I don't know what she's saying, but I'm certainly entranced by the way Cerys Hafana says it. So take a Sunday road trip through harp led folkloric Welsh ways that undulate through the Snowdonian landscape into minimal harp picked valleys and up to more imposing vocal peaks. An enchanting LP.

CREDITS

llun y clawr / cover image - Mia Gwenllian
dyluniad / design - Miriam Davies
llun mewnol / internal image - Heledd Wyn

telyn deires a llais / triple harp and vocals - Cerys Hafana
bodhrán - Sam Robinson
bas dwbl a soddgrwth / double bass and cello - Jordan Price Williams
althorn - Elaine Turnbull
peiriannu, cymysgu a mastro / engineered, mixed, mastered - Mike West
cynhyrchu ychwanegol (traciau 1 a 10) / additional production (tracks 1 and 10) - Cerys Hafana

Always great to hear F.S. Blumm embark on another dub adventure, and once again he somehow manages to retain that classic dub authenticity whilst satiating his whimsical, playfully avant-garde sonic inclinations - a rare balancing act.

Dirtiness and Divergency 
It's a mystery what the handwriting of an artist is made of. What are the ties between artist and art? Why do we recognize the sound of a music producer even if they suddenly create music of a differnet genre? 

On his new album "Kiss Dance Kiss" F.S.Blumm remains unmistakably himself, even if he assembles dub- infected, saturated, overdriven instrumental tracks. It may be his signature guitar sound, the disarmingly straightforward melodies, or the irresistible groove: This groove is compelling but unobtrusive. Three, sometimes four notes create timeless melodies. 
F.S.Blumm unleashes his love for beats and dub by allowing the bone-dry riddims to dive deeply into the genre typical echo-chamber, combined with sweet guitar arpeggios and melodic basslines. These are friendly dub monsters. It doesn’t all fit seamlessly into the homogeneous sound. Take "Nimbb" with it's angular electronic groove, devoid of any melody, or the surprising horn timbres on "Twistert". 

As with all of Blumm‘s works, there is a familiar intimacy even within big echo chambers. 

His music searches for the sweet spot. He waits for the right time to record a piece, allowing for the exact degree of maturity of an idea, the magical moment when guest musicians meet, the collision between a well-planned process and happy coincidence. Finding the perfect spot for microphone placement, walking the fine-line between too slow and too fast, pinpointing the right delay-time are all inherent in Blumm's craft. It is a music full of these fragile constellations, interferences and synergies. 

The concept of 'composition through duplication' is repeated visually on the cover: 

Repetition creates blur and noise. Patterns rub against each other. Sound waves flutter in the wind. A simultaneous sunrise and sunset indicate the search for the perfect overlap. 
Each track acts like a rhythmic serving suggestion for individual dance moves. Music for the daily dance around the kitchen table. A lookbook for kraut-dub, analog-electro or adult-instrumental-pop. 

.. and now out into the sun.

It's been a long stressful week, so the chill out agenda has been ditched for the day & the end of week freak is back, and there's no better new listen than the driving, psychedelically swirling, insistent grooves and Pan-Arabic punk of Al-Qasar whose new LP for Glitterbeat is saying something on every level. I imagine the live show is worth travelling a long way for.

When continents collide, they make a thunderous sound. Al-Qasar create the soundtrack to that fission on their full-length debut, Who Are We? It is music for a world in flux, with its ancestors deep in the past, but something that could only have been born in the 21st century. Arabian fuzz, they term it, a vision that’s brazenly electric and deeply connected to its roots. 

But it had a definite starting point. 

“Al-Qasar was born in the Barbès neighbourhood of Paris,” explains band leader Thomas Attar Bellier. “I’ve lived in Los Angeles, Paris, New York, Lisbon… I wanted to start a project that was in tune with the daily life of people living in these international cities, something diverse, radically colourful, with a fresh, contemporary outlook on what societies really look like today”. The musicians came together, from France, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and the United States. Shows followed, first in France, then in Europe and the Middle East. They put out an EP, the widely-lauded Miraj, recorded in Cairo. In the same time frame, Attar Bellier collaborated with the likes of Emel Mathlouthi and Dina El Wedidi, two of the most exciting names in contemporary Arab music. 

