Tag Archives: Saul Williams

Second single released from Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople

07 August 2025

Last month, we shared the exciting announcement of Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople, the first full-length collaboration between poet, musician, and visionary Saul Williams and master percussionist and producer Carlos Niño. Recorded live in December 2024 beneath the black oak and walnut trees of Coldwater Canyon Park in Los Angeles, the album is a powerful gathering of kindred spirits in a setting shaped by ecology, memory, resistance, and release. Alongside Niño’s close collaborators, including Kamasi Washington, Nate Mercereau, Maia, Aaron Shaw, Francesca Heart, Andres Renteria, and a special appearance by aja monet, the album bridges disciplines and generations with spiritual depth and daring imagination.

Following the affective, immersive and meditative lead single, ‘Sound then Words’, they are sharing today the second single from the album, ‘The Water Is Rising / as we surpass the firing squad . . .’, featuring poet aja monet, who delivers a soft yet searing reading of her poem The Water Is Rising, a quiet reckoning with climate, collapse, and care. Williams follows with a hopeful parable about a firing squad, where one member hesitates, caught between duty and belief. It becomes a meditation on the possibility of humanity within the machinery of violence. Haunting, stirring, and laden with quiet urgency, ‘The Water Is Rising / as we surpass the firing squad . . .’ is streaming below.

Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople is out on August 28th through International Anthem

 

Saul Williams and Carlos Niño announce first collaborative album, Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople

17 July 2025

Photo: Todd Weaver

Wonderful news from two radiant forces, Saul Williams and Carlos Niño, who have come together for a special release arriving later this summer. Entitled Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople, this marks the first collaborative album between poet, musician, and visionary Saul Williams and prolific percussionist, producer, and cosmic connector Carlos Niño, whose friendship traces back to the late ’90s. The album was recorded live in December 2024, beneath black oak and walnut trees in Coldwater Canyon Park, on the grounds of TreePeople, a longstanding conservationist hub in Los Angeles. Niño assembled a stellar ensemble of close collaborators for the performance, including Kamasi Washington, Nate Mercereau, Maia, Aaron Shaw, Francesca Heart, Andres Renteria, and even a special appearance by poet aja monet. Together, they built a richly textured electro-acoustic world around Saul’s grounding and galvanizing poetics. An album of invocation, memory, resistance, and release, it bridges generations, disciplines, and intentions.

Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople is out on August 28th through International Anthem and they have now unveiled the album’s lead single, ‘Sound then Words’, an affective, immersive and meditative track clocking in at sixteen minutes. Here it is.

Mixtape #162

01 August 2024

August is upon us and what better way to set the mood than with our monthly mixtape, this time round curated by Swiss trio Meril Wubslin. Based between Lausanne and Brussels, they were founded in 2010 by Christian Garcia-Gaucher and Valérie Niederoest and also comprise David Costenaro on drums. Earlier this year they released their fourth album, Faire Ça, a bold, exhilarating and fascinating record that sees them continue to evolve and explore new sonic elements and territories. The trio added a new dimension to the album recording it with outsider Kwake Bass at his London studio. We are stoked to unveil their mix and open a window into the myriad influences at play in their music. Press play already!

  1. Foghorns cornes de brume – Foi Por Vontade De Deus
  2. El-P – Deep Space 9mm [Definitive Jux]
  3. Tricky – Ghetto Youth [Island Records]
  4. Tirzah – Affection [Domino]
  5. Asa Chang & Junray – Hana [Hot-Cha Records / Leaf]
  6. Papé Nziengui – Kudu [Awesome Tapes From Africa]
  7. Lolina – Style and Punishment
  8. Velma – Blanquette [Gentlemen Records / Monopsone]
  9. Meril Wubslin – Right here
  10. Nazif Celaj, Nikolin Likaj – Janines C’i Pane Syte
  11. Saz’iso – Nënockë [Glitterbeat]
  12. Saul Williams – Niberyeye Mwibuye Underground [Fader Label]
  13. HHY & The Kampala Unit – Hunter [Nyege Nyege Tapes]
  14. The Hair And Skin Trading Company – Go Round [Beggars Banquet Primary]
  15. Kleg – Brenda [Barooni]
  16. Sneaks – Boxed in [Merge Records]