GOLDMUND - The Time It Takes

"Keith Kenniff’s output as Goldmund has established him as one of the preeminent composers of minimal piano-based music alongside peers like Hauschka, Dustin O’Halloran, and Ryuichi Sakamoto, who himself once described Kenniff’s work as 'so, so, so beautiful'.

His recordings tread sincerely along paths laden with dusty timbres, diffuse synthesizer, and soaring string textures tinted by the muted glow of a cloudy analog sky above. On The Time it Takes, Goldmund’s newest book of aural polaroids, Kenniff somehow manages to deepen the emotionality of his already affecting project, creating a space in which to unfold the sorrows of a troubling age and revel in the hope and beauty that follow thereafter. In this sense, The Time it Takes tackles grief head-on, unadorned by themes of escapism or pastorality, and marks another entry in an impressively consistent body of work... 

...As if we needed convincing, Kenniff further proves his skill of crafting sound-design vignettes that are personal, private, and hushed, yet simultaneously grand, colossal, and profound. Nostalgia sometimes suffers the role of low hanging fruit for the marketing world, or worse, a symptom of the stunted development of a generation facing backward in a world that moves unrelentingly forward. But instead of engaging in reductive and culpable pastiche, Kenniff dispels any notions of nostalgia’s counterproductivity by using our collective memory as just another brush to paint with, thereby wresting his music from any linear cultural timeline. To that end there are few artistic voices as distinct as Goldmund’s. Magically conjuring grandeur from only a few simple ingredients (piano, synthesizer, reverb, and a little more) Kenniff’s sound has become so universal that you'd be forgiven for not knowing who it belongs to. Knock offs be damned, every Goldmund recording is cut from an inimitable fabric woven out of emotional realism, honesty, vivid imagination, and skillful restraint." - Boomkat

JULIANNA BARWICK - Healing Is A Miracle

"In an interview late last year, Louisiana-born musician Julianna Barwick offered up some sound advice. “You need to think of ways to combat the evil and the state of earth wherever you can,” she suggested. “And enjoy life, because life is still really wonderful, it really is.”

Her first album in four years, and her debut on Ninja Tune, Healing Is A Miracle feels like an out-and-out distillation of that line of thought. Inspired, title and all, by how the body heals itself – the so-called ‘miracle’ of the title – it’s a sublime panacea at a time when entertaining anything resembling hope almost feels tempting of reproach.

As is Barwick’s wont, not least on 2016’s Will, the slow crest and fall of Healing Is A Miracle isn’t so much a journey as a full-scale rove far beyond. Like being softly guided by the hand, behind the veil and yonder, opener ‘Inspirit’ has all the widescreen oomph of the THX Deep Note, only stretched to four minutes of swarming ambience. “Open our heart, it's in your head,” Barwick repeatedly incants. Saturated in spacious room reverb, and sat above clement drones à la latter day Stars of the Lid, these seven words, simple yet purposely obscured, double up as a vivid opening canticle.

Recorded in the wake of a move from New York, where she had lived for sixteen years, to Los Angeles, Healing is a Miracle is easily Barwick's most intimate – and intentioned – foray in years. Having said that her move to the West Coast was informed by a need for a place that “inspired joy and delight again,” Barwick’s fourth album feels like a transliteration of one person reconnecting to the source. “It was emotional,” she said, “because I was recording music that was just from the heart, that wasn’t for an ‘assignment’ or project. It brought me to tears a little.” - The Quietus

HAZEL ENGLISH - Wake Up!

"Hazel English's debut album, Wake UP!, is a delightful triumph that incites self-discovery and love — it's like a soothing, sunbaked day by the pool with a thick book, and also like a rollicking party that forces your shoes off. But more than anything, it's about each and every single person listening to it. English's sound is drenched in '60s iconography and inspired by the music of the Mamas and the Papas, the Zombies, and Jefferson Airplane. That being said, Wake UP! grapples with very present and prevalent issues surrounding authenticity and interpersonal relationships in face of social media. More than anything, the 10-track album is just the pop-rock pep talk we didn't know we needed. 

