Altin Gün - Yol
A psychedelic rock reimagining of Turkish folk songs, sewn together by Dutch instrumentalists and Turkish singers who met over Facebook — because why not? Altin Gün’s new album, “Yol,” meanders and crescendos; it’s patient and delicate, developing complex melodies and textures and exploring the way its stylistic influences amalgamate.
It exists in the space between familiar and unfamiliar, insisting that we already speak its musical language, yet nonetheless imploring us to think outside the box. And it’s fun. “Yol” is the kind of record where the admiration for musical tradition comes through so clearly, you can’t help but feel it.
Sonny Rollins - Way Out West
There’s a great sense of playfulness and vastness in what’s now a classic Sonny Rollins record: “Way Out West.” With Ray Brown on bass and Shelly Manne on drums, this is Rollins’s candid reaction to visiting California for the first time. “I was really living out my ‘Lone Ranger’ thing,” Rollins later said. But instead of perpetuating the stereotypical drama and violence of old Westerns, he waxes on life in the open country and the forgotten history of Black cowboys.
We start hot and heavy with old tunes, move into jazz standards, and then get dazzling originals. As the musician John Montagna points out, listen closely “with headphones, [and] you can hear Rollins’ horn moving across the stereo image as he walks the studio floor.”
Vinicio Adames - Al Comienzo Del Camino
A steamy late-night, synth-pop immersive experience crafted by Vinicio Adames, the Venezuelan producer. It calls to mind the dimly lit 80s era club in the first scene of Pedro Almodóvar’s “Law of Desire.” You’ll want to dance to or drive to this one. Adames self-produced/financed this album at 23 years old. For years, “Al Comienzo Del Camino” was nearly impossible to find outside of Venezuela, but now U.S. audiophiles can pick it up anywhere from Barnes & Noble to Stranded Records.
Semiratruth - MIRA
Semiratruth’s a rising star in the rap world (not well streamed on Spotify, but written about in Pitchfork, Artforum, etc); she puts out the kind of old-school, underground sound I’m immediately drawn to. “MIRA” is inviting and groovy from the get-go, but full of hard, dynamic bars. While she commands our attention with sheer force, Semiratruth ditches urgency in favor of intentionality (each track lasts a minute or two) with much buildup to her 15-minute closing song: HERO’S EXIT.
Elori Saxl - The Blue of Distance
An album of hot and cold, summer and winter – the Brooklyn-based artist Elori Saxl brilliantly changes her tune by the season. In “The Blue of Distance,” there’s a bit of Morton Feldman-esque quietude, layered with recordings of the water and wind in New York and Wisconsin, plus analog synths and the breadth of a chamber orchestra. It’s easy to call Saxl’s debut meditative or mesmerizing. But it’s more than that. It’ll slowly take you to new heights.
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Elliot Lowe is an International Relations MA student at Aberystwyth University in Wales and the button-pusher behind Rusty Spaceship, an instrumental study beats project. He is interested in the musical encounters of everyday life, and the ways we (mis)understand one another through music.