Mixtape #177


We've never been shy about our love for The Dwarfs of East Agouza, who have been in our hearts since their debut Bes came out in 2016. The Cairo-based trio of stellar and adventurous musicians Sam Shalabi, Maurice Louca, and Alan Bishop have been constantly pushing the limits of what’s possible in music since forming in 2012. Unpredictable and hypnotically engaging, their sound is a thrilling collision of free jazz, krautrock, shaabi, North African rhythms, and improvisation. Last month, they released their eighth album, Sasquatch Landslide, a bold, transcendental, and fervent record that we simply cannot put down. So we’re beyond excited to have them curate this month’s mixtape. Sam, Alan, and Maurice have each contributed their own unique picks, Sam with the initial 20-minute selection of tracks, Alan with a single 20-minute composition, and Maurice with several distinct tracks, all combined to create a vibrant and sublime sonic puzzle. Press play and enjoy!

  1. Jim Hall – Steps [MusicMasters Jazz / Limelight]
  2. The Beatles – Helter Skelter (First Version / Take 2) [Apple Records]
  3. Ahmed Adawyya – Bint El Amir
  4. The Rolling Stones – Bitch (live) [Mighty Diamonds]
  5. Eyvind Kang & The Neti-Neti Band – BINAH [Abduction]
  6. Cheb Khaled – Aakaibi Mestourine
  7. Annette Peacock – I’m The One [RCA]
  8. Lucrecia Dalt – No Tiempo [Rvng Intl.]
  9. B R A H J A – Watermeloncholia [cortizona]
  10. Asher Gamedze – Siyabulela [On The Corner Records]

Lucrecia Dalt unveils video for final single, ‘no death no danger’; new LP drops tomorrow

Just a day out from the release of A Danger to Ourselves, and following the heavy pulse of ‘caes‘ and the warped intimacy of ‘divina‘, Lucrecia Dalt has shared one final single titled ‘no death no danger’. The track leans into a kind of haunted elegance, with Dalt’s voice winding through stark verses before opening up into a beautifully strange refrain, lifted by Eliana Joy’s backing vocals. “Conceptually, ‘no death no danger’ is inspired by the film Orpheus by Jean Cocteau. Plus a hint of medusa; behind the portal: tears don’t fall—they rise up,” explains Dalt. “It’s about the tension of deciding to cross the portal behind one’s image. I sing, ‘tears rise up behind the mirrored door, no death, no danger. My love happens as a wave on your receivers—let the sleepers by.’”

‘no death no danger’ arrives with an accompanying video directed by Tony Lowe. Watch it below and watch out for the release of A Danger to Ourselves tomorrow through RVNG Intl. We can’t wait.

Watch Lucrecia Dalt’s video for new single ‘caes’ feat. Camille Mandoki

With her highly anticipated ninth album A Danger to Ourselves arriving in just under two months, Lucrecia Dalt has shared the third single from the album, ‘caes’, a dense and thunderous piece featuring the evocative voice of Mexican sound artist Camille Mandoki. Dalt cites Ana Mendieta and Evelyn McHale as poetic inspirations, tying the song’s lyrical content to meditations on legacy and tragedy. “Musically, I wanted to hint at a slowed-down and diluted dembow, but with a melodic energy that felt ancient,” she noted, continuing:

“It features my dear friend Camille. She has a unique voice that is rare to hear nowadays. I love it when female voices carry a certain depth, and they don’t spend too much time in the upper, breathy register. Poetically, it’s an amalgamation of various references; it examines the legacy of one’s life through the lens of tragedy. Ana Mendieta and Evelyn McHale were specific figures, in my mind.”

The single is offered with an accompanying video, shot between the American Southwest and Mexico City, which captures the same sense that Dalt describes: “It is in the act of surrendering oneself to falling that the total, the sublime, enters?”

Watch the video below and grab A Danger to Ourselves when it lands on September 5th through RVNG Intl.

Lucrecia Dalt announces new album, A Danger to Ourselves

Following her magnificent 2022 sci-fi bolero album ¡Ay!, which was one of our Albums Picks of the Year, Lucrecia Dalt is back with A Danger to Ourselves, her ninth solo album and perhaps her most emotionally open work to date. Out on September 5th through RVNG Intl, the new record finds the Berlin-based, Colombia-born composer and sound artist shedding the fictional and fantastical narratives of past works to chart a more intimate sphere, delving into the uncertain territory where love, longing, and vulnerability meet. “In the past, I often turned to movies and texts as mirrors to shape my stories, guiding me away from revealing too much from within, inventing isolated fictions,” she explains. “This time, I wanted to create music that flows cinematically and sets a landscape to tell a love story that flirts with improbability, the miraculous and the mysterious.”

Written during and after touring ¡Ay!, and shaped in the early days of a new relationship, the upcoming A Danger to Ourselves is a deeply personal reflection. To bring the record to life, Dalt enlisted the help of a remarkable cast of collaborators, including Juana Molina, Camille Mandoki, and Eliana Joy, alongside musicians Cyrus Campbell and Chris Jonas, and most notably the legendary David Sylvian, who joins as co-producer and guitarist.

Ahead of the album’s release, Dalt is enticing us with first single ‘divina’, a glimmering reverie of piano, guitar, finger snaps and cascading rhythm, sung in both Spanish and English. ‘divina’ emerged from “spending enough time in the abyssal realm of erotic delirium”, as she describes. “For me, the lyrics function as declarations, or odes—like those of Sharon Olds—and the most personal truths I have explored to date are found within those lines.” The single is offered with a beautifully strange accompanying video, directed by Tony Lowe and conceptualized by Dalt, featuring Dalt alongside multidisciplinary artist Lucia Maher-Tatar. It takes inspiration from the words of Sufi mystic Rumi: “Love is a mirror… you see nothing except your real face.” Watch the video below and mark your calendars for September.

Watch Lucrecia Dalt’s video for new single ‘Atemporal’

Last month Lucrecia Dalt announced the release of her eighth solo album, ¡Ay!, and shared the delicate and ethereal ‘No Tiempo’. Now the Berlin based, Colombia born civil engineer turned into sound artist, musician and composer is enticing us with a new single called ‘Atemporal’. Speaking about it, she comments:

“This song is a coalescence of many things from my palette, like a collection of Dalts commingling from different eras: vocoders, synths, heavily processed drums, use of texture and distortion slowly transforming into an energetic slowed down alienated tumba”

 ‘Atemporal’ is offered with a video shot in Mallorca and created by Aina Climent (cinematography) and Lucrecia Dalt (script). Watch it below.


¡Ay! is set for releae on October 14th through RVNG Intl