Matt Evans shares a new track taken from his incoming album New Topographics

20 March 2020

Based out of Brooklyn, drummer and composer Matt Evans has collaborated and contributed to innumerable musical projects in numerous directions, including Tigue, Bearthoven, Man Forever and Private Elevators, as well as honing in on his own solo work. This April will see him release his debut record, New Topographics, a bewitching collection of rhythmic percussion/electronic pieces stemming from a month-long residency at Brooklyn artist space Pioneer Works. Read on for some insight from Evans about it:

“For me, there’s a link between these sonic byproducts and human empathy— a gateway towards a greater conversation on what it means to live the paradox of complicitness— a guide to re-focusing how we understand the consequences of our actions by way of sound. The first step toward any significant change in our behaviour is becoming aware of the object like significance of our actions. Making this record has been a way of tuning my ears to this phenomenon. To learn the language of these object-like byproducts so as to speak the language my own way and further empathize with that which I was not previously informed. Being aware, being sensitive to that awareness, and reflecting that experience outwards. This is how we can make a shift in how we see ourselves in the world. Making this music was a way to practice understanding what I leave behind. We put up walls to function, but if we make a habit of taking them down and really looking and listening to what’s happening around us, we will have greater empathy for the people and beings we share space with. Our ability to empathize with the earth itself will grow.”

Following the release of first single ‘Cold Moon’, Evans has recently shared the celestial and soothing opening track ‘Full Squid’, remarking that “the title refers to a state of being more than the cephalopod itself, a zoomorphic phrase for the experience of drumming at the precipice of presentness”. He continues, “’Full Squid’ was born from a kind of personal meditation, a “spiritual” performance practice that attempts to bend a typical sense of time through stream-of-consciousness playing pushed to the brink. It’s a drummy dive into a sound stream of crackling creatures, wiggly drones and globby ink-splatter harmonies, without coming up for air.”

Slated for an April 17th release through Whatever’s Clever, New Topographics awaits you. Prick up your ears and give a listen to both singles below.

Glass Museum share new single + video from upcoming album

12 March 2020

Glass Museum, the Belgian instrumental duo of Antoine Flipo and Martin Grégoire, are set to release their somophore album, Reykjavik, next month, following their 2018 debut Deux. Merging classical music, electronics and jazz, on the upcoming album, the pair’s duality remains their foundational element. “Antoine has this epic side in everything he does, including composition,” says Grégoire. “He’s also got the skill to translate a more classical tradition in a contemporary way.” Speaking about Grégoire, Flipo said he “has the ability to adapt to anything. There’s a lot more percussion on this album, because we have a very open dialogue between us that allows him to take over any kind of sound.”

Ahead of Reykjavik‘s release on April 24th through Sdban Ultra, Glass Museum have shared a wonderful new single, ‘Abyss’, and a self-directed accompanying video. Watch it below.

Qasim Naqvi set to release new EP, Beta, for Record Store Day

11 March 2020

We’re thrilled to know Qasim Naqvi has a new release on the way, following last year’s Teenages, which was one of our 15 Album Picks of 2019. Entitled Beta, the album is meant as a sister release to Teenages, which was brought to life using an analog modular synthesizer built by Naqvi over the course of two years. The extraordinary percussionist and composer explains:

“Beta is a prequel to the story of Teenages. At the time I had the most basic elements of a modular synthesizer- one oscillator and a random voltage generator which is a module that releases sporadic currents through the system. Ironically, this component provided a lot of warmth and humanness to the music, a kind of fallibility. I fed simple melodic ideas and rhythmic patterns into this bare bones setup and observed the responses, while occasionally guiding the music in other directions. It was like a diagnostic test. At the time I felt that this music was underdeveloped but listening back, I think the Beta tracks add an interesting dimension to the entire Teenages arc. They’re the zygotes.”

The B side of the record is a live performance of the track ‘Teenages’, recorded at London’s Southbank Centre in February 2019. “I had performed this work just a couple of times and this particular one was special”, says Naqvi. “There were microphones up everywhere and you could hear the room bleeding into the sound of the synthesizer.”

