This week the Los Angeles-based new music collective Wild Up return with their second volume of works by the late composer Julius Eastman, combining the fiery minimalism of early pieces like ‘Stay On It’ and ‘Touch Him When’ with stately and shimmering renditions of the previously unrecorded ‘Joy Boy’ and ‘Buddha’. Francesca Heart anchors her limpid ambient projections in hallowed architecture and personal pilgrimages from the San Gregorio Armeno monastery in Naples to the nymphaeum of the Villa Giulia in Rome. And Cécile McLorin Salvant mashes up The Wizard of Oz and Gregory Porter, while Zombie-Chang plays the cunning soubrette switching up roles through the lure of Donkey Kong, Bomberman, and more vintage Nintendo.
Down from the Appalachian Mountains bearing the folk patterns, swirling incantations, and full-throated sonority of Albert Ayler at his peak, the New York-based tenor saxophonist and flautist Zoh Amba joins forces with the legendary bassist William Parker and percussionist Francisco Mela for her full-length debut on 577 Records, while John Dikeman, Péter Ajtai, and Nicolas Field empty their bowels over the course of an improvisational afternoon in Amsterdam for the digital-only Orbit577 imprint. From the Umlazi township to the southwest of Durban, the vocal trio Phelimuncasi overlay the squelching beats and dancefloor blasts of local producers plus NET GALA of SVBKVLT with breakneck call-and-response in both Zulu and English.
In one sitting the guitarist and saxophonist Sam Gendel and the eleven-year-old ingenue Antonia Cytrynowicz recorded a suite of offbeat torch songs which lie somewhere between a daylit Julee Cruise and seasick Blossom Dearie. The Nigerian label Mavin Records celebrates ten years with a roundup of its stars, Ezra Furman dwells inside a never-ending sunset, and Glen and Oso Leone share a little love and shed a little light from Barcelona by way of the Balearics. Walt McClements, Patrick Shiroishi, Claire Rousay, Emily Harper Scott, and Martha Skye Murphy are among the many highlights of the first compilation by American Dreams, while tracks by Kendrick Lamar, Wilco, Mary Halvorson, and Rosalía complete the roundup of new music.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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Kendrick Lamar – ‘The Heart Part 5’
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Zoh Amba – ‘O Life, O Light’ (feat. William Parker & Francisco Mela)
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Mavins, Crayon, Ayra Starr, LADIPOE, Magixx, and Boy Spyce – ‘Overdose’
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Phelimuncasi – ‘Kolamula Ukusa’ (feat. DJ Ndakx)
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John Dikeman, Péter Ajtai, and Nicolas Field – ‘Constipated Piggy’
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ZOMBIE-CHANG – ‘Switch’
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Wilco – ‘Tired Of Taking It Out On You’
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Ezra Furman – ‘Forever In Sunset’
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Patrick Shiroishi – ‘Waiting for Friends at Tokyo Station’
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Sam Gendel & Antonia Cytrynowicz – ‘WONDERING, WAITING’
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Cécile McLorin Salvant – ‘Optimistic Voices / No Love Dying’
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Glen & Oso Leone – ‘Lil Light’
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ROSALÍA – ‘DELIRIO DE GRANDEZA’
