DC is back with our second "New Sounds" post, this time highlighting seven new releases we're excited to sit with over the upcoming weekend. As a quick reminder, we haven't heard all of these albums completely through, and therefore cannot give them our full recommendation, but we expect that they'll each be pretty solid. Click on the hyperlinked Bandcamp links to give the artists some support, too. And finally, beneath this week's alphabetically-sorted selections you'll find a couple of bonus listens for those of you looking for even more music.
Alright, here we go:
Androoval - Tres Pianos ([MoM] rec) - As of 5:00 AM Pacific, just one song from this album appears live on Bandcamp, but hopefully the rest will be released soon. Conceptually, Tres Pianos sounds super interesting. The artist explains that it's "an album with three tracks, each with three layers. Each layer with a piano at a different speed from the other two in its set. An experiment in polytempo."
Dylan Dylan - Euphoria LP (Shall Not Fade) - The UK electronic label Shall Not Fade has an ton of releases slated to off this winter (three we're excited about this week alone!), and Dylan Dylan's offering of kaleidoscopic house cuts is a great kicking off point.
Earl Sweatshirt - SICK! (Tan Cressida) - No need to write much here - you know this guy. Earl has been a leading voice in indie rap for years, setting the stage for many of DC's favorite artists. He subtly shifts his delivery with each release, his aesthetic continually evolving, and each album of snapshot cuts he gives us is a gift.
Eventless Plot - Apatris (tsss tapes) - If Sontag Shogun's Flutter & Scrape struck a chord last week, here's some more noisy prepared piano for ya. Also, if you've not been following the Italian experimental label tsss tapes, be sure to check out a few more of their releases on Bandcamp while you're there.
J.R. Bohannon - Compulsions (Astral Editions) - We're excited to sit down with this album of experimental, minimalist American primitive guitar jams. The bits we've heard so far sound exactly like the type of music DC is very much into. And that album cover!
Mike Cooper - Oceans of Milk and Treacle (Room40) - We absolutely adored Mike Cooper's 2020 album Playing With Water, so were pretty excited to hear about the sound artist's new work for Room40. A collection of varied recordings seemingly influenced by post-colonial development in India and also Hindu cosmology, there's a bit of everything here.
Vilhelm Bromander - aurora (Warm Winters Ltd.) - If you fell in love with ambient jazz in 2021 along with everyone else (no judgement, we did too), you might as well keep it rolling into the new year. Not sure how well Vilhelm Bromander's album of gentle woodwind ensemble pieces fits into that nebulous genre, but his work might be our favorite of the week.
Bonus music: If you're interested in two bonus albums this week, we've got a couple of label compilations. First, there's Field Guide II from the Durham-based electronic label MAISON FAUNA (for those of you who wanna move), and then out tomorrow, A Speechless Body by the ever-excellent Whitelabrecs (for folks who would rather lie down). The latter is more of a collaboration than compilation, actually. Read the liner notes for a bit of context.
Thanks so much for coming back this week, and happy listening.