Valentina Magaletti – New Music Jason’s Picks

The New Music I’m Listening To Extraneously This Week, March 16 – 22, 2024:

Greetings and smellutations, cats and kittens! Hoo boy, we gots ourselves a humdinger of a New Release week, and I have twelve titles to dazzle your senses. Do it to it!

I’ve got a dancefloor filler from Brazil to start the week. A single released in conjunction with London’s Jazz Room Records features a terrific band performing Brazilian Funk. The two tracks on Goma Laca EP are performed by Afrobrasilidades. They are led by the amazing Juçara Marçal on vocals, who released my favourite album of 2021, Delta Estácio Blues. You gotta get up to get down!

And then, as if on cue, there’s a new remix album for Juçara Marçal’s Delta Estácio Blues. Fifteen tracks, taken from the original album and the follow-up EPDEB are included on DEBRMX. Remixes from the likes of Chrisman, Moor Mother, and VHOOR are giving the dancefloor a workout.

Eagle-eyed readers will note that the Juçara Marçal remix album actually came out last week. It is literally impossible to find everything that comes out in a given week, so I’ve given myself parameters within which to search for New Music. One such parameter is that once I have entered a new Release Week, I don’t include titles that came out previously in my search. Seeing as I’ve already broken that rule this week, I’ve decided to double down on it.

Another title that came out last week comes from Portugal. Ana Lua Caiano is a multi-instrumentalist and Electronic Producer. Her debut album, Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado sees the Artist incorporating traditional Folk elements with ambitious Björk-inspired Production. Charming harmonies, and yet another reason for me to continue my Portuguese lessons.

*Ana Lua Caiano – Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado*

Glass Beams is a trio from Melbourne, Australia that was founded by Rajan Silva, who immigrated to Australia with his family as a child. Ninja Tune Records has just released their second album, Mahal. Steeped in Psychedelia, it incorporates traditional instrumentation with soulful grooves.

An Artist I’ve grown fond of over these past few years exploring New Music is London Percussionist and Composer Valentina Magaletti. Between her various collaborations (Vanishing Twin, Holy Tongue, and more) and her solo work, she transcends norms on the regular. Her latest is LUCHA LIBRE; a four-song EP that takes a disorienting journey of Field Recordings and loops, before closing with the upbeat and groovy DRUM JUMP.

A noisy Punk band representing the Wyoming Hardcore scene released a “sneeze-and-you-miss-it” EP. AWFUL’s 4 SONGS clocks in at less than four minutes. It’s a sharp jolt of energy, with urgent vocals and ripping bass play.

At twelve minutes, this next release is practically luxurious in its scope by comparison. Portland’s THE CELEBRITIES is a collaboration between Joe Sussman and Kel Mason. On the seven-song Redd Karpet they channel 60’s Bubblegum with gritty garage production.

A duo from the Washington, DC area got my attention this week with their latest release. model home utilizes samplers, tape and voice to create a deliciously lo-fi atmosphere. The six tracks on NECROLYF were recorded on March 5 of this year and elicit a rudimentary Hip-Hop vibe, seeped in distortion.

Scott Harren is an eclectic and innovative Electronic Producer from Miami. As Prefuse 73, he has collaborated with the likes of Mos Def and Aesop Rock. His new album, New Strategies For Modern Crime Vol. 1 is a strictly solo effort with an evocative Cool Jazz feel for the After Party.

*Prefuse 73 – New Strategies For Modern Crime Vol. 1*

An Electronic band from Sweden released their fourth album since their 2014 debut. Les Big Byrd is led by Jocke Åhlund, and Diamonds, Rhinestones and Hard Rain contains six tracks, including two extended jams. Entrancing and absorbing.

*Les Big Byrd – Diamonds, Rhinestones and Hard Rain*

I discovered Julia Holter via the pre-release single Sun Girl for her new album. Turns out that Something In The Room She Moves is her sixth album for the LA native, and I just haven’t been paying attention. I’ve been captivated by her sweeping vocals and captivating Production.

*Julia Holter – Something In The Room She Moves*

If you’ve seen recent photos or video taken in Gary, Indiana, you’d be forgiven if you got the impression that it is a Ghost Town. Abandoned factories and houses dot the landscape. However, there is still life emanating from that particular slice of America. Jerrilynn Patton performs as Jlin, and is a Composer and Electronic Producer (and former steel factory worker). Her latest album is Akoma. Intriguing rhythm-play is at work here, with Deep Bass and many twists and turns. Guests include Björk, Philip Glass, and Kronos Quartet. It’s my Feature Pick for this week.

