Maede Shafiie: گروه نوازی تنبک
Maede Shafiie leads this group of five Iranian women playing tombak with hypnotic hand coordination.
Nate Wood: It’s Enough (2021 single)
From the fOUR project. One person playing drums, bass, and synth in 5 meter, while singing, plus “recorded live in 1 pass with no overdubs, click track or pre-recorded backing tracks”. What else??
Sam Gendel When I Am Laid In Earf
From Fresh Bread (2021) pairs baroque harmony and voice-leading with a computer-generated voice on autotune. Hella eerie.
Chancha Via Circuito: Bienaventuranza (2018)
Old favourite reverberating inside me the over last few days. I have never forgotten my first impression from hearing this years ago: the feeling of a wide-open space gradually expanding, physical heaviness (as if this were a solid object) created from sparse texture. This digital cumbia from Argentina has a certain rawness from traditional instruments and especially the voice, combined with natural ambience, and electronic sounds.