Arpiar, the Bucharest label of Rhadoo, Raresh, and Petre Inspirescu, will release a new EP from Dubtil.
It’s been nearly four years since Arpiar’s last release, an album from Ricardo Villalobos. The label now returns with Dubtil, real name Robert Istoc, who is known for his dub-focussed take on the Romanian minimal sound. He’s previously released on local labels Amphia, Understand, and Raresh’s Metereze. You can read more about him in his XLR8R interview and podcast here.
We’re told that the EP’s three tracks combine the dancefloor (B1) with a more atmospheric track on B2, while the A-side brings a “proper mind trip,” with “outstanding rhythmic patterns” and swing.
To learn more about the history of Romania’s elusive music community, check out XLR8R‘s long-form feature here.
Tracklisting
A1. I B1. II B2. II
Anume EP is scheduled for April release on vinyl. You can hear clips over at black.round.twelve.
CC:DISCO!, the Melbourne-born, Europe-based DJ, has announced the second instalment in her First Light compilation series, due out May 7 on Soothsayer.
Titled First Light Vol II, the compilation explores CC:DISCO!’s eclectic taste via 24 exclusive tracks that touch on house, jazz, Balearic, downtempo, disco, trance, and techno.
Pulling on decades of experience in radio, where she has worked since the age of 15, CC:DISCO! digs far and wide, offering up work from upcoming artists from Australia, Japan, Zambia, Indonesia, Canada, Spain, and Sweden, among others, in an effort to capture her “overall sound” and “bring artists together from around the world,” she explains.
The compilation was announced with the first two singles, Donald’s House & Lipelis‘ “VGF” (Dub)and Hidden Spheres‘ “Laamore,” both of which can be streamed in full below. Other artists featured on the compilation include Jenifa Mayanja, Cashminus, Hyrbid Man, and Perdu.
The first instalment of First Light landed in September 2018, featuring Sui Zhen, Roza Terenzi, Rings Around Saturn, and more.
Digital Tracklisting
01. Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange “Everyday Blessing” 02. Donald’s House & Lipelis “VGF” (Dub) 03. Comfy Bella “Tell Meh” 04. Jenifa Mayanja “Dawning” 05. Steady Weather & Allysha Joy “Burning So Hot” 06. Cashminus “Paradise” 07. Moon Tan “Chinatown” 08. Mount Liberation Unlimited “Debagungar” 09. Transit State “System” 10. Manuel Darquart “Agave Harvest” 11. Munir “Waterpolo” 12. Tech Support “Concorde” 13. Paul Jextra “Heatwav” 14. Club Tularosa “Pressure” 15. Perdu “Vague Behaviour” 16. Manami “A Dreamer’s Dream” 17. Regularfantasy “Life Is A Delight” 18. Mr. Ho “Next Phase” 19. Body Corp “In Motion” 20. Pépe “In Due Time” 21. Escape Artist “Under Illusion” 22. Hybrid Man “Phantom Signals” 23. Fitzzgerald “At The Moment” 24. Hidden Spheres “Laamore”
Vinyl Tracklisting
A1. Hybrid Man “Phantom Signals” A2. Donald’s House & Lipelis “VGF” (Dub) A3. Comfy Bella “Tell Meh” B1. Jenifa Mayanja “Dawning” B2. Cashminus “Paradise” B3. Mount Liberation Unlimited “Debagungar” C1. Manuel Darquart “Agave Harvest” C2. Tech Support “Concorde” C3. Paul Jextra “Heatwav” D1. Club Tularosa “Pressure” D2. Pépe “In Due Time” D3. Hidden Spheres “Laamore”
First Light Vol II is out May 7 digitally and as a limited edition 12″ bundle via Soothsayer. It can be pre-ordered here.
Euphoric Studies is Saniee’s sophomore solo release, following on from 2017’s Tantric Dub LP on VE-302. Keeping in line with the sonic landscape laid out on that first LP, Euphoric Studies deals in ethereal dub and minimalistic experimentation—it’s super-charged hyper dub shining with fierce lucidity. All six tracks fall within this dub-wise framework, from the frenetic rhythmic energy of “Rhythm Force” to the stripped-back haunting atmospheres of “Badinage.”
In support of the release, Saniee, based in New York, has offered up the EP’s bonus track, “Cha,” as an XLR8R download, available to XLR8R+ subscribers below. Across the four-minute run time, Saniee lays spiraling synth lines over a stuttering low-slung groove that will surely whet the appetite of dub aficionados.
