Sales de Baño - Geometría del vínculo (Buh Records)
Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sales de Baño is one of the most innovative groups of the Argentinean experimental scene, which has brought to international attention other notable groups, and of similar concerns, such as Nicotina es Primavera or El devenir del Río. They often expand the languages of jazz and incorporate elements of experimental rock, contemporary music and free improvisation. "Geometría del vínculo" [Geometry of the bond] is Sales de Baño’s third album.
Slagmann - Krysalis (Talismann Records)
Slagmann is the collaboration between producer Talismann and music ensemble Slagwerk Den Haag. Their first album 'Krysalis' is, as the artists themselves like to call it, a "ritualistic experience," drifting from late-night hypnotic cuts to more rhythmic, repetitive sonic scenarios. The overall album evokes a wide spectrum of feelings, from wistful, to dark, enraptured soundscapes. The album breaths a lot of tension throughout its 14 tracks (available digitally), and just 10 tracks available physically. Out on the Amsterdam based Talismann Records imprint, this record juggles with ritualistic percussion and drum machines, transcending the audience into the murkiest depths of electronica and classical minimal music. For the visual identity of 'Krysalis', Slagmann works together with visual artist Heleen Blanken, responsible for the scenography of the live show and the cover image.
Sonmi451 - Nachtmuziek (Astral Industries)
Belgian artist Bernard Zwijzen, aka Sonmi451, has for been quite busy over the past decade and his result is luscious ambient album out on Astral Industries. This six-track record is called Nachtmuziek, a perfect voyage through dreamy, melancholic and deep soundscapes, voices and whispers out of this world, provoking the ear to an overall meditative introspective listening experience. Tune in, turn on, drift away.
Sote - Parallel Persia (Diagonal Records)
Iranian composer Sote returns with a new album, Parallel Persia, out on Powell’s own Diagonal Records imprint. The new full-length LP presents a series of compositional structures and various synthesis techniques (notably, physical modelling, FM, wavetable, granular and additive) with Iranian acoustic instruments such as santour and tar. “Parallel Persia deals with the illusion and creation of an artificial hyperreal culture manipulated and controlled by an imperious agency somewhere within all galaxies,” says Sote. “Like all realities, greed and arrogance channels destruction of life. However, the path to havoc includes resistance via beauty, grace and symmetry. Snapshots of an apocryphal Iran is presented via sonic schematics for a synthetic “Meta-Persian” experience. This experience can be in our present-day life or maybe somewhere else somehow differently in a parallel world,” Ata states.
UVB76 - SĀN (Teenage Menopause Rds)
The Russian-Britain duo UVB76 comprise Gaetan Bizien and Tioma Tchoulanov, who unite for their debut album, SĀN, out on the Paris based imprint Teenage Menopause Rds. The album evokes dark soundscapes, perfect for late night dance floor experiences, with captivating narration, sliced by the Japanese opera singer Mari Suzuki's powerful voice. The album was conceived after the duo’s last Asian trip and comprises 8 tracks on the record and 2 more as digital bonus.
Visible Cloaks, Yoshio Ojima & Satsuki Shibano - Serenitatem (RVNG Intl.)
Serenitatem is the 15th installment of RVNG’s intergenerational FRKWYS series and joins Visible Cloaks with Yoshio Ojima and Satsuki Shibano, originators of the Japanese ambient music scene in the 1980s and 90s. While the music excels on an environmental level familiar in the collective’s individual works, Serenitatem reaches unseen stratums — a pure synthesis of artistic vision, technological sophistication, futurist ambition, and, occasionally, ancient polyphony.