On her second album for Hyperdub, the electronic artist Loraine James pours cold water on the pandemic-fuelled flames of anxiety, dousing grimy atmospherics and scattershot drill percussion in synth washes and vocalised waves of R&B. Kajsa Lindgren leans into the lapping tide as the composer mixes strings and keys on her first for Recital. And Maria Spivak reduces the golden hour to a passing reflection, on a record of gauzy dream pop which gazes out wistfully over the Mediterranean Sea.
From Borneo Island by way of the nightclubs of Bangkok, the queer activist and underground staple Wanton Witch shatters the shackles of genre. The Los Angeles harpist Nailah Hunter covers a trio of cult classics, finishing with a harrowing rendition of the Radiohead B-side āTalk Show Hostā. āGlass Peachā by JovialeĀ goes down fuzzily, Mykki Blanco and Kari Faux get together for a summer fling, Kele Okereke seeks the centre amid foaming and gushing, and the pianist Hania Rani finds momentary solace on āThe Beachā.
Throwing Snow goes the extra mile as he rolls out his audiovisually-augmented album Dragons. Nick Cave shares a personal testament which grapples with the vastness of grief. Raheem DeVaughn and Apollo Brown get ready to commit alongside Westside Boogie, DMX and Griselda shrug off the blues, and Armand Hammer, The Alchemist, and Earl Sweatshirt eye the black clouds and blue skies of youth. Tracks by Moor Mother, Brockhampton, BXB Love, Das Beat, and Desire round out the best of the week.
Playlists: Spotify Ā· Apple Music Ā· YouTube
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Kele ā āThe Heart of the Waveā
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Hania Rani ā āThe Beachā
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Joviale ā āGlass Peachā
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Mykki Blanco ā āSummer Flingā (feat. Kari Faux)
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Throwing Snow ā āTravellerā
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BROCKHAMPTON ā āDONāT SHOOT UP THE PARTYā
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DMX ā āHood Bluesā (feat. Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher, and Conway the Machine)
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Loraine James ā āRunning Like Thatā (feat. Eden Samara)
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Kajsa Lindgren ā āPunesā
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Nailah Hunter ā āTalk Show Hostā
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Nick Cave & Warren Ellis ā āLetter to Cynthiaā
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Desire ā āGhostsā
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Raheem DeVaughn & Apollo Brown ā āJust Fall In Loveā (feat. Westside Boogie)
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Wanton Witch ā āDaddyās Girlā
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BXB LOVE ā āmatrixā
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Armand Hammer & The Alchemist ā āFalling Out the Skyā (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)
