A round-up of wild vital sounds, featuring Mr Bongo, Brian Jackson, International Anthem, Analog Africa, Ben Marc, The Trilogy Tapes and more

Welcome to my May 2022 rundown of current releases that are setting Concrete Islands HQ alight. From new jazz and soul to outernational delights, beats and breaks, post-punk and beyond, there’s so much interesting music making its way into the world at the moment that it can be difficult to keep up. But here I am trying to keep up…

Various Artists – Luke Una Presents É Soul Cultura (Mr Bongo)

Luke Una’s 5 hour shows on Worldwide FM are a wonder of sonic evangelism, with his signature DJing-without-barriers in glorious effect. Even the way he talks about the music is electrifying – this writer certainly gets a buzz from his impassioned descriptions. “Soul music made by humans with machines” is a particular favourite, an evocative statement which Luke Una delivers and expands upon with his É Soul Cultura compilation for Mr Bongo. He’s never been one to squirrel rarities away from the light of day (or at least 5am post-club zones), but wants to share the transcendental power of records from across the spectrum of sounds, dismantling geographic and social boundaries along the way. É Soul Cultura is a gift, from Luke Una to you, and you would do well to accept it with open arms.

Project Gemini – The Children of Scorpio (Mr Bongo)

Somewhere else in the multiverse, an enterprising crate digger is hunched over in a damp basement with a portable record player and, having been intrigued by the woods-of-legend optical effect sleeve and The Children of Scorpio title, drops the needle on their find. The sepulchral light of the basement gives way to primary colours flashing before the crate digger’s eyes as dusty breaks and 1960s psychedelia erupt from the limited built-in speaker.

In our universe, Project Gemini isn’t a hitherto rarely-heard library music discovery, but the 2022 iteration of Paul Osborne, who gets to indulge his inner David Axelrod in spectacularly funked-up and guitar-driven fashion.

Brian Jackson – This Is Brian Jackson (BBE Music)

Gil Scott-Heron’s creative partner Brian Jackson emerges from the shadows of the past with his first solo LP proper in twenty years. This Is Brian Jackson indeed bridges past and present, as Jackson started work on a solo album in 1976 and got as far as recording some demos. A chance encounter with the Phenomenal Handclap Band’s Daniel Collás decades later led to the possibility of continuing where Jackson left off with Collás at the controls. The resulting album shows that this was a series of fortunate events meant to happen, otherwise the world today would be deprived of a vital collection of flute-led fusion (“C’est Cette Comète”) and forward-thinking soul (“All Talk”) that also boasts dancefloor igniting Afrobeat (“Mami Wata”) and spoken word commentary on nothing less than the history of the blues and black music (“Path to Macondo / Those Kind of Blues”). This is a timeless piece of work sure to be considered a classic given the passage of years; in the meantime it is going to set fire to 2022.

Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer – Recordings from the Åland Islands (International Anthem)

This might have been considered a leftfield move from the ever-essential International Anthem label, if they weren’t already much more than a jazz label. Their sense of experimentation and refusal to stand still is once again evident with Recordings from the Åland Islands. This is fourth world music without the attendant baggage or else bucolic ambient constructed from live instrumentation and field recordings – in either case it would be the best in category of 2022. Born out of a trip to the titular archipelago between Finland and Sweden, Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer have created a mesmerising and invigorating suite that feels so close to nature, evoking that sense of remoteness that we as humans experience when caught up in the unmediated pull of the natural world. There’s nevertheless a pastoral warmth throughout – more Virginia Astley than Ingmar Bergman then.

Various Artists – Saturno 2000: La Rebajada De Los Sonideros 1965-1981 (Analog Africa)

The alchemy of playing a record at the wrong speed where something new and wondrous is created is all too rare. Astonishingly then, Saturno 2000 documents an entire Mexican soundsystem scene of slowed down cumbria known as rebajada. Giving new meaning to downtempo, this is a sound that makes the very air feel different, that transmutes simple movements into ritualistic behaviour.

Perhaps test the waters with the psychedelic sedative of “Infinite” by Hugo Blanco Y Su Arpa Viajera, where the guitar fights against the passage of time, capturing the moment in a curious form of amber. Welcome to the outernational limits – we hope you enjoy your stay.