Each track on this album is unique and will sweetly burrow itself into your mind, and this is due to English's deftness with hooks and melodies — "Five and Dime" is a prime example of her skill. My favourite track on the album is the deceptively disarming "Combat": soft as the sun setting, English's voice sounds different than elsewhere on the record. There's a feathery light aspect to it that is simultaneously sombre, hinting to the deep hurt in the lyrics. English knows her voice and commands it wonderfully throughout the album. At some points it's atmospheric, while at others it pops caustically. Sometimes she reminds me of Françoise Hardy, and other times it's of Anna Karina, both vocalists who are able to transform their voices expertly... 

This album has a message for you, evident in the title. When English was writing the album, French Marxist thinker Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle was on her mind. If we've learned anything from Debord it's that it's easy to lose ourselves and our individuality through participation in mass-produced culture, and the album's title is a caps-locked reminder meant to knock us back into ourselves. Throughout the album, English either tells us outright to practice self-reflection and self-interrogation, or demonstrates this by example... 

To think, to dance. To do whatever it takes to get a smile to your face. The command isn't to be irreverent, nor is she asking of us that we languor in a Lana Del Rey-esque sad-girl stupor. The brightness of this album is rather asking us to do what feels good. Whether it's through the optimism in "Work It Out," a track about trying to hold onto a crumbling relationship, or through the questions raised by "Wake UP!," which implores us to trust ourselves, she is showing us the work it takes to get better, to get more like ourselves..." -Exclaim

LOVING - If I Am Only My Thoughts

"Since their self-titled debut in 2016, Victoria, BC band Loving have remained relatively quiet, save for a few scattered performances. With their latest release, If I Am Only My Thoughts, the band display an innate talent for lush compositions and soothing melody, capturing a delicate blend of melancholy and optimism. Loving continue to operate within the same framework of sound that defined their previous work: smooth and rhythmic guitar grounded by gentle percussion and subtle vocals, all of which help create an enveloping atmosphere of tranquility. While other artists may simply fall into routine, If I Am Only My Thoughts feels fresh and diverse, pushing deeper into Loving's style and emerging with a rich and dynamic sound...While the songs on If I Am Only My Thoughts feel gradual and soft, the album nevertheless contains a form of passionate songwriting, catering to feelings of hopefulness and longing." - Exclaim

VARIOUS - Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits

"The truest testament to a song’s power is how it plays with others. Songs written by the performer are more likely to land in the singer’s stylistic and vocal wheelhouse; take away that crutch to witness the song’s true strength and character. So while Tom Waits’ genius has been beyond dispute for at least a quarter-century, hearing his songs performed by the dozen female artists of “Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits” casts new light on their brilliance.

Freed from Waits’ gravelly, way-down-in-the-hole brogue, his female interpreters discover dramatic new shapes and colors within them. Were the songs not almost literally cut from the same cloth, one might worry that the range were too wide, rather than marveling at the adaptability of the songs and their singers...

...Such fine material in the hands of skilled interpreters is a delight. It isn’t even necessary to be familiar with the originals to enjoy this collection. There’s hardly a bad apple in the dozen and the sequencing seems to amplify the songs’ dogged, hopeful mien. If there’s a quibble, it’s that five of the 12 tracks are from “Mule Variations,” which feels like too much given the breadth, quality and depth of Waits’ catalog.

This is such a terrific effort, it would not be surprising if it spawns a raft of imitators. Given the present-day wealth of talented female singers, it seems obvious to reinterpret a variety of feted male artists from a feminine perspective. “Women Sing Waits” sets the idea off to an inspiring start." - Variety

BOWIE'S BOOKSHELF: The Hundred Books That Changed David Bowie's Life

"David Bowie was a voracious reader: no surprise there. But what did he really rate? We learnt something of his tastes in March 2013. Keen eyes at the opening of the exhibition David Bowie Is at the Victoria and Albert Museum sought out his list of key texts. John O’Connell was one such fan and in the introduction here he is careful to underline this was not Bowie’s ‘favourite’ books as such but those he regarded as the most important and influential to his life and work.

What we are presented with here is thus both an extended bibliography that provides clues to the meanings of some of Bowie’s songs and a set of recommendations, a handy starter for the autodidact, an escape route, as O’Connell puts it, “into other people, other perspectives, other consciousnesses”. And if tackled these books will, he promises, take you “out of yourself, only to put you back there infinitely enriched.”...

