Good Friday, friends and fronds! I’ve spent the first part of my day watching my daughter feed chickadees from her hand at a local Nature Reserve, and we were even able to spot a Bald Eagle! A lovely morning for this proud Dad, and now I can catch up with all the Music that came out this week.
As expected it was a quieter week, but that doesn’t mean that we are high and dry. We are very much moist, with nine titles to dip our toes into.
I’m not listening to Dad Rock (heaven forfend!) but my parental senses have been percolating in a musical way. The progeny of one of the Kings of Dad Rock has released an interesting record. Spencer Tweedy, the son of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, has been performing as a drummer for a few years, and Drumprints vol. 1:2301 is a solo project with broader aim. Tweedy has recorded drum loops so that they can be manipulated and tweaked. Drop a rhyme. Slow it down and distort it. Thankfully it also works in its own, as ten terrific drum tracks.
A three-song EP from Spain came to my attention this week. From the great label Discos Peroquébien, Carvento Felana is a duo that hails from Valencia. Malduvo is synth-heavy, poppy and eccentric and makes you rise to attention.
A Francophone R&B and Hip-Hop Artist from Switzerland got my attention this week. The otherwise-anonymous Nativ has their second release and MVZ vol. 2.1 is nine downtempo tracks, buoyed by thoughtful and creative production touches.
A pianist and composer from Bloomington, Indiana has released a four-track EP. Olivia Kieffer’s Four Thunder EP is adventurous neo-classical performed on both toy and conventional piano, as well as saxophone. Daring and beautiful.
In 1977-78, composer Georges Aperghis wrote fourteen pieces for solo female voice. Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea has recorded her interpretation of 14 Récitations at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. The difficult source material is performed with energy and grace.
A group from Bristol called Ishmael Ensemble has recorded a five-song EP collaboration with Poet and MC Rider Shafique. New Era is downtempo and smart, confident and ponderous.
Noa Mal is a solo singer-songwriter and producer from The Philippines. She has earned a following with previous releases that purport to be of the “Sadcore” persuasion. I don’t find her latest album, Everything Is Science, Baby, to be sad. In fact, the eleven tracks are sharply crafted Pop Songs, of the lo-fi bedroom production variety. It rocks.
I don’t like to look back at past Music, usually, within the paradigm of exploring New Music. That being said, there are some projects that are like catnip to Music lovers like myself, and cannot be denied. The new live mixtape by The Roots’ MC Black Thought and DJ and Producer J. PERIOD is one such project. The duo have come together to celebrate the life and music of the legendary Producer J. Dilla, who was born precisely eight days before me (2/07/74). On J. PERIOD & Black Thought Present The Live Mixtape: Dilla Day Edition the pair examine the classic beats that Dilla created in his short life, with Black Thought dropping masterful and inspired freestyles. Recorded live in front of an audience in Miami.
My Feature Pick affixed itself to that position early this week, as there is nothing out there in Music today that sounds quite like it. To the west of London, in Oxfordshire, there has been a small Arts and Music Festival every summer since 2010. Supernormal is a family-friendly festival with a capacity of 1,500. In the 2022 edition, GLARC, which is an Arts Collective from Glasgow, ran a recording workshop for kids of all ages. Over the course of the weekend, they were able to record all sorts of young people experimenting with instruments and sound, with nary a thought for commerciality. The resultant cassette, Supernormal Kids Party, is twenty-five short tracks of pure expression. I had to order the cassette, because the cover art was also created by the kids over the course of the weekend.
Well kids, did we have fun? What was your favourite part? Make sure to finish up your snack and drink some water to stay hydrated and we’ll be home soon. Does anyone have to go to the bathroom before we go?
New Music Jason’s Picks 
I particularly like the EP by Ishmael Ensemble & Rider Shafique, and the Supernormal Kids Party album is precious!
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I always have to go to the bathroom!
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