Steven Brown drops Resist music video
Following “Warning”, the first single off his gorgeous, upcoming album, Tuxedomoon co-frontman Steven Brown releases a music video for a song whose chorus resounds all the more ominously right now: "The past is not over, the past is not past I have no choice but to be An enemy of my time, this faceless tyranny time This fiendish time, this time of fiends"Directed by Sergio Mérida and shot in Oaxaca, Mexico, the video alternates between footage of social rebellion in Mexico and other parts of the world, and shots of Steven performing the song in a Belle Epoque theatre.
The lyrics are partly inspired by Jean-Luc Godard.Steven Brown’ album El Hombre Invisible, a hypnotic song cycle with remarkable sparse, elegant arrangements, was recorded in Steven’s adopted hometown of Oaxaca, and mixed in Berlin, is out on Crammed Discs on vinyl, cd and digital.
Congotronics International
(The supergroup incl. Konono Nº.1, Kasai Allstars, Deerhoof, Juana Molina, Wildbirds & Peacedrums and Skeletons) share new single & live video of “Where’s The One?”, the title track of their new collaborative albumWhere’s The One (digital single+ live video)
Congotronics International, the supergroup of Konono Nº1, Kasai Allstars, Deerhoof, Juana Molina, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, and Skeletons’ Matt Mehlan, release the title track of their forthcoming collaborative album due out on April 29th via Crammed Discs.
Where’s The One is a superb, powerful effort blending Congolese & psychedelic rock guitars, vocals in Songye language by Kasai Allstars and in English by Matt Mehlan. Plus a recurring, nonsensical hook sung by Molina, Deerhoof’s Satomi Matsuzaki & Mariam Wallentin from Wildbirds & Peacedrums. Mehlan’s lyrics refer to Congolese and Western band members’ initial difficulties in correctly understanding each other’s rhythms (as is: “where does the first beat actually fall?”).
The single edit of the track arrives alongside an electrifying live performance of “Where’s The One?”, filmed at Roskilde Festival 2011 and excerpted from the upcoming full-length Congotronics International documentary, directed by Pierre Laffargue.
“Where’s The One?” follows the album’s two initial singles, “Banza Banza” and “Beyond The 7th Bend,” which collectively earned praise and support from The New York Times, Stereogum, Guitar World, and more. The album is now on pre-order.
New KASAI ALLSTARS music video:
The Large Bird, the Woman and the Baby (Khalab Remix)The Kinshasa DRC collective pursues its productive streak: elected by numerous publications as one of the top albums of 2021, their acclaimed 4th album (Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound) was recently followed by the Black Ants Remixed EP, in which six diverse and equally exciting artists revisited tracks from the album.
Alongside reworks by Deerhoof, Ekiti Sound, Martin Meissonnier and Spooky-J & pq from Nihiloxica, the EP contains an eerie remix by Italian Afro-Futurist Khalab.
This is the track picked by the band for their 3rd music video: they were inspired by the supernatural atmosphere which, they felt, is a great illustration to the song’s tale of magic.
Conceived once again by Kasai Allstars’ guitarist & producer Mopero Mupemba, the video was shot in the midst of a forest near Kinshasa, and features vocalist Muambuyi, coming to grips with otherworldly creatures.
The video was directed by Ema Wanet, edited by Wanet and Mopero Mupemba, and post-produced by Simon Dehoux/Fromwhere
STUBBLEMAN ON SKYLINE DRIVE
Skyline Drive, the leading track of The Skyline EP, was originally intended for Stubbleman's 2019 album Mountains and Plains, then selected for a 4D sound compilation which never saw the light of day, and lay forgotten... until now. It was inspired by the resplendent fall colours of Skyline Drive, the road that snakes its way across the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, floating high above the Shenandoah valley, with its blazing oaks, birches, poplars and maples.
NIHILOXICA
ANNOUNCE NEW MUSIC VIDEO, REMIXES EP AND EUROPEAN TOURAfter the long corona-induced hiatus which followed the release of Kaloli, the breathtaking debut album by the Anglo-Ugandan band, Nihiloxica join forces with some of the UK scene’s most unique purveyors of bass for the band’s first ever remixes. Now, as clubs begin to reopen and the band prepares to tour once again, these five tracks redirect the densely percussive and synthetic sonic territory of the band’s debut album Kaloli into club-friendly ammunition for the recently re-employed DJs of the world.
"KALOLI RECYCLED EP” is out on all digital platforms on October 8
NIHILOXICA ON TOUR
Kasai Allstars
Musungu Elongo Paints His Face White To Scare Small Children (Official Music Video)The legendary collective from the DRC Congo have recently released their 4th album Black ants always fly together, one bangle makes no sound, which marks a new milestone in their already rich history, as the band have incorporated their own approach to electronic music into their new tracks.
Musungu Elongo is the 2nd video off the album. It was shot in Kinshasa, and directed by Kasai Allstars guitarist Mopero Mupemba.
