This week Julia Holter joins the likes of Arca, Blood Orange, Joseph Shabason, and Kelsey Lu by reimagining the Keyboard Fantasies of Beverly Glenn-Copeland, drawing out the swirling builds and timely pastoral textures of ‘Winter Astral’ for the rippling warmth and dark and lustrous reveries of ‘Fastest Star’. Animal Collective enlist a couple of aerial acrobats for their ramshackle tribute to Scott Walker. And Eiko Ishibashi dedicates her latest record to Jack McCoy just as the character readies a return to Law & Order, with layers of flute and saxophone buttressed by Jim O’Rourke on the double bass and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto on drums.
From the Umlazi township of Durban, the gqom pioneer Menzi Shabane melds scorching beats and fraying electronics with the ingoma drums whose syncopated rhythms accompany sangoma graduation ceremonies. An industrial summoning of heat and pressure, the video for ‘Impazamo’ features neon face masks designed in tandem with the streetwear and ritual attire brand Bluepriest. Vladislav Delay deconstructs four tracks from the Last Afternoon of Takuma Watanabe, People Skills slow down the ‘Semi-Charmed Life’ of Third Eye Blind, and Flaty and OL recombine for the shattered soundscapes of SERWED III.
The electric drone choir NYX collaborate with the spoken word artist MA.MOYO through a process of iterative and metamorphic meditation. With the finish line in sight as they unveil their twelfth record of the calendar, the violinist Laura Cannell and cellist Kate Ellis embrace the month of December with ancient carol melodies, snippets of folklore, and seasonal shafts of light. Flatbush Zombies and RZA pour one out for Quentin Tarantino, Jacques Greene showcases the best of the LuckyMe roster, and Ruth Radelet steps out solo with a cover of Elliott Smith for the Kill Rock Stars thirtieth anniversary series. IDLES, Somfay, Big Thief, NNEKA, and Tierra Whack complete the roundup.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
* * *
Vladislav Delay & Takuma Watanabe – ‘Clouds Fall x Tactile’
* * *
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – ‘Fastest Star’ (Julia Holter Remix)
* * *
IDLES – ‘When the Lights Come On’
* * *
* * *
Somfay – ‘Waterwalker’
* * *
Laura Cannell & Kate Ellis – ‘In Memory and Light’
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
NNEKA – ‘Maya’
* * *
Flatbush Zombies & RZA – ‘Quentin Tarantino’
* * *
People Skills – ‘Semi-Charmed Life’
* * *
Eiko Ishibashi – ‘Ask me how I sleep at night’
* * *
* * *
NYX – ‘Mutualism’ (feat. MA.MOYO)
* * *
Boldy James & The Alchemist – ‘Flight Risk’
* * *
* * *
Tierra Whack – ‘Heaven’
