Category Archives: Blog

Watch Congotronics International’s live video for title track ‘Where’s The One?’

18 March 2022

Photo: Ed Rodrigez

Congotronics International announced last month the release of a new collaborative album called Where’s The One?, featuring 21 concert recordings and studio tracks. The mighty supergroup comprising members of Konono Nº1, Kasai Allstars, Deerhoof, Juana Molina, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, and Skeletons’ Matthew Mehlan, had previously whetted our appetite with two thrilling singles, ‘Banza Banza’ and ‘Beyond The 7th Bend’. Ahead of the album’s release on April 29th through Crammed Discs, they give us today a new taste from the album with the title track, an exhilarating song featuring vocals in Songye language by Kasai Allstars and in English by Matt Mehlan [Skeletons], and also additional vocals by Molina, Deerhoof’s Satomi Matsuzaki and Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ Mariam Wallentin. The single is offered with a fittingly thrilling live video filmed at Roskilde Festival in 2011. Check it out below.

In other related news, Kasai Allstars will perform a one-off collaborative live show with Hot Chip titled ‘Hot Congotronics’ as part of this year’s Grace Jones-curated Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre on June 14th.

Tom Rogerson shares final single, ‘Toumani’, ahead of album release

16 March 2022

Tom Rogerson has been teasing his upcoming solo album, Retreat to Bliss, since its announcement in January with two singles, the celestial ‘Chant’ and the poignant and sublime ‘Oath’. With the album release looming, the staggeringly talented composer and pianist is offering up a final taste from the album in the shape of new single ‘Toumani’, a gentle and emotive song inspired by Malian Kora player Toumani Diabaté. Listen to it below and grab the album when it’s out on March 25th through Western Vinyl.

Hannah Peel & Paraorchestra share second single ‘We Are Part Mineral’

11 March 2022

Hannah Peel & Paraorchestra recently announced their collaborative album, The Unfolding, as well as teasing it with the title track. Now, with the album release quickly approaching, the ingenius Northern Irish composer and producer and the acclaimed ensemble of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians shared today a new single from the upcoming record called ‘We Are Part Mineral’. The track comes with a gorgeous video created by Stefan Goodchild (Triple Geek). British nature writer Robert Macfarlane, whose book Underland inspired Peel, comments:

“Here is the geological human body taking form, with its calcified bones, its teeth-reefs: building itself chemically, determinedly, awesomely, from the sheer matter of the young world. It was mineralisation that allowed us to become upright, generating skeletons that might bear us, muscles that might move us, and as I listened, I found myself unconsciously leaning forwards: moving, moved.”

Listen to ‘We Are Part Mineral’ below and grab The Unfolding when it’s out on April 1st through Real World Records.

New supergroup Flock set to release eponymous debut album in May

10 March 2022

Flock is the exciting new project that brings together a golden lineup of UK jazz stalwarts: Bex Burch (Vula Viel), Danalogue (The Comet Is Coming, Soccer96), Sarathy Korwar, Al MacSween (Maisha) and Tamar Osborn (Collocutor). All involved in an array of phenomenal adventurous projects, they first got together for a Boiler Room, TRC and Night Dreamer streamed session during lockdown. The session attracted the interest of Strut Records who prompted them to create a new project and in summer 2020, the five musicians got together to record at The Fish Factory in London. Burch comments:

“I had been working solo, shedding my own preconceptions about my music, and simply sitting at my instrument asking myself, ‘what music do I like today?’ I wanted to share this process in a room with the others. Everyone was really busy and I had some time so I reflected on what framework that needed. I wrote texts as scores for the session and knew the emphasis needed to be on breathing and listening to each other. On the day, we sat in a circle, Sarathy and Dan led 30 breaths together and I chose a text for each play. It was a really magical day. Everyone was just so open.”

She continues:

“Improvisation is composition in itself, so although the music was freely improvised, we sometimes chose to stay on form and rhythm, repeating melodies and groove. As Dan commented on the day, we ‘murmurated’ and that’s how the name Flock came into being. The expansive 13-minute piece ‘How Many Are One’ on the album is the perfect example. It was like a flock of birds following an energy that already existed. A collective following and leading as the music developed.”

Lucky for us Flock are releasing a self-titled debut album on May 20th through Strut and we can already hear the wondrous and absorbing opening track, ‘Expand’. The single is offered with a visual accompaniment animated by Kai-Luen Liang.


The Utopia Strong announce second album ‘International Treasure’ and share first single ‘Shepherdess’

08 March 2022

Photo: David Ryder Prangley

Founded as an exciting synth project, The Utopia Strong began experimenting and composing together in early 2018 and the following year released their self-titled debut album, which was one of favourite Albums of 2019. Three years on, the trio that brings together Kavus Torabi (Gong / Cardiacs / Knifeworld / Guapo), Michael York (Coil / Teleplasmiste / Guapo) and former Snooker champion Steve Davis, is ready to take the world by storm with their second studio album. Entitled International Treasure, the record is set for release on June 10th through Rocket Recordings and they have today shared the first single, the otherworldly ‘Shepherdess’. The upcoming album reflects the tight bond they’ve developed as a creative collective whilst exploring new territories and stepping out of their comfort zone. As the press release details, “Torabi’s purchase of a guzheng (a Chinese plucked zither) led to Shepherdess’s lambent allure and York’s spectacular and evolving array of pipes and wind instruments contributed just as much as his ruthless editing.” Speaking about his role, Davis commented:

“I see myself as a strong midfielder, or a centre back. Kavus and Mike are like the Lionel Messi or Ronaldo of the equation, and I’m setting situations up for them”

For a taste of International Treasure, check out the accompanying visualiser for ‘Shepherdess’ now.

Will Samson announces new album, Active Imagination, and shares video for first single ‘Arpy’

05 March 2022

Will Samson has announced details of a brand new album, Active Imagination, his sixth studio album and the follow up to 2019’s Paralanguage. A collection of 9 bewitching pieces, on the album Samson continues to explore and merge folk, experimental and electronic music. In the works for a whole year, Active Imagination is described “a richly layered meditation on the idea of belonging, identity and the search for home in the most unstable of worlds”. Samson comments:

“My family tree spreads so far across the globe that I’ve often wondered if it is in my blood to be constantly moving, perhaps in a search to find a solid sense of belonging. With no real ancestral homeland (or rather, a multitude of them) it is easy to feel a conflicted sense of identity – even if just on a very subtle level. These feelings would sometimes appear as dreams, which then became songs”

Inspired by lucid dreaming, the album takes its name from Carl Jung’s method of dream analysis. “In order to help learn the technique, I wrote down my dreams in a notebook each morning – and took them to the studio to translate into songs”, Samson explained.

Active Imagination will see the light of day on May 6th (CD/DL) and on June 24th (LP) through Samson’s own Human Chorus. Ahead of it, he has shared the first single, ‘Arpy’. The track comes with an accompanying video filmed and directed by Daisy Moseley. Speaking about the video, Samson says:

“The Arpy video was filmed on 16mm film in a secret location during Summer 2021. On the first day of filming, we found a dead shark and the camera ate up the entire roll of film. It took us almost 10 months of planning and there were many times that I thought we would never be able to do it – due to lockdowns, seemingly inaccessible locations and bad weather. But the result is something that we are all very proud of. In the end, it really feels as though it was worth all of the effort and time.”

Watch the video now.