Words by Justin Turford
A new year they say. Hopefully the ‘new’ is positive and not just more global tensions and injustices but we can only do our bit so make sure it’s good folks! On that note, we’re already drowning in promos and new discoveries from the ever-grinding gears of the global independent music scenes and here are just a few tunes that are tickling our ears. Enjoy and go support the artists and labels by buying (or sharing) their stuff!
MISS C-LINE 'U Don't Want It' (featuring Berlin Lama & Andi Allenbach) (C-Records) - Bouncy neo-soul groove with plenty of that D’Angelo swing thing. Andi Allenbach channels Roy Hargrove and Dominik Burkhalter delivers that wonky R&B / hip hop foundation. Super-fresh vocals from MISS C-LINE wraps this up beautifully!
Raúl Monsalve y Los Forajidos ‘Fuego al Campanero’ (Olindo Records) - The brilliant Venezuelan folk singer Carlos Tález joins his countryman Raúl on vocal duties on the first single from ‘SOL’, their forthcoming and superb second album for the ace London label Olindo Records. Tempered by touring and the festival circuit, the band are expanding their palette, bringing in P-Funk synths, new rhythmic shapes and an even greater confidence in their musical vision. We wanted a positive ‘new’. Well here it is!
El León Pardo ‘La Perica’ (AYA Records) - Trippy, cosmic intensity from Colombian multi-instrumentalist El León Pardo from his coming new album ‘Viaje Sideral’. Based in Bogotá and an ambassador of the ancestral Colombian wooden flute (the kuisi), he has toured the world with many an act that we love but his new record should really put his name above the parapet. This is spirituality at hyperdrive.
Alabaster DePlume ‘Oh My Actual Days’ (International Anthem) - The globe-sharing Mancunian musician-poet reveals the first single from his hugely anticipated new album ‘A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole’ and it is a haunting instrumental in the vein of his ‘To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol 1’ LP. Richer and more produced than his recent recordings at Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem, the orchestral strings here are quite something.
Jamaica Mnanda ‘Maisha Ya Mtaani’ (Club Yeke) - the homegrown street sounds of Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam have produced some of the wildest dancing music ever seen: the insanely frenetic singeli genre has been the more recent crossover but it was the sound of mchiriku that first harnessed cheap synthesisers and distorted hand drums in the 80s’ and 90s’, and this charming slice of mchiriku keeps up that original spirit. Tales of life and love over a backdrop that to outsiders ears might appear slightly unsophisticated and chaotic but look deeper and the combination of raw chakacha rhythms and psychedelic 8 bit keyboards propel the bluesy tales of life in one of Africa’s largest urban sprawls.