Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy

01

Image

—01. TTT039.

Words

The Trilogy Tapes released this somewhat unexpected collaboration between Carl Gari and Abdullah Miniawy back in January. The four-track EP combines the electro-acoustic, downtempo sound of the Munich-based trio with the Sufi chanting and instrumentation of the Egyptian musician. This wasn't something I expected to hear on the London label's SoundCloud page, but once I'd listened to it all the through, I was entranced by the results.

—Available from The Trilogy Tapes

Ssense: Majid Jordan's School of the Sublime

01

Image

—01. Acne Studios, Juun.J and Reebok.

Words

"When former business and economics students Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman converted a University of Toronto dorm room into a makeshift recording studio, they did not expect their demo of moody, intimate, and unexpectedly glossy dance tracks to land in Drake's hands just days after putting them online. But the result placed them at the epicenter of a new wave of cerebral R&B.

Now, with their self-titled debut album just released on their mentor Drake's imprint OVO Sound, the pair return to the place where their collaboration and friendship began. Against the striking Brutalist backdrop of the University of Toronto's architecture, Majid Jordan reflect on their success and don an appropriately complex mix of menswear styles."

—Ssense: Majid Jordan's School of the Sublime

John Fahey: Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You

Info

5 CDs, 115 tracks
Slip, hardcover, 12 x 12 inches
88 pages, 136 B&W illustrations
Released by Dust-to-Digital

Words

"More than ten years in the making, this critically acclaimed box set – originally published in 2011 – features the earliest recordings of one of the most influential guitarists of the 1960s and ’70s, blues and folk pioneer John Fahey (1939-2001). The five CDs feature 115 tracks, most of which are available on CD for the first time, remastered from Fonotone owner Joe Bussard’s reel-to-reel tapes to achieve pristine sound quality. The CD set is accompanied by a book – the first ever written on Fahey – featuring a host of essays as well as a poem by Byron Coley and Douglas Blazek’s 1967 interview with Fahey, published here for the first time. Focusing on a critical early period in Fahey’s career, John Fahey: Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You is a challenging, engrossing introduction to a figure called 'the folk guitar-playing equivalent of William Burroughs or Bukowski' by Pete Townshend."

—Available from Artbook

The Talks: Nils Frahm

01

Image

—01. "Everything can be used for the music."

Words

The Talks is one of the few online content streams that feels like a place of calm in a sea of high-speed madness. It offers short, interesting interviews on a simple, clean platform, with tasteful advertising and great subjects. The website was recently given a subtle facelift and along with it came their first video: a piece about the German musician Nils Frahm. His work is perfectly suited to the pace of the site, and the accompanying conversation with Emma Robertson adds an extra level of depth.

—The Talks

Archy Marshall – A New Place 2 Drown

01

Image

—01. Available to buy or stream.

Words

The latest release from Archy Marshall – previously known as King Krule and before that, Zoo Kid – is his most mature. A nicely packaged album, book and short film provide an insightful look into the artist's life and creative process. The music itself is his best work to date; a slight departure from past records, it sees Marshall experimenting more with instrumentals, which demonstrate a notable evolution in his production abilities. Overall there's a less traditional structure, allowing the London-based musician to create an intimate and sometimes darker atmosphere.

—A New Place 2 Drown

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra: The Conny Plank Session

01

Image

—01. Released on LP and CD.

Words

"Unreleased Ellington studio sessions have a paucity to match the plentitude of his vault live releases, so this crafty little quickie – just 29 minutes – is something of a revelation. The unlikely setup: Duke in Cologne in 1970 to record for synth-maven engineer Conny Plank, a man accustomed to working with Kraftwerk rather than swing titans.

But it’s fascinating to hear late-career Ellington go all experimental, embracing studio wackery. Of the two cuts here, meted out in alternate takes, 'Alerado' has the surest form. It’s akin to a bluesy, flute-infused African samba, as though Ellington’s roots have enmeshed with Brazilian rhythms and commenced growing in Germany. One wonders how quickly the takes came after each other, if their approaches were much debated or decided on the fly. The first take is pastoral; the second has a more assertive ensemble that bucks up against Ellington’s Jimmy Smith-type organ voicings; and the third is gutbucket hoodoo driven by Harold Ashby’s tenor saxophone. This, clearly, is the Duke enjoying himself.

The three takes of 'Afrique' could have been lifted from some bizarroland Can project. The first and best is pure sound painting with sweeps of organ roiling atop a drum roll that is akin to some tribal summoning. Stabbing piano notes break in at intervals, like that needly percussion one encounters in noir films as someone creeps up the back stairs. The old Turk has gone young again." Colin Fleming, JazzTimes.

—Available from Grönland Records

Pye Corner Audio – Prowler

Info

MTH008
Second pressing
Edition of 500

Words

"Building on the eldritch electronica of Martin Jenkins' four-volume Black Mill Tapes, comes Prowler: a seven-track collection of kosmische synthscapes that will appeal to fans of Broadcast and the Warp label. Cinematic in conception and approach, the LP wordlessly reveals a small-hours narrative of tension and fear, via creeping keys, fragmentary melodies and water-torture percussion."

—Available from More Than Human

Weekend Listening: Jodorowsky's Dune Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

01

Image

—01. Artwork by Nick Stewart Hoyle

Words

With the recent release of the soundtrack for the documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune, put out on the always outstanding Light in the Attic Records, Kurt Stenzel has composed a return to the days of expansive four-sided LPs. The instruments used read like the best moments of '70s krautrock, exhibiting a laundry list of rare synthesizer gear, including a couple of oddities such as a toy Concertmate organ and even a Nintendo DS. I can’t wait to put on all sides of the soundtrack to this incredible 2013 film, and relish plugging in for the journey that awaits. I got this record just at the right time since I’m actually rereading the Frank Herbert novel at the moment, and should probably just drop the needle as I’m turning the pages – seems like a pretty fitting pairing to me.

—Available from Light in the Attic