Tracklisting:
01. Eutessaron 02. Rhythm Force 03. Amnion 04. Badinage 05. Euphoton 06. Cha (Bonus Track)
You can purchase Euphoric Studies via the SVS Records Bandcamp page.
Full XLR8R+ Members can download the track below.If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.
London’s Strut Records will release a definitive box set of Sun Ra‘s Lanquidity, originally released in 1978.
The 4LP set features the widely distributed version of the album alongside alternative mixes by Bob Blank originally released in limited quantities for a 1978 Arkestra gig at Georgia Tech.
The hypnotic cosmic jazz of Lanquidity was recorded over a singular session in at Bob Bank’s Blank Tapes studios in New York, cut directly after their Saturday Night Live debut, and it holds a unique standing in the Sun Ra discography. “Most critics felt that it was more of a fusion-inspired record” explains Sun Ra trumpeter Michael Ray. “As the name suggests, the album is liquid and languid.”
“Sun Ra, The Substitute Words: Poetry, 1957-72” surveys literary objects from Sun Ra’s vast collection of poetry and writings. Four collectible Sun Ra book reissues will be available, including “Jazz By Sun Ra” (1957) and “Jazz In Silhouette” (1959), which originally accompanied counterpart vinyl releases, and two ’70s titles previously sold at concerts by the Arkestra: “The Immeasurable Equation” (1972) and “Extensions Out: The Immeasurable Equation Vol. II” (1972). More information on the gallery and book releases can be found here, organized by Chicago-based gallery Corbett vs. Dempsey.
Tracklisting
A1. Lanquidity (8.19) B1. Where Pathways Meet (6.30) B2. That’s How I Feel (8:03) C1. Twin Stars Of Thence (9:55) D1. There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of) (10.58) E1. Lanquidity (Alternate version) (8.17) E2. Where Pathways Meet (Alternate version) (6.27) F1. That’s How I Feel (Alternate version) (12.06) G1. Twin Stars Of Thence (Alternate version) (9.49) H1. There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of) (Alternate version) (10.54)
Lanquidity (Definitive Edition) is scheduled for May 14 release. Meanwhile, you can stream the alternate mix of “Twin Stars Of Thence” in full below, and pre-order here.
N.A.A.F.I will release a new album from OMAAR, real name Omar Suárez.
Suárez is a DJ-producer from the north of Mexico City. Through his childhood, he developed an obsession with electronic music, which in time developed into an attentive ear for rhythms that come from “the London ghetto,” he says.
Around 2012, he shaped his sound into what he describes as a dark but happy nostalgia. It merges broken rhythms like jungle, drum & bass, grime, and UK garage with more conventional genres such as techno, house, and even hip-hop.
For this release, he made a “meticulous selection,” pulling from deep house, techno, UK funky, hard drum, gqom, and dembow, he says. “In it you can see the progress of each track and the way I merged the different genres and styles already mentioned above.”
Manchester label Natural Sciences has put out a new release by Dalibor Cruz, a producer based in Chicago, United States.
Comprising eight tracks, Riddled With Absence is full of rhythmic elements and ethnic percussion, some sample-based and others played by Cruz on a darbouka and a mini-pakhawaj. Its sounds can be traced back to Cruz’ early years in the mountain town of Siguatepeque, Honduras, where he developed his ear for rhythm through merengue, salsa, and punta, a rhythmic music with African Roots.
Cruz, real name Paolo Paz, composed the record during the pandemic, and thanks for isolation for helping him figure out what he wants from life. He dedicates it to his brother, Brandon Paz, who tragically took his own life in December 2020. “He was everything to me. And he was an absolute massive inspiration to me and my art,” Cruz tells XLR8R.
The cover by Gabrielle K. Brown depicts ancient natives and divine intervention.
Dalibor Cruz is better know for his work as Dalibor. He put out Defacements, his debut album, last year on Chicago’s BloodLineRecordings.
Tracklisting
01. Debase 02. Seen as Scum 03. Restored 04. Never Sort Yourself Out For Them 05. Rhythm Gore 06. Gool 07. Everyone’s Ill Will 08. Untitled
Riddled With Absence LP is available now. You can order it here and stream it in full via the Bandcamp player below.
Gressive, comprised of vocalist lloydfears and avant-club producer SHALT, will release an EP on Mexico label Infinite Machine.
Having recently released a collaboration between Endgame & DÆMON, from London and Oakland respectively, and a wealth of cross-continental remixes, Infinite Machine has always championed the internet as a place that can foster unlikely musical alliances. This is more true than ever with Gressive, who met via Twitter.
