Yves Tumor – The Asymptotical World (Warp)

Yves Tumor, also known as Sean Bowie, is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Italy. I’ve been following him for a while, but this is my first time writing about his music. His style is a blend of pop and experimental rock full of earworms and fun idiosyncrasies, which make listening to The Asymptotical World, and really any of his releases, an energizing and positive experience. On this EP, I would even say that his sound is somewhat inspired by noise rock! Although definitely not being categorizable as such, there are moments that strongly remind me of more pop-friendly noise rock songs I might have listened to in the past. So, if you’re in for an enjoyable, memorable listening experience that’s just slightly off the rails, look into this!

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Asaf Sirkis – Solar Flash (Moon June)

Yeah, Asaf Sirkis, that’s it! That’s all I need to write, really! The Israeli jazz drummer-composer is a well-known figurehead in fusion jazz and drums in general. His latest album, Solar Flash, solidifies his status by offering us six incredible compositions (split into eight tracks on record), joined by incredible musicians Gary Husband and Kevin Glasgow. The rest is for you to discover!

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Trondheim jazzorkester & Ole Morten Vågan – Plastic Wave (Odin)

You know I’m a big fan of forward-thinking jazz orchestras, and the Trondheim one is one of those! They’ve been doing a lot of different music, but their material with singer Ole Morten Vågan is perhaps where they shine the most, at least for me. Following their 2018 collaboration Happy Endlings, Plastic Wave goes all-out and spreads like an octopus to many corners of the musical sphere. Progressive rock, avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical, and I’m probably missing some… A serious contender for the next album you should be listening to!

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Gratis – Gratis (Rebore)

Thanks to an avid CTEBCM reader for this recommendation, it’s now my favourite album of the moment! Gratis is born out of a strong will to reinvent the sound of punk, hardcore, and metal, and what they’ve achieved is nothing short of a brilliant jazzcore album! Everything here was recorded between 2005 and 2009, and no proper album was ever released from this band, until now! Gratis is a collection of the band’s outstanding and awesome material, from the not-quite-Zornian “II”, to the Mars-Volta-on-meth “Tot Finder”, to the more ambient and noise-based “121305”. All of these you shall love.