Gūsū - The Ending Was A Typical Part (Subject To Restrictions Discs)
The collaboration between Xueyan Chen and Nicolas Balmer alias Gūsū was born out of their shared musical explorations in 2022 and has evolved into a dialogue of sound. Chen's guzheng, an instrument deeply linked to Chinese history, resonates with improvised and self-composed melodies, freeing its pentatonic scale from its traditional bounds. Her playing is underscored with the cryptic hum of Balmer's modular synthesizers, the deep bass and layered textures that combine the organic with the electronic. Together they create a sonorous exploration of identity, displacement and unity.
Ibex Band - Stereo Instrumental Music (Muzikawi)
"There’s a tendency to talk about the seventies as a golden age of Ethiopian music. There are good reasons for that, and just as good reasons against it. However, the notion of a golden past privileges the role of Western explorers and suggests that the pinnacle of Ethiopia’s musical culture is something only a foreigner can appreciate and unearth. It downplays the complexities of Ethiopia’s culture and history, creating an artificial divide between then and now. And it underestimates the constantly evolving sound that has followed. The legendary musical outfit The Ibex Band, later metamorphosed into The Roha Band, has played a central role in defining the sound of many of the greatest stars on the music scene of Ethiopia from the mid-seventies onwards–but their golden output has never really waned." Muzikawi
Joe McPhee, Susanna Gartmayer, John Edwards, Maria Portugal - Monster (Klanggalerie)
Monster is a new release on Klanggalerie, presented by a sensational quartet that was created by Free Music Forum in Austria, comprising Joe McPhee (saxophone, voice), Susanna Gartmayer (bass clarinet, cover), John Edwards (double bass) and Mariá Portugal (drums, voice).
Kuntari - Lahar (Clam)
LAHAR is the new musical work of Bandung power duo KUNTARI, Indonesia. A deeply atmosferic, bone-melting session of ancestral doom sounds delivered by the contemporary Indonesian primal music specialists.
Lahar is a Javanese term which was adopted in geology to describe a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are often extremely destructive and deadly; they can flow tens of metres per second.
Laszlo Umbreit, Sirah Foighel Brutmann & Eitan Efrat - Là (Futura Resistenza)
Là is an immersive, politically charged sound journey – a lament for the Al Naqab desert in Palestine. It is the result of a collaboration between Sirah Foighel Brutmann, Eitan Efrat, Laszlo Umbreit, and Ot Lemmens. The album combines acoustic instruments like flute and cymbals with processed electronics and mechanical sounds.
Manu Dibango - Dibango 82 (WeWantSounds)
Dibango 82 an unreleased live recording by Manu Dibango taped in Marseille, Dec 1982. The electrifying live performance features the African legend alongside his stellar 8-piece group, blending funk, jazz, and African rhythms. Manu Dibango, who passed away five years ago at 86, is one of the most celebrated African musicians alongside Fela, Miriam Makeba and Youssou N’dour. In a career spanning six decades, Dibango revolutionised African music and had a worldwide hit in the process in the form “Soul Makossa” in 1972. This live album, recorded during a French tour in 1982 came at a critical time when France, after the election of Francois Mitterrand, was embracing its multi-ethnic sensitivity. Through the rise of FM radios such as Radio Nova, an offshoot of cult magazine Actuel, the French music scene suddenly got much more opened. The “Sono Mondiale” as Nova would call World music, was born.
