It’s been a long time since Brazilian Girls released their last album, New York City, in 2008. The good news is they are ready to strike back. The quartet is in the studio now working on their fourth album, due later this year. And they’ve shared the first excellent taste of what’s to come. Take a listen to ‘The Critic’ now.
Watch the video for Tanya Tagaq’s ‘Aorta’
We love Tanya Tagaq‘s breathtaking third album Animism to bits. The effort came out in the UK/Europe a year ago, following an earlier release in North America. The immensely talented Inuit throat singer released last November a new mighty track called ‘Aorta’. As the press release puts it, ‘Aorta’ “goes deeper into the body, to a place where we can feel the pulse, the rush and the ebb of life itself”. Produced by violinist Jesse Zubot, ‘Aorta’ was composed to accompany footage shot at the Emmanuel Vigeland Museum in Oslo, Norway. Tagaq had this to say about it:
“This video was made to pay homage to Emmanuel Vigeland, whose frescos fill his own mausoleum. The frescos depict life from conception to death. This penetration of the unsaid philosophies of life in conjunction with the outstanding acoustics of the room has inspired my own work since visiting there in 2002. Hopefully we encapsulate the darkness and the light to his liking.”
Watch the video for ‘Aorta’ below.
Cavern Of Anti-Matter share new cut from upcoming debut album
We fell for Berlin based three-piece Cavern of Anti-Matter when we first heard the stunning ‘Melody In High Feedback Tones’, off their upcoming debut album void beats / invocation trex. The trio, headed by Stereolab’s co-founder Tim Gane, and also comprising former Stereolab drummer Joe Dillworth and synth master Holger Zapf, are teasing the album again with the epic opening track ‘Tardis Cymbals’. Clocking in at nearly thirteen minutes, the track is described as a “journey deep into a kaleidoscopic synth vortex”. We are in for a treat with void beats / invocation trex so make sure you nab it when it drops on February 19th via Duophonic. Now listen to ‘Tardis Cymbals’.
Listen to Za!’s single ‘Badulake’ off upcoming album Loloismo
ZA!, the Spanish duo of multi-instrumentalists Spazzfrica Ehd and Papa duPau, have a new album on the way called Loloismo. It follows their 2013’s Wanananai and arrives on January 29th via Sheffield DIY collective The Audacious Art Experiment and Hot Salvation Records.
The pair are known for experimenting and crossing boundaries between many genres. On Loloismo, ZA! take on new ways of playing and even more styles, explains the press release. “Industrial meets dubstep, hip hop, clicks n’cuts electronic music, math-rock – from the old-shool hardcore clichés to Asian, Arabic or invented landscapes”. As ZA! put it, it’s “Loloizable experimental music with a chorus”, with ‘Loloiza’ referring to the Spanish phrase for the chants heard echoing out of football pitches, and its emphasis on the collective act of singing, rather than the lyrics. The pair’s lyrics “had never evolved beyond a concept or a single word” until Loloismo.
ZA! had previously shared the album’s phenomenal lead track ‘Badulake’. If you haven’t heard it, you’re missing out.
In other related good news, and in support of the album, ZA! are embarking on a UK tour in February with NOPE. Check all their stops below:
Atlanter’s second album Jewels of Crime out this month
Three years on from the release of Vidde, Norwegian quartet Atlanter are ready to drop their second album later this month. Entitled Jewels of Crime, the effort is a conceptual album about diamonds and pearls. “Even though things are shining, it doesn’t mean they’re working”, said the band’s Jens J Carelius Krogsveen. “We wanted to present such an old-fashioned thing like a rock band in a kitschy, glossy and gaudy universe”. Krogsveen explains further how the album was conceived:
“Before the studio recordings, we listened to loads of jams and rehearsals, picking out compositions, intensity and, not least, ensemble playing, which we thought could become songs. I think we had up to 250 recordings which altogether formed the basis of the songs. Because that’s still the key to why this band works so well: People with different approaches and musical tastes who love playing together.”
On Jewels of Crime, Arild Hammerø, Jens J Carelius Krogsveen, Jonas Barsten and Morten Kvam, who make up the band, collaborated with some guests including the group Imarhan from Mali, with Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane a.k.a. Sadam on vocals and Hanne Kolstø.
The album’s first excellent single ‘Jareeze’ has been paired with a short film directed by Frode Fjerdingstad. Watch it below and watch out for the release of Jewels of Crime on January 22nd via Jansen Plateproduksjon.
Diminished Men set to release third album Vision In Crime in February
Welcome to 2016. We’re kicking the year off big, with Seattle based trio Diminished Men, consisting of Steve Schmitt on guitars, Simon Henneman on bass and drummer Dave Abramson, who is also a member of Master Musicians of Bukkake and has collaborated with Eyvind Kang, Secret Chiefs 3, Climax Golden Twins and Grails, to name but a few.
Comes February 26th, the band will release their third album, Vision In Crime, via Sun City Girl’s label Abduction Records. The album “unfolds like a paranormal detective story full of delinquent exotica, deranged noir, hyperventilating surf, and shortwave radio nightmares”, says the press release. It continues to describe the album as “a feature length escapade that sidewinds through jazz and soundtrack territories, as well as the outer reaches of the experimental satellite genres, retaining the unmistakeable character of the band so far, while also evoking a premonition more sinister than ever before”.
Ahead of its release, Diminished Men have shared the stunning and enigmatic Aegean Sea inspired ‘Oistros Dolorous’. It calls for repeated listens and leave us salivating for more.
