We may have missed Damage Mécanique, the thrilling and intriguing sixth album from Diminished Men, when it came out last year, but we now have it have it on constant rotation. Damage Mécanique, as the press release describes, draws “from elements of film noir, psychedelic exotica, experimental rock, deviant surf and musique concrète.
Earlier this year, the Seattle band released a video to accompany the wild, cosmic and propulsive album opener ‘Double Vision’ and it’s clear we were missing out on this record. Check out the video below.
Long-running, genre-bending American jazz combo The Bad Plus released last year their eponymous album, marking their first release as a quartet, having played as a drums/bass/piano trio for more than two decades. They have now shared an unreleased track, ‘Electric Face’, from the same album sessions. Speaking about the track, bassist Reid Anderson comments:
“I wrote ‘Electric Face’ in Kingston, NY during the summer of 2021, while listening to a lot of science podcasts. When a caterpillar goes into the chrysalis and transforms into a moth, it basically dissolves and the structure is determined by an electrical pattern which is the guide that turns it from mush into a moth. There’s an electrical pattern in the face of the moth, and this is what inspired the song.”
Composer, poet, vocalist and educator Moor Mother, aka Camae Ayewa, has announced a digital deluxe edition of her highly acclaimed album, Jazz Codes released last summer. Slated for release on May 19th through ANTI-, the upcoming expanded version features six previously unreleased songs. One of them is the staggering ‘We Got The Jazz’ feat. Kyle Kidd, Keir Neuringer and Aquiles Navarro. “‘We Got The Jazz’ is me thinking about how mediocre a lot of popular music is, about its capitalistic structures and how those placements are bought and paid for,” Moor Mother commented. “I’m speaking about the whitewashing of who’s allowed to participate in jazz, who is allowed to participate in poetry, and asking where the room for innovation is, now and in the future. It’s also me thinking about my jazz band, Irreversible Entanglements, and how we’ve toured the world destroying stages, uplifting audiences, and inspiring everyone on the jazz scene with or without recognition. I’m also speaking about my own influence on the culture.”
‘We Got The Jazz’ is offered with a visual accompaniment and you can check it out below.
Piano Day is celebrated tomorrow, the 88th day of the year, shining the spotlight on all things piano. Penguin Cafe are partaking in the celebrations with a gorgeous new single called ‘Second Variety’. Of the track, Arthur Jeffes comments:
“This piece came about in Italy where we’ve been staying quite a lot over the last few years. Time passes differently there – with this sense of endlessly repeating days and a kind of wistfulness stemming from knowing that tomorrow will be the same as yesterday. There is a kind of peace in that, but also a feeling of time slipping through one’s hands.
One day a musical friend from further North, Alessandro ‘Asso’ Stefana (who has worked with Mike Patton, PJ Harvey and Calexico), took advantage of a break between projects to come and visit. He brought lots of pedals and a lap steel, and we just tried things out. I ended up with a fairly sparse mix, as it captures the feeling of those days most clearly.”
‘Second Variety’ is released through Erased Tapes and you can listen to it below.
Earlier this year Ghent based trio Dishwasher_ announced the release of their eponymous debut album and alongside it shared the first single, ‘Blue Bridge’. Leading up to the album’s full release on April 14th through Sdban Ultra, they have unleashed a phenomenal new cut called ‘Buraq’ boldly encompassing various genres, including jazz, hip-hop, jungle, UK bass and electronic influences. Utterly groovy and slightly melancholic, ‘Buraq’ perfectly exemplifies the dynamic of the trio’s sound. Take a listen below.
Grandbrothers have a new album on the way, Late Reflections, recorded in the iconic Cologne Cathedral. Last month they shared the grand and gripping lead single ‘Infinite’, and now have let loose another track from the album called ‘Daybreak’. Speaking about it, pianist Erol Sarp had this to say:
“During the recording process, we found ourselves in a highly shifted rhythm. We worked exclusively at night until early morning. When we packed up our things around 6 a.m., the windows began to shine and the cathedral seemed to awaken. This visual transformation was central symbol of the recording process for us, that’s why ‘Daybreak’ is the album’s opener”.
‘Daybreak’ is offered with a video accompaniment made by filmmaker Manfred Borsch. The duo’s Lukas Vogel offered some insight about it:
“Manfred has been with us for a very long time, and as a Cologne native, he naturally has a close relationship with the cathedral. Richter, after all, left the arrangement of the colors he chose to a random generator; he wanted to avoid any representationalism. Manfred follows a similar path, he abstracts and deconstructs the window cinematically once again.”
Watch the video below and watch out for the release of Late Reflections on April 14th through City Slang.
