Hippo Lite, the second album from Drinks, is getting excitingly close to release day. After sharing the excellent ‘Real Outside’, the collaborative duo of Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley are teasing the album again with a new charmingly weird and brilliant cut from it, ‘Corner Shops’. Take a listen below.
Hippo Lite is out on April 20th through Drag City.
Vula Viel have been hinting at a new album for a while now, after turning heads with their 2015 outstanding debut album Good is Good and explosive live shows. Entitled Do Not Be Afraid, the upcoming record is due out this year, and it saw bandleader Bex Burch return to western Ghana, to continue studying, making and playing the Gyil, a large xylophone used as a primary instrument by the Dagaare tribe. With the Gyil again taking centre stage, Do Not Be Afraid is influenced by the culture and rhythmic traditions of the Dagaare.
Now a trio, featuring Jim Hart on drums and Ruth Goller on bass, Vula Viel have recently announced a live date at the Vortex Jazz Club in London on May 27th. Known for their exhilarating and entrancing performances, and with the highly anticipated Do Not Be Afraid under their belt, this will be a date not to be missed. Tickets are on sale now, just head here to snap one up.
While we wait for Vula Viel’s new album, revisit their debut Good Is Good on bandcamp and listen to the opening track ‘Yes Yaa Yaa’ below.
In other related good news, we invited Bex Burch to create a guest mixtape for us to get a glimpse into her influences and inspirations. Her mixtape in on its way in May, so keep your ears peeled.
Snapped Ankles have a covers EP coming out for Record Store Day, Violations, featuring tracks by Can, Joey Beltram and Comateens. The EP also features the trio’s take on The Fugs’ 1965 track ‘CIA Man’ with their NSA Man Violation cover. “Having unearthed The Fugs’ ‘CIA Man’ some years before, we were shocked to discover a newer, more sinister agency had taken over from the diatribe’s protagonist, so we updated Tuli Kupferberg’s list of ills…”, said the band. “Of course every time the song is now mentioned online, a blip of data triggers a filter that enters a file that rings a bell in a bunker deep under a mountain in Pennsylvania. So now the forest is full of agents looking for us, and we are taping up our microphones and cameras and walking backwards through our own footprints to shake them off…”
Snapped Ankles have shared a video for ‘CIA Man (NSA Man Violation)’ and you can watch it below. Diet Clinic directs.
Violations EP is out on April 21st through The Leaf Label.
South London’s multi-talented Kamaal Williams aka Henry Wu is one of the UK’s finest jazz musicians to emerge in recent years, garnering wide acclaim with his now disbanded duo Yussef Kamaal and a 2016 debut album. May 25th will see him release his first record under his own name, The Return, through his own label Black Focus Records. “The Return is a natural evolution from the Yussef Kamaal project”, describes the press release, “mining the influence of visionary jazz but blended with all kinds of texture, sounds and signals from the over-saturated London streets.”
Williams enlisted bassist Pete Martin and drummer MckNasty to help him bring the album to life, with Richard Samuels on engineering duties.
The Return‘s opening track ‘Salaam’ is streaming now and it serves as a fantatic taste of what he’ll be throwing at us.
Moon Hooch have announced details of a new EP entitled Light It Up. Due out on April 6th, the EP features three songs the trio had been developing in their live shows, capturing the explosive and exhilarating energy they are known for. ‘Acid Mountain’ serves as the first taste of the upcoming Light It Up and you can listen to it below.
Coinciding with the EP’s release, Moon Hooch are embarking on a month long European tour, including a stop at London’s Roundhouse on May 5th.
There’s a new album on the horizon from Norwegian composer and multi-instrumentalist Kaada. Entitled Closing Statements, it follows Bacteria Cult, his collaborative album with Mike Patton released in 2016, and last year’s score for Angels Are Made of Light.
The album title refers to people’s last uttered words, with the subject of death as the central theme. Kaada explains:
“There is a mysterious aim over the final words of the dying. What does these last words reveal about life, death and consciousness? These words give a glimpse into the individual’s overall feelings and experiences. The underlying message of the album is that we have to listen to each other. In a modern world where people mostly don’t have the time or interests to get to know one another, we need to be reminded that we need to listen. At least… when somebody is about to say their last words.”
Closing Statement arrives on May 25th through Mirakel Recordings and Kaada is enticing us now with two magnificent, cinematic and striking tracks, ‘Farewell’ and ‘Unknown Destination’.
