Anna Webber – Clockwise (Pi Recordings)
Anna Webber is a New York-based woodwind player and composer. Clockwise is her latest effort, offering us an interesting, thought-provoking séance. With many rhythmic changes, contrapuntal interchanges, and a modern sense of harmony and melody, Anna Webber has crafted here a fantastic album—her sixth one—performed by a proficient septet in which she also takes part. The album is really brilliant, a must!
João MacDowell – The Seventh Seal (IBOC)
The Seventh Seal is a modern opera by Brazilian composer João MacDowell. Adapted from the Swedish movie by Ingmar Bergman Det sjunde inseglet, it is a two-act piece that clocks in—for this 2018 concert recording—at over two hours and a half. I’m not well-versed in contemporary opera music, but I think it’s a great composition filled with interesting and amazing parts. If an opera can be judged by its climax, then this one is great. Give it some time, and enjoy!
Mastiff – Plague (APF Records)
Out on the first of February, Mastiff is back with Plague, an utterly earth-shattering album, barely over thirty minutes, but filled to the brim with aggression and heaviness. The sludge-meets-death-meets-grind act doesn’t hold back the slightest, and delivers a dense, atmospheric, and hopeless record. Definitely one to check for the heavy lovers out there.
Simon Toldam Trio – Omhu (Ilk Records)
Omhu means “care” in Danish, and, as you can hear on Simon Toldam Trio‘s new album, it’s a well chosen name. The music that welcomes you upon arrival is slow… quiet… thoughtful… careful. It might be one of the most minimalistic efforts in modern jazz that I’ve heard recently, but, just like last year’s Animal Image, it strikes a chord with me, rather powerfully. It’s delightful.
Honourable Mentions
Alexander Hawkins – Iron into Wind (Intakt Records)
Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom – Glitter Wolf (Royal Potato Family)
Leonardi Radicchi’s Arcadia Trio – Don’t Call It Justice (Alfamusic)
Cheeto’s Magazine – Amazingous
Diarrheal Blast – Diarrheal Blast (Turgid Animal Records)
Fahmi Mursyid & Yuko Araki – Akur (Insitu Recordings)
Graham Costello’s Strata – Obelisk
Green Dome – Thinking in Stitches (Case Study)
Hippie Diktat – Gran Sasso (Coax Records)
Ludwig – The Secret Source of Oaths (KV&GR)
Marilyn Mazur – Shamania (Rarenoise Records)
Miho Hazama’s M Unit – Dancer in Nowhere (Sunnyside Records)
Mòs Ensemble – Limbs (Smeraldina-Rima)
Quinsin Nachoff’s Flux – Path of Totality (Whirlwind Recordings)
Tumi Árnason & Magnús Trygvason Eliassen – Allt er ómælið (Reykjavík Record Shop)
William Covert – Music for Synthesizer and Drums (Coup sur coup)
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