Watch Glass Museum’s video for new single ‘Clothing’

22 April 2020

With the imminent release of Reykjavik this Friday, Belgian instrumental duo Glass Museum are teasing the album with a new cut from it, ‘Clothing’. Speaking about the track, the pair had this to say:

“Clothing was composed as a live remix of our formal track ‘Opening’, the opening piece on our first album “DEUX”. The idea was to give ‘Opening’ another dimension when playing live by accelerating the arpeggiator of the original track and by adding a groovy, downtempo beat on the first part, and secondly to conclude our live performances with a regular techno beat that would give an electronic /dancy sensation. After re-thinking the final result, we decided to give that version its own life in the studio and it became ‘Clothing’, deflecting ‘Closing’ to a tribute to the orange cloth presented on our album cover”.

‘Clothing’ comes with an accompanying video directed by Simon Medard and you can watch it below.

Reykjavik is out on April 24th through Sdban Ultra

Sex Swing share new track, ‘Skimmington Ride’, from upcoming album Type II

21 April 2020

Photo: Steve Gullick

With less than a month to go until the release of Type II, and following two previous singles, ‘Valentine’s Day At The Gym’ and ‘The Passover’, British outfit Sex Swing have unleashed a mighty new track called ‘Skimmington Ride’. Beautifully dark, dense and visceral, ‘Skimmington Ride’ is a sensory overload clocking in at over 7 minutes. Take a listen below and grab Type II when it’s out on May 15th through Rocket Recordings.

Listen to Village Of The Sun’s new single ‘Ted’

20 April 2020

Village Of The Sun is the new collaborative project that brings together Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx fame, Binker Golding and Moses Boyd. With a shared passion for improvised instrumental music, the three artists paired “their respective sensibilities to create something all at once atmospheric and danceable”, describes the press release, with “the trio toying with dynamics and merging Balearic rhythms with empyrean sax lines.”

Ratcliffe explains how the collaboration came about:

“I’ve always liked improvised instrumental music. It has this intensity and eccentricity that takes me places. It connects with me deeply and resonates with me far more than traditional ‘songs’ with words. I approached Binker & Moses with these two tracks, just sonic skeletons really. They gave it flesh and blood – it was just left for me to dress it.”

For an exhilarating taste of what’s on offer, the trio have released the unrelenting and blistering single ‘Ted’, out now through Gearbox Records. Take a listen below.

Squarepusher premieres new video for ‘Detroit People Mover’ off Lamental EP

20 April 2020

Last January saw Tom Jenkinson aka Squarepusher release his first album in five years, Be Up A Hello. Only a few months down the line, the Warp stalwart unveiled a new EP called Lamental, featuring ‘Detroit People Mover’ from that record as well as three new tracks. Squarepusher has also premiered a video for ‘Detroit People Mover’, filmed in the actual driver-less mass transit system after which the track is named. Unlike the previous video for ‘Terminal Slam’, shot in one the busiest crossings in the world in Shibuya, the video for ‘Detroit People Mover’ portrays “the desolation settling on urban areas across the world”. Jenkinson had this to say about it:

“I like the way both of these videos articulate salient points about our urban environments – in “Terminal Slam” about the prevalence of advertising and possibilities for its subversion, and here regarding our zombie cities that despite the lack of everyday human contact continue marching on. The track itself is part of a series begun in 1993 inspired by the music of Detroit.”

Jacob Hurwitz-Goodman directed the video, watch it below.

Lamental EP is out now through Warp

Shards & Isolation Choir share new composition ‘Inside I’ll Sing’

18 April 2020

As with all parts of society, the coronavirus pandemic is affecting musicians and artists on every level. Kieran Brunt’s choral group Shards has released a new track in response to this disruption, written in the first few days of the UK lockdown as live music went on an indefinite hiatus. Entitled ‘Inside I’ll Sing’, the composition saw Brunt enlist an array of stellar musicians to collaborate remotely as the Isolation Choir, including Anna Meredith, Hatis Noit, Nico Muhly, Douglas Dare, and many more.  After reaching out to other musicians, Brunt pieced it together in his makeshift studio at home in London”. He explains:

“I reached out to musician friends in the UK and abroad to see if they would lend their voices to an ‘Isolation Choir’, and was overwhelmed by the positivity and enthusiasm that everyone responded with. Like me, many needed a distraction from current events and valued just being given a simple task to do. I recorded a demo of the song and sent out instructions on how to record at home with whatever means were available.”

Director and singer Fiona Jane Burgess, who also collaborated on the song, has paired it with an accompanying video, featuring unused footage which she used to”rebuil[d] the narrative to poignantly complement the mood and emotion of the song.”  Take a look below.

‘Inside I’ll Sing’ is released through Erased Tapes and all proceeds will be donated to Help Musicians.

Thiago Nassif announces new album, Mente, and shares lead single ‘Soar Estranho’

15 April 2020

Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Thiago Nassif made big waves with his last album, 2016’s Três, and he’s ready to release a follow-up later this year. Entitled Mente, the record is slated for a July 3rd release through Gearbox Records. As with his previous record, it was co-produced by Arto Lindsay and it sees Nassif continue to explore various influences, such as no-wave, electronic music, Tropicalismo, jazz and rock.

Mente has a double meaning in Portuguese, translating as mind and lying. “I chose this name mainly because Portuguese is the only language that connects these two semantic possibilities: thinking and lying,”, Nassif explained. “And also because now we are living this post-truth political era, where Brazil is at the top of the charts in these matters right now.”

For a taste of what to expect, check out his lead single, ‘Soar Estranho’, sung both in Portuguese and in English. Here it is.