We don’t really cover single releases (apart from the occasional premiere) so we thought we would start a new section on the blog where we shout about some random new singles we have been sent or discovered ourselves in some dusty corner. All kinds of music that we may not have time to cover as albums or one time one-offs. Enjoy! Tell your friends! This episode includes Nicola Cruz, Voodoo Drummer, Romperayo, Cyril Cyril, Chizawa Q & more...
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Ilario Ferrari 'Be Yourself' (Cadiz Music) - a review
The Italian pianist and composer Ilario Ferrari has collaborated with Naples’ Ondanueve String Quartet and produced this jewel of an album that flawlessly traverses Indian and European classical idioms, improvisational jazz and experimental Baroque moods - creating two suites of deep emotion and intoxicating moments of high drama. A really special record. Read / Listen.
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Artwork by Issaya Mellors
Lakiko 'What To Do, How To Live' (Lakiko Records) - a review
This new album 'What To Do, How To Live' from the Bosnian cellist, singer and composer Lakiko is one of the most emotional musical experiences that I’ve experienced in some time. Sung in the ancient Balkan Sevdalinka tradition, she stares unflinchingly into the face of uncertainty and the horrors of the world, her otherworldly vocals and classical-folkloric-experimental cello playing unlike anything I have heard. Can’t recommend this enough really. Read / Listen / Watch
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Rumpistol 'ISOLA' (Raske Plader) - a review
Award-winning Danish pianist, composer and electronic musician Rumpistol (aka Jens B. Christiansen) has created a beautifully immersive album that sits somewhere between neo-classical composition, slow-burning jazz and pastoral whimsy, and should tickle the heartstrings of fans of Max Richter, Nils Frahm and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Read / Listen
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Alawari 'Alawari' (April Records) - a review
Alawari are a young 7 piece jazz collective from Denmark and this, their debut album, is a truly stunning musical document that seems to manage to capture the troubled times that we are living through. A brilliant mix of lush classical arrangements with levels of uninhibited free jazz expression, the record is “Inspired by the spirit of revolution and ancient war” and it sounds like it. Exceptional. Read / Listen here
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