World music – Page 8 – 7th Level Music

Turning Jewels into Water releases title track from upcoming album – “Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars.”

Photo courtesy of Red Bull Music New York

Turning Jewels Into Water – the duo of Haitian-born drummer, DJ, educator and electronic music artist Val Jeanty and Indian-born drummer, producer and educator Ravish Momin –announce their new album, Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars, out August 21st on FPE Records, and share the lead single/video. It follows their 2019 album Map of Absences. For Our Reflection Momin and Jeanty take their dynamic musical partnership to even greater heights and more intense depths. Imbued with the spirit of collaboration and influenced by cutting-edge sounds like South African Gqom, Our Reflection reaches across oceans and continents, connecting the ancient with the modern.

As a collaborative project, Turning Jewels Into Water began when Jeanty participated in a jam session at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn while Momin was artist-in-residence there in September 2017. Their collaboration, rooted in improvisation, evokes the esoteric realms of the creative subconscious. Drawing from the Vodun religion, Val recreates the ancient rhythms and pulse of Haiti through digital beats, while Momin, whose own musical background is rooted in Indian, North African and Middle-Eastern traditions, has developed an original blend of electro-acoustic beats, drawing together the improvisational traditions in Jazz and Indian folk music. Together, they employ cutting-edge music-technological tools such as acoustic drums outfitted with Sensory Percussion triggers, Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) drum pads and Smart Fabric MIDI Controllers, but still emphasize the ritual aspects of creating music in the digital realm.

Speaking to the collaborative approach they took to making Our Reflection, Momin explains that he and Jeanty lead an ensemble of musicians from around the world, with the end product being a challenge to the ethnic fetishizing that far-too commonly comes along with global/world music. In March 2020, Momin had already reached out to other artists for remote contributions, including Iranian singer/daf player Kamyar Arsani (based in Washington, DC) and friend Mpho Molikeng, a master musician of South African indigenous instruments (based in Lesotho). Jeanty had already set up a base in Boston (for her newly appointed position as a professor at Berklee College of Music) and was also planning on collaborating remotely. “Therefore, once mandatory quarantines went into effect across the US and the world in mid-March, it had little impact on our creative process,” says Momin. “The resulting album has elements that are at once familiar and unfamiliar, as we evoke a digital folk music from nowhere.”

Accompanying the lead single is a video created by Art Jones. “The video for ‘Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars’ explores the narrative of the Siddis – Indians of East African origin, who were merchants, sailors and even rulers of Indian territories, but have now been marginalized and have had their histories erased,” says Momin. “As the #BLM movement rightfully gains prominence across the globe, we wanted to raise awareness of the anti-blackness that is deeply embedded in other cultures as well.”

With Our Reflection Adorned By Newly Formed Stars, Turning Jewels Into Water uses forward-thinking electronic music and experimentation to tap into a continuum of folk music that is as old as time itself. Also, containing remixes from Laughing Ears, and EMB, the music here is Indian, African, Afro-Caribbean and global all at once. By combining their unique cultural experiences Jeanty and Momin are bold enough to allow all of the tensions and commonalities to play freely and resolve themselves in the music.
Watch “Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars” Video:
https://youtu.be/YWb1D-aNrUY

Pre-order Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars:
https://turningjewelsintowater.bandcamp.com/album/our-reflection-adorned-by-newly-formed-stars

Our Reflection Adorned by Newly Formed Stars Tracklist:
1. Swirl in the Waters
2. Flower in Flames
3. Janjira in a Flash
4. Our Reflections Adorned by Newly Formed Stars
5. Whispers under Dal Lake
6. Kerala in My Heart
7. Crushed Petals and Stones Fall on My Drum
8. Crushed Petals and Stones Fall on My Drum (Laughing Ears Remix)
9. Flower in Flames (EMB Remix)

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[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Khruangbin’s “Pelota” is another lovely new single from their forthcoming album.

“Through textures of funk, disco and Middle Eastern avant-garde, ‘Mordechai’ is a nostalgic LP that explores human memory. ‘Dearest Alfred’ lionizes the letters that Lee’s grandfather would write to his twin brother, and ‘If There Is No Question’ recalls the gospel songs Speer and Johnson would perform in church. On ‘Shida,’ the album’s sultry closer, Khruangbin turns its attention to the early 1980s, bringing elements of Sade to mind, with gentle vocal sighs floating along the fringes and ethereal guitar chords pinned to the back of the mix.” — The New York Times

“From the French New Wave sounds to ’70s get-down grooves like ‘So We Won’t Forget,’ it looks to be further evidence of the group’s restless creative muse paying off.”
— The A.V. Club, “albums we can’t wait to hear in June”

