Divide and Dissolve announce fourth album, Systemic, and release lead single ‘Blood Quantum’

11 April 2023

Two years on from the release of Gas Lit, Divide and Dissolve are back with a fourth full-length album. Entitled Systemic, the new record retains their commitment to oppose white supremacy and fight for Black and Indigenous liberation. “This music is an acknowledgement of the dispossession that occurs due to colonial violence,” saxophonist and guitarist Takiaya Reed commented, adding that “the goal of the colonial project is to separate Indigenous people from their culture, their life force, their community and their traditions. The album is in direct opposition to this.”. Takiaya has also stated that Systemic “is a prayer to our ancestors”, and “a prayer for land to be given back to Indigenous people, and for future generations to be free from this cycle of violence.”
The album reflects on the systems that sustain colonial violence but it also contemplates better systems for the future, closing with a track that channels hope and positivity. “There’s a world I want to live in, and I’m going to continue to focus on that world,” Takiaya explained. “Indigenous people are here. With our existence it challenges the colonial constructs that call for genocide. We are still alive.”

Systemic arrives on June 30th through Invada and ahead of it, Divide and Dissolve have shared the beautiful, powerful and gripping lead single ‘Blood Quantum’, and an accompanying video. Here it is.

Sarathy Korwar set to release surprise new album, KAL (Real World), tomorrow

06 April 2023

Sarathy Korwar‘s magnificent third album, Kalak, was of one of our Album Picks of 2022 and we haven’t put it down since it came out last November. The London based, American born and Indian bred percussionist, producer and composer has announced the surprise release of KAL (Real World), a companion piece to KALAK. Recorded at Real World Studios, Korwar is accompanied by a stellar band featuring Danalogue and Al MacSween on synths, Tamar Osborn on baritone sax and flute, and percussionist Magnus Mehta. Speaking about it, Korwar commented:

“This was the first time we met and played together with other human beings in the same room for almost a year, after the first lockdown. It was a hopeful time where for a brief period we believed things were getting better. There was a lot of fondness, camaraderie and kindness in the room, and playing together felt like a cathartic expression. KAL (Real World) was recorded in less than 24 hours at the incredible Real World Studios. Just being present in those rooms, which had borne witness to so many great recordings, elevated our senses.”

KAL (Real World) is out tomorrow through The Leaf Label and Korwar has shared a video for ‘Songs or People’ which serves as an exhilarating taste of what’s on offer. The video was filmed by Fabrice Bourgelle and you can watch it below.

Asher Gamedze previews upcoming album with second single, ‘Sometimes I Think To Myself’; shares album documentary short film

05 April 2023

Photo: Dylan Valley

We’ve not hidden our excitement for Asher Gamedze‘s upcoming new album Turbulence and Pulse when the news emerged last month. With release day a month away, and following the stunning and celestial ‘Wynter Time’, the visionary and virtuosic South African drummer, composer, writer and activist has just shared a potent and gripping new single called ‘Sometimes I Think To Myself’ featuring Julian ‘Deacon’ Otis. As Asher explained, the track is “a song about the experience of losing a friend, the heartbreak of that ending and having to make your own closure”.

Listen to ‘Sometimes I Think To Myself’ below and watch out for the release of Turbulence and Pulse on May 5th through International Anthem and Mushroom Hour Half Hour.

In other related good news, today sees the release of an album documentary short film featuring Asher in conversation with two of his close collaborators and mentors – Leigh-Ann Naidoo and Marcus Solomon. With all the music lifted from the upcoming Turbulence and Pulse, the 17-minute documentary explores the album’s themes and features performance footage and the coastal scenery of Cape Town. Dylan Valley, who made the documentary, had this say:

“This film is a true collaboration between Asher and me, the filmmaker. We took the concepts and inspiration behind the album as a departure point and then improvised our approach as we found the groove, and each other. We hope you enjoy the end result as much as we enjoyed working together.”

Asher also commented:

“Leigh-Ann Naidoo and Marcus Solomon are two amongst the many people who have taught me a lot about politics and living a principled and committed, radical life. What I have learnt with and from them, and others who I have organised with and think with regularly, has shaped how I want to be in the world, and what I want to do in the world, and this in turn shapes my orientation to music. This is one of the ways in which what is outside of the music, actually informs and directs the music’s intention in my practice.

Leigh-Ann is an activist, ex-Olympian, educationist and a scholar, amongst other political work she has been involved in black student and worker struggles at universities, the LGBTQ movement, and Palestinian solidarity campaigns.

Marcus Solomon is a lifelong community activist. As a committed socialist he has been broadly active in the national liberation movement since the late 1950s in student politics, civic struggles, guerilla study groups, worker education and The Children’s Movement.”

Here’s the documentary for your viewing and listening pleasure.

Watch Diminished Men’s video for ‘Double Vision’

04 April 2023

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.

The Bad Plus release new track, ‘Electric Face’

31 March 2023

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.”

Take a listen to ‘Electric Face’ below:


The Bad Plus is out now through Edition Records

Moor Mother announces Jazz Codes Deluxe and shares unreleased track ‘We Got The Jazz’

30 March 2023

Photo: Sam Lee

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.