I didn’t do one of these last year because at the time I was trying to navigate how to continue NNM under the new submission policy. That’s still true—I’m sure you’ve noticed I don’t post nearly as often as I once did—but everyone has been really great about supporting me and the site with some truly amazing submissions. Though still in early stages, digital hosting alternatives like Artcore and Formaviva are promising next steps.
Anyway, here’s everything I’ve loved from the past six months. Love y’all.
Jeromes Dream – The Gray in Between (Iodine Recordings, May 5)
It hardly ever happens that I have a somewhat definitive pick for my album of the year so far, but it also hardly ever happens that an album like The Gray in Between drops. “Conversations in Time, on Mute” is such a ridiculously good opener (seriously, words are not sufficient to describe how amazing this song is) that every other track could be mediocre and I’d probably still listen to it the same amount as I have been, but that’s obviously not the case. This record is a masterclass in embracing a specific sound and exploring it to its fullest extent, and proves that “comeback” is becoming more and more of an irrelevant label.
Ezio Piermattei – Rosume (Joy de Vivre, Mar 29)
At this point it’s a given that I’ll at least really like anything Bologna’s Ezio Piermattei puts out, both because he has been exploring a consistently fascinating aesthetic since his 2018 masterpiece Gran trotto and because he seems determined to make his music better—and stranger—with each successive release. Rosume at once expands the surreal audio-travelogue factor and returns to some of the crevice-dwelling darkness of Turismo dentale, the human voice acting as an agent of familiarity, confusion, and uncanniness in turn.
Aya Metwalli & Calamita – Al Saher (Zehra, May 19)
Al Saher is one of those rare but memorable occasions in which a collaboration between two artists benefits from their similarities and their disparities. Metwalli’s tense, tremulous intonation and volatile vocal processing is both the missing link and a mischievous wrench in the works for Calamita’s stripped-down duo jam format, all three performers constantly pushing each other to new heights and lengths. The fact that these shadowy, labyrinthine improvisations stemmed from the songs of Oum Kalthoum is a testament to the versatility of both the musicians and Arabic music as a whole. Original review
John Collins McCormick – Healthy Alternative to Thinking (Eh?, May 9)
Close to six years ago now, I met venerable multimedia guru John Collins McCormick at a show in Columbus, OH, and he recommended I check out another artist named Rie Nakajima. Needless to say, one of the best tips I’ve ever received, and it is also relevant when discussing Healthy Alternative to Thinking (McCormick’s fifth tape this year! Check out the others on Garbage Strike) which is very much in line with Nakajima’s motor-based object soundscapes, but in a richly colorful, ragtag way that no one else could pull off. This is the kind of raw sound that is both intense and beautiful in its simplicity.
Rucci – Notorious (self-released, Mar 24)
One of the (admittedly many) ways to my heart is good adlibs, and those, among other things, are in endless supply on this Bank Roll Got It–produced full-length from Rucci: mean ones on summer bangers “On a Mission” and “Shoulder Lock”; funny ones on “We Like Pussy”; poignant(??) ones on “Ryder,” a beautiful and tender tribute to the Inglewood MC’s son. Both breezy and heavy-hitting—and compulsively replayable—Notorious proves why Rucci is one of the best in the LA County scene at the moment. So “shut the fuck up and listen to his album.”
Ellen Phan – Free Thinker (Nada, Jun 16)
Sound artist and therapist Ellen Phan (though the work she does makes that “and” too much of a division) always outdoes herself with new releases, each time delivering a musical object that asks, and answers, questions that others don’t. The “object” part is even more relevant in the case of Free Thinker, the physical edition of which is a handsome cardboard box set containing a cassette, a small pouch of Jin Xuan oolong, and a “clearing spray” custom-made from lavender and sage oils. As with Visual Squash, Phan’s deeply abstract digital contortions are not a diagnostic dissection of the mind and body, but a deconstructed way to heal them.
Telos – Delude (Nothing to Harvest, Mar 18)
As pitch-dark, menacing, and soul-crushing as all great sludge should be (considering the band is an offshoot of Hexis, that should come as no surprise), the debut full-length from Copenhagen’s Telos is an obsidian gem in the rough of so much forgettable metallic hardcore, evoking the meaty heft of Swarm of the Lotus, the bloodsoaked teeth of Gaza, and the blackened atmosphere of Noise Trail Immersion with a single, addictive sound. Each of the eight tracks earns its place on the filler-less list, but the heaviest has to be “Throne”—those riffs, christ.
Renee Willoughby – 33 (Irrational Tentent, Feb 10)
Death is unthinkable, and only more so when it claims a loved one. “Her shape is light” is the spiritual rallying cry behind Renee Willoughby’s spellbinding 33, a one-of-a-kind tape that celebrates the beauty and color of the paranormal even as it delves deep into the raw void of loss. Willoughby’s musical approach is manifold, her spectral electronics and impassioned vocal performance invoking a cosmic energy that spreads far beyond the stage, the communal fire of life dancing with the singular vacuum of death. Original review
R. Pierre – Extractions (Black Artifact, Jun 30)
Both R. Pierre (Jungle Gym co-founder Caleb Dravier) and Black Artifact make strong cases against the equation of prolificacy with a lack of quality. Even with such consistency, every once in a while something remarkable happens, and in this case it happens at the intersection of two new but already extensive oeuvres. Extractions is a mesmerizing study of the earth’s shifting crust. These pieces have a calm, scientific detachment, a wall-like pace, and the faintest traces of ambient warmth… magic.
Fatoumata Diawara – London Ko (Montuno, May 12)
One of modern wassoulou’s brightest and farthest-reaching voices, Fatoumata Diawara already brought the enduring Mali musical tradition to new ears with last year’s Maliba, but London Ko ups the ante with globetrotting guest contributions from Damon Albarn, M.anifest, Angie Stone, Roberto Fonseca, and more. Overall it’s Diawara’s most straightforward pop record so far, and yet one only need hear songs like “Mossayua” and “Tolon” to be reassured that the influence of legends like Nahawa and Oumou is alive and well.
Noise Not Music 