This is the story behind the lyrics: in certain villages of the Basongye people, someone occasionally plays the part of a traditional character named Musungu Elongo. He covers his face with white clay to scare naughty little children. He runs after them and threatens to devour them if they don't behave (and if they don't give him candies and nuts).
The track was produced (as was the whole album) by Mopero Mupemba, and was mixed by Vincent Kenis.
Coming up soon: “Black Ants Remixes”, a digital EP containing 6 remixes of tracks off the album (made by Deerhoof, Khalab, Martin Meissonnier, Ekiti Sound, and Nihiloxica’s Spooky-J and pq), as well as a previously-unreleased original Kasai Allstars song.
Un grand sommeil noir
AQUASERGE announce new album with a poem by VERLAINE set to music by EDGAR VARÈSEThis new video & digital single is an appetizer for the upcoming album by incomparable French avant-pop band Aquaserge.
Un grand sommeil noir is the band’s interpretation of one of the rare songs by revered composer Edgard Varèse, who set a poem by Paul Verlaine to music, in 1906.
This lovely melody is carried by the voices of Aquaserge’s Julien Gasc and Audrey Ginestet. The video was filmed by Karine Pain & Gaëtan Chataigner, and edited by Karine Pain.
As for Aquaserge’s new album, it’s a very special project in which the band set themselves quite a challenge: drawing inspiration from four major, atypical figures in contemporary classical music from the mid-20th century (Ligeti, Scelsi, Varèse and Morton Feldman), in order to write & record an album which joyfully blurs boundaries between rock and what used to be called ‘serious music’.
Entitled The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge (the title is inspired by that of a Morton Feldman piece), the album will be released on October 15, as part of Made To Measure, Crammed Discs’ celebrated composers’ series, which is being reactivated in 2021 after a long slumber.
Un grand sommeil noir is the band’s interpretation of one of the rare songs by revered composer Edgard Varèse, who set a poem by Paul Verlaine to music, in 1906.
This lovely melody is carried by the voices of Aquaserge’s Julien Gasc and Audrey Ginestet. The video was filmed by Karine Pain & Gaëtan Chataigner, and edited by Karine Pain.
As for Aquaserge’s new album, it’s a very special project in which the band set themselves quite a challenge: drawing inspiration from four major, atypical figures in contemporary classical music from the mid-20th century (Ligeti, Scelsi, Varèse and Morton Feldman), in order to write & record an album which joyfully blurs boundaries between rock and what used to be called ‘serious music’.
Entitled The Possibility of a New Work for Aquaserge (the title is inspired by that of a Morton Feldman piece), the album will be released on October 15, as part of Made To Measure, Crammed Discs’ celebrated composers’ series, which is being reactivated in 2021 after a long slumber.
KASAI ALLSTARS
A music video to announce new album‘Olooh, A War Dance For Peace’ heralds the release of the first album in four years by the mighty collective from the DRC Congo. Shot outside of Kinshasa and directed by Patrick Zoom, the video (and the song) refers to an ancestral custom in certain villages: when a problem occurs between some inhabitants, they look for a peaceful solution by performing a specific war dance, bearing weapons in their hands. It's a dance which used to signal the end of hostilities, and serves nowadays to solve conflicts.
Titled 'Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound’, the album sees Kasai Allstars enhance their exhilarating trance music by blending in some intricate, self-made electronics beats with their customary array of guitars, traditional percussion, distorted thumb pianos etc.
The album was produced by Allstars guitarist Mopero Mupemba, who also wrote half of the songs, including ‘Olooh’, featuring wonderful singer Bijou, who recently joined the band and shares vocal duties with the band’s mainstays, Muambuyi, Kabongo, Mi Amor and Tandjolo.
'Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound’ comes out on May 7, on Crammed Discs
IKOQWE
Crammed Discs welcome IKOQWE to their roster !IKOQWE (pronounced ee-kok-weh) are a pair of fictional characters who, coming from a distant time and space, are confronted with today’s world. Their impressions are conveyed over the course of an exciting album which blends electronic music, hip hop and the sounds of old kalimbas from Angola.
This is no coincidence: IKOQWE stems from the reunion of two old friends: Angolan/Portuguese producer and DJ Pedro Coquenão, also known as Batida (who ranks among the leading exponents of the new wave of African electronic music), and Luaty Beirão, aka Ikonoklasta, the Angolan rapper turned iconic activist.
IKOQWE’s debut album is set for release in March 2021. Meanwhile, to whet our appetites, here’s the first single: “Pele” (’skin’), which comes in three guises: the album version, and remixes by Portuguese afro house legend Bodhi Sattva and by UK ‘disco noir’ band MADMADMAD. Out on January 22 on digital platforms.
Eras
Juana Molina’s “Eras” announces her first-ever live albumThis live version of Juana Molina’s classic song “Eras” is a foretaste of the experimental pop maestro’s first live album, which comes out on Oct 23. Entitled ANRML, it was recorded in March 2020 at the NRMAL festival in Mexico, and contains rearranged renditions of tracks off her previous, acclaimed releases (the “Halo", "Wed 21" and "Un día" albums, as well as the “Forfun" EP).