“Travel and discovery through music has always been at the center of what Khruangbin creates, and Mordechai promises to be another step in the voyage.”
— Paste, “The 10 Albums We’re Most Excited About in June”

Khruangbin – the trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums) – present new single, “Pelota,” alongside its accompanying video, directed by Hugo Rodrigues Rodriguez, written by Alvaro Sotomayor and produced by Glassworks Creative Studio. The track is off of their highly-anticipated new album, Mordechai, out next Friday, June 26th on Dead Oceans in association with Night Time Stories. “Pelota” follows the “bright, soothing” (Rolling Stone) “So We Won’t Forget” and lead single “Time (You and I).” “A Texan band with a Thai name singing a song in Spanish, loosely based on a Japanese movie,” says Khruangbin of the track, which opens with a flurry of guitar and Ochoa, Speer, and Johnson’s sun-tinged unison vocals.

Watch Khruangbin’s Video for “Pelota” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UULIfPLMuDw

Mordechai comes two years after the release of Khruangbin’s beloved and acclaimed breakthrough, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo, and was preceded earlier this year by Texas Sun, the group’s collaborative EP with Leon Bridges. As a first for the mostly instrumental band, Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it.

In conjunction with the upcoming release of Mordechai, Khruangbin have also relaunched AirKhruang, their popular flight playlist generator tool that gives fans a platform to enjoy their music curation when travel is not possible. “Shelter In Space” sends listeners on a musical voyage from the safety of their homes by utilizing Spotify’s music attributes to generate custom playlists set for a user-chosen activity and duration.

Watch Video for “So We Won’t Forget” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4KMGiy–Y

Watch Video for “Time (You and I)” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc50wHexbwg

Book A Playlist Curated By Khruangbin Via AirKhruang –
https://space.airkhruang.com

Pre-order Mordechai –
https://khruangbin.ffm.to/mordechai

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Khruangbin’s “So We Won’t Forget” is an uplifting track for tough times.

Khruangbin – the trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums) – release new single, “So We Won’t Forget,” a track from their forthcoming album, Mordechai, out June 26th on Dead Oceans, in association with Night Time Stories. In conjunction with today’s announcement, the band also share the new single’s accompanying video, directed by Scott Dungate and co-produced by Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo x Nakama. Following lead singe / video “Time (You and I),” “one of the most immediately likable things that the band has put out” (Stereogum), the lilting “So We Won’t Forget” finds Ochoa filling her apartment with memories she’s scrawled on Post-Its to prevent them slipping away. Over soothing, guitar and light-stepping percussion, the band’s honeyed voices urge in unison: “call me what you want // call me what you need // words don’t have to say // keep it to myself.”

“Memory is a powerful thing,” says Khruangbin. “Now more than ever it’s important to tell the people you love that you love them, so that they don’t forget.”

Watch Video for “So We Won’t Forget” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4KMGiy–Y

In conjunction with “So We Won’t Forget,” Khruangbin are pleased to announce the relaunch of AirKhruang, their popular flight playlist generator tool that gives fans a platform to enjoy their music curation when travel is not possible. “Shelter In Space” sends listeners on a musical voyage from the safety of their homes by utilizing Spotify’s music attributes to generate custom playlists set for a user-chosen activity and duration.

Book A Playlist Curated By Khruangbin Via AirKhruang –
https://space.airkhruang.com

Mordechai comes two years after the release of Khruangbin’s beloved and acclaimed breakthrough, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo, and was preceded earlier this year by Texas Sun, the group’s collaborative EP with Leon Bridges. As a first for the mostly instrumental band, Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it.

The band’s ever-restless ear sees them pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, Mordechai is a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that has nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night. It is a snapshot taken along a larger journey—a moment all the more beautiful for its impermanence. And it’s a memory to revisit again and again, speaking to us now more clearly than ever.

Watch Video for “Time (You and I)” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc50wHexbwg

Pre-order Mordechai –
https://khruangbin.ffm.to/mordechai

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Sudanese pop star Gordon Koang and Australian producer Ginoli drop one of the funkiest tracks of 2020 so far – “Mal Mi Goa.”

“All my songs [are] talking about love, unity and peace… From today it’s very important to love one another.” – The Guardian

Watch the Video for “Mal Mi Goa (Ginoli Remix)”
https://youtu.be/wNz6D9vV1Jk

Legendary South Sudanese pop star and 2019’s BIGSOUND Levi’s Prize winner Gordon Koang releases a new track/ video, “Mal Mi Goa (Ginoli Remix).” As remixed by Ginoli (moniker of James Ireland, Perth-based producer and drummer of Pond), is an eclectic mix of Koang’s joyful voice, thom (an East African stringed instrument that Gordon has modified to suit his unique style of playing), and danceable, swelling synth. It marks the first release from Music In Exile REMIXED EP, out June 5th, part of a series of collaborations between producers from Australia’s burgeoning electronic scene and artists from a refugee and migrant background.

