When an artist breaks away from the path they know best, there are two expected directions they can take: either they’ll continue to make the same kinds of music they’ve always made, or they’ll sprint in the opposite direction. When the robots known as Daft Punk decided to call it quits, the humans behind the masks became free to make that choice. For Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, at least so far, the choice has been to step away from most acts of musical creation beyond acting as a producer for the likes of Sébastien Tellier, Travis Scott, the Weeknd and Rosalia. It’s hard to blame him for not working harder; after all, when you and your creative partner become one of the most iconic electronic music duos in the history of the genre, you don’t really need…
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This live recording captures the “Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic” concert celebrating Nils Landgren‘s 70th birthday at the Berlin Philharmonie, conceived as a tribute to his idol and later collaborator, the late Joe Sample, built around songs with a deep personal connection to Nils. Leading jazz musicians join forces with the outstanding brass players of the Berlin Philharmonic, with arrangements by Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Magnus Lindgren and a guest appearance by acclaimed vocalist China Moses.
…With more than sixty albums released under his own name, along with countless collaborations spanning a remarkable range of musical worlds, he has built a career founded not on stylistic boundaries, but on curiosity and…
Lebanese vocalist Sandy Chamoun‘s second solo album is inspired by Sardinian polyphonic folk music the Arab ecstatic forms, modernized by synths from her SANAM and Ghadr collaborator Anthony Sayhoun and percussion from Ali Hout.
If you caught either of those heavy SANAM albums – but especially 2023’s Aykathani Malakon – then you’ll already be familiar with Chamoun’s voice, that carries the Beirut-baed band’s hallucinogenic blend of folk, free jazz and acid rock. On her own, however, Chamoun gives her voice even more room to breathe, following loose historical threads to re-interpret concepts that surge through her music. The album’s title means “the sound of tears” and it directly addresses the war and genocide in the Levant; Chamoun looks to tarab,…
Kindhearted singer-songwriter Chris Pierce has one of those indelible, soulful voices that seeps right into your head and won’t let go. You may be hooked from his opening notes and be easily compelled to listen to his meaningful, healing songs. He is a voice for the voiceless and the underserved, intent on spreading hope. Songs for the Heavy Hearted is his eighth solo album. In short, he is a freedom fighter who continues to live to fight the good fight. He says, “…Whatever happens, we have to find a way to count our blessings and seek liberty for ourselves and fight for the liberty of others.”
Pierce grew up in an interracial household and has endured violence against his family from his early childhood years. He has conquered…
Devyn Brinsfield is one of those characters with a backstory that you would dismiss as being unbelievable if you didn’t know better. Still employed as a school bus driver and groundsman, in his spare time he has developed quite a talent for invigorating the Bakersfield sound, while stretching the limits of that label to include honky tonk, sad country tunes, rollicking hoedowns, but also the odd blues lick and even the odd naughty word. Bring on the revolution!
His career has received a significant boost after two songs were picked up and featured in the Paramount+ series Dutton Ranch, and for this his second album, he recorded in the Basement in the historic Woolworth’s building in downtown Bakersfield.
There is something immediately intriguing about Dum Evol. Brighton’s Moon Attendant have created an album that feels rooted in the psychedelic sounds of the 1960s while refusing to settle comfortably into nostalgia. Across ten songs, guitars, keyboards and violin combine in ways that can be playful, dreamy, mournful or deliberately unsettling. The results will not be for everyone, and there are moments when the music feels as though it might collapse under its own eccentricity. Yet there is plenty to enjoy here, particularly for listeners willing to follow the album wherever it chooses to go.
The Sounders establishes the mood immediately, its retro-psychedelic sound providing a suitably strange introduction. The lyrics are equally…
…features a compelling remix package, alongside original demos of the album tracks, including new single, “Together (Demo)”.
British electronic duo Maribou State came into their own with Kingdoms in Colour, their exceptional 2018 full-length. With that album, they evolved from a melancholy post-dubstep act to a more exuberant, hopeful group with a fleshed-out, globally influenced sound. Kingdoms in Colour was a U.K. chart success, and the pair toured extensively throughout Europe and North America. However, both Chris Davids and Liam Ivory faced health issues when they returned from touring, not to mention the worldwide lockdowns and everything else that happened during 2020. The duo kept writing new material…
Remastered 3CD boxset gathering together the three albums by Adrian Belew released by Atlantic Records between 1989 and 1992.
