There’s a new album on the way from Delicate Steve, the project of multi-instrumentalist Steve Marion. Entitled This Is Steve, it’s his first record in four years and it drops on January 27th via Anti-. The sunny single ‘Winners’, taken from the album, has been paired with an accompanying video shot on the busy Jersey shore boardwalk. “’Winners’ is not about life’s winners – it’s about things not being as they seem”, explained Steve. “I wanted this video to magnify that aspect of life, and what better place to do it than my childhood boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. Though after filming this video, I’ve come to believe that maybe things are as they seem… “. Check out the video now.
Category Archives: Blog
Banana share second single from upcoming debut album LIVE
We were immediately taken by the beauty and radiance of ‘Banana C‘, the first single lifted from Banana’s upcoming debut album LIVE. With its imminent release just around the corner, Banana are keeping us excited with another wonderful and gentle single, ‘Banana B’, featuring elements from Part IV of ‘Kolm Ballaadi Poistekoorile’ by Heino Jürisalu and ‘Part I’ of Instrumentals Vol. II by Arthur Russell. Take a listen below and grab the record when it’s out on January 27th via Leaving Records.
Daniel Brandt announces debut solo album Eternal Something
Daniel Brandt, better known as one third of Brandt Brauer Frick, is gearing up to release his debut solo album. Entitled Eternal Something, the 8-track instrumental record arrives on March 24th via Erased Tapes. Usually the man behind the drum kit, on Eternal Something Brandt played most of the instruments on the record, some of which learnt for the first time while recording. Brandt explains how the album came to life:
“The initial idea was to make a cymbal album. I wanted to surround myself with all types of cymbals. I locked myself into my father’s cabin in the woods for three days. That was the moment I realized it was not possible for me to make an album just with cymbals because other ideas and instruments imposed themselves on me. I had a clear sense of what I wanted to do now. The intention was to let the songs evolve by themselves and not edit too much, keep it raw and have an explosion-like energy to them. I wanted to create a different sound, songs that build up like dance tunes but don’t feel like club music at all. Traveling around in California for two months gave me the possibility to deeply get into this concept outside my normal environment. Robert Raths, who served as a great motivator throughout the whole process (I guess he had listened to the record more than I ever had) came up with the perfect order for the songs. This record is about failing to make the original plan happen, but then the discovery of something I couldn’t even think of before.”
It may seem like a long wait till March but we can already get a taste of what’s to come with the first single ‘Kale Me’.
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids set to release new 7″ Tinoge Ya Ta’a Ba
Cosmic afro jazz mavericks Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids only just put out their phenomenal and widely acclaimed album We Be All Africans last May. And they are ready to follow it up with Tinoge Ya Ta’a Ba, a new 7″ release featuring Ghanaian musician Guy One on vocals and kologo. On ‘Tinoge Ya Ta’a Ba’, and as the accompanying blurb describes, “Guy One sings about the power of unity – a unity you hear clearly on this Afro-Euro-American cooperation: a driving rhythm, a eulogizing saxophone, a gripping voice and in total a journey into another dimension.”
Ahead of its release on January 20th via Philophon, listen to ‘Tinoge Ya Ta’a Ba Pt. 1 & 2’ below.
Watch the video for Dirty Projectors’ new single ‘Little Bubble’
The follow-up to Dirty Projectors‘ Swing Lo Magellan, one of our favourite albums of 2012, may well be around the corner. Following the beautiful and strange ‘Keep Your Name’, frontman Dave Longstreth has unveiled a new cut, the poignantly beautiful ‘Little Bubble’. Dirty Projectors haven’t officially confirmed a new album but we’re hoping these two tracks are tied to an impending release. ‘Little Bubble’ comes an equally impressive video, co-directed by Longstreth and Adam Newport-Berra.
Banana announce debut album and share first single ‘Banana C’
2017 is off to a wonderful start with Banana’s debut album, LIVE, dropping later this month. Led by artist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Josiah Steinbrick, Banana also features Cate Le Bon, Stella Mozgawa, Josh Klinghoffer, Huw Evans, and Stephen Black. Informed by Jon Hassell’s concept of ‘fourth world music’, the project “brings a free-form, eclectic sound that touches on various temporal and musical references from minimalism, abstract jazz, South East Asian ceremonials and exotica”, as the press release describes. Steinbrick explains how the album was conceived:
“LIVE was recorded live to reel to reel tape on March 29th, 2016 to be aired as a special on [Los Angeles online radio platform] Dublab. This incarnation of the ensemble came together to serve as backing group for Cate Le Bon’s “Crab Day” promotional tour as well as the opening act. We performed in Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, Cardiff, London, Los Angeles, and New York City. BANANA was a new experience for us. The sound of musicians I feel very connected to playing freely around composed pieces under my direction – exploring themes and theories of naturalism and modalism through repetition. For those in search of a bath, a rinse, a departure, or an expansion. Hopefully exotic, hopefully pleasant.”
Ahead of its release on January 27th via Leaving Records, Banana have shared the first single, ‘Banana C’, a track engulfed in beauty and radiance. Listen to it now.