Work on Who Are We? began in December 2020, with Attar Bellier composing eight tracks that writhe and roar in skilfully controlled chaos. Bass, drums and traditional percussion create a deep, irresistible groove for the foundation, while electric saz and guitars build a wailing wall above, with Moroccan vocalist Jaouad El Garouge’s ecstatic voice, steeped in his Gnawa upbringing, pulling inspiration from history as it strides into the future. 
Drawing on years of experience working in Los Angeles studios, Attar Bellier produced the album. Who Are We? translates the sound that inhabited his head into something physical that stirs spirit, heart and feet. It is relentless and insistent, like a psychedelic celebration on the dancefloor, bristling with the kind of deep energy that makes Al-Qasar sound like the world’s most dangerous wedding band. 

During those years spent behind the control board, Attar Bellier made some good friends in the US, and they’ve been eager to help out on the project. Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey) mixed the record, and Grammy-winner Dave Collins mastered it. The Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra was a natural addition to “Ya Malak,” his inimitable voice reciting a translation of Egyptian revolutionary poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, elevating the record’s social critique while showcasing the first-ever English recording of Negm’s work. 

Jello Biafra is not the only punk hero to appear on Who Are We? Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth layers textured, brooding guitar over the first two cuts, “Awtar Al Sharq” and “Awal.” The sweeping drones embrace the Moroccan bendir groove to magical results. “Lee sent me upwards of eighteen guitar tracks,” says Attar Bellier in amazement. “It was enough for an entire EP, and all so good. The hard part was deciding what not to use. Lee’s vibe just fit perfectly with what I was trying to do with the track.” 

Al-Qasar’s magnetic pull drew big names from other continents, too. Hend Elrawy, the acclaimed Egyptian singer whom the band met in Cairo, brings her powerful voice to “Mal Wa Jamal”, whose Arabic lyrics promote a female-centric and humbling outlook on prostitution and its consequences. Like the other songs on the album, its social consciousness is carefully veiled in images. “Hobek Tawrat,” for instance, can be taken as a love song, with its seductive, ringing opening on the electric saz that leads up to the aching voice of New York-based Sudanese innovator Alsarah (Alsarah & The Nubatones). On the surface it offers the gliding, breathless sensuality of romance. Underneath, though, its heart is spikily political as Alsarah calls out against the coup in her homeland, rising in passion with each verse – the chorus a slogan from the recent demonstrations. 

One of the band’s great coups is the track “Barbès Barbès,” an ode and homage to the neighbourhood in Paris where Al-Qasar first came together. The iconic Mehdi Haddab (Speed Caravan) added his oud virtuosity to the track. “Barbès is this edgy, amazing, historically Algerian, and still ungentrified part of the city” explains Attar Bellier. “To me, it is more typical of the way Paris really is than the Eiffel Tower, or than the Louvre. Real people live there, real culture happens there.” Haddab, who occasionally performs with the band, is famous for introducing the oud as a rock’n’roll instrument. “When he played on the track, it was as if he’d set it alight, it just came to life.” 

Who Are We? is a deep, exhilarating album. Its intensity never wavers, music that pulls from the hypnotic roots of North African trance and threads it into a fabric with the elaborate beauty of Arabic scales and the shock and thrill of rock’n’roll. It is modern folklore, a reflection of the cross-cultural society we’ve become. The continents have collided, and the result is deep magic. Who Are We? Al-Qasar ask. The answer is there on the album cover. Look in the mirror. We are you and me. We are then. We are here. We are now. And we are tomorrow. 

Listen.
​
CREDITS
​Thomas Attar Bellier: electric saz, guiters, keys 
Jaouad El Garouge: vocals, awtar, karkabou, tbila, bendir, claves, caxixi, cowbell 
Guillaume Théoden: bass, sub bass 
Nicolas Derolin: darbuka, daf, bongos, bendir, shakers, saget 
Paul Void: drums

I'm really proud to announce the release of "Sea Foam" - the second single from the forthcoming Confluence LP by Greg Dallas & Jan Esbra. If you liked, "May Rain" then this will be right up your street. It's a sparkling, iridescent slice of ambient electronica seemingly designed to make the world a brighter, better place. The actual track - like the whole LP, was born from intense improvised sessions on piano, guitar, synth and effects pedals. I hope you enjoy it.

