Fashioned from vocal motifs first uttered in the cool caves of Java, recorded fifty kilometres north of Warsaw in the Modlin Fortress at the confluence of two rivers, on Lamunan the experimental artist Antonina Nowacka pulls nymphic choral music out of the dank and echoing surrounds. From Ho Chi Minh City, the restless creativity of Rắn Cạp Đuôi comes of age as the trio roll out their debut album, while Lucia Nimcová and Sholto Dobie have ventured up the Carpathian Mountains to preserve khroniky, the bawdy local chronicles which the Rusyn turn to song.
From Den Haag, De Schuurman uses FruityLoops to fuse Afrobeat and electro, The Ophelias reminisce over Neil Young in the company of Julien Baker, and Big Jade and OMB Bloodbath have a bus full of haters to put on blast. Ginesse downs sports drinks and dwells on planets in retrograde, Deux Filles return pastorally with their faux-Gallic flair, and Foodman chews up footwork sans bass.
On ‘Zodiac’ the Danish songwriter Ydegirl explores coming-of-age dualities through the silvery lens of a marching band. On The Turning Wheel, the Bay Area artist SPELLLING orchestrates a thirty-one-strong ensemble for synthpop in the round. There is doom metal from KING WOMAN, feverish dance music from Belia Winnewisser, and songs by María Isabel, Mariah the Scientist, Combo Chimbita, Mykki Blanco, and Maple Glider make out the best of the week.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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The Ophelias – ‘Neil Young on High’ (feat. Julien Baker)
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Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective – ‘Infinite’
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Ginesse – ‘Gatorade’
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María Isabel – ‘No Soy Para Ti’
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De Schuurman – ‘Nu Ga Je Dansen’
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Combo Chimbita – ‘Mujer Jaguar’
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Big Jade – ‘Pressed’ (feat. OMB Bloodbath)
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Belia Winnewisser – ‘The Cave with Lost Leaves’
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Mariah the Scientist – ‘Aura’
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Foodman – ‘Michi No Eki’ (feat. Taigen Kawabe)
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Mykki Blanco – ‘It’s Not My Choice’ (feat. Blood Orange)
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Lucia Nimcová & Sholto Dobie – ‘Cuckoo is cooing, lifeless in a world of misery’