...There are plenty of surprises here such as his love for true crime classics like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and travel narratives such as Bruce Chatwin’s The Songlines. We learn more about Bowie’s friendships with writers like Hanif Kureishi and William Boyd. It’s also good to be reminded that Bowie loved a laugh and rated Keith Waterhouse. Humour features strongly with Viz, Private Eye, and Spike Milligan’s Puckoon all making the cut...

...To the books themselves: O’Connell does a fine job in summarising plots and arguments whilst doubling up with explanations linking the titles to key Bowie reference points. Take Lolita for example where Nabokov’s comment that an author’s best audience “is the person he sees in his shaving mirror every morning” reflecting back Bowie’s rueful observation about the Tonight album: “all my big mistakes are when I try to second-guess or please an audience”.

This book celebrates the fact that, in O’Connell’s words, “Bowie’s work might have been inauthentic … but only rarely, in moments of personal or professional crisis, was it insincere”. This book is sincere, a work of love. O’Connell and Bowie signpost you to other great books and as such these tips seem ideal for the young. Teachers should lobby to get this on the National Curriculum." - The Quietus

Our selection from Bowie's bookshelf (with more on the way):

OXFORD AMERICAN 2019 Music Issue: South Carolina

"At Hitsville U.S.A. recording sessions, when Motown Records producers would give James Jamerson, the studio’s in-house bassist, the charts for new songs, they provided him only the chord changes with no actual bass lines. No one could tell Jamerson how to play. No one could hear what he heard beneath a chord progression and melody. “They’d let me go on and ad lib. I created, man,” he told journalist Nelson George. “I picked things up from listening to people speak. From the intonation of their voices. I could capture a line. I look at people walking and get a beat from their movement. I’m telling you all my secrets now.” Jamerson died at just forty-five in 1983, and because Motown didn’t attribute the players on its sessions for years, his influence went largely unappreciated in his lifetime; the list of songs to which he contributed—as the anchor for the house band, known as the Funk Brothers, from 1959 until 1973—is staggering. More No. 1 hits, the label notes, than by Elvis, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Rolling Stones combined.

Jamerson arrived in Detroit in high school from his native Edisto Island in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, the state’s southeastern coastal region distinct for its geography and culture, of which Charleston is the main city. Here is a land rich in musical innovators. Listen to Alice Wine at home in Johns Island, who first shared the lyrics “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize,” an update of the hymn “Hold On” that became the famous civil rights anthem (track 21). Or Charlie McAlister, a singer-songwriter who created homemade ditties such as “Paradise” (track 9), with its wholly original sound. Or rapper and activist Benny Starr, whose song “Resurrection” (track 23) opens with a reflection on the landscape: “Where I grew up . . . water had such a profound impact on our traditions and the culture—what we ate, how we lived. Water is a life force, is rebirth and renewal. It’s real spiritual.” Like all of the country’s major Atlantic ports, Charleston County is American cultural bedrock. 

It is fitting that this Southern Music Issue (the Oxford American’s twenty-first) devoted to South Carolina should come in 2019, as the nation moves to better recognize the tragic anniversary of the first sale of enslaved Africans on American soil, in August of 1619. About forty percent of the enslaved people brought to America came through Charleston; today most African Americans have roots in the city (some estimates go as high as eighty percent). Or to put a finer point on it, as Joshunda Sanders writes in this issue, “No Black person has a family tree that has not been pruned by slavery.” Acknowledging, parsing, and reckoning with this history is the prominent theme of this South Carolina music issue—as is celebrating the immense wealth of cultural heritage that has sprung from this small, proud place. Sanders’s very next line is equally as telling: “But just because some of my history is unknowable didn’t keep me from trying to do the spiritual work of reclamation.” 

Other writers dig similar ground, mining South Carolina music history for fresh insight. John Jeremiah Sullivan tracks the Stono Rebellion of 1739 and the consequence of the colony’s subsequent banning of drums. Zandria F. Robinson listens to Ranky Tanky, whose music is “a crash course in Southern lessons and logic, wrapped well in sound.” Mark Powell revisits modern Spartanburg and its homegrown icons the Marshall Tucker Band. Sarah Bryan offers a memoir of old Myrtle Beach. The incomparable poet Nikky Finney memorializes the love shared between blueswomen Clara Smith, “Queen of the Moaners,” and her mentee and partner Josephine Baker. And Jon Kirby chronicles the other life of our cover star, Lake City–native Dr. Ronald McNair, a famous astronaut who was also a devoted and accomplished saxophonist. 