If you are going on a 7 day voyage to unexplored territory, sonic or otherwise then friendship & trust are fundamental. Fortunately Colombian Jan Esbra & American Greg Dallas’ decade long personal affection, musical admiration, electronic curiosity and improvisational leanings born from their jazz guitar roots were all steady hands on the rudder during this intense & unpredictable creative outpouring. Remarkably they travelled light, only utilising a synth, an old piano and two guitars - all fed through various effects pedals which largely disguise their identities. Even more remarkably this is Greg’s debut and Jan’s sophomore LP. 

After the 7th day they rested, divided the recordings equally and retreated to their respective St. Louis and New York studios to contemplate what had just happened. Listening back to the various 20-30 minute long sonic outbursts that were the basis for each track, they painstakingly distilled the essence of each session & staying true to the improvisational guiding spirits immortalised in the recordings, arranged those "duende" moments into the tracks you are now hearing. Greg then embarked on his first foray into mixing - treating it as an extension of the artistic process and further elevating the tracks to create the jazz rooted electronic collages you have before you. 

The album is certainly a communal triumph and a welcome antidote to today’s fast-paced and increasingly divided world. It’s a safe space where North & South America unite, New York and St. Louis nod approvingly at each other, improvisational embraces intentional, sonic density sits comfortably next to barely tangible musical meditations and jazz teams up with electronica to push the boundaries of ambient music. It’s certainly a trip and a half. 

Ultimately though a long, well nurtured friendship has born some pretty mind-blowing musical fruit and they’d like to share it with you.

CREDITS
​All tracks improvised and produced by Greg Dallas & Jan Esbra. 
Vocals on "Deep Dive" Catey Esler - cateyesler.bandcamp.com 

Greg Dallas 
www.gregdallas.com 
gregdallas.bandcamp.com,  
instagram.com/gregdallasgregdallas 
www.youtube.com/channel/UCRbGCwKRYehB8Rxey9act1A 
soundcloud.com/greg-dallas 
open.spotify.com/artist/05BH5rodLid3WbCmc2OAdY 
music.apple.com/us/artist/greg-dallas/1557762807 

Jan Esbra 
www.janesbra.com 
www.instagram.com/jan.esbra/ 
janesbra.bandcamp.com 
www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBnZXf5vo_3a8mSsRbyZIg 
open.spotify.com/artist/65ZZJz6y82lyubAx44cow1 
music.apple.com/gb/artist/jan-esbra/1574388799 

Artwork by Greg Dallas and Catey Esler 
Mastering: Ian Hawgood

The new show for Copenhagen's Music for Dreams station is here and it's a deep dive into the heart of the new millenial kosmische sun this week - hypnotic epics, sound collages, South Korean drumming, ambient folk, spiritual jazz with ambient vibes at every corner.

Lean Year - Legs (Western Vinyl)
Ecovillage - Memories of Spring (ft. Masayoshi Fujita) [Laaps]
Rich Ruth - Desensitization and Reprocessing (Third Man)
Greg Dallas & Jan Esbra - Sea Foam (The Slow Music Movement)
tarotplane - Dissolve Into The Sun (Tonight's Dream)
Bitchin Bajas - Amorpha (Drag City)
Chloe Kim 김예지 - My Dearests (Phantom Limb)
Takuro Okada - Sand (Newhere)
morimoto naoki - koyoi (Seil)
Surya Botofasina - Surya Meditation (Reprise) Radio Edit [Spiritmuse]
Aux Meadows - Locals (Self Release)
Carlos Truly - Why Suffer?? (Bayonet)`

Don't forget our Spotify playlists if you need some great tunes in between shows https://open.spotify.com/user/theslowmusicmovement/playlists

Go deep withAbstract Black as he takes the one man band concept to a next level Arkestral dimension, single handedly uniting Afro-American music's southern hemisphere roots with a parallel dimensional hip hop jazz tape present before nonchalantly improvising his own tangential  Afrofuturistic path for Banana Tapes.

