Styles: wake work
Others: Geng, Dionne Brand
“It was like bondage for me. It was like slavery.”
– a voice, emanating around 35:50
“In the wake, the semiotics of the slave ship continue: from the forced movements of the enslaved to the forced movements of the migrant and the refugee, to the regulation of Black people in North American streets and neighborhoods[,] to the reappearances of the slave ship in everyday life in the form of the prison, the camp, and the school.”
– Christina Sharpe, In the Wake
More about: King Vision Ultra
Styles: Survivalism, Now I’m Nothing, Seems Like Salvation
Others: Black As Your Soul, All the Pigs All Lined Up, Halo 32
Every band lucky enough to sustain itself for decades is often accompanied by a staunch fanbase who perceive their earlier days with greater fondness. To them, the band’s new sound pales in comparison to their favorite albums. But for any collective, a sonic evolution is not only inevitable, but healthy.
More about: Nine Inch Nails
From Tierra Whack & Queen Key to Navy Blue & ShoZae
With a cascade of releases spewing from the likes of DatPiff, LiveMixtapes, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud, it can be difficult to keep up with the overbearing yet increasingly vital mixtape game. In this column, we aim to immerse ourselves in this hyper-prolific world and share our favorite releases each month. The focus will primarily be on rap mixtapes — loosely defined here as free (or sometimes free-to-stream) digital releases — but we’ll keep things loose enough to branch out if/when we feel it necessary.
More about: Chief Keef, EvillDewer, Lukah, Navy Blue, Queen Key, Shozae, Tierra Whack
Styles: life, cartoon, world
Others: Mechatok, Teengirl Fantasy, Ian Cheng
Blinks, the third EP from STAYCORE-/Bala Club-/SHAPE-affiliate Toxe is a vibrant, buoyant mess of sound and drama. Its four tracks operate as self-contained worlds, richly sketched, teeming with life: talkative synths and chattering drums flowing through honeyed tones and cartoonish squeals.
More about: Toxe
Catching up with the acclaimed group as they release their first album in seven years
It’s important to remember one fact about Gang Gang Dance: they are a band from Manhattan, not Brooklyn. One of the unique aspects of the experimental mavens that have been around since 2001 was that, despite having a similar trajectory and timeframe as their contemporaries, they were never actually associated with what some would consider the “scene” in Brooklyn.
More about: Gang Gang Dance
After all the rhapsodizing he’s received from us over the years, experimental music guru Graham Lambkin must (rightly) think he’s the kind of artist who can get away with a surprise release. Certainly in the one percent of the one percent of creators who push the musical form to its farthest extremes, Lambkin has just shared the second volume of No Better No Worse, a compilation of never-released and rare recordings made between 2001 and 2017.
More about: Graham Lambkin
Styles: ∆, †, ▲, ‡
Others: Hallowed Cry, Chanting Wish, Night Touch, Model Sacrifice, Dark Bones (Shout out to Altis Vader’s Witch House Name Generator)
Tens of thousands of years ago, our African ancestors crossed the Red Sea between the coasts of what is now Djibouti and Yemen. This 18-mile strait, named the “Gate of Grief,” was a brutal geographical rite of passage. Geneticists recently deduced that only a single tribe survived the trek, allowing them to eventually populate Europe and the rest of the world.
More about: White Ring
So, it’s true. Merzbow, Lawrence English, and Jamie Stewart are making an album together. Despite being made by three of the four horsemen of the aural apocalypse (with David being the fourth), I actually think this record is going to be pretty pleasant and accessible. I’m sure it will feature sunny, warm, and delicate melodies that are sure to delight. Really, I do!
More about: HEXA, Jamie Stewart, Lawrence English, Merzbow
Styles: a memory of touch
Others: Hildegard von Bingen, Sappho, Alice in Wonderland
A spirituality of dust might speak in the peripheral voice, were dust able to do anything but dissolve. One can speak through dust, nevertheless, in such a voice that dissolves the center’s dominion. For instance, one can ask: “Why have you forsaken me?” For instance, one can add: “You who are not…” And that one will never receive an answer merely confirms that we are loved for our loneliness and we are nothing if not lonely, but this does not mean that we who are nothing will never be.
More about: Eartheater
Styles: rap
Others: Patek Philippe, Lamborghini, http://www.sothebys.com, Louis Vuitton
Several publications have said that EVERYTHING IS LOVE is the finale of a trilogy of albums that also includes Beyoncé’s Lemonade and JAY-Z’s 4:44. It’s true, but the trilogy isn’t about marital triumph; no, it details the despair and the gradual flattening of a once-interesting relationship.
More about: Beyoncé, JAY-Z, The Carters
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