Collaboration is the key word this week, as Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen light one up on an irresistible duet. Danny Brown leads the Bruiser Brigade alongside Bruiser Wolf, J.U.S, Fat Ray, and the loop assassin Raphy, Polo G and Lil Wayne keep the rap game on lock, and with ROSALÍA on vocals, the downcast gaze of Oneohtrix Point Never shines with a little added lustre.
Fresh from a nine-month retreat at Gampo Abbey, a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia, Red River Dialect frontman David John Morris teams up with the percussionist Thor Harris and double bassist Thierry Amar to manifest his inner smile. The rapper Rey Sapienz tags with Papalas Palata and Fresh Dougis on a debut album representing the Democratic Republic of Congo. Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast shacks up inside a billion dollar bunker with made man Michael Imperioli. And the British jazz quartet Sons of Kemet partner with Moor Mother and Angel Bat Dawid as part of an Afrocentric ode to black culture.
The percussionist Eli Keszler draws from ancient scales and jazzy abstractions and dredges up some of the cultural ephemera of New York as he strives for a feeling of imperial decay on his upcoming solo record. Penelope Trappes seeks sustenance through her take on the Egyptian goddess Isis, Murcof doubles up with two works for the dance company Alias, and Mach-Hommy make a triumphant return to Griselda. The Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar rips a hole in the sky on his searing new album Afrique Victime. And tracks by JFDR, Lana Del Rey, Das Beat, Adeline, Causeway, and Tirzah round out the best of the week’s music.
Playlists: Spotify · Apple Music · YouTube
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Sharon Van Etten & Angel Olsen – ‘Like I Used To’
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David John Morris – ‘Inner Smile’
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Rey Sapienz & The Congo Techno Ensemble – ‘Eza Makambo’
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Mach-Hommy – ‘The 26th Letter’
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Oneohtrix Point Never & ROSALÍA – ‘Nothing’s Special’
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Penelope Trappes – ‘Blood Moon’
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Lana Del Rey – ‘Blue Banisters’
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Japanese Breakfast – ‘Savage Good Boy’
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Causeway – ‘Your Silent Face’
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Polo G & Lil Wayne – ‘GANG GANG’
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Sons of Kemet – ‘Pick Up Your Burning Cross’ (feat. Moor Mother & Angel Bat Dawid)
