Immortal Onion – XD: Experience Design

Polish nu jazz sensation Immortal Onion just released XD: Experience Design, a follow-up to their outstanding Ocelot of Salvation. The new album sees the trio hone their skills on odd metres, polyrhythms, and complex melodic themes. XD is a full forty minutes long, so there’s plenty to enjoy.

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आभास (Ābhāsa) – १ (Eka) (Mystic Timbre)

So, what exactly is this? १ (Eka) is the debut album of mysterious American entity आभास (Ābhāsa), here remastered and re-released. The band is mostly about crafting eerie atmospheres with Eastern music instruments, timbres, and philosophy, and throws in a healthy dose of sludgy post-metal. The album is crushingly oppressive and fascinating.

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Slift – Ummon (Vicious Circle)

Slift is, at its core—I think—a krautrock band. Though you may think of the genre as quite subdued and meandering, the French trio brings in a lot of stoner rock influences with its big fuzzy riffs and harsh vocals, which proves to support the underlying kraut extremely well. Ummon is a catchy progressive rock album with a huge amount of drive behind it!

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The Archetypal Syndicate – Non Locality (Gigantonium)

Blending world music and contemporary classical, France’s Archetypal Syndicate is a trio with immense ambitions and even bigger guts, all that’s required to plan and execute such an astute and forward-thinking release. Non Locality is a brilliant album by all measures, and something you need to experience for yourselves to truly grasp.

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Sebastian Ammann’s Color Wheel – Resilience

Pianist Sebastian Ammann’s Color Wheel quintet is a channel for his varied musical background to ooze through. On Resilience, the brilliant composition is matched with the stellar musicianship of those involved, creating a captivating experience where each track focuses on one idea and fleshes it out fully, which is greatly interesting and rewarding to listen to.

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Je’raf – Throw Neck (Amalgam)

“Danceable woke conspiracy theory noise hip-hop metal jazz funk monologue-core” is the first line of the Bandcamp description of the album. That says a lot, so let’s take it one by one. “Danceable”: Yes, Throw Neck features absurd amounts of groove. “Woke”: Brianna Tong, main singer, activist. “Conspiracy theory”: See track 9: “Ballad of the Flat Earthers”. “Noise”: All music is noise. “Hip hop”: Groovy beats and mad rap makes for a very badass hip-hop vibe indeed. “Metal”: Still searching. “Jazz funk”: Yes, yes, and yes, all over the place! “Monologue-core”: The album is centred around the words of Brianna and PT Bell, sometimes sung, sometimes rapped, and sometimes spoken. Does this description entice you now?