Venturing out under his own name for Voices of Bishara, the Sons of Kemet and Smile drummer Tom Skinner drew inspiration from Abdul Wadud’s percussive approach to the cello and a jazz night at the London restaurant Brilliant Corners which boasts a simple conceit: a timeless classic is played back in the highest fidelity, before a group of live musicians improvise their response. In this case the dizzying debut Life Time by a young Tony Williams prompted an album of new material, with Skinner inviting Kareem Dayes, Nubya Garcia, Tom Herbert, and Shabaka Hutchings into the recording studio to render the results. In his own words Skinner then took a liberal approach with the scissors, cutting deep between the layers of bass, saxophone, and cello and looping sections for a tight 31-minute set of swallowing breadth and rippling grooves.
Björk unveils the first song from Fossora with references to A Lover’s Discourse by Roland Barthes, calling for unity amid the throng and clamour over six bass clarinets and beats from the Gabber Modus Operandi leader DJ Kasimyn. Laila Sakini draws from band practice and the Krzysztof Kieślowski drama The Double Life of Veronique for an album of dappled light, optical illusions, and nightswept mystery which magnifies the humble recorder. And the cellist and sound artist Dorothy Carlos gets her hands on the latest iteration of the Untitled Sound System by the synth builder and interdisciplinary sculptor Brian Oakes.
Staying in Brooklyn, the pianist Vicky Chow presents her interpretation of the first book of Etudes for Solo Piano by the reiterative composer Philip Glass. The saxophonist Abel Mireles makes easy listening out of the warm words and wise admonishments of his father, while the producer Maral tugs at the floodgates of history as contemporary club rhythms vie with Iranian folk fragments in a crashing and cascading feedback jam. Anunaku and Avalon Emerson combine for an extended play of melodic club music, while Rema and Selena Gomez keep it fine and mellow on the languorous remix to ‘Calm Down’.
After hearing two of her songs played over the airwaves of a BBC radio station, the Belgian violinist Catherine Graindorge fired off an email to the presiding disc jockey who goes by the name of Iggy Pop. The ensuing collaboration finds Iggy in the role of rapporteur as he engages the current threat over music which evokes ‘chalices, bodices, and old stones’. Dev Hynes throws in an underarm serve on a break from the US Open, Loraine James responds to ‘Femenine’ as the latest artist to burnish the legacy of Julius Eastman, and Sarah Davachi, Fire-Toolz, Hercules & Love Affair, Anohni, Drone Operatør, Key Glock, and Megan Thee Stallion complete the roundup of tracks.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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Laila Sakini – ‘The Light That Flickers In The Mirror’
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Catherine Graindorge – ‘The Dictator’ (feat. Iggy Pop)
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Hercules & Love Affair & ANOHNI – ‘One’
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Loraine James – ‘Choose To Be Gay (Femenine)’
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Rema & Selena Gomez – ‘Calm Down’
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Megan Thee Stallion – ‘Ungrateful’ (feat. Key Glock)
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Fire-Toolz – ‘Vedic Software ~ Wet Interfacing’
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Blood Orange – ‘Jesus Freak Lighter’
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