Gordon Koang was born blind and began playing music from an early age, busking on the streets of Juba and producing his own self-released CD-R’s and cassettes. He became a crowd favourite and began recording a series of singles and music videos celebrating South Sudan’s cultural wealth. His music went viral, spreading throughout the country, and his reputation quickly grew as the poet and homegrown hero of the Nuer people, sometimes called the “Michael Jackson of South Sudan.”

In 2013, while Koang was performing to expatriate Nuer communities in Australia, renewed conflict broke out at home. He made a difficult and heartbreaking decision to not return to Sudan, applying to the Australian government for humanitarian protection. After six long years of waiting, living in a foreign country far away from his family, he now proudly calls himself an “Australian,” and eagerly awaits the day he will rejoin his wife and children in safety.

With “Mal Mia Goa (Ginoli Remix),” Gordon hopes to reach as many new listeners as he can in his adopted country, and around the world. He wants everyone, and he means everyone, to hear his message of peace and unity, regardless of religion or cultural differences. After a painfully first-hand experience of what these rifts between people can create, Gordon has devoted his life, and his music, to a simple message of peace, love and unity.

Download / Pre-order “Mal Mi Goa (Ginoli Remix)” –
https://orcd.co/ginoli

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[Thanks to Brid at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Khruangbin’s new single, “Time (You and I),” is a stunner.

“Time changes everything.” — Khruangbin

Khruangbin, the Houston-based group comprised of bassist Laura Lee Ochoa, guitarist Mark Speer, and drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson, are pleased to announce their new album, Mordechai, out June 26th on Dead Oceans, in association with Night Time Stories. Mordechai comes two years after the release of their beloved and acclaimed breakthrough, 2018’s Con Todo El Mundo, and was preceded earlier this year by Texas Sun, the group’s collaborative EP with Leon Bridges. Today, they present the vibrant, Felix Heyes & Josh R.R. King-directed video for Mordechai’s lead single, “Time (You and I)”.

Khruangbin has always been multilingual, weaving far-flung musical languages like East Asian surf-rock, Persian funk, and Jamaican dub into mellifluous harmony. As a first for the mostly instrumental band, Mordechai features vocals prominently on nearly every song. It’s a shift that rewards the risk, reorienting Khruangbin’s transportive sound toward a new sense of emotional directness, without losing the spirit of nomadic wandering that’s always defined it. And it all started with them coming home.

By the summer of 2019, Khruangbin had been on tour for nearly three-and-a-half years, playing to ever-expanding audiences across North and South America, Europe, and southeast Asia in support of both Con Todo El Mundo and their 2015 debut, The Universe Smiles Upon You. They returned to their farmhouse studio in Burton, Texas, ready to begin work on Mordechai. But they were also determined to slow down, to take their time and luxuriate in building something together.

It’s a lesson Lee had recently learned with the help of a new friend, a near-stranger who had reached out when she was feeling particularly unmoored, inviting her to come hiking with his family. That day, as they’d all made their way toward the distant promise of a waterfall, Lee had felt a dawning clarity about the importance of appreciating the journey, rather than rushing headlong toward the next destination. When they reached the waterfall at last, Lee’s friend urged her to jump, a leap she likens to a baptism. As she did, he screamed her name—her full name, the one she’d recently taken from her grandfather. In that instant, Laura Lee Ochoa was reborn. She emerged feeling liberated, grateful for what her friend had shown her. His name was Mordechai.

Ochoa’s rejuvenation found its expression in words—hundreds of pages’ worth, which she’d filled over a self-imposed day of silence. As Khruangbin began putting together the songs that would make up Mordechai, discovering in them spaces it seemed like only vocals could fill, they turned to those notebooks. Khruangbin had experimented with lyrics before, but this time Ochoa had found she had something to say. Letting those words ring out gave Khruangbin’s cavernous music a new thematic depth.

Chief among those themes is memory—holding onto it, letting it go, naming it before it disappears. The sun-dappled disco of lead single “Time (You And I)” evinces the feeling of a festival winding down to its final blowout hours. Its accompanying video features comedian Stephen K. Amos and Lunda Anele-Skosana. The duo wander around London, placing singular sandcastles throughout the city’s various scenery.

