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If you travel up the Amazon, past the city of Manaus and past the Brasilian/Peruvian border, you will eventually reach the city of Iquitos. It was here that Werner Herzog filmed Fitzcarraldo, the visionary epic of one man’s struggle to drag a ship over a mountain; and it was here, in a city completely cut off from the Peruvian coast, accessible only by air and water, and surrounded by impenetrable forests, that a new, distinctly Amazonian style of Cumbia emerged in the early 1970s.

One of the style’s greatest practitioners was Raúl Llerena Vásquez – known to the world as Ranil – is a Peruvian singer, bandleader, record-label entrepreneur and larger-than-life personality who swirled the teeming buzz of the Amazonian jungle, the unstoppable rhythms of Colombian and Brazilian dance music, and the psychedelic electricity of guitar-driven rock-and-roll into a knock-out, party-starting concoction. It’s cumbia alright, but you’ve never heard cumbia quite like this before.

Ranil’s music came into being far from Lima, the Peruvian capital, where Cuban-style big band and guitar waltzes vied for popular supremacy. On the distant banks of the Amazon, where Ranil spent the early years of his adulthood working as a schoolteacher, the air was full of the criollo waltzes of his youth, carimbó rhythms from nearby Brasil and crackly broadcasts of cumbia from Colombia picked up on transistor radios.

When Ranil returned to Iquitos after several years teaching in small towns, he assembled a group of musicians and prepared to take the city’s nightlife by storm. His unique blend of galloping rhythms and trebly, reverberant guitar was so successful that he was soon able to take his band to Lima to record their first record at MAG studios, where many of Peru’s most successful psych, rock and salsa bands began their recording careers.

Yet Ranil had no intention of entering into the indentured servitude that comes with signing one’s life away to a record company. Instead he established Produccions Llerena – possibly the first record label founded in the Peruvian Amazon – which allowed him to maintain complete control over the release and distribution of his music. His fearsome negotiation skills and his insistence on organising his own tours turned him into one of the central figures of the Amazonian music scene.

Although his records were popular throughout the region, Ranil never sought his fortune in the capital, preferring to remain in his hometown of Iquitos where, in recent decades, he has concentrated his considerable energies on his radio and television stations, and become involved with local civic politics. Yet his legacy has continued to grow among those fortunate enough to track down copies of his legendary – and legendarily difficult to find – LPs.

Ranil’s extraordinary output has remained one of the best kept secrets among collectors of cumbia and psychedelic Latin sounds. With the release of Ranil y su Conjunto Tropical it is a secret no longer. Assembled by Analog Africa founder Samy Ben Redjeb from original LPs sourced from Ranil himself, this fully-licenced compilation presents 14 tracks – many of which have never seen wide release outside the Amazonian region – by a singular artist at the very height of his considerable powers. Prepare yourself for a guitar groove you won’t soon forget. 

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Arbouretum’s mystic folk-rock collapses a continuum of 20th century music into decidedly classic song structures. English folk, country blues, Americana and 70s psychedelia all serve as touchpoints in their singular and distinctive sound. The Baltimore-based band have perfected the craft of storytelling using the delicate interplay of melodies and prosaic lyrics to tell vivid stories that engage the listener and transport them the way an immersive novel would. Let It All In stands as their most accomplished and evocative album to date. Guitarist and vocalist Dave Heumann’s melodies and solos still remain a central focus bolstered by the hypnotic rhythms of bassist Corey Allender and drummer Brian Carey and enhanced by Matthew Pierce’s substantial yet understated keyboard figures. Each song is a vivid scene or tale; meticulously detailed and crafted, transporting the listener to another world and time.

Recorded at Wrightway Studios with Steve Wright, the record’s elaborate, delicate and interlocking melodies expand with improvisation as in the relentless forward-motion of title track “Let In All In”, or the slow cosmic churn of “No Sanctuary Blues”. Let It All In features two drummers on nearly every track. David Bergander worked with long-time core member Carey to develop complementary parts, blended together as if they were a single player rather than two separate instrumentalists. New sounds are nowhere more evident than on “High Water Song”. With its raucous honky-tonk piano laid down by Hans Chew and walls of layered saxophone, trumpet and flugelhorn played by Dave Ballou and Matthew Pierce, it is a striking new addition to their catalog of songs.