One of the joys of the state-themed format of our Southern Music Issue series is having the opportunity to elevate lesser known artists alongside local luminaries. What an honor to hear among these many voices of South Carolina those like Charleston’s Bill Wilson, who released his first album at age seventy-six last year (track 22) and Columbia’s Aaron Graves, lead singer of Those Lavender Whales (track 11), who tragically died of brain cancer this year, at thirty-three. 

Today, James Jamerson is considered an unparalleled bassist and pop composer (in its “100 Greatest” special issue, Bass Player magazine ranks him No. 1), a legacy he didn’t live to see recognized. It is in the spirit of Jamerson and his secrets that we present here a small cross-section of the ingenuity and influence South Carolina musicians are due. It begins with a contemporary band hailing from the Lowcountry, Ranky Tanky—named for a Gullah expression meaning something like “get funky”—a reclamation-reimagination project of the highest order, whose music is the perfect tone-setter for this issue. Cue track 1..." - Oxford American

VARIOUS - Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Volume 5

"15 years on from both Dave Godin’s death and his fourth volume of Deep Soul Treasures, Kent has compiled a further 25 tracks using titles chosen by Dave for future projects in the series. Many are recordings he wanted from day one of the Treasures concept, but licensing quirks made them unavailable until now. The Emotions’ Somebody New, Helena Ferguson’s Where Is The Party, George Jackson’s My Desires Are Getting The Best Of Me and others are tracks he had wanted to include from the outset. As usual there is an Eddie and Ernie offering and a release associated with Larry Banks and his musical family’s work; Larry’s nephew has contributed the note. The Banks’ track is actually previously unreleased; Kenny Carter’s reading of I’m Not The One which he wrote with Larry Banks and recorded first. It was shelved when his LP project fell through and Larry’s version was later issued on Kapp and featured on the first Treasures CD.

Licensing hurdles were cleared with regard to Big Maybelle, an artist Dave always adored and got to meet at the Soul City headquarters. It is also the first time that Esther Phillips, James Carr, Barbara Lynn and Linda Jones feature; all favourites of his. Always a champion of the oddball, he raved about the Soul City’s cover of Gladys Knight’s Who Knows, just as he did with the Zilla Mays and Ronnie Taylor tracks. They did not have extensive recording careers but hit the pinnacle for Dave on these specific offerings. There is a fine balance of male / female and solo/group acts, reflecting Dave’s admiration for all styles of soul music. The Chantels’ 1958 single Every Night is the earliest recording he ever chose (by some three years), but he heard deep soul in its impassioned vocal and it also reflects his love of black music from the pre-soul years. The booklet is enhanced by an extensive interview Dave gave to Jon Savage in the 90s; Jon also writes an introduction. Where relevant, Dave’s words, mainly from the pages of Blues and Soul magazines of the time, are used in relation to the recording. Guest writers of the calibre and experience of Stuart Cosgrove, Sean Hampsey, David Nathan, Tony Rounce, Richard Searling, Richard Williams and others pen descriptions of the tracks – often with reference to Dave’s championing of them." - Rough Trade

VARIOUS - World Spirituality Classics 2: The Time For Peace Is Now

"The Time For Peace Is Now compiles fourteen songs that, while recorded over four decades ago, speak now more than ever. The tracks are a subset of 1970s-era gospel, not directly talking about Jesus or God, but instead tackling how we live with ourselves and each other. These are undeniably soulful, passionate, and urgent songs from obscure 45s, dug up from a long dormancy in attics, sheds and rated across the American south. Compiled by Gospel guru Greg Belson.

The Gospel bands heard on The Time For Peace Is Now were comprised of musicians who played both church and secular music. The church borrowed—or rather commandeered—the guitar, bass, drums, and other instruments used to backup Motown, Stax, and other popular labels—to give power to the songs they supported. Musicians who sang at ‘the club’ on Saturday night were often leading solos or singing in the choir on Sunday mornings. Saturday night and Sunday morning music began to interweave, which was especially felt when the church choirs sang Gospel. It was Gospel’s in uence that made Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and many others the voice of the 1960s and 1970s. Gospel was the soul of America.