…The run of solo albums capped off a remarkable decade for Adrian Belew. In 1977, he was playing in a Nashville covers band called Sweetheart when Frank Zappa – acting on a tip-off from his chauffeur (naturally) – asked him to join his band. Zappa’s exacting standards and crack backing band added up to a crash course in experimental music and Belew flourished. The guitarist caught Brian Eno’s eye, who recommended him to David Bowie. When Bowie approached Belew after a gig in Berlin with an offer to join his band, Zappa was apparently furious. “Quite a guitar player you have here, Frank,” Bowie said, according…
…’Congratulations I’m Sorry (Expanded Edition)’ is the 2026 definitive reissue celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Gin Blossoms’ multi-platinum third studio album. Originally released in 1996, this expanded version features the original 14 tracks alongside 5 bonus tracks.
Co-produced by John Hampton, Congratulations I’m Sorry debuted at 10 upon its release in February 1996 partially on the strength of “Follow You Down,” which became the group’s first Top 10 hit on the Hot 100.
Most observers wondered if the Gin Blossoms would be able to deliver a consistent second album after the departure (and subsequent suicide) of Doug Hopkins, their former guitarist who wrote “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You,”…
Kassel Jaeger (aka François J. Bonnet) returns to Shelter Press after Swamps / Things, Shifted in Dreams, and the recent reissue of the classic Zauberberg, co-composed with Akira Rabelais and Stephan Mathieu. With this major new album, entitled Sub Re, Bonnet continues his long exploration of the musical possibilities of sound, extending the concrete approach developed at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales, the historic and essential Parisian studio that Bonnet has been directing since 2018.
Sub re, in Latin, can mean “under the thing, under the substance, under the matter.” It’s precisely this direct approach to music, drawing on the extraction of raw sound material, that forms the basis of this album.
On Velvet Vibe, guitarist Ronny Smith delivers exactly what the title promises: a warm, inviting collection of contemporary jazz that never loses sight of the genre’s rich traditions. A seasoned player with an unmistakable sense of groove, Smith demonstrates throughout the album that technical proficiency means little without feeling, and on this recording, you will always feel the groove in the pocket.
From the opening moments, Velvet Vibe establishes an easygoing atmosphere built on polished arrangements, tasteful improvisation, and a rhythm section that remains locked into every groove. Rather than relying on flashy solos or overproduced textures, Smith lets the melodies and ensemble interplay take center stage,…
Yolanda Kondonassis’s dual role as both harpist and percussionist across this album’s centerpiece concerto represents the performance’s most distinctive interpretive challenge. Navigating between two fundamentally different instrumental identities within a single extended work demands not only technical facility but genuine musical adaptability. The harpist meets this challenge with evident command, moving between the harp’s sustained resonance and percussion’s rhythmic impact without suggesting interpretive inconsistency. Andrew Grams coordinates the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra around the soloist with consistent responsiveness, permitting the ensemble to contribute meaningful orchestral dialogue rather than mere accompaniment.
The first thing you might notice on Sequoia Feinson’s latest album, So Long, is the warmth and directness of the songs and his arrangements. Opening track “Protegé” eases into your ears with a calm, midtempo groove, fingerpicking guitars meshing with electric piano and trumpet. The title refers to the model of car that’s being immortalized in song: “I drove an old Mazda my brother handed down / From the kindness of his being / I wish that car was still around.” Songs about cars are as old as the invention of the car itself, but Sequoia finds a way to attach his long-lost vehicle to memories of youth and make it seem fresh, relatable, and irresistible.
Sequoia currently resides in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, but So Long was produced…
Kate Waters knows a thing or two about the healing power of music.
The Texas-based singer-songwriter is a trained music therapist, and her ability to create meaningful songs using an economy of words, but never of emotions, is clearly evident on her aptly titled sophomore release, Some Comfort. The self-produced album features eleven wonderful songs of emotionally charged songwriting that are rooted in resilience and hope, elevated by some splendid melodies and musicianship.
