Bremer/McCoy unveil video for new single ‘Gratitude’

18 October 2021

We’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Natten, the new album from Bremer/McCoy, since they unleashed its title track. Now the Copenhagen based duo of pianist Morten McCoy and bassist Jonathan Bremer are enticing us further with a new bewitching single called ‘Gratitude’. Speaking about the track, McCoy explains:

“I wrote the main melody for the chorus of “Gratitude” one late evening after a session in the studio. I was just sitting and vibing, playing, reflecting on the day and then suddenly this melody just came to me out of nowhere, actually together with the baseline. And it came together with some simple words. I was singing in my head og jeg takker, which is basically “and I give thanks for that. That moment of time, that was just everything, the feeling of being in the universe, where there’s this loving energy, just very present, and the feeling of being humble and grateful for being able to sustain myself by doing what I love, and the feeling of being grateful to have such a nice family, friends around me. I was just very grateful and humbled by simply being in that moment of time.”

The track comes with an accompanying video directed by Paul Diddy and you can delight yourself with it below.

Natten is out on October 29th through Luaka Bop.

John Ghost team up with Binkbeats for new single ‘Black Chamber (Escape to the Sun)’

17 October 2021

Following Airships Are Organisms, which was one of our Album Picks of 2019, John Ghost are back with new music. The extraordinary Ghent based instrumental sextet, led by guitarist and composer Jo De Geest, are set to release a new single titled ‘Black Chamber (Escape to the Sun)’ on November 5th through Sdban Ultra. The track sees John Ghost team up with Dutch producer, percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Frank Wienk aka Binkbeats, who has remixed tracks by Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus and Atoms For Peace. De Geest comments:

“In the studio, Binkbeats often works with audio design. He is particularly versatile with this and has very strong personal views on the sound design of a project. Our musical styles are a nice fit as well. As a group, we also wanted to stress the productional aspects and experiment with electronic components. This collaboration with Frank worked smoothly and gave us the opportunity to approach John Ghost’s music from different angles”

John Ghost have paired  ‘Black Chamber (Escape to the Sun)’ with a video filmed last March at an arts centre in Ghent. Watch it now.

Aquaserge’s new album out now; watch the video for new single ‘Nuit Altérée (To György Ligeti)’

16 October 2021

The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge, the much anticipated new album from Aquaserge has finally landed yesterday. Coinciding with its release, the Toulouse supergroup have shared a video to accompany one of the album’s heavenly tracks, ‘Nuit altérée (À György Ligeti)’. The track marks their second tribute to Ligeti, following ‘Nuit Terrestre’. As Aquaserge describe, ‘Nuit Altérée’ “is a vertical, ‘spectral’ approach to Nuit Terrestre, as if we were making cuts or freeze-frames on this body of water and unfolding them”. Featuring footage from their rehearsals at Le Lieu Unique in Nantes, the video was filmed by French filmmaker Marie Losier and was edited by Benjamin Glibert. Watch it below.

The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge is out now though Crammed Discs, as part of their celebrated composers’ series Made To Measure.

Luo share closing track ‘Coda’ from incoming Convoluted Mess Machine EP

10 October 2021

We’re excitingly close to the release of Convoluted Mess Machine, the new 4-track EP from Luo. Ahead of its release on October 15th through Art As Catharsis, the Brighton duo of Josh Trinnaman and Barney Sage have let loose the gorgeous closing track ‘Coda’. Speaking about it, they comment:

“It’s the nice pretty melodic one for those of you that aren’t as keen on our other noisy rubbish and wish for a return to that glorious era when we didn’t use distorted guitars
At the time we were listening to a lot of Steve Reich and the riff came out of trying to write something like one of his cool interlocking melodies (think Electric Counterpoint) and then blending that with a heavy dose of influence from Richard Spaven & Telefon Tel Aviv.”

Listen to ‘Coda’ below.

Jerusalem In My Heart’s new album Qalaq out tomorrow, listen to opener ‘Abyad Barraq’

07 October 2021

Photo: Isabelle Stachtchenko

Qalaq, the new album from Jerusalem In My Heart, will see the light of day tomorrow through Constellation. The performative audio-visual project founded by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, now comprising new member Erin Weisgerber, had already shared a compelling and entrancing taste from the album with ‘Qalaq 3 (w​/​Moor Mother)’, ‘Qalaq 4 (w​/​Rabih Beaini)’ and ‘Qalaq 5 (w​/​Oiseaux​-​Tempête)’. Ahead of Qalaq‘s release, Jerusalem In My Heart have shared the opening track, ‘Abyad Barraq’, featuring drummer Greg Fox (Liturgy, Ex Eye, Zs, GDFX), who comments:

“Ever since first hearing JIMH, I’ve wanted to collaborate. I’ve always resonated deeply with Radwan’s creative approach to music making, and on a deeper level, I feel we connect regarding what I would describe as a deep urge for justice and liberation on a global scale. I feel close to this work even though I am only drumming on the opening track. It is an honour to be part of this record.”

‘Abyad Barraq’ comes with an accompanying film made by Weisgerber who used the pictures of Beirut-based photographer Tony Elieh taken in the aftermath of the Beirut port explosion. Watch it below.

Mario Batkovic set to release new album, Introspectio, in December

04 October 2021

There’s exciting news from Bosnian-born and Swiss-based musician and composer Mario Batkovic, who is set to release a new album, following his eponymous album which was one of our Album Picks of 2017. Entitled Introspectio, the album arrives on December 3rd through Invada Records and features a stellar cast of collaborators, including electronic maverick James Holden, former BEAK> member Matthew Williams aka MXLX, sax super hero Colin Stetson, drummer Clive Deamer (Radiohead/Portishead/Robert Plant/Roni Size) and concert choir Cantus Domus.

A virtuoso accordion player, Batkovic continues to explore the sonic possibilities of his instrument in an adventurous and unconventional way. The album “is a self-questioning, self-examination of society and the meaning of sound”, describes the press release. “Batkovic questions the place of sound, clichés and prejudices, taking the listener on a journey through infinite universes of sound.”

Ahead of the album release, Batkovic has shared the first spellbinding single, ‘Chorea Duplex’, featuring James Holden. It comes with a video by Lukas Meier. Here it is.