Let’s start this up with Chaoh Reiccuk‘s first full-length album, Nantes. As with their February EP, it’s what could be called MIDI-math fusion jazz. Even though every track is treated with decent VST instruments, there are only so much tweaks made to humanize the sound, so that it sounds robotic, mechanical. But is that a flaw? I say no, it’s a new sound that takes advantage of and doesn’t try to hide the fact that we all make music using computers nowadays. Some kind of robojazz, which I like.

Vampilia releases My Heart Will Go On on April 9th. It’s a very short EP – under 10 minutes -, but it’s some of their most aggressive music to date. Indeed, the band used to make much more poetic, atmospheric post-rock, but this one’s where all their anger went.

Next up is Counter-World Experience‘s Pulsar, a new album from the Danish instrumental progressive metal band. It’s a very good and polished release, but I wish they’d go a bit farther in the experimentation and technicality; it’s what we’re here for, no?

A new OSR a new math rock release, it seems! Today is Pfloog‘s EP, Flop City. It’s a great debut EP with musicianship on display and a good flair for riff creation and song construction. I’ll definitely be following these guys.

Plebeian Grandstand have truly crushed me by surprise with their last album, Lowgazers. This time, I’m a bit more prepared, but False Highs, True Lows is such a relentlessly brutal, aggressive and dissonant album that I was still caught off guard from time to time. It’s a very good album to add to your collection; it releases on April 29th.

Then comes Esperanza Spalding with her newest album, Emily’s D+Evolution. The funk/jazz singer-bassist had until very recently stayed much more in the realms of jazz, but this album marks a step in a new direction: some sort of avant-pop lush with funky grooves and progressive song structures. It just amazes me as a bassist how she seems to be perfectly comfortable in playing complex bass lines on a fretless instrument while singing totally unrelated melodic lines. Wow!

[No stream available for this release yet] Phobocosm will release their next album, Binger of Drought, on May 13th. It’s a rather enjoyable doom metal album touching on post-metal, black metal, and death metal at times. It’s very heavy, slow and drawn out, but still retains some diversity so there are faster parts, some blast beats and some change in atmosphere, which are all welcome.

And finally, here’s Da Zai‘s new album, 諸行無常 (Shogyou Mujou), inspired by a millennial Japanese epic. This Brazilian psychedelic prog rock band did a really interesting album, and I really encourage you to listen to it for yourself.