Heumann’s deep sense of spirituality and command of storytelling through myth and metaphor resonates through Arbouretum’s music. Let It All In invokes nature as a backdrop for exploring humanity's relationship to time, history, and the present socio-political climate, often highlighting water as a ubiquitous if often unconscious presence in our lives. It acts as a subtle connecting thread through each piece’s imagined landscapes, as well as taking on a symbol for change and spirit. The “black and deepest crimson” of sunrise over the Atlantic ocean on “How Deep It Goes” reflects on current political turmoil and the obfuscation of truth. "High Water Song" follows a narrator whose home is washed away by the effects of climate change and struggles to integrate into a new homeland. Title track "Let It All In" acts as a thematic thesis to the album, musing on both the pitfalls and benefits of letting the outside world into one's inner life.

Let It All In is as instantly arresting as it is deeply reflective, with layers of sound and metaphor for the listener to unravel and interpret in their own way. It is a beautiful album that lives in and reflects the present moment while sounding as if it were forged in another era. The group has always centered around Heumann’s remarkable voice and songwriting. His skill as a vocalist and guitar player have led to playing with artists such as Cass McCombs, Will Oldham, and many others. Heumann’s songs are transportive and decidedly album-oriented, and Let It All In is an invitation to jump into an album rich with timeless elegance. The rarity of their live shows and the otherworldliness of their music have made Arbouretum a cultish band, a treasure for those that discover their albums. Their profound music endures and rewards fans both old and new. Arbouretum has added to their catalog another exceptional work that will weather changing fashions and reward those who explore their entirely unique world. 

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With Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, curator Jörg Burger has intensified his vision for this new series of compilations on Kompakt. The music he’s collected here has a unique vibration, perhaps an audio equivalent to the legendary ‘acid Western’ films of the 1960s and 1970s, when the wild frontier logic of the western met the consciousness-altering psychedelia of the counterculture.

‘Velvet Desert Music’ is Burger exploring possibilities: what happens when you extract the essence from genres as diverse as spaghetti Western soundtracks, moody lamp-lit pop, downtempo, Krautrock, minimalism, classic ‘60s psychedelia, and more, and let their scents intermingle, Des Esseintes-style?

On Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, Burger welcomes back old friends – Fantastic Twins, Sascha Funke, Paulor, Rebolledo, Superpitcher, The Novotones – and also introduces some exciting new names, such as Golden Bug and The Limiñanas, Mount Obsidian (aka César Urbina / Cubenx), and Lake Turner. Marcus Schmickler’s Pluramon project appears, remixed by Burger, and Michael Mayer makes his first appearance with “Not So Far Away”.

The ultimate strength of Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, though, is its seamlessness; you’re encouraged to press play, sit back, and listen to the album unfurl as a whole. Much like one of Kompakt’s other compilation series, the legendary yearly Pop Ambient collections edited by Wolfgang Voigt, Velvet Desert Music builds its own psychological environment to inhabit. And as you dig deeper into Velvet Desert Music Vol. 2, the music takes on synaesthetic turns, the textures all swirl together, igniting the senses.

Each of the artists share with Burger himself a production style that echoes the cinèma pour l’oreille (cinema for the ear), with luscious sweeps of tone and melody opening out to reveal new vistas, new terrain for the attentive listener. When listening to Velvet Desert Music, think widescreen, think broad brushstrokes, think boldness but with sensual detail. It’s the new frontier music. 

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buffering juju, the title of dumama + kechou’s debut album, relates to the process of “excavating spiritually charged content from within”.

the duo’s textural sound, driven by cyclical song structures and chant making, not only captures the angst of the modern world but mines this state of affairs for regenerative potential. their approach to music is a coalescence of their respective individual journeys into the self and society, making their sound – described as nomadic future folk music - the sonic result of an organic meditative process.

dumama + kechou met in cape town in 2017. it was a time of intense socio-political upheaval in South Africa, coming off the back of student-led protests for free education and the wider societal striations those protests exposed. this period coincided with individual spiritual breakthroughs for the duo, signified by fruitful study and mentorship projects.

for dumama (who is from the eastern cape province in south africa), the period marked the beginning of a life-changing mentorship with legendary elder, madosini. madosini is a celebrated composer and instrument builder in south africa known for her stage genius and improvisational ability.

for kechou (of algerian-german descent but born and raised in germany), studying at the south african college of music in cape town was important in that it was a location from which to pursue african music (with a particular focus on north african instruments) in an environment in which the western gaze was more discernible. This status quo led kechou to deeper critical investigation of the oppressive dynamic surrounding the framing of african music.

the initial clutch of shows that etched the dumama + kechou sound were marked by their fortuitously-timed meeting. there was an instinctive pulse to the interaction, not to mention the vast sonic and conceptual possibilities it blew open. “i guess we were in similar places with our music processes in trying to push healing music to the edges and be more experimental with it,” says dumama.

the result is that buffering juju plays out as a lush narrative meeting its sonic equivalent; one whose world is self-contained and interwoven. the narrative unravels as a piece of magical realism informed by south african folklore and reality, detailing a woman’s liberation story where the characters shift shape and traverse multiple realms, deploying various iterations of their power or lack thereof. “it has an organic, natural, cyber and modern kind of energy - all rooted in african aesthetics of sound and storytelling,” says kechou.