If you made it this far, look under your chair, you’ve won a prize! I’m only joking, but if you looked, I have to say that I worry about you sometimes.

Take care of yourself!

The New Music I’m Listening To Unceremoniously This Week, October 28 – November 3, 2023:

Holy Sheep Shit! Such a tremendously girthy Release Week, you need two hands to hold it properly. And you may need to sit down. I have fourteen recommendations this week. Buckle up!

Oh! And I listened to what is purported to be “The Last Beatles Song” so you don’t have to. Please take this from a huge Beatles fan: Don’t waste your time. It’s a great big NothingBurger. For heart-stopping emotionality, I recommend Derek Stevens’ The Lady I Know. For mediocre banality, Now And Then might be for you.

Derek Stevens Audition

I think that my first pick for this week is my first to come from Asbury Park, New Jersey. You would expect the home of Bruce Springsteen would have scads of Garage Bands who were inspired by The Boss to live a life of poverty through Music. NYLON is one of the few, I suppose. The quartet’s new single, PC VIOLENCE/SUSPECT is a furious one-two punch of snappy guitars and unrestrained vocals. Pogo while you work!

An Artist from the great collegiate city of Athens, Georgia that I recommended back in January is back again with a new EP. On PIN PRIK FUK YU ! Rubber Udder has gone from a solo operation to a full-fledged Rock & Roll combo. Starting off with the only kind of ‘Intro’ song I want to hear (3 seconds. Long enough to say the album title.) the band go through some short punchy Punk, before an extended instrumental jam at the midpoint. After Ethiopia, they return to their noisy and dissonant haze, with mad distorted vocals. Feel the power!

A Power-Punk trio from London is gripping my ears by their trunks and shaking them furiously. Girls In Synthesis have been recording since 2017, and their latest EP Die Leere finally has my attention. Four tracks of energetic and noisy Rock driven by thunderous bass and synth. The vocals brings a sense of foreboding to the backdrop of Industrial Noise.

I love Punk Bands. There’s such an earnestness to the ethics of being in a proper Punk Band. It comes to a point where it can get exhausting, which is why it’s important to maintain a sense of humour. London band RITES OF HADDA refers to their style as “Sax ‘n’ drag and rock ‘n’ roll.” They began at a weekly jam session that was held at a North London squat and they’ve gone on to release their debut album. OCCULT SEX WORKER. The seven-piece shine on ten tracks, lovingly adorned with charming out-of-tune saxophone. Vocalist Wasp is Peter Murphy/Lux Interior levels of Gothic Punknicity.

Korobushka Records is a label straight outta Czechia that releases Music by left-of-centre Artists, including my favourite living Artist, Petr Válek. This week, another solo Artist, of whom I believe Petr would approve, is Bedroom Rock Musician Nichi Mlebom. He’s released his Bear Tape, vol. 2 EP and it is five songs that showcase his slightly detuned vision of radio-friendly Pop. The EP is sliced n the middle with the instrumental and ponderous Cassettery, but picks right back up with Breakfast at McDonald’s, which is lofi Bee Gees at its finest.

Valentina Magaletti is a Percussionist and Composer from London who I’ve featured in the past, both as a Solo Artist, and in cohort with others, such as her Holy Tongue project with Al Wootton and Susumu Mukai. Better Corners is her collaboration with former Wire member Matthew Simms, and member of Kim Gordon’s band Sarah Register. Continuous Miracles, Vol. 2 is a six-track full-length that nods to sonic inspiration from Kim Gordon’s other band Sonic Youth. Atmospheric and gentle with crashing electronics and Ambient waves. Time for Deep Thought.

*Better Corners – Continuous Miracles, Vol. 2*

Wayne Grim is a Composer and Sound Artist from Richmond, California who has worked with many Artists in the past, including Kronos Quartet. His new album, Electric Space Gardeners is inspired by Poet Jovi Schnell’s piece of the same name, and features quotes from the original. The Music is wondrous and ponderous, with the magical voice of Majel Connery there to comfort.