It’s a sturdy collection of songs written over a twenty-year period that, as Waters notes, traces her “journey through different loves, heartbreaks and hopes”. It certainly speaks to her skill as a songwriter and musician that the songs…
Moyo, Monoswezi’s fifth album, continues the group’s trajectory into a more intricately produced blend of global songs, anchored primarily by Nordic jazz and southern African roots music.
While Hope Masike’s voice and her mbira (thumb piano) still play a central role, there is a unitary feel to the album, alongside a variety of rhythmic approaches, with the bass and drums often distinctly out front. As contemplative as the album is, the vocal arrangements, not to mention Masike’s range, keep things dynamic.
The band’s take on Afrobeat, ‘Huya’, is a beautiful climax, both in the way that all elements coalesce around Masike’s soaring wail and in how it signals that the band can shift between the sensual and cerebral. It’s an especially…
Norma Winstone conjures an autumnal orchestral reverie on her 2026 archival recording A Timeless Place. Originally recorded for radio broadcast in 1990, the album finds the British jazz vocalist performing with Germany’s Rundfunkorchester Hannover des NDR (later known as the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra), led at the time by conductor/arranger/pianist Steve Gray. Gray has a particularly empathetic ear, and while his arrangements are often sumptuously realized, full of tropical flute, brass, and string flourishes, they serve to frame, rather than restrict, Winstone’s airy, night-time vocals. Here, she performs a mix of originals and standards, some of which were drawn from her own albums.
The most striking discovery is the opening…
When the Blood Brothers returned in 2024, Johnny Whitney was so energized by the run of shows that he never wanted it to end. He expected his bandmates to feel the same. They played to their largest crowds, including headlining the Best Friends Forever Festival. When it became clear that the Blood Brothers were not going to become an ongoing concern again, Whitney and fellow Blood Brother Cody Votolato began work on the songs that would become Evil Island’s debut. It is a welcome return that showcases evolution and growth for everyone involved, and it’s chaotic, unsettling fun.
From the opening track, “Melted Heart”, Terraform the Afterlife is a blast of Whitney’s screech and noisy, catchy guitars, so fans of his…
Formed in 2018, the Bristol quartet emerge some eight years later with their first full-length. The record succeeds three EPs released between 2021 to 2025, ranging from the fierce and raw, grungy and economical post-punk of their self-titled debut release to ‘Anything for You’, a five-track collection highlighting increasingly expansive production and instrumental depth.
Their previous EP hinted at the direction of their first LP proper and then some, as Baby You’re a Winner showcases a broader palette of influences, richer arrangements, textured production, and clever vocals which move between solo singing, harmonising, and group interplay. Bolstered by the addition of fourth member and lead guitarist Polly Jessett, Grandmas House also…
‘Normalization’ in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s was paradoxical: rather than a return to normality, it in fact meant renewed state control over society, culture, and public life. It followed the Prague Spring of 1968, which had grown out of the political and cultural relaxation of the 1960s, where under Alexander Dubček, reforms aimed to create ‘socialism with a human face’ allowed greater freedom of expression and artistic experimentation. The Soviet Union considered these reforms too radical, however, and in August 1968 Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia, bringing the reform process to an end.
From 1969 onwards, the authorities restricted freedom of expression and cultural activity, and excluded politically undesirable figures…
Across three Ghosted records Oren Ambarchi, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werliin have expanded the possibilities of the guitar-bass-drums trio with slippery yet rigid, kosmische yet earthy music that challenges the idea time exists in neatly parcelled, indivisible increments.
For Serpentine they’re joined by multi-instrumentalist Christer Bothén, who contributed Donso n’goni to Ghosted I’s opening track. Bothén’s first instrument is the bass clarinet. In the 70s he studied the donso n’goni, a six-stringed ‘hunter’s harp’ from the Wassoulou region in Mali, eventually bringing him into Don Cherry’s orbit. He’s also versed in Gnawa, learning guinbri in Marrakesh. This worldliness ripples through Bothén’s 1984 record Trancedance,…