The duo found common ground in a desire to create texturally rich music that’s “full of physicality,” we’re told. Both could see the potency of the human voice and its ability to create organic feedback within digital compositions, and the initial fruits of their collaborative project come with their self-titled debut, available next month.
We’re told that the EP encapsulates the “anxiety of the modern condition” and our collective attempt to “grasp at unknowable spiritual knowledge while having 24/7 headlines fed into an Instagram feed.”
Tracklisting
01. Insufficient Funds 02. Isolation OCD 03. Sever Ties 04. Snek
Gressive LP is scheduled April 30 on Infinite Machine. Meanwhile, you can pre-order here and stream “Insufficient Funds” below.
Last month, Scottish rapper Tzusan released Fizzy Milk, a new album on SKOOP Records.
The album, which is made up of seven tracks and drops as a limited-edition cassette with a short book containing lyrics, artwork, and photography, tells the story of a twisted, industrialized Scotland via robust lyricism and inventive, hard-hitting production.
It was written, produced, and recorded entirely by Tzusan in “the deepest depths of a baltic Scottish winter plagued by pandemics and insomnia. Expect a mostly bleak collection of modern gothic rap that is both invigorating and intoxicating.
In support of the release, Tzusan has offered up the album’s second cut, “02.04.1912 Belfast Harbour,” as an XLR8R download, available to XLR8R+ subscribers via the link below. With a moody and affecting piano line at its core, the track is the album highlight, on which Tzusan delivers stoned rap lines with effortless flow.
Armand Hammer, the hip-hop collaboration of Elucid and billy woods, have teamed up with The Alchemist on a new album, Haram.
Haram follows Armand Hammer’s 2020 album, Shrines, which was among XLR8R‘s favorite releases of the year. It’s the first time they’ve crafted an album with a single producer and the result is “extraordinary,” we’re told.
“This isn’t just the genre’s most insistent contemporary voices paired with arguably its best producer,” says the product description. “This is when you buy a beautiful house only to discover, hidden behind a heavy bookcase, a stairway twisting up and away into the darkness.”
With their penchant for stirring imagery and incisive storytelling, the two rappers “dive into an ocean of Alchemist’s creation: warmly inviting on the surface, black and bone-crushingly cold at depth,” we’re told.
The artists are joined by their friends on this journey. KAYANA’s golden voice upps the wattage on “Black Sunlight,”and Earl Sweatshirt makes a sun-soaked appearance, as does Quelle Chris.
Last year, billy woods teamed up with Moor Mother for BRASS.
Tracklisting
01. Sir Benni Miles 02. Roaches Don’t Fly 03. Black Sunlight featuring KAYANA 04. Indian Summer 05. Aubergine featuring Fielded 06. God’s Feet 07. Peppertree 08. Scaffolds 09. Falling Out The Sky feat. Earl Sweatshirt 10. Wishing Bad featuring Curly Castro & Amani 11. Chicharrones featuring Quelle Chris 12. Squeegee 13. Robert Moses 14. Stonefruit
Rare Pleasure is the Los Angeles artist’s third album to be released on Stones Throw. We’re told that following 2016’s Body Wash, Mndsgn’s debut album, this record shows his evolution from beat-maker to vocalist, songwriter, and arranger.
Though he began writing for the album in 2018, the final recordings took just a week in his studio with the help of trusted collaborators: Swarvy on bass, guitar, and as Musical Director for the sessions; Stones Throw label mate Kiefer Shackelford on keys; drum work by Will Logan; the blessed percussion of Carlos Niño; and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson on strings. There’s vocals from Fousheé and Anna Wise.
Inspired by soundtrack music, samba, exotica and ’70s library records, Rare Pleasure is “intensely intimate,” the label tells XLR8R. It sources lyrics from Mndsgn’s family and, despite the tenderness of the recordings, the music is “joyfully vibrant,” we’re told.
Alongside the announcement, Mndsgn has shared “Hope You’re Doin’ Better,” the album’s first single. The track’s video, directed by the artist himself, has a ’70s-inspired, whimsical atmosphere, using warm surreal imagery to complement the song’s hazy groove.
In 2019, Mndsgn, real name Ringgo Ancheta, released Snaxx, his second album. You can hear his XLR8R podcast here, filled with funky, left-field cuts.
Rare Pleasure LP is scheduled for June 4 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Hope You’re Doin’ Better” in full below. We’ll add a tracklisting when it becomes available next week.
