After four recording sessions from Topanga Canyon to the Rocky Mountains, shadowed by crackling fires and train whistles and fortified by ritualistic dips in ice-cold creeks, Big Thief officially unveil Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You as their sprawling nearing double album. Jessy Lanza embarks on a club odyssey through her mix for the DJ-Kicks series. And Jamael Dean constructs a seven-minute suite out of four tracks from Primordial Waters, featuring Sharada Shashidhar, Jasik, Jira ><, and Mekala ‘Mickey’ Session while drawing imagery and symbolism from the centre of black Los Angeles in Leimert Park.
On his first album in six years as Huerco S., the Kansas producer veers towards car mechanics and the mournful sodium glow of cities at night as shards of trap and drill puncture his ambient house palette. The Tunisian multi-instrumentalist Houeida Hedfi and Olof Dreijer of The Knife blend contemporary sound design with Sufi trance and traditional folk. Makaya McCraven takes a slice out of the middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone, as the beat scientist puts a modern bounce on Blue Note jazz classics. And after joining the cast of Deciphering The Message, the longtime Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker steps out on his lonesome for the shifting textures of Forfolks.
Holly Childs and Gediminas Žygus partner up with Mark Prendergast for a deconstruction of the unboxing video, while a couple of additional songs from his acclaimed album Icons see the percussionist Eli Keszler dredge up more of the cultural detritus of New York. Frankie Rose and Matthew Hord share glossy synth stabs as Fine Place, while µ-Ziq and Mrs Jynx forge ebullience out of grief. Blackhaine straddles the streets of Salford, Earl Sweatshirt patches the decades over production by Black Noi$e, Holy Other emerges from Bidston Observatory with his long-awaited second album, and Doran, Freddie Gibbs, Jessica Moss, and Alfa Mist complete the tracks of the week.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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Houeida Hedfi – ‘Envol du Mékong’
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Holly Childs, Gediminas Žygus, and Mark Prendergast – ‘Hand Axe’
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Blackhaine – ‘And Salford Falls Apart’
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Earl Sweatshirt – ‘2010’
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Makaya McCraven – ‘A Slice of the Top (AKA Sliced Off The Top)’
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Jamael Dean – ‘Primordial Waters’
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Jessy Lanza – ‘Wet x3’ (feat. Taraval)
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Holy Other – ‘Shudder’ (feat. NYX & Daniel Thorne)
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Doran – ‘Our Captain Cried All Hands’
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Freddie Gibbs – ‘Black Illuminati’ (feat. Jadakiss)
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Jessica Moss – ‘Distortion Harbour’
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