Musically, the band’s ever-restless ear saw them pulling reference points from Pakistan, Korea, and West Africa, incorporating strains of Indian chanting boxes and Congolese syncopated guitar. But more than anything, Mordechai became a celebration of Houston, the eclectic city that had nurtured them, and a cultural nexus where you can check out country and zydeco, trap rap, or avant-garde opera on any given night. It is a snapshot taken along a larger journey—a moment all the more beautiful for its impermanence. And it’s a memory to revisit again and again, speaking to us now more clearly than ever.

Watch the Video for “Time (You and I)” –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc50wHexbwg

Mordechai Tracklist:
1. First Class
2. Time (You and I)
3. Connaissais de Face
4. Father Bird, Mother Bird
5. If There is No Question
6. Pelota
7. One to Remember
8. Dearest Alfred
9. So We Won’t Forget
10. Shida

Pre-order Mordechai –
https://khruangbin.ffm.to/mordechai

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR!]

Top 30 albums of 2019: #’s 5 – 1

Here we are at the top of the list of the best things I heard and reviewed in 2019.

#5 – The Well – Death and Consolation

Good grief, this album crushes. It’s my favorite stoner / doom metal album of the year. It doesn’t just wallop you with it’s heaviness though, the grooves on it are top-notch and the Well keep a raw edge to it that’s difficult for lesser bands to match.

#4 – Mdou Moctar – Ilana (The Creator)

A beautiful record of Tuareg rock from a guy who, in his spare time when he’s not shredding a handmade guitar, builds schools in Algeria. The album is a spiritual journey and a showcase for Moctar’s amazing guitar work.

#3 – Here Lies Man – No Ground to Walk Upon

These guys make the funkiest psych-doom you’ve heard. Playing psych-doom through African rhythms and jazz flourishes, HLM’s newest explore impermanence, transcendence, and the power of nature.

#2 – Priests – The Seduction of Kansas

If you’re going out, go out on a high note. Priests, who have announced an amicable breakup for the time being, did just that with the excellent album The Seduction of Kansas – a post-punk gem that tackles modern politics, toxic masculinity, bullying, sex, and, of course, rock and roll. This was my #1 album for most of the year until along came an album that should’ve have been good at all…

#1 – Föllakzoid – I

I just realized that my #1 album of the year is called I. This record should not have worked. Föllakzoid’s three members each recorded their own parts (guitars and vocals, synths, drums) separately and then gave all the elements to their producer – who had heard none of them before – and more or less told him, “Make a record out of this.” He did, and the result is an amazing synthwave record that’s like the score to an unreleased Phillip K. Dick film adaptation. I described this process to my wife, who then asked, “So whose album is it?” Is it Föllakzoid’s? The producers? Both? Neither? The band has said they consider it a communal experience for everyone involved and the listener. In these times of fractionated politics and drawing lines in the sand, we need more albums like that.

There you have it. Onto 2020!

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Top 30 live shows of 2019: #’s 25 – 21

Here we are at the top 25 best live shows I saw this year. Let’s get to it.

#25 Bebel Gilberto – Birchmere – Alexandria, VA – June 22nd

This was a lovely acoustic, intimate set with Bebel Gilberto and her guitarist in a small venue. Her voice was delightful, as always, and there was a funny moment when she had a wardrobe malfunction and her guitarist had to fix her top onstage.

#24 ORB – Aragon Ballroom – Chicago, IL – August 24th

I hadn’t seen ORB for a couple years, so it was good to catch up with them and see them as a four-piece for the first time. They hadn’t lost any of their heavy power and crushing riffs.

#23 Prettiest Eyes – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL – October 11th

The energy expelled during a Prettiest Eyes set could power a tank. They’re frantic and manic, but still a tight machine that can stop on a dime. We were eager to see them again after catching them last year at Levitation France, and we were bouncing during the whole set (in each venue).

#22 The KVB – Levitation Austin – November 10th

I was eager to see the KVB at Levitation Austin this year after not being able to catch a show they played in Chicago a month earlier. They put on a good set that was everything I wanted – synth wave, krautrock, and shoegaze. It was also their first time playing in Austin, so that made the show extra special for all involved.

#21 Minami Deutsch – Levitation Austin – November 07th

Speaking of Levitation Austin, another great set we saw there (on the coldest night of the festival, no less) was from Minami Deutsch – a Japanese krautrock band. It was a flow of rock grooves, precise beats, and hypnotic drone. I became an instant fan and later chatted with lead guitarist, Kyo, about chicken shawarma wraps.

Who made the top 20? Come back tomorrow to find out.

