens today are from last week’s Line of Best Fit and the last track is from the Stranded Records weekly email.  Slotted as alternative it’s pretty influenced by ’80s synth rock done in an updated lush manner.  Intimate female vocalizations with a bit of delay on them, swirling synthesizers, nice electronic drums (ahem).  When it gets to the chorus I had to check to make sure my headphone cable was connected because the mix gets crushed and blows out in a somewhat farty distorted manner.  I think it’s not effective but that’s just me.  Maybe they were trying to toughen up these synth sounds which they do but the melodies get creamed and it’s purposeful as it dropped for the second verse and then came back for the second round of the chorus.  Crazy business.  I liked the melodies and the vibe ’til the crusher showed up.

@@@ Her Songs: If We Try (Her Songs, 2020)  Contemporary r&b — mellow keyboards, quasi bedroom vocals but presented in an electronic r&b context.  I really like the beats and the bass, especially how the fat bass tone contrasts with the finger snaps and other glitch-y type sounds that give energy to the arrangement.  It’s a relationship tune, you know, if we try we can make it kinda thing.  It’s hard to get too involved with the lyrical meaning with the plethora of vocal tracks and the various production flourishes which I dig.  I think she’s saying she’s good to go and commit to this relationship but you know the dude isn’t trying hard enough.  C’mon dude.  The sounds are most notable here, especially the undercarriage of the track.

@@@ Oscar Jerome: Give Back What U Stole From Me (Oscar Jerome, 2020)  I haven’t super connected with the UK jazz that’s coming out that Mr. Jerome is connected to.  He’s also toured with Kamasi Washington and I think Mr. Washington is a bit overrated.  The tune opens up with some flighty guitar vamping and is soon joined some nice drum spraying before the rest of the outfits started in getting into a bouncy clean funk flow.  And then the MC comes in and my heart sinks.  British rhyming, oy!  I can’t tell if the title of the track is a macro political statement or a personal plea.  I think it’s both as there’s mention of greedy people and rivers of gold and silver and blood.  So that’s cool but I’m not connecting with this bold mash of sounds.

@@@ Ofege: Try and Love (Ofege, 1973)  I got to this via Stranded Records and when I went to the Googlepimp I see it’s Ghana, 1973.  Way before this bullshit we have going on here now.  It’s got a classic African retro sound when bands were emulating records from other places (most notably American big rock bands), plenty of polyrhythms, a bit of ol’ school hippie rock and outstanding vocals/lyrics.  Music fans should check out this for its heartfelt and freaky flow from the singer who is imploring his girl to try and love him for who he is.  In addition to these elements we have a delicious space organ player which freak-a-fies the situation, some pretty epic clean guitar shredding towards the end of the track and the whole thing is sweet and funky like overripe (and delicious) plantains.  I wish there were more vocals as I feel them more than the guitar shredding.

YTD recordings listened to: 628
Good music, not list worthy: 319
Not good music: 282

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Tarek Atoui, Saicobab, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Mariachi El Bronx, Pour Me a Grog, Sudan Archives, Lakou Mizik, Moodymann, Pharmakon, Alefa Madagascar, Janjao, Luge, Wiki, Mick Jenkins, Jeremiah Jae, Fera, Gambian Griot Kora Duets, Drama, Beatrice Dillon, Mass Worship, mmmonika, Les Deuxluxes, Tony Allen, Fra Fra, Nihiloxica, Hailu Mergia, Pokey LaFarge, Nico Gomez, Nohe and Sus Santos, schroothoop, Tiny Bit of Giant’s Blood, Pole, Naeem, Mekons, Santrofi, DJ Nigga Fox, Flor do Toloache, Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid, STORMLIGHT, Venomous Concept, Chezidek, Shy One, Muqata’a, Protomartyr