From cosmic American to Celtic folk, Balearic bits, Japanese pop and killer new jazz fusions via all sorts of weird and wobbly wonders.
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J.H. Guraj - Introspection (Maple Death Records)
Cinder Well - No Summer (Free Dirt)
Constant Follower - Set Aside Some Time (Bandcamp)
Art Feynman - Nancy Are You Hiding In Your Work (Western Vinyl)
Mandroid - Cruel Summer (The Slow Music Movement)
Shiwashiwa - New Hometown (Primordial Void)
Takuya Kuroda - Change (First Word)
Otis Sandajo - Fruehling (We Jazz)
Gianni Brezzo - The End Of (Papercup)
Numun - Voyage Au Soleil (Bandcamp)
JUNA - Haiku (Apersonal)
Eddie Chacon - My Mind is Out of Its Mind (Day End)
Statues - Lele (Eclectics)
Reuben Vaun Smith - Open Chakras (Soundway)

WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE RELEASE NOTES SAY:

Cinder Well is at the vanguard of a different kind of transatlantic folk revival, one forged amidst the uncertainty of a global pandemic. However, Irish-based songwriter Amelia Baker’s music isn’t nihilistic; instead, it strips traditional forms to their bones, creating a meditative, trance-like space for sonic healing. The sparse soundscapes and haunting stillnesses of her new album 'No Summer' (coming July 24 on Free Dirt Records) are not meant to be paens to loneliness. Rather, Baker was inspired by the rich musical connectivity of the pub scene in Ireland, and her move from California to County Clare to study traditional music of the region. A member of anarchist folk project Blackbird Raum, Baker’s time on the circuit with Irish trad-punk group Lankum eventually led her to a small settlement in County Clare, and to the rich dissonance of her music as Cinder Well, a dissonance caught between worlds and histories. Recorded by Nich Wilbur (Black Belt Eagle Scout, Angel Olsen), the original songs on 'No Summer' boldly rub shoulders with careful reworkings of traditional Appalachian sources. Baker’s songs parse these transatlantic traditions, and throughout, her remarkable voice cuts to the bone like some ghostly ballad singer bound to sing these words from here to eternity. From the eerily prophetic title track—which presaged a season of canceled shows—to “Our Lady’s”’s imagined stories of spectral abandoned asylum residents, No Summer is as haunting as it is connected, as dark as it is sacred, a kind of ritual healing that’s existed through the ages.  
CreditsProduced by Amelia Baker 
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Nich Wilbur at The Unknown in Anacortes, Washington 
Photos by Jim Ghedi and Amelia Baker 
Design by Dan MacDonald Studios 

Amelia Baker - vocals, guitar, organ, and fiddle on track 7 
Marit Schmidt - viola and vocals 
Mae Kessler - violin and vocals 

All songs written by Amelia Baker (ASCAP) except “Wandering Boy,” “The Cuckoo,” and “Queen of the Earth, Child of the Skies,” which are traditional.


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WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

Credits 

Mixed by: Zeroh 
Mastered by: Zeroh 

Prod: 
1. mejiwahn, Kafari, Shungu 
2, mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
3. Liv.e 
4. mejiwahn, Shungu, Cheflee, Salami Rose Joe Louis  
5. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
6. mejiwhan Co: Prod Daoud 
7. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
8. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
9. mejiwahn Daoud, Shungu 
10. mejiwahn, Shungu, Kafari, Salami Rose Joe Louis, Cheflee 
11. Ben Hixon 
12. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
13. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
14. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
15. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
16. mejiwahn Shungu, Daoud, Cheflee, Pacific Yew 
17. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
18. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
19. mejiwahn Co: Prod Daoud 
20. mejiwahn, Daoud, Shungu

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WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE RELEASE NOTES SAY:

Crucial questions around healing, cultural identity, and disability are among the many subjects visited by Thanya Iyer's sophomore album, KIND. Although represented by a concise title, KIND explores an expansive universe where Iyer and her band examine interpersonal relationships, ideas of home and destination, and our collective responsibilities to one another. To aid in this journey of big, difficult questions, Iyer enlists the help of a huge cast of musicians, with guest features ranging from brass trios, vocal sextets, flautists, and harpists. 

Underscoring its explorative nature, the constant movement of KIND melds the sounds of experimental pop and improv into a magical amalgam that teems with flashes of jazz and nuanced electronics. Iyer's rhythm section pulsates with genre-defying palettes of blips and skitters that twist elegantly into the melodic voices of interlocking synth, strings, and piano, all led by Iyer's enrapturing lilt. The rhythmic direction of bassist Alexander Kasirer-Smibert and percussionist Daniel Gélinas clears a navigable path in an otherwise unnavigable setting, built on the pair's understated yet intriguing expertise. 

The most succinct distillation of the album's themes is perhaps found in KIND's tracklist. "Please Don't Hold Me Hostage for Who I Am, Who I Was" and "Bring Back That Which is Kind to You" inspire philosophies of self-care and emergent reconfigurations of justice, calling on listeners to self-reflect and detach from our preconceptions of ourselves and our identity. At the end of its course, KIND arrives at the conclusion of acceptance and resolve: acceptance of our collective circumstance, and the resolve to make the choice to do better.  
Credits
✧ Thanya Iyer: voice, synth, violin, piano 
✧ Alex Kasirer-Smibert: Bass, percussion, synth, voice 
✧ Daniel Gélinas: Drums, Drum machine, percussion, voice 

✧ Shaina Hayes: Voice (tracks 4,5) 
✧ Simon Millerd: Trumpet (tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, 8) 
✧ Mawmz Plus Choir [Shelby Cohen, Corey Gulkin, Emilie Kahn, Brigitte Naggar, Sarah Rossy, Tamara Sandor] (tracks 7,9) 
✧ Emilie Kahn: Harp (track 2) 
✧ Frédérique Roy: Accordion, Voice (track 6) 
✧ Devin Brahja Waldman: Saxophone (tracks 2, 3, 6) 
✧ Felix Del Tredici: Trombone (track 2, 6) 
✧ Anh Phung: Flute (track 3, 6, 11) 
✧ Scott Bevins: Trumpet + electronics (track 10) 

✧ Artwork by Emilie Muszczak 
✧ Lettering design by Sophia Grouev 
✧ Graphic Design by Kevin Duquette 

✧ All songs by Thanya Iyer 
✧ Produced by Daniel Gélinas, Alexander Kasirer-Smibert & Thanya Iyer 
✧ Additional lyrics by Daniel Gélinas (track 7) and Alexander Kasirer-Smibert (tracks 8, 10) 
✧ Recorded and Mixed by Daniel Gélinas at Studio Chocolat Chaud (Ogden, QC), St George’s Anglican Church (Montréal, QC) and Resonance Café (Montréal, QC) 
✧ Mastered by Elton Chueng at Classick Studios (Chicago, IL) 

✧ A big thank you to the Canada Council of the Arts for their continuous support in our music. 
✧ So much love and appreciation to Topshelf Records for being on this journey with us and believing in our music. 
✧ And eternal showers of love and gratitude to our friends, our families and our community that have kept us strong and supported throughout this process!

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