This album is reflective of the dichotomy of the sacred and the secular. The music here is in some sense the same as the music of the club. “Keep Your Faith To The Sky” could have you singing “Keep Your Head To The Sky” by Earth, Wind and Fire. Listening to “It’s Hard To Live In This Old World” and “That’s A Sign Of The Times” imbues the pessimistic/realistic sense of what was happening. Like many Blues songs, the problem must rst be named before it can be solved. At the end of The Time For Peace Is Now, hope is still present. The problem is named in the beginning and a possible solution is presented." Luaka Bop

DAVID KILGOUR - Bobbie's A Girl

"I got swept away by it, to be honest.

I turned it up loud and let the warmth of it flow all around me – and it transported me to a place I didn't even know I wanted to go.

Something about that loose tangle of electric and acoustic guitars, the swinging heft of the bass, those distant constellations of piano notes, the subtle smack of drums, slightly behind the beat.

When it got to the end, I didn't want to break the spell, so I just had to play the whole damn thing all over again." Stuff

ARETHA FRANKLIN - Amazing Grace (DVD)

"In Aretha Franklin’s revelatory concert film Amazing Grace, she barely speaks a word. Aside from one muffled request for water and a hushed discussion with her musical director, there’s not a peep out of her. Instead, she focuses her concentration wholly on the spirit of the gospel music she came to perform during the film’s historic two-day shoot, which took place in January 1972 at the New Temple Baptist Mission church in Los Angeles. “She came for a church service,” the late singer’s niece Sabrina Owens, who controls the estate, said to the Guardian. “The way she conducted herself was totally different than what you would see at one of her pop concerts. Her eyes were closed. Her head was thrown back. She was focused entirely on something higher.

To witness the whiplash contrast between that self-effacement, and the star power of her vocal performance, is just one element which greatly distinguishes watching the Amazing Grace film from listening to the album of the same name, which came out late in 1972. That double-set became Franklin’s biggest-selling album, as well as the top-grossing gospel collection of all time. Meanwhile, the film lay uncompleted in the vaults for another 38 years, hobbled by gobsmacking mistakes, poor planning and, eventually, by Franklin’s health issues. After a complex, fraught and dragged-out series of events, the movie was finally completed by the producer Alan Elliott last fall..." - The Guardian

JAMES & BOBBY PURIFY - I'm Your Puppet: The Complete BELL Recordings 1966-69

"The complete works of this incredible 60s soul duo – a 2CD package that features both their albums for the Bell Records label, lots of contemporaneous 45s, and even some unreleased tracks too! James & Bobby Purify followed in a tradition that was strongly started by Sam & Dave – the two-male soul duo, with both voices coming in on the lead, breaking apart as the tracks progressed, and crossing back and forth, for a fuller sound that often made for a more dynamic approach than with a single singer! James & Bobby had a wonderful sound – slower and deeper than Sam & Dave, with plenty of touches of southern soul, and a tendency to use a nice heavy beat, even in their mellower tracks – which really makes this work burn with a deep soul intensity. The 2CD set features 38 tracks in all – the full titles from the albums James & Bobby Purify and Pure Sound Of The Purifys, plus singles, unreleased tracks, and more..." - Dusty Groove

BRIAN ENO - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (Extended Edition)

"In honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11's moon landing, Brian Eno's classic 1983 album has been re-mastered and re-released with an additional whole album of new music. Featuring co-producer and ethereal guitarist Daniel Lanois and pianist Roger Eno (younger brother of Brian), the album has withstood the test of time and remains one of ambient music's most influential releases.       

Apollo's compositions are well-developed and surprisingly lively considering the artist's propensity to create supremely tranquil soundscapes. The liveliness is courtesy of brother Roger's chamber-like keyboards and Lanois' richly layered guitar tones. Make no mistake though; Apollo has plenty of the shadowy and textural sonic soundscapes that rendered Eno the Godfather of ambient...

