King Isis - I’m Fine, Thx 4 Asking
This sixty minutes of carefully curated new music begins with King Isis from Oakland, California who says they are, “The queer, Black genre-bending afrofuture.” I’m Fine, Thx 4 Asking from the album, Scales should prompt you to want to hear more. Plus, King Isis explains, “Scales is the beginning of an eternal journey of introspection. It’s an attempt at beginning to peel back the layers to start the journey of becoming whole through duality. Scales for balance, scales for practice, scales for beginning. Scales for the serpent, the shadow selves, for embracing the unknown”. This is hardly an unassuming body of work, yet there is a class and style here that should be not be overlooked. Excellent!
Laura Wolf - Calligraphy and Calculations
Cellist, singer, and producer Laura Wolf says this about her second LP, “Shelf Life is about life after trauma and what we do with the decay we’re dealt”, the Brooklyn-based artist also curiously states, “I'm the moth in your sweater”. Clearly, Laura has a delightful sense of humor coupled with a keen ability for creating intriguing new music. Shelf Lifeis on Whatever's Clever Records.
Withered Hand - Crippled Love
Originally from London, now based in Edinburgh, singer-songwriter Dan Willson presents as Withered Hand. Crippled Love a cut from his album, How To Love is Dan’s first new music in nine years. Already into his thirties, following the birth of his son and the death of a close friend, Wilson says he started singing and writing songs, which could explain the obvious maturity of his music.
This Is The Kit - Inside Outside
Here is an artist we have featured on the show before, not least of all because the distinctive style of Kate Stables who performs under the moniker of This Is The Kit makes unique music. And, not unexpected, Kate offers her commentary on her LP, Careful Of Your Keepers, “The album chronicles a world of mistakes and mishaps, cruel circumstances, and universe-driven surprises. It's a record that embraces the concept of outrospection – the idea that you get to know oneself by developing relationships and empathic thinking with others.” Do not miss out on This Is The Kit, available on Rough Trade.
Fatima Al Qadiri - Fidetik (I Lay Down My Life)
Kuwaiti musician Fatima Al Qadiri with fellow fellow Kuwaiti vocalist Gumar give us, Fidetik (I Lay Down My Life)from a four track EP, also titled Gumar which is Arabic for moon. This EP is delicious listening, ruminating on the subject of unrequited love, arguably the most common theme in Arabic music past and present. Oh, and a tip of the hat for the sleeve artwork, quite splendid. And, make sure you check out Fatima’s website.
Out of Madrid, Spain, producer, multi-instrument player, and DJ, Latrama who is also known for his collective Chandra Sound System as one of the key global mixers of traditional world music sounds with electronic breaks. With Knot To Knot, Latrama skillfully performs magic to full effect with samples. Slightly retro in the ambience, yet one of those cuts you’ll want to hear again, and again. Nice.
Samples are to the fore in Mounika’s work, and how splendidly she uses them on her LP, Don’t Look At Me. To get a an audio-visual take on her work, pop on over to Mounika’s site and check out the videos. It’s like pages of ID magazine’s street reportage coupled with overtly sexual tableaus. As Mounika is based out of Poitiers, France, I hope you’ll understand when I mention her work is decidedly, well, French. And, that’s a good thing.
