Album of the Week – 31/05/19

Some nice competition this week from the The Gotobeds (Debt Begins At 30) and Richard Hawley (Further) among others, but it would be hard to look beyond the fine effort from the Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith. From the slowest of starts this builds into something quite primitive and tribal. It’s one worth checking out.

Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith – The Peyote Dance (Bella Union)

“The sound of walking in a Mexican canyon transforms into the distinct beat of the heart, distant chants, sticks, stones, and the whistle of blowing wind: The Peyote Dance, a new album by Soundwalk Collective with Patti Smith, is a soundtrack of elements that invites us to explore a sacred space. The album takes as its starting point Antonin Artaud’s book The Peyote Dance, a work inspired by his revelatory experiences with the Rarámuri in 1936.

It is the first in a triptych of albums to be released by Bella Union over the next year titled The Perfect Vision, which take their inspiration from the writings of three emblematic French poets: Antonin Artaud, Arthur Rimbaud and René Daumal, and their necessity to travel to different lands to acquire a new vision and perspective on themselves and artworks. Perhaps a perfect vision, it is one that allowed them to transcend forms and borders, both physical and mental. Recorded in the Sierra Tarahumara of Mexico, Abyssinian valley of Ethiopia, and Himalayan Summit of India respectively, the central idea is that each landscape holds sleeping memories that are the witness of human passage. Each album retraces the poets’ footsteps, channelled through on-location recorded soundscapes and musicalities, with Patti Smith revisiting the words that have been inspired by the landscapes.

The triptych marks a new chapter in the collaboration between Soundwalk Collective (Stephan Crasneanscki and Simone Merli) and Patti Smith, who first worked together on Killer Road in 2016.”