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Review: Gong Gong Gong – Phantom Rhythm

Beijing’s duo of Gong Gong Gong (Joshua Frank – bass, Tom Ng – guitar and vocals) might have the most aptly titled album of 2019 – Phantom Rhythm. It’s apt because they don’t have a drummer. All the rhythm on their astounding debut album is made by Frank’s thumping, snappy bass and Ng’s manic, sharp guitar.

All of the album’s vocals are in Cantonese, and the intonations and sounds of the language accentuate the intriguing phantom rhythms throughout the record. “The Last Note” starts with jangly guitar chords and up-tuned bass that almost bring to mind chanted mantras atop a Chinese mountain before the song breaks into a fast gallop. “Notes Underground” continues the rapid pace as Ng sings about walking away from a finished relationship without any lasting grudges on either side.

The phantom rhythm of Ng’s guitar is in full effect on “Ride Your Horse,” a song about eschewing modern technology for tradition. “Moonshadows” has some of Frank’s funkiest bass as Ng sings about the ocean, or sex, or maybe both. “Scattered state, breath quickens, unknowable grasping imperfection,” Ng sings (again, in Cantonese) on the post-punk rocker “Inner Reaches.” It’s a sharp track about avoiding the present moment, as is “Gong Gong Gong Blues.” “Wei Wei Wei” is a grunting, down-and-dirty, fuzzy fire burning through your speakers.

The slower “Some Kind of Demon” seems to be about indecision or some sort of malaise that Ng can’t quite define. We’ve all met this demon at one point in our lives. “Night’s Colour (Chongqing)” is a cool instrumental that almost sounds like warped carnival music at first. The album ends with the heavy “Sounds of Love” – a song about love’s complications and expectations. The tune swirls around the reverb of Ng’s vocals with Frank’s charging bass and some of Ng’s wildest, fuzziest guitar riffs.

It’s a wild record, and easily one of the most intriguing of the year. Their sound is like a phantom – something you can feel and experience but not quite grasp.

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Review: Here Lies Man – No Ground to Walk Upon

Marcos Garcia, the founder / vocalist / guitarist / multi-instrumentalist of Here Lies Man says his band is “…very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs.” That principle is indeed the driving force the HLM’s new album – No Ground to Walk Upon.

The album opens with the fuzzy, funky “Clad in Silver,” which has Garcia singing spiritual lyrics over a groove that might induce a trance in you (so be careful if you’re operating heavy machinery while listening, especially to the last third of it). “Swinging from the Trees” has wicked hand percussion throughout it, taking lead even from the strong bass riffs and 1970’s action movie guitars.

“Long Legs (Look Away)” immediately makes you feel like a bad ass in one of those above-mentioned action movies. The groove is inescapable and will have you feeling invincible. The drum work on “Washing Bones” is just as good, with a harder rock feel than previous tracks.

The Santana influences on “Get Ahold of Yourself” cannot be denied. Listen to those congas and “no need to rush” guitar licks if you don’t believe me. “Iron Rattles” rattles and rolls with a spooky feel to it that curls up next to you in the dark. The album ends with “Man Falls Down,” the title of which reflects a common theme in HLM’s work – nature will always win. Man can strut around all he likes, but in the end, nature will have the final say. Man falls down, gets up, continues on, but nature always waits to reclaim us.

Every song on this album ends by drifting into instrumental experiments, and the last one sends us away wondering what’s to come next from Here Lies Man, and for us all. There is no ground to walk upon when we are floating in a dream or away from our corporeal bodies through meditation or, yes, death. Nature is nothing to fear, as are death, truth, and disillusionment. This album reminds us of that.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Bebel Gilberto – Birchmere Music Hall – Alexandria, VA – June 22, 2019

We were delighted to see Bebel Gilberto again this year. In case you still don’t know, Ms. Gilberto is bossa nova royalty and has one of the loveliest voices on the planet. She played at a small venue outside Washington D.C. while we were on a trip there last month.

It was just her and her guitarist, Guerreiro Montero, playing an intimate set of some of her favorites like “Baby,” “Aganju,” “Simplesmente,” “Mais Feliz,” and her fine covers of Neil Young‘s “Harvest Moon” and Radiohead‘s “Creep.”

It was our first time seeing her without a percussionist, but she and Montero did a great job and kept everyone entertained and bouncing. Ms. Gilberto knows how to work an audience and stage and there was a funny moment when she bowed and accidentally knocked her microphone off its stand. She bent over to pick it up and the top of her dress came undone as she did so. Montero, blushing and giggling all the while, had to fix the wardrobe malfunction on stage. She handled it well and used the moment to make jokes and flirt with the audience.

She recently finished her spring tour, but don’t miss her show if she’s near you. Any opportunity to see her live should be taken.

Keep your mind open.

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