2017 is being graced with a cornucopia of exciting releases. This includes Bristol’s The Evil Usses, known for the exhilarating energy of their live performances, and broad spectrum of sounds amalgamating “rocky notjazz, jazzy notrock, post-op pop, notmuch and a lot else”, as they put it themselves. The quartet have lifted the curtain on their next full-length album, Amateur Pro Wrestling, set for release on March 31st via Stolen Body Records.
‘Gambino’ is the first single to emerge and it serves as a hell of a taster for Amateur Pro Wrestling. The track comes with an excellent and amusing video filmed by Yoshino Shigihara. Watch it now on full screen and prepare to dance.
Orchestra Baobab return with new album Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng
Ten years removed from the release of Made in Dakar, Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab are ready to issue its follow-up, Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng. The record is dedicated to one of their original vocalists who passed away last November. Recorded in Dakar, the album sees the band “retaining the ripeness of the sound that made Orchestra Baobab a legend”, blending Afro-Cuban rhythms and African tradition. As the press release describes, Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng “is an irresistible mix of velvet harmonies, warm and heartfelt vocals, smoky sax and sweetly shimmering kora and guitar lines, expertly crafted and masterfully delivered with a poise and virtuosity built up over a lifetime”.
Ahead of the album’s release on March 31st via World Circuit Records, Orchestra Baobab are offering the first jubilant taste from it, ‘Foulo’. The track is a rework of ‘Kanoute’, an old Baobab love song. Listen to it below.
Shobaleader One share first single from forthcoming debut album Elektrac
Last month Shobaleader One shared a funky album trailer teasing their debut album. More details have now emerged and the project of Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher, Arg Nution, Strobe Nazard and Company Lazer have announced the release of Elektrac. Due out on March 10th via Warp, the record features the band’s versions of eleven Squarepusher classics, and we can already hear one of them, the mighty ‘Journey To Reedham’. Here it is.
Aquaserge unveil video for ‘Virage Sud’ off upcoming fourth album
Aquaserge had promised a new album this year and comes February 3rd, their long-awaited Laisse ça être will see the light of day through Almost Musique and Crammed Discs. Preceding the record, the Toulouse based quintet released last September their Guerre EP, a magnificent four-song EP, each song a universe on its own.
“Coded messages, anadiplosis and automatic writing, dance music grooves peppered with rhythmical and metrical twists, shades of Italian or French film music, a dense political and poetic subtext” are the ingredients behind Laisse ça être, describes the press release.
‘Virage Sud’ is the first single lifted from the album and it serves as a luscious taste of what they’ll be throwing at us. The track comes with a video, directed by the band’s bassist, Audrey Ginestet. Check it out below.
Dirty Projectors announce self-titled album, share new single ‘Up In Hudson’
For nearly five years, we have been waiting with bated breath for a new album from Dirty Projectors. They are officially back, with their seventh album due next month. The outfit of Dave Longstreth had already teased the follow-up to 2012’s Swing Lo Magellan with ‘Keep Your Name’ and ‘Little Bubble’. Now that an eponymous album has been confirmed, Dirty Projectors are enticing us further with another exquisitely wonderful cut from it called ‘Up In Hudson’. The song “is an elegy — to the Obama years, to a generation of indie rock, and to a relationship”, describes the press release. “Over the course of nine verses and almost eight minutes, the lyrics situate David Longstreth & his band in the vivid textures of the recent past like a millennial Blood On The Tracks.”
Dirty Projectors arrives on February 24th via Domino. Till then, we’ll be listening to ‘Up In Hudson’ over and over again. And you might too.
Timber Timbre announce fourth studio album Sincerely, Future Pollution
Photo: Caroline Desilets
Canadian outfit Timber Timbre are ready to follow-up up their 2014 Polaris nominated album Hot Dreams. Entitled Sincerely, Future Pollution, the new record will see the light of day on April 7th via City Slang and Arts & Crafts. Marked by last year’s unsettling events, Sincerely, Future Pollution “is the cinema of a dazzling dystopia, rattled by the science fiction of this bluntly nonfictional time”, as the press release describes. The band’s Taylor Kirk explains:
“2016 was a very difficult time to observe. I hate to admit that normally I express more sensitivity than concern politically, but I think the tone and result on the record is utter chaos and confusion. When we were recording, the premonition was that the events we saw unfolding were an elaborate hoax. But the mockery made of our power system spawned a lot of dark, dystopic thoughts and ideas. And then it all happened, while everyone was on Instagram. The sewers overflowed.”
The sombre ‘Sewer Blues’ serves as the first excellent taste of what Timber Timbre will be offering. The single comes with a video directed by Karl Lemieux, and you can watch it below.
In other related news, and in support of the album, Timber Timbre are crossing the Atlantic in early April for a UK/European tour, including a show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall on April 18th. Head over here to check all their stops and info.