"Montgomery’s new music, released on cassette by Nashville label Banana Tapes, doesn’t sound out of place in the current jazz scene. In Circles With Self could make a bookend with bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding’s work, and it bears similarities to glitchy, hip-hop-influenced repertory records like MAST’s 2018 Thelonious Sphere Monk. Even though he’s been influenced by jazz, Montgomery hasn’t set out to rework the jazz repertoire. His Abstract Black recordings combine spoken-word sections with sections that use circular looping, and he also plays saxophone with a skronky bite that is immensely satisfying. 

For Montgomery, an admirably unfettered musician who seems determined to seize the moment, jazz is a constant presence, but he says it might be merely a point of departure. As he tells me, “It’s taking this concept of great black music, Sun Ra-influenced stuff, and putting it into the circles.” 

Edd Hurt, Nashville Scene, January 24, 2019 

After witnessing the Sun Ra Arkestra in Memphis October 2018, I used the month of November to create these compositions, quick mantras really, which focus on using the sound circle (loop), to reimagine an ensemble, in the tradition of Great Black Music ensembles like the aforementioned and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, yet comprised of self solely. This recording stands to document my adherence to the practice of sonic improvisation in the out of doors. 

instruments: 
bass clarinet 
tenor sax 
alto sax 
flute/piccolo 
park bench 
ewi/circuit 
oboe 
xaphoon 
singing bowls 
wood bell 
tambourine 
jingle/bells 
hands/feet 
voice 
ubass 
atoke 
cowbell 
chakcha 
castanets 
qarkabeb 

production: 
zoom u-24 
share beta 57A 
ipad/loopy hd 


post: 
ableton live 
push2 
trx mixer 
minikp2 
organelle

​CREDITS
Solely produced by JayVe Montgomery 
Cover Design by Chelsea Velaga 
Recorded in Nashville's most grand studio, her parks. 

© JAYVE MONTGOMERY for 
GalleryAbstractBlack Music (ASCAP)

Packing only his most ambient synths & trusty guitar with only a lava lamp for illumination, tarotplane drops by Tonight's Dream Records to pick up some sandwiches before setting his Universal Positioning System for the heart of the kosmische sun. Luckily there's space in the van so hop on board for this most cosmic of road trips.

The second release on Tonight’s Dream Records is delivered by Baltimore-based ambient and new-school Kosmische guitar musician PJ Dorsey, better known as Tarotplane. The Ektachrome Dawn follows on from the stunning Horizontology (12th Isle) and Light Self All Others (Impatience). He describes the album as a collage of work collated since 2017. Drawing in on inspirations from guitar-oriented psych and modern ambient music, using elements he values and revere in older 70’s head records and mixes it with modern techniques and influences. The tracks fuse traditional rock music, ethereal ambient textures and downtempo electronica, blended together seamlessly to create an engaging and unique listen throughout.

Produced by Tarotplane
Mastered by Rafael Anton Irisarri
Art Direction / Design by Jonny E-J​

Seemingly arranged by tuning into cosmic vibrations at full moon rather than familiar song structures OHMA embark on a journey with Colorfield Records through unspoilt New Age valleys & pastoral jazz fusion to reach a higher chill out plane, on their warm, whimsical and light filled new LP.

Between All Things is a world in which a sonic forest blooms simultaneously in all directions. OHMA's, Mia Garcia and Hailey Niswanger thoughtfully crafted the body of sound during 2021 to invoke a deep listening. The record begins with a meditative state, eliciting the openness of a journey unfolding. A gentle saxophone acts as the guide to enter the sphere, inviting the listener to become one with the sounds. With each moment new sonic doors are opened, evoking a multitude of emotions. Ranging from earthy bass tones and flowing flutes to analog synthesizers and vintage drum machines, the record provides a full range of the sonic spectrum. Each song on the album is entirely unique to itself but holds an essence of familiarity and timelessness, all of which contributes to the connection between all things. Integrating life’s rhythm, the pair recorded lakes, fire, leaves, and birds to collaborate with the orchestra of nature. Their process is experimental, always guided by play. CREDITS
​Composed by Hailey Niswanger and Mia Garcia 

Produced by Hailey Niswanger, Mia Garcia, and Pete Min 

Benny Bock on Oberheim - “In Essence” 

Abe Rounds on drums - “Between All Things” and “A Portal To All That Is”