Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet offers first taste from upcoming album

07 January 2013

New Orleans’s composer Jason Marsalis, renowned for being a prodigal drummer and vibraphonist, has announced the release of a new full-length album with his newly formed Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet. In A World of Mallets is due out on February 19th via Basin Street Records, and it will be his third album release on the label, following his 2000’s album Music in Motion and the 1998’s Year of the Drummer.

In A World of Mallets was self-produced and it features original compositions and contributions from Marsalis’ quartet members Austin Johnson on piano, Will Goble on Bass, and Dave Potter on drums, and also covers which are an hommage to former jazz greats, according to the press release.

The first taste from Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet’s forthcoming effort is the marvellous ‘Blues Can Be Abstract, Too’, a track where Marsalis “questions those who believe blues must be primitive in nature”. Listen to it now.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds premiere video for ‘We No Who U R’

06 January 2013

We have already heard the ethereal ‘We No Who U R’, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds‘ first single lifted from their forthcoming 15th studio album. Push the Sky Away will hit stores on February 18th in Europe and February 19th in the US.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have unveiled a video to accompany the song, directed by acclaimed and controversial Argentinian director Gaspar Noé. Watch it below.

Chik Budo roll out CB13 later this month

05 January 2013

Monday 21st will see the release of London based quintet Chik Budo‘s new mixtape. This mixtape will be radically different from the one they’ve made for us a couple of months ago.
Chik Budo’s new effort, entitled CB13,  features original material, including new songs and remixes. CB13 also features guest vocal contributions from Theoretical Girl and Hiroko Ohashi and it will be available as a limited edition cassette at their shows and via their website.

The outfit led by Dan Hahn and Colin Webster, aptly describe Chik Budo as a ‘squawking distorto disco party’. Having already seen them play a number of times, I can vouch that they definitely offer one hell of an electrifying party.

Chik Budo are launching CB13 on January 19th at The Social in London. The show is free and to celebrate the release, they’ll be giving away copies of the mixtape on the night. I’m excited.

Cash Pony’s debut full-length album

04 January 2013

With only a few days into 2013, last year’s records are the ones getting our attention. Oakland’s Cash Pony released their debut full-length album, Carpal Tunnel Vision Quest, last March.

Now a quartet, stripped down from the six-piece who recorded the album, they describe their sound as “ethno-slacker prog rock, – something like a distillation of urgent, algebraic psychedelia and reckless jazzpunk.”
Cash Pony draw influences from 70’s progressive and psychedelic rock to jazz, from funk to North Indian Classical music, and they quote artists like Frank Zappa, Robert Fripp and Fred Frith as inspiration.

Carpal Tunnel Vision Quest, recorded and mixed on analogue tape over ten days. is available to stream/download via their bandcamp.
Here’s ‘Take Chai’ and ‘Infant Massage’, two all-around excellent cuts from the album, which will surely get you dancing. ‘Take Chai’ is an ‘Electric Sitar’ homage to ‘Take Five’. Enjoy!


Sam Ospovat offers brand new solo album

03 January 2013

We wanted to start the year with something amazing, and at first listen, drummer/percussionist Sam Ospovat‘s recently released album PIKI clearly earns this spot.

Hailing from Nebraska, and now based in Oakland, California, Sam Ospovat has been involved with several other outfits including Beep, Naytronix, tUnE-yArDs, Timosaurus, Anteater, Kapowski and many others.

Under the moniker PIKI, Sam released his self-titled solo album last November, which he describes as a “a collection of solo pieces, polyrhythmic songs, and sound tableaux”. PIKI was recorded with the help of Ross Peacock, Chris Golinsky, Carlos Arredondo and mastered with Eli Crews (Mwahaha, tUnE-yArDs, Deerhoof, Geographer). You can stream and download the whole album for free or on a pay-what-you-want basis via his bandcamp.
Here’s two gems from the album, ‘Choisi non choisi’ and ‘Non Clapping Music’, to enjoy as you start your new year!


David Lemaitre set to release debut album this Spring

27 December 2012

Berlin based Bolivian singer-songwriter David Lemaitre has announced the release of his debut full-length album, due out in Spring. The yet-to-be-titled album follows his first EP, Valediction, released last year.

David draws influences from different cultures and genres, from the songs of the South American highlands where he grew up and the 70’s psychedelia his dad listened to, to progressive rock, electronica and folk.

According to a press release, “David’s song writing process is an ever-evolving journey, while remaining unattached to whether the resulting songs have a minimalist or electronic pop sound.”
In David’s own words, “something is only complete, not when nothing can be added anymore, but when nothing can be removed.”

Whilst we wait for the new album to drop, here’s the charming and dreamy ‘Jacques Cousteau’ off Valediction.