Last month, Belgian producer, multi-instrumentalist and composer Dijf Sanders announced the release of his much anticipated new album Tangkoa II, due out on May 8th through Unday Records. Alongside the announcement, Sanders teased the album with the entrancing and enthralling lead single ‘Mooning‘. Now he’s raising thebar of excitement with the bewitching ‘Mountain On The Hill’, described by Sanders as “a soothing electro acoustic jazz track that meanders through its own existence”. Take a listen below.
One of Belgium’s most forward-thinking musicians, Dijf Sanders is not afraid to push the envelope. The Ghent based multi-instrumentalist and composer has announced the release of his new album Tangkoa II, arriving on May 8th through Unday Records. With a free-thinking openness to different cultures, Sanders’ previous albums saw him travel to places like Indonesia and Nepal, searching for open musical exploration. The forthcoming Tangkoa II grew out of field recordings collected during his 2022 travels in Vietnam. Feeding these sounds into his self-built machinery, and abstaining from using any pre-sequenced sounds, samples and synths were shaped and played live, with Simon Segers steering it. Segers “operates as a human interface between rhythm and circuitry, a true man-machine”, as the press release describes, while Sanders “acts as a living effects processor, continuously manipulating sound in real time”. To bring Tangkoa II to life, Sanders has also enlisted a phenomenal group of musicians – Vitja Pauwels (guitar), Viktor Perdieu (saxophone), and Louise van den Heuvel (bass).
Alongside the album announcement, Sanders has dropped the first single ‘Mooning’, an entrancing and enthralling track that we we just can’t stop listening to. Here it is.
A powerhouse in contemporary jazz, Dutch-Belgian acoustic-electronic piano trio De Beren Gieren, consisting of pianist Fulco Ottervanger, Lieven Van Pée on bass, and Simon Segers on drums, have garnered numerous accolades, collaborated with several renowned artists and appeared at major festivals in Europe and elsewhere since their inception in 2009. With a phenomenal seventh album, What Eludes Us, released just a few days ago, De Beren Gieren continue to showcase their boundless creativity. Their music, always full of surprises, is adventurous and exciting, weaving intricate melodies and polyrhythmic soundscapes with improvisation, minimalism and their unique vibrant energy. We’re ecstatic to unveil the mixtape they put together for us this month, offering a glimpse into the influences and inspirations shaping their music. Brace yourself for the unexpected!
Louis Sclavis, Aldo Romano & Henri Texier – Bororo Dance [Label Bleu]
Sourcing musical inspiration from far corners of the globe, Dijf Sanders creates rich compositions that embrace various cultures and genres. For his recent album, the ecstatic and exotic Puja, the Ghent based multi-instrumentalist and composer travelled to Nepal to absorb its sounds and compile field recordings. We asked him to put together this month's mixtape and we’re excited to unveil the splendid selection of tunes he picked and mixed for us. Press play and enjoy!
Alice Coltrane – Journey in Satchidananda (feat. Pharoah Sanders) [UMG Recordings, Inc.]
The Raincoats – Dancing in My Head [Rough Trade]
Eden Ahbez – Eden’s Island [Del-Fi Records]
Autechre – Pir [Warp]
Moondog – Duet [Master Series, Inc.]
Aphex Twin – Acrid Avid Jam Shred [Warp]
Nuova Compagnia Di Canto Popolare – 2o Coro Delle Lavandaie [EMI]
With only a couple of days to go until the release of Puja, and after sharing ‘Ravana’, Ghent based multi-instrumentalist and composer Dijf Sanders is teasing his upcoming album again with new single ‘Santoshi Mata’. The track comes with an accompanying video directed by Bert Juliaan Vercruysse, who remarked:
“The first time I listened to Dijf’s ‘Santoshi Mata’ was coincidentally in the oldest temple in Nepal, Changu Narayan, a stone’s throw from Baktapur. At that moment everything actually coincided: Dijf who likes to play (music) with Game Boys, his Nepal adventures and this exciting song named after the goddess of sufficiency. It was obvious that I was going to make a kind of Nepalese Game Girl in a pixelated Nepal.”
We love ‘Ravana’, the new single taken from Dijf Sanders‘ upcoming album. Entitled Puja, it follows his 2018 album Java and is set for release on February 14th through Unday Records. The new album blends genres like exotica, psychedelia, jazz and electronica and saw the Ghent based multi-instrumentalist and composer travel to Nepal to record it. To bring Puja to life, in addition to field recordings, Sanders enlisted the help of drummer Simon Segers, saxophone player Mattias De Craene and sitar player Nicolas Mortelmans.
‘Ravana’, like other tracks on the album, and as the press release explains, “suggest a world infused by Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese and Indian culture as broken beats and organic exotica combine to create a trance-like rhythmic flow”. Take a listen below.