The space-themed song titles on disc two more than hint at the music that lies within and could act as descriptions; "The End of a Thin Cord," "Under the Moon," "Strange Quiet," "Clear Desert Night," and "Last Step From the Surface" are the best examples. Following in the footsteps of disc one, the trio show off their creative ambitions with slowly shifting waves of meditative, hypnotic, and majestic harmonies and even an occasional melody. The enchanting instrumental pieces never stray too far into the nebulous stratosphere and are well worth the price of admission." - Under The Radar

STELLA DONNELLY - Beware Of The Dogs

"'It's never too late to be on time.' If there's one message to take away from Beware of the Dogs, it's this, because when Stella Donnelly calls you out — and she is calling most of you out — it's not so much finger-pointing as it is a wake-up call. Her debut is a striking proclamation that holds the powers that be accountable for misbehaviours on all fronts. Unlike last year's Thrush Metal, the Perth artist has expanded her arsenal and now stands at the helm of a full band. The simple addition of synths, cello, bass, piano and (most notably) percussion, has elevated her music to a place most of us were hoping she would — one that's sonically diverse and a little more multidimensional.
 
Instrumentally, there's a flare and excitement that was lacking on previous work. Each song is unique, rarely applying the same formula twice. Fortunately, she's ensured every musical choice, structural or instrumental, serves a purpose. When her message is best told intimately, she restricts everything else until it's needed. And despite the emotional weight a lot of these songs carry, most are quite upbeat — even fun. Her vocals are also more daring on this record. Breeze-like melodies cruise through multiple octaves with ease, fluttering with vibrato at the tail end of her notes. Sometimes she'll even drop them off early, pairing the attitude in her words with impatience in her tone..." - Exclaim

KEVIN MORBY - Oh My God

"It takes seconds for Kevin Morby to set the mood for Oh My God: piano roll, hushed melody and harmonized chorus, the sum of which induces a spellbound attention for the rest of the album. This is Morby's secular gospel album, a record envisioned and recorded aloft in planes, awake in beds and indefinitely on the road, with Morby, in rapturous disbelief, muttering "Oh my god" at his fortune all the while.
 
Not a single cut on Oh My God feels out of place. Each song is effulgent in its composition and intention, from the hymnal boogie "OMG Rock n Roll," to the wholly intimate "Seven Devils" to the bashful and bluesy "Ballad Of Faye." Despite always feeling full and fleshed-out, Oh My God is comparatively and intentionally sparse when held up Morby's earlier albums...
 
...To decree a record as an artist's "epic" is always a paradoxical accomplishment, suggesting heights that may never be reached again, and casting past works, great though they may be, into a comparative pale. But it's hard not to be awed by a record that has you saying its name to simply describe it." - Exclaim

MARI SAMUELSEN - MARI

"Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen’s debut for the Yellow Label is entitled simply MARI, and is set for international release on 7 June 2019. Recorded with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and conductor Jonathan Stockhammer, the album explores the contradictions of contemporary life – the fact that, despite the excitement of city life and the convenience of instant communication and express travel, many of us still feel a need to ground ourselves in the peace and quiet of the natural world. Mari herself was born in rural Norway and goes back to the family farm as often as her schedule allows. She was keen, therefore, to choose a selection of music echoing the conflicting pulls on our time and energy.

At the emotional heart of the album is Bach’s Chaconne in D minor, whose serenity Samuelsen has chosen to counter with the nervous agitation of “Knee Play 2” from Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach. The rest of the programme of her DG debut grew organically from the seeds of Bach and Glass, tracing themes of change and renewal, from the increasingly complex variations of the Chaconne to the expansive melodic development of Clark’s Mammal Step Sequence. The album also combines familiar repertoire with brand-new pieces from some of today’s leading composers and musicians.

Mari tested different combinations of compositions, carefully considering the ways in which they related to one another and to the whole. The finished recording contains pieces as diverse as Vladimir Martynov’s The Beatitudes, Peter Gregson’s Sequence (Four), arrangements of Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Heptapod B and Brian Eno’s song By this River, and Pēteris Vasks’ Vientulais Engelis (“Lonely Angel”). The mix also includes four works by Max Richter, with whom she collaborates on a regular basis, including Vocal, for solo violin, and the wonderfully hypnotic November." - Deutsche Grammophone

VARIOUS - Floating Points: Late Night Tales

"I once heard Floating Points DJ in bright sunshine and was disappointed: he played a forgettable mix of funk and disco that bore little resemblance to his production work. His best music is masterfully paced, transitioning effortlessly between the calm and the cacophonous, and it's better suited to a patient listener than a raucous crowd. This sets him up perfectly for a Late Night Tales mix: the solitary, nocturnal headphones-wearer has always been the series' target audience, and beneath the night sky’s warm blanket, FloPo—real name Sam Shepherd—feels at ease, crafting a soothing, drifting set that feels intimately connected with its listener.

