Elias releases soundtrack for multimedia project The End

27 September 2024

An outstandingly talented drummer and composer, and a longtime favourite of ours here at CTD, Elias Devoldere is one of Belgium’s most cutting-edge and visionary artists. Involved in wide range of projects and collaborations including Nordmann, John Ghost, Robbing Millions, SUWI and Hypochristmutreefuzz, among others, Elias, as he is plainly known, has also composed for dance productions and theatre.  Last year he released his debut solo album,  Bloomed > Exploded, a dreamy and shimmering record composed, played, recorded and produced entirely by him, and which we were lucky to see performed live in Porto.

Elias has teamed up with fashion designer Dorien De Kesel and film duo Wannes Vanspauwen & Pol De Plecker, for a multimedia project called The End, which was born “from the desire for more collectivity in the crafts and collaboration between the arts”, as the press release describes. “The collaboration stems from the belief that an equal collaboration between different makers leads to a more powerful, sustainable result.”

The End is offered in the shape of a stunning short film portraying a group of people travelling by horse and cart through an apocaliptic landscape, towards a better world. Watch it now.

Elori Saxl previews upcoming album, Earth Focus, with lead single ‘Grows Along The River Slow’

27 September 2024

Photo: Peter Coccoma

Back in July, American experimental electronic composer Elori Saxl released her mini-album Drifts and Surfaces, and she is ready to follow it up with a new album. Entitled Earth Focus, the album is a collection of new material composed to soundtrack the PBS TV documentary series of the same name. Focusing on environmental challenges, each episode on the series looks at a specific location like the Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave Desert, amongst other places in Southern California. Her music “underscores the emotional narratives of these places, emphasizing the interplay between humans and nature and the impact of human-constructed environments”, as the press release describes.

Earth Focus arrives on November 15th through Western Vinyl, and ahead of it Saxl has shared the first single ‘Grows Along The River Slow’. Of the track, she says:

“It was inspired by the languid flow of the LA river and the plants that grow within and alongside it, pushing through cracks in cement and finding ways to flourish despite the human-built landscape. The track features analog synths with synthetic harp and flute samples that eventually give in to real acoustic flute performed by Stuart Bogie. I would say this track is me leaning into the psychedelic and floaty sounds of Californian music a bit beyond my comfort zone as a New Yorker, but it felt right for the series to lean deep and create music evocative of the musical scene past and present in Southern California.”

A serene and engrossing piece, ‘Grows Along The River Slow’ is after your ears.

Surya Botofasina teases upcoming album with new single ‘Your Soul is Perfect (Supreme Uniter)’

24 September 2024

Photo: Squint

A staggeringly talented keyboardist and vocalist, Surya Botofasina recently got us well excited announcing the release of his second album, Ashram Sun. Releasing on October 18th through Spiritmuse Records, it follows his incredibly stunning and contemplative Everyone’s Children, released a couple of years ago. Surya had already shared the celestial and soothing single, ‘(The Circle) of Compassion’, and now he’s enticing us again with ‘Your Soul is Perfect (Supreme Uniter)’, a luscious and groovy track featuring Surya’s mother Radha Botofasina on harp and vocals. Speaking about it, Surya says:

“The question of our individual purpose as we traverse on Earth is often one we are scared to meet. The intention of this song is to acknowledge the truth about us all- we are beautiful for the beings that we are, with a Light that can never be extinguished. Having courage to be content and happy is no small feat when mental health is involved… The Supreme Uniter is not only a nod to this, but to Meghan Stabile as she dances to this one from stars back to down to us. All of this is only possible due to Magnificent Shakti of Swamini Turiyasangitananda.”

Listen to ‘Your Soul is Perfect (Supreme Uniter)’ below.

Photay’s new album, Windswept, out now; listen to final single ‘Global Wind Trade’

23 September 2024

Photay‘s fifth album, Windswept, came out last Friday through Mexican Summer. Coinciding with the release, the LA based composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer released a new single called ‘Global Wind Trade’. Jazzy and more dance-driven, the track is unpredictable and catchy in equal parts. ‘Global Wind Trade’ comes with an accompanying video filmed and edited by Carson Davis Brown. Watch it below.

Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp set to release new album, Ventre Unique, in November

19 September 2024

Swiss-based multi-national collective Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp announced earlier this month the release of their sixth album. Entitled Ventre Unique, it follows their 2021 We’re Ok But We’re Lost Anyway and is due out on November 1st through Bongo Joe Records.

With an ever evolving line-up, including a rhythm section, percussion and string players, the group founded in Geneva in 2006 by double bass player and cultural activist Vincent Bertholet currently comprises 12 members. “This idea of changing line-ups is very important in the process of writing the music”, said Bertholet. “I always try to propose very simple ideas, which don’t require too much rehearsal to be played. The music must be simple so that whoever the musician is, it doesn’t change the sound of the band. It’s one of the key ideas behind the band and the compositions. We’re a collective force and individuals are not important.”

Impossible to be pigeonholed, with each member bringing a unique set of influences, Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp touch on everything from folk and krautrock to post-punk and African rhythms. Thematically, the upcoming Ventre Unique “seems to be one of people working out what they have in common”, as the press release release describes. “Miraculously, the group are able to tackle themes like these in a spirit of generosity, inspiring people to come together and dance – not to forget their troubles, but to forge a new commonality.”

Speaking about the album’s title, Bertholet commented:

“It comes from a sentence I sing in ‘Coagule’. Pour le moment, on coagule en un ventre unique, on s’agglomère autour d’un rêve commun” (which translates as “for the moment, we’re coagulating into a single womb, coalescing around a common dream.”). The idea is that we’re all the same, with all our differences. “We’re one, coming from Pachamama, also known as Mother Earth. Saying that, I feel it’s a bit cheesy, but it’s an important idea.”

Ahead of the album’s release, the collective have shared ‘Breath’, which serves as a first phenomenal taste of what’s coming. Take a listen below.

clipping. tease upcoming album with new track ‘Run It’

13 September 2024

Photo: Iddo Goldberg

West Coast experimental hip-hop trio clipping. dropped a massive tune yesterday that will have you out of your seat straight away. Titled ‘Run It’, the track is lifted from their “long-in-the-works Hip-Hop and Cyberpunk” upcoming album and marks their first new music since their 2020 widely acclaimed and insanely good Visions of Bodies Being Burned. Rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes, who make up the trio, are offering ‘Run It’ with a befittingly fast-paced video filled with quick cuts of cities in the US, Germany, South Korea, Thailand, India, and the Czech Republic, where it was filmed. Lawrence Klein directs. Watch it below.