Steven Lee is an Indie Outsider Hip-Hop Artist from LA. He has made a name for himself at quangou, but after getting to know Beastie Boys keyboardist Money Mark, the instrumentalist bestowed Lee the nickname steebee weebee. On his new album puer aeternus Lee demonstrates what the kids used to call ‘mad skills on the mic’. He has a melodic flow to his rhymes, without the aid of Autotune. Lee brings an updated boombap production, though it be the lowest of fi. Don’t sleep on this one, beatheads!

*quangou aka: steebee weebee – puer aeternus*

Animal Hospital is the name for Experimental Musician Kevin Micka, from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The multi-instrumentalist and composer has released a new four-song LP, titled Shelf Life. These longer songs are hypnotic, and fully immersive. Think: the instrumental meanderings of Kid A/Amnesiac, with a prolonged sense of purpose. The Main Course is the sixteen-minute His Amazing Friends, with it’s first taste of human voice, humming through the drone before succumbing to dirty Synth punches, leading to the drums. Choon!

My Imaginary Nightclub is having an African Week in The Main Room. Warming up the imaginary masses is a White Label from Uganda. WULFFLUW XCIV is an anonymous DJ AND Producer recording for HAKUNA KULALA Records. The skittish and refined beats on Toxica take Afrobeat and thoroughly abuse it with harsh Electronics. Highlight is Kluck, with its flute loop and pounding Bass, and abrupt stops and starts.

The Headliner in The Main Room is a Collective from West Africa that was amassed by Gianna Greco and François R. Cambuzat. Ndox Electrique features member of Cape Verdian n’döep community. Tribal voices and drums meld with guitar and tasteful electronics on Tëdd ak Mame Coumba Lamba ak Mame Coumba Mbang. The troupe will surely be a big hit when they play the Main Stage at My Imaginary Festival next Summer.

*Nox Electrique – Tëdd ak Mame Coumba Lamba ak Mame Coumba Mbang*

I haven’t watched a TV Show or Movie in years. I’d rather spend my time listening to Music, and as you can see, it never ends! And from time to time I can enjoy a new movie in the most vicarious of ways; by listening to its Score. Rye Lane is a new British RomCom, and the Music from it is worth your time. The Musician behind it is London Producer kwes. and his Original Score is a slice of life in the city, which I assume ties to the movie. Sampha and Tirzah make a couple of appearances.

With it being the beginning of the month, it still means (for the time being) that BandCamp Friday is still a thing. I hope you’re taking advantage of it while we still have the chance. I didn’t really need my Wishlist to find ample New Releases to talk about this week, but it still came through. As I mentioned on Tuesday, Marnie Stern has returned to her de facto Solo Career, after establishing herself as the Guitarist for Seth Meyers House Band. I’m pleased she’s returned with such a great record. The Comeback Kid is an energetic Indie Rock record that leans on Stern’s athletic guitar skill. Her voice isn’t anything to sleep on either.

London trio bar italia have been steadily making a name for themselves via steady gigging and their successful debut album, Tracey Denim, back in May. They’ve already followed up with a new full-length, and The Twits is a great demonstration of their winning hooks and boy-girl vocals. It’s my Feature Pick for this week.

Are you okay? Did I overwhelm you with awesomeness? I’m sorry for party rocking, it’s just the man I am. Drink a Gatorade, you’ll be fine. You have to take care of yourself! Be good, Possums!

The New Music I’m Listening To Contemporaneously This Week, September 30 – October 6, 2023:

As I type these words I’m waiting for my Daughter at the Dentist’s office while she gets two baby teeth pulled. The darn assistant won’t let me have a huff of the nitrous!

I was right about the high quality of New Releases this week, and Drake actually pulled the trigger on his new album. It’s nearly an hour and a half long and is time better spent.

In all, I’ve come up with nine recommendations to share with all my friends. Ready, friends?

A single to get my recommendations rolling for the week comes from one of my favourite MCs, Homeboy Sandman. I’ve recommended Sand plenty in the past, most recently with with new LP, Rich. He’s released a ‘remix’ of the track Therapy, but not your average remix. Off the top of Therapy (Truth Hurts Remix), Homeboy explains, “This is the Remix…Back in the day they’d do a remix that was a whole new song, with new lyrics, and a new beat. Like The Roots did to You Got Me…” It’s completely unrecognizable from the original, with jaunty horn samples and freestyle rhymes. But be careful! At a brisk 93 seconds, sneeze and you miss it.