Ben Marc – Glass Effect (Innovative Leisure)

Glass Effect sits along the axis of new jazz, beat-head jams and soulful electronica with hints of classical in the mix. Ben Marc has crafted a beautiful melting pot of an album which is as great a representation of the forward-thinking UK scene as anything right now. The mighty Joshua Idehen lends his righteous political poetry to the stripped down and dubbed out jazz of “Dark Clouds” whereas “Give Me Time” is a Plastic People styled banger and “Keep Moving” evokes Mo’ Wax legends Attica Blues with the assistance of that outfit’s Midnight Roba. A stylistically bold LP that keeps things fresh at every turn and is a marvellous solo production showcase for Ben Marc.

Amanda Whiting – Lost in Abstraction (Jazzman)

On her second LP for Jazzman, harpist Amanda Whiting once again conjures beautifully storied soundscapes. Lost in Abstraction is a gently narcotic jazz score to an imagined 1950s film of an experimental British novel set in a decaying seaside town. Think kitchen sink drama meets magic realism for your ears.

Adam Badí Donoval – Sometimes Life Is Hard and So We Should Help Each Other (The Trilogy Tapes)

Another intriguingly immersive release from The Trilogy Tapes, a label without musical barriers that still maintains a cohesiveness of vision through Will Bankhead’s inspired A&R choices. Here Adam Badí Donoval gives reality to thoughts plucked out of the static-filled air, with field recordings seemingly picked up via detuned antennae, as piano and guitar lines carefully render melodies, and manipulated physical electronics shape the pieces into micro-universes. Like watching the city from a dream as mirror worlds collapse in suspended motion around you.

700 Bliss – Nothing to Declare (Hyperdub)

700 Bliss is a collaboration between Moor Mother and DJ Haram, where blistering soundscapes meet coruscating poetry and the beauty of noise is apparent through a series of short, sharp shocks. Like a Philly manifestation of Atari Teenage Riot ready to set the world to rights or burn it down.

Charles Stepney – Step on Step (International Anthem)

Charles Stepney’s arrangements and production work at labels Chess and Cadet for the likes of Terry Callier and Marlena Shaw may loom large for those in the know, but he remains underappreciated within the wider musical community. International Anthem are working with Stepney’s daughters to remedy this and the unearthed “Step on Step” is their first joint statement of intent.

It’s the simplicity that does it. This isn’t a signature heavy hitting orchestral production, but rather a subtle piano piece with a restrained but addictive soul groove that worms its way around your heart.

East Coast Love Affair – Chicago (Athens of the North)

Roy Ayres’s “Chicago” jacked up into an acid house anthem by the Athens of the North house band, who also manage to amplify the soul-funk magic. Essential late night gear.

Lunch Money Life – Under the Mercies EP (Wolf Tone)

Firing on all cylinders elastic post-punk that sounds like it’s tumbling down the stairs into a jazz-dance basement club. Furious yet joyful.

Awe Kid – Body Logic (Atomnation)

Awe Kid’s Body Logic is immersive rave music that triumphs as a beautiful home listening experience while being powered by dancefloor dark matter. Superlunary breaks and pastoral tech with hints of Orbital in the mix and echoes of the sort of drum ‘n’ bass practised by LTJ Bukem make for a compelling long player.

Jean Carne, Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge – Jean Carne JID012 (Jazz Is Dead)

Jean Carne in cahoots with the Jazz Is Dead crew. Another nail in the coffin for those who think that legends can’t occupy the now with vital and vibrant work. Strong laidback summer vibes with an edge, pointing to a more hopeful future.

Kahil El’Zabar Quartet – A Time for Healing (Spiritmuse)

Kahil El’Zabar’s latest takes its time to get under your skin, but it gets there in the end. Which is the natural approach for a jazz suite concerned with healing. A gentler companion piece to El’Zabar’s avant-garde big band America the Beautiful from 2020, this record doesn’t turn away from the struggle but instead advances the narrative with the possibility of rebuilding the world.

Various Artists – Studio One Women Vol. 2 (Soul Jazz)

Soul Jazz continue their stewardship of the Studio One catalogue with the follow-up to their essential Studio One Women comp – and it’s another winner. Killer standouts include the narcotic skank of “Buck Town Corner” by The Jay Tees and the rocksteady banger “You’re No Good” by Marcia Griffiths. You need this collection, particularly with summer on the way, so just go get it.

Stewart Gardiner
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