...Many of Shepherd’s choices are the product of hours spent listening to music, a penchant for the obscure which is to be applauded, but the true art of DJing, as Shepherd exhibits here, lies in making connections between records—not based on genre or bpm, but because together they create the desired mood, tell a particular story, paint a certain picture; whatever the metaphor, it’s a skill not just in playing music, but in listening to it.

Listening to music is why we’re all here, at a time when such a practice is in a state of change. If you, like many of us, can’t be bothered deciding what to listen to, you could do a lot worse than letting Shepherd choose for you. His LNT is a soothing, calming mix for music lovers and night owls, with a human touch that’s impossible to replicate." - XLR8R

VARIOUS - Spiritual Jazz Vol.9: Blue Notes

"The Blue Note Record label needs little introduction. Musically, graphically and sonically iconic, the label created and defined the golden age of modern jazz on record. Founded in 1939 by German émigré Alfred Lion, the label's roster of artists is a litany of giants -- Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock, and many more. With peerless musicians in the grooves, the legendary Rudy Van Gelder behind the boards, and graphic design genius Reid Miles creating emblematic artwork for every release, Blue Note -- "the Cadillac of the jazz lines" -- was outstanding in every way. 

Volume 9 of Jazzman's ground-breaking Spiritual Jazz series takes a close look at the deeper side of Blue Note -- from the experimental avant-garde explored by younger musicians such as Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, and Pete La Roca, to the exciting new developments in modal sounds put forward by stalwarts Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean, and Duke Pearson. The music we have selected shows how musicians working with the label responded to a period of dramatic social and sonic change, charting the route toward the esoteric and spiritualized sounds that would dominate the deepest jazz of the 1970s. As ever, Blue Note had lit the path, and this new Spiritual Jazz collection shows that the progressive and underground jazz sound of the 1960s was not only the preserve of obscure artists and private pressings. Blue spirits and heavy sounds on Blue Note -- the finest in jazz since 1939, brought to you by Jazzman." - Forced Exposure

TOM ZE - Estudando O Samba

"Incredibly unique concept album from the one and only, Tom Zé. As featured in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Brazilian Albums of all-time list (2007). One of Ze’s finest albums in our opinion, originally released by Continental Brazil in 1976 – a tough one to find at a good price in its original form now.

‘Estudando do Samba’ (or ‘Studying The Samba’) is a post-Tropicalia studio experimentation laiden with layers of hypnotic percussion, effects & samples that deconstructs the ‘samba’ form. Recorded during what was arguably his most creative period. David Byrne found the record in Rio in the late 90’s and included several songs on his Tom Ze collection for Luaka Bop a few years later. At that time Tom was not recording or touring much; playing low-key shows in Sao Paulo and contemplating a move back to Irará to work at a service station owned by one of his cousins. Byrne’s project helped to reignite his career and he hasn’t looked back since." - Mr. Bongo

MARTIN FRAWLEY - Undone At 31

"...Poor Martin Frawley. He broke up with his long-time girlfriend, Jules MacFarlane, after eight years, which also put him out of a job, since the two of them founded and co-led the angsty, jangly Melbourne band Twerps. He’s also evidently broken the 3-0 barrier, a classic, nearly stereotypical age for soul-searching, progress-measuring and feelings of inadequacy in any business, let alone one as exposed and emotionally on display as songwriting. But good news, Frawley has made lemonade, squeezing out the sour juices of life into a lovely, acid-tipped, unassuming but quite refreshing solo record, Undone at 31.  

The disc is spare and intimate, the words like a conversation, the music subtle and mostly acoustic, guitar, piano, a few synths, bass and drums. Frawley is backed by Stewart Bronaugh, a sometime member of Angel Olsen’s band who plays in Lionlimb with Joshua Jaeger, as well as Angus Lord from Twerps on bass and Matt Harkin (of the Stephens) on drums...And yet it feels like it’s mostly him alone, sitting in a room, working things out in song and drink.Undone at 31 is a charmingly bare, personal album that transmutes personal upheaval into unaffected art. Let’s hope Frawley doesn’t have to write another like this any time soon, but we can enjoy the one we have." - Dusted