Homeboy Sandman – Therapy (Truth Hurts Remix)

For Artists who toil in Experimental Sound, or in the case of Rafael González and Hal McGee, “Audio Folk Art”, it’s a fine line between transcendence and navel-gazing. fortunately for us, this duo, based in Gainesville, Florida have assembled a brilliant and exciting experience with COLLABORATORY. Throughout ninety minutes, divided into six fifteen-minute tracks, the recordings created by each Artist separately, and then they “mixed the recording together using an automated random chance shuffle procedure.” The harsh noise and electronic chirping, spliced with barking dogs and conversation harken the chaos of everyday life and works great among the rest of my New Music Playlist. Recommended if you believe The Beatles’ Revolution 9 is too short.

*Rafael González and Hal McGee – COLLABORATORY*

An EP arrived this week from an Artist that I discovered August of last year. Tek Lintowe is from Åland Islands and he makes eccentric Electronic Music. On I am a evil person they’ve teamed up with California producer Pentagrvm for four moody tracks with bubbling autotune and deep bass.

*tek lintowe and pentagrvm – I am a evil person*

An anonymous Artist known only as rrao, who hails from China (Texas) released a three-track EP this week. Hara is smart Electronic Production with bounding beats that cleverly utilize tabla, and Indian samples. It’s warming up the early crowd at My Imaginary Nightclub.

Next up is a duo that I can’t help but love, despite my wife’s complaints. From the Northwest coast of California, “Cybergrind” Act Vantana Row is back with a new EP. Following up from their latest Full-Length back in May, the four-song DOGGEMFUCKEM UDONTKNOWMEWELLENUFFYET VXROW3 continues with their abrasive and abusive style of crunchy Electronic Rock, capably led by vocalist Volly. The two have a good sense of taste, and know how to most effectively destroy it. It gets my adrenaline flowing!

*Vantana Row – DOGGEMFUCKEM YOUDONTKNOWMEWELLENUFFYET VXROW3*

Whenever I see an Artist or a band refer to themselves as “Shoegaze”, it is immediately off-putting . To me, it signifies a distance from the audience, and a lack of attention. But that’s just me. You can not accuse Tokyo Artist (or band) what is your name? of simply going through the motions. The lead-off to their new album the now now and never is the nine-minute title track. It begins with a wash of synths that glitch and arpeggiate and you begging to hear voices talking. The drums and guitar come in and the animated conversation continues before it all gets shut down abruptly. The cinematic track continues to evolve and progress, and that is the main feature of this entire eight-track Instrumental LP. It’s a trip!

*what is your name? – the now now and never*

Much of what I recommend comes directly from my BandCamp Wishlist. And with it being BandCamp Friday (a tradition I hope never ends, despite a change in ownership) I’m extra proud to be recommending an artist I never would have discovered without this fantastic website. Chouk Bwa is a sextet from Haiti, and The Ångströmers are a production duo from Belgium. Together they create a thrilling combination of tribal drumming and vocals with Electronic Club infusion. Somanti, their second full-length, is a journey into deep Vodou culture and directly to a sweaty My Imaginary Nightclub.

Jasper Marsalis is a progeny of the great Jazz Dynasty that includes his father Wynton, uncle Branford, and grandfather Ellis Jr. With such rich Jazz genetics, you would expect a talented musician named Marsalis to continue the Jazz tradition. And in a way, he is. But Jasper is removing that famous last name from his recording projects, and as Slauson Malone 1, he’s just released his new album. EXCELSIOR steers more toward the futuristic R&B of Flying Lotus and Moses Sumney, and the multi-instrumentalist conjures Stevie Wonder at his most introspective. Deep bass drops and warbled vocals tell you that this is a recording for Warp Records, not Blue Note.

In my BandCamp adventures, an Artist that I keep coming across in various bands and collaborations is percussionist and multimedia Artist Valentina Magaletti. One of her many ongoing concerns is her trio with multi-instrumentalist and singer Cathy Lucas and bassist Susumu Mukai. Vanishing Twin has been together since 2019 and on Afternoon X, their latest full-length, they cast a downtempo spell with novel arrangements and a slight Pop scent. Massive Attack’s smartass little siblings, and my Feature Pick for the week.

Thanks for tuning in. Remember to be good to yourself, and floss your teeth every once in a while.