Beta will be released as a limited edition on clear vinyl for Record Store Day on April 18th through Erased Tapes but we can already hear a striking track off it, ‘Matic’. Take a listen below.

Aksak Maboul tease first album in 40 years with lead single ‘Tout a une fin’

06 March 2020

All hail the return of legendary experimental pop group Aksak Maboul, who have announced the release of Figures, their first album in 40 years. Set for release on May 15th through the band’s founder Marc Hollander’s own Crammed Discs, Figures features a cast of stellar guests including Fred Frith, Steven Brown (Tuxedomoon), and several members of Aquaserge.

The thrilling news comes paired with the first single, ‘Tout a une Fin’, featuring vocals from co-producer Véronique Vincent. The single is offered with an accompanying video directed by animator and collagist Yoann Stehr. Watch it below.

Lea Bertucci set to release new album Acoustic Shadows

06 March 2020

New York-based composer, performer and sound designer Lea Bertucci has announced details of a new album. Entitled Acoustic Shadows, it started as an event inside a hollow bridge in Cologne, Germany, as Bertucci explains:

“Acoustic Shadows I-III was a series of site-specific musical performances and a sound installation that took place in the enclosed hollow body of the Deutzer bridge in Koln, Germany, 2018. Spanning approximately 440 meters across the Rhine river, the extraordinary acoustics and rich existing aural architecture of this site became crucial components of the installation and musical compositions.

An 8-channel speaker system distributed throughout the bridge became activated by three instrumental performances that happened throughout the course of a week. Fragments of each performance were captured by microphones installed in the space and then played back through the 8-channels after the performance was over in a loop of overlapping moments, creating a sonic accumulation that takes place over long stretches of time – a musical performance with no clear ending.”

Bertucci also gave some insight into the recording process:

“Rather than offer a straight document of a piece that eschewed notions of time, space and subjective/mutable spatial positioning of the listeners, I was more interested in shaping compositions that worked within the parameters of an LP, developing pieces that worked within the approximate timeframe of 20 minutes on each side and capturing the essence of the experience. The original pieces were more than 40 minutes long each, and with no real ending due to the playback element that transformed performance into installation.”

Acoustic Shadows arrives on April 15th through SA Recordings but we can already ear an excerpt of its first piece, ‘Brass’.

Collectress premiere video for ‘Landing’, new album Different Geographies out tomorrow

05 March 2020

The wait is nearly over and the highly anticipated second album from Collectress, Different Geographies, will see the light of day tomorrow. When the exciting news first emerged last November, the experimental chamber collective enraptured us with the magical and jubilant single ‘Landing’. Now the track has been paired with a video, featuring footage from the carnival celebrations in Metaxourgio, Greece. “The track itself has always alway felt to us like it mixes a big heart and an energetic spirit with something about endurance, continuity and inter-dependence”, explained the band. “Setting it to imagery from the life-force that is carnival seemed like the perfect expression of this.” One of the four multi-instrumentalists sheds more light on it:

“For me they seemed to embody the anarchic spirit of the festival, always jumping and dancing, full of mischief, nature and mystery, a mix of dark and light, challenge and exuberance, traditional and modern, ancient bells and scruffy urban footwear combining in a leaping deafening joyfulness.

Since being in Greece, I’ve thought and read a lot about Greece’s at times complex relationship with its ancient history – a past often essentialised by Northern/Western Europe (think Byron, ‘Elgin’ Marbles, White/Christian/Fortress Europe). I’ve also thought and read a lot about Greece’s geographical position on the borders of Europe, Asia and Africa and its people’s heartbreaking humanity to refugees during the ongoing migrant crisis. Something of all of this seemed to be expressed both in the symbolism of those goat revellers and in the spirit of the carnival. I noticed as we paraded along, the tradition of restaurant and cafe proprietors placing tables outside their establishments, covered with cheese and bread and drinks for the revellers to enjoy for free. I thought of the potential in community, anarchy, kindness and welcome.”

Watch the video below and grab Different Geographies tomorrow through their own imprint Peeler Records.