Well, hello there, everybody! It’s a wonderful day and we have a healthy dose of New Music to dig into together. Eight titles for your Sound Holes. Are you ready?
Back in 2020, when I first started to write about New Music, one of my very first discoveries was a duo from Chicago that were called Ohmme. Their album Fantasize Your Ghost would have certainly have been given the New Music Jason Prize for that year, if such a thing had been thought of. I’m thrilled that the band, who are now known as Finom has a new album coming out in May. It’s been co-produced by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, and the leadoff single Haircut is bouncy, infectious and satisfying.
There’s a genre of Electronic Music that exists somewhere between the heavy beats of Dance, or House, and the calming atmospherics of Ambient. Let’s call it “Head Music.” French Producer Édouard Ribouillault, aka c_c, has released a new full-length to tantalize the imagination. Six Crossings is six lengthy tracks, all recorded in one take, in one day. It is warm and dreamy.
Rhys Edwards is a British ex-patriate living in Stockholm and is a Singer-Songwriter. astrel k is the pen-name for his Music. His second album, The Foreign Department, is lush and twee, with piano and strings intertwined with Electronic flourishes.
A band I showcased on Tuesday from Baltimore has come through with a terrific debut album. Tomato Flower is a four-piece that has spent a good time touring with Animal Collective and amassing a fanbase with a handful of EPs. No has a raw, earthy feel, with jangly, jagged guitars and inspired vocals from Austyn Wohlers.
Some exciting cross-cultural sounds have emerged this week from Senegal, via Australia. Ausecuma Beats is a nine-piece ensemble led by Djembe player Boubacar Gaye. Their latest album, Dakar Bamako is a culmination of post-Lockdown reunions that took place in Senegal and Mali for members of the band. Joyous and celebratory, it’s the sound of a grand global party.
Hani Mojtahedi is an Iranian-born Kurdish singer residing in Berlin. As HJirok, she creates entrancing Music that incorporates traditional instruments with Electronics. But on Hjirok it is Hani’s voice that will capture your heart.
Moor Mother is back with another album, fresh off her 2023 release Jazz Codes. The Philadelphia MC and Producer has created a meditation on modern culture with The Great Bailout. Straddles the lines between Hip-Hop and Jazz, with more Music for The Head. Guests include Lonnie Holley and Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty.
Kim Gordon has always felt like the cool older sister I never had (I have an older sister. She loves Def Leppard.). As member of the first ‘Alternative’ Band I fell in love with, Sonic Youth, Kim oozed a quiet confidence that rode a wave of exuberant guitar noise. Since the dissolution of the band (and her divorce from fellow SY member Thurston Moore), Gordon has written a memoir and is releasing her own Music. Her second album, The Collective, delves into harsh electronics that offer Gordon a rough canvas for her unsettling poetics. At seventy, Kim Gordon continues to be the height of cool. My Feature Pick this week.
How does that suit you? I hope it leaves you feeling free and easy.
Take care of yourself!
New Music Jason’s Picks 