#4630, New Releases, May 2022
It's that time of the month again for the freshest new music that made its way into our earholes. John Schaefer once again picks through the spring flood of submissions and curiosities for the most unusual and unexpected sounds. Hear music for drones and ice diving by Kazakh-British composer and violinist Galya Bisengalieva, “Desert Blues”-y work from Malian songwriter and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré, and voice sculptures by Spanish pianist Marina Herlop.
Malian guitar virtuoso Vieux Farka Touré reconnects with traditional Songhai music of northern Mali, aka ‘Desert Blues’ on his latest record, Les Racines, which translates as ‘the roots’. Vieux’s roots run deep, as he is the son of the legendary singer and guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the late Grammy-winning, internationally successful West African musician, (Rough Trade liner notes.) Ali Farka Touré opens the 2022 New York Guitar Festival on June 14 in The Greene Space.
Then, there’s drones and atmospheric music by Kazakh-British composer and violinist Galya Bisengalieva, who also draws on folk, ambient, classical, and electronic music in her original work. Listen to some of her film score for the documentary, Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive, which documents freediver Johanna Nordblad, under the ice in Finland.
Pianist, composer, and vocalist Marina Herlop from Barcelona, combines piano, electronic drums, electric bass lines and lots of chopped and layered vocal lines, drawing on konnakol (the South Indian Carnatic system of vocally performing incredibly complex rhythmic cycles). Listen to some of her record, Pripyat, which is the first record she produced entirely herself, putting Ableton to work for her studio magic.
Hear new music by the expressive saxophonist, philosopher, bandleader, and musician Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, Shabaka & The Ancestors), now professionally known as Shabaka when solo. He has just released an album called Afrikan Culture, a spacious and meditative affair using shakuhachi flute, kora, and mbira (thumb piano) in unexpected ways.
There’s also an electronic music release from Mario Diaz de Leon, who is not only a composer, but also a professor of music and technology at Stevens Institute of Technology. His work ranges from modern classical to the heavy – from chamber music to an industrial black metal band Luminous Vault, and electroacoustic improvisation besides. Plus, and we can’t make this up – listen to electric toothbrushes on guitar strings from John P. Hastings and Benjamin Mayock, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4630, New Releases, May 2022 (First aired 5/31/22)
ARTIST: Galya Bisengalieva
WORK: Should I Panic About Dying [1:01]
RECORDING: Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive
SOURCE: One Little Independent Records, Due out July 22
INFO: galyabisengalieva.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Marina Herlop
WORK: miu [4:00]
RECORDING: Pripiyat
SOURCE: PAN
INFO: https://linktr.ee/marinaherlop
ARTIST: Mario Diaz de Leon
WORK: Heart Thread, Pt. 1 [4:00]
RECORDING: Heart Thread
SOURCE: Denovali, Due out Jul 29
INFO: mariodiazdeleon.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Galya Bisengalieva
WORK: Should I Panic About Dying [2:44]
RECORDING: Hold Your Breath: The Ice Dive
SOURCE: One Little Independent Records, Due out July 22
INFO: galyabisengalieva.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Shabaka
WORK: Ital is vital [4:43]
RECORDING: Afrikan Culture
SOURCE: Impulse! Records
INFO: https://shabaka.lnk.to/AfrikanCulture
ARTIST: Vieux Farka Touré
WORK: Ngala Kaourene [5:15]
RECORDING: Les Racines
SOURCE: World Circuit, due out June 10
INFO: https://worldcircuit.lnk.to/VFTRacinesID
ARTIST: Svaneborg Kardyb
WORK: Terrasedør [2:53]
RECORDING: Orbit
SOURCE: Gondwana Records
INFO: https://svaneborgkardyb.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Akusmi
WORK: Divine Moments of Truth [4:20]
RECORDING: Fleeting Future
SOURCE: Tonal Union Records Ltd
INFO: akusmi.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Paolo Angeli
WORK: Mare Lungo [8:36]
RECORDING: RADE
SOURCE/INFO: angelimanucheproductions.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: John P. Hastings & Benjamin Mayock
WORK: Crystal 1 [3:36]
RECORDING: Songs, Crystals, Drone
SOURCE/INFO: smallpoxandthenewvaccine.bandcamp.com