All of this sits on a bed of the duo’s unique musical language, one that, although applied electronically in the form of looping and soundscaping, is founded on approaches to string, vocal and percussion tones that reflect a merger between northern and southern african heritage.

recorded primarily in cape town and johannesburg over the first quarter of 2019, buffering juju is a conduit to a past we were not necessarily present for, and a future where threatened indigenous technologies thrive in an increasingly digitised world. 

Credits:
dumama – vocals, uhadi and baby synthesiser
kechou – calabash, guembri (abdelkader), cascas, chitende, guitar, bass guitar, synthesisers, drum/percussion pad, dundun (talking drum), darbuka and shakers

angel bat dawid – clarinet on 'uveni'
siya makuzeni – trombone on 'wessi walking mama'
nobuhle ashanti – piano on 'for madala'
odwa bongo – vocals on 'for madala'
dylan greene – vibraphones on 'uveni'
shane cooper – upright bass on 'wessi walking mama'
dion monti – synthesisers on 'for madala', 'uveni' + 'mother time'

all songs written by dumama + kechou except 'for madala' (written by madala kunene, dumama + kechou), 'leaving prison' (music by dumama + kechou and lyrics from a south african struggle song) + 'mother time' (music by dumama + kechou and lyrics by dumama + a traditional south african song)

recorded, mixed and produced by dion monti
co-produced by dumama, kechou + andrew curnow
mastered by norman nitzsche at calyx mastering
additional recording by angel bat dawid, kechou, dylan greene + andrew curnow

cover art by duduetsang lamola

executive produced by andrew curnow + gugulethu duma
manufactured + distributed by !K7 label group

all songs published by mushroom hour half hour except 'for madala', which is published by mushroom hour half hour + Sony/ATV Music Publishing

lovingly presented to you by dumama, kechou + mushroom hour half hour

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n early 2018, Nathan Jenkins returned from the coast of Arrábida to his new home studio, in a cottage tucked behind the grand hotel setting of Wim Wenders’ Lisbon Story. Breaking for lunches under a Datura tree in the garden and a far cry from the Finsbury Park basement flat he rented the previous year, a set of recordings followed that galvanised into an E.P. – We Had A Good Time. Music informed by out-of-town trips in a 1987 Renault 9 Super, impromptu car park hulas and solo cinema bliss.

All tracks written, produced and performed by Nathan Jenkins except We Had A Good Time, co-written by Diego Herrera.
Additional guitar on Hula / Hula Hula played by Will Westerman.

Thanks to Tic, Gwilym & Will Archer.

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Marionette starts off 2020 with Bastian Epple who makes music as MinaeMinae – a video editor/director by trade and off-duty he’s a wanderer of his inner worlds of music. On this album titled Gestrüpp, we hear MinaeMinae playfully scurrying through chaotic soundscapes on a tightrope. The sounds lying somewhere on the crossroads of psychedelic trance, exotica, ambient and melodic dance music – veering further off orbit with nontypical rhythms and dystopian percussive patterns.

Growing up in a small village in southern Germany, Bastian was never interested in kitschy folk sounds that everyone would mindlessly clap and sing along to, rather he took solace in the time he would spend delving into patterns and repetitions that pleased him. His guitar strumming and what sounded to his mother like a young Philip Glass on a cheap Casio keyboard encouraged little Epple to continue on this self-taught path of developing his musical language. He then started to experiment with a tape recorder and layering sounds with non-musical samples, which his former village friends found too weird – then to eventually working with a small freeware DAW. Bastian went on to study Media Art at the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe – initially enrolled in music but the frustration and doubt of not being able to produce the music he wanted led him into film and documentary media. During his studies, Bastian was living with Florian Meyers (Don’t DJ) for several years where they would philosophize life and music into the wee hours – he encouraged Bastian to start sharing what he’s been quietly working on all these years and slowly emerge from this anonymity which eventually led to his first release on Human Pitch last fall.

Working a day job in the film industry as an editor, Bastian cuts films, TV shows, documentaries, and sometimes also directs films. He often finds himself more intrigued by the rhythm and emotionality of the soundtracks than the cut of the picture. When it comes to making music, Bastian has the freedom to intuitively discover ideas and structures within the instruments and himself. However, through his work as a film editor, MinaeMinae understands the musical material much like a documentary footage and he would cut it up, pitch, and rearrange it. Most of his tracks are a mix of analog, synthetic sounds and recordings of drums, congas, djembe, etc. and sometimes guitar. More recently, Bastian began experimenting with a modular and diy tape echo and delay - seeking more reduced and minimalist compositions relative to his earlier whimsical tunes. These different styles to MinaeMinae’s music production can be heard on this album.

Disproportionate forms, color changes, backdrops weaved into the foreground, all lay the dense earth for Gestrüpp through Benjamin Kilchhofer’s artwork.

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Self-produced Lua Cheia is a celebration of Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian rhythms as Maracatu, Congado Mineiro, Baião with original songs and contemporary influences of Let Drum Beat London-based band.

Let Drum Beat are Alba Cabral (vocal, ukulele, percussion), Bea Shantifa (vocal, triangle, shaker, bell), Lizzie Ogle (vocal, rabeca, rhodes, percussion) and Tuca Milan (vocal, drum kit, percussion).
Credits
Recorded at Navegas Cantareira (Lenis Rino & Zé Nigro) - Brazil 2018.
Mixed at Llama Studio (Gareth Finnegan) - London 2018.
Mastered at The Carvery (Frank Merrit) - London 2019.

Guests: Aluá Nascimento (percussion), Dinho Nascimento (percussion), Gabriel Nascimento (percussion), Kika (vocal), Laura Impallomeni (trombone), Lelê Milan (bass), Lenis Rino (percussion), Marcelo Dworecki (bass, guitar), Max Grunhard (saxophone), Marta Riccardi (bass), Ne Lucatto (percussion), Scott Baylis (trumpete), Zé Nigro (bass).

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For their first album in 5 years, Zelienople turns on the current time with a record of low key decaying songs wrapped in hypnotic, driving rhythms.

The Chicago based trio is back with a stunner of an underground pop album. Their most reverb heavy bombast is gone in favour of pure earth bound intimate tunes that feel like they summon the spirit of the late Mark Hollis. Shrouded tribal percussion and rippling vocals are at the forefront, while looped atmospheres echo in the distance.

Since the release of their last album, vocalist Matt Christensen has been known for pouring his soul out in countless bandcamp releases of singer/songwriter, experimental and ambient offerings. It's hard to keep up with him, but one can't but to admire the dedication and extremely high quality of it all. Mike Weis on the other hand is less prolific, but has become a focused student of Korean Shaman and Buddhist music, often performing in zen based percussive rituals when he's not involved in side projects of improvisational music. Brian Harding is perhaps the most anonymous of the three, yet he is the steady, grounding element on bass that keeps them as one. Together, they create a beautifully realised own voice that feels especially close on their new album. Hold You Up is like a slow walk through a withering world, though one with a sense of refuge. This is music with heart - navigating darkness through light.

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The Wine Dark Sea is Bissonnette’s fifth solo studio album. The album’s title is derived from the writings of Homer, where he oft referred to a rough and stormy sea as “wine-dark”. Homer’s descriptions of colour are devoid of any reference to the colour blue. And any suggested meaning in his description of the sea point to the colour red. This apparent contradiction has brought much speculation about the significance and understanding of colour in ancient Greece. Keeping with the motif of colour, track titles on the album are based on references from contemporary artists and their insights on colour, form and implied meaning.


The album represents a shift for Bissonnette’s work, moving from an exclusively synth-based series of explorations to a hybrid of electronic and acoustic methods. The result is a rolling and slow-moving tide of tones and undulations. The textures are in some passages soft and mollifying but fluently shift to moments of tension and unease. The Wine Dark Sea is an aural allegory to sound and colour and our tenuous understanding of abstract meaning.

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Sam Gendel's Nonesuch Records debut album, Satin Doll, is out now. Recorded in Gendel's native California, Satin Doll is a futuristic homage to historical jazz. The album features three musicians—Gendel on saxophone, Gabe Noel on electric bass, and Philippe Melanson on electronic percussion—engaging in simultaneous synchronized sonic construction/deconstruction of jazz standards, including Miles Davis' "Freddie Freeloader," Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," and Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll." "A woozy, blissfully twisted album," says the Los Angeles Times. To pick up a copy of Satin Doll head to your local record store, the Nonesuch Store, iTunes, and Amazon, and listen at Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.

Sam Gendel is a musician and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. He is most known for his work with the saxophone, though he is proficient on multiple instruments. His work is diverse and includes significant collaborations with a wide range of artists including Ry Cooder, Blake Mills, Sam Amidon, Perfume Genius, Moses Sumney, Knower, Vampire Weekend, and inc. no world. Gendel's previous discography includes the critically praised Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar with bassist Sam Wilkes and 4444.