Category Archives: Blog

Jaga Jazzist announce release of new album, Starfire

01 April 2015

Basic CMYK

Norwegian iconic octet Jaga Jazzist, who celebrated their 20th anniversary last year, are releasing a new album in June. Entitled Starfire, the effort is inspired by life in Los Angeles, where Jaga’s main songwriter, Lars Horntveth, moved to in late 2012. “There, on the other side of the world, inspired by the space around him, the size of the sky above him, the endless light flashing past as he drove round the city at night, he began composing the new suite of works which would become Starfire”, describes the press release. It adds that the album sees the band moving to a more experimental studio-led approach. “The idea was that we thought about the songs as both the original song and a remix in one”.
Starfire is due out on June 1st via Ninja Tune. Luckily, we can already get a taster of what they’ll be throwing at us with the colossal title track, a thrillingly sublime and pulsating affair. Listen to ‘Starfire’ below.

Roots Manuva drops new Four Tet-produced single ‘Facety 2:11’

31 March 2015

Roots Manuva - Facety

British rapper/producer Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva is back with brand new material, following the 2013 Stolen Youth EP. In the works for two years, Facety takes its name from patois slang meaning someone is being rude. The single drops on May 4th via Ninja Tune/Big Dada and it will be available on 12″ and digitally. Facety features ‘Facety 2:11’ and it comes backed with B-side ‘Like a Drum’, produced by Machinedrum.
The man is offering a stream of the insanely good ‘Facety 2:11’, with Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet on production duties. Roots Manuva described the single as “a wee Spring warmer in voodoo coptic dialect shape shifting: the remit the same as ever in awakening one’s inner, modern-day Sun Ra, ODB and Kate Bush on an overdrive of “doing because we can’t help ourselves…’. Listen to ‘Facety 2:11’ now. On repeat.

Polar Bear’s sixth album, Same As You, drops this Monday

25 March 2015

Polar Bear - Same As You

It’s only been a minute since Polar Bear released In Each And Every One which made it to our 15 Album Picks of 2014. The band wasted no time working on the follow-up and are ready to release a brand new album entitled Same As You. The effort, due out on March 30th via The Leaf Label was originally conceived as a single longform piece, as the press release explains. “The tempo remains constant but does not prevent the band from producing swells of raw, joyous, often life-enhancing energy within these self-imposed limits.”
Speaking about how the album came to be, drummer and bandleader Sebastian Rochford said Same As You was influenced by positivity, love and community and by the Mojave Desert in California where he spent some time.

The groovy and infectious ‘Dont Let The Feeling Go’ was the first single lifted from the album. Rochford and Hannah Darling share vocal duties and it also features special guest contributor Shabaka Hutchings. Listen to it below and head over to Polar Bear’s bandcamp the stream the album.

Listen to Fold’s new single ‘Two Past Midnight’

24 March 2015

Fold - Two Past Midnight

Leeds based outfit Fold make incredible music merging their creativity as a band with social consciousness. The quartet have announced the release of a new single, ‘Two Past Midnight’, slated for a May 4th release. They’re known for using vocal samples from speeches to convey messages and ‘Two Past Midnight’ is no exception to Fold’s interest in social justice. The new single pays tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist who advocated for the right to vote for black Americans and was instrumental in passing the 1965 US Voting Rights Act. ‘Two Past Midnight’ comes backed with B-side ‘Don’t Kid Yourself Baby’ and you can pre-order it now on their bandcamp. Now give a listen to ‘Two Past Midnight’ below.

Benoît Pioulard shares new video and song

23 March 2015

Benoit Pioulard - So Etched In Memory

We’re only a week away from the release of Benoît Pioulard‘s new album, Sonnet. Pioulard had already enticed us with the gentle and dreamy single ‘So etched in memory’. Now the song is being paired with a video made by Sean Curtis Patrick. There’s more good news from the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He shared recently the delightful ‘a shade of celadon’, also off the upcoming Sonnet. Check out the video for ‘So etched in memory’ below and straight after let yourself drift into ‘a shade of celadon’.


Sonnet is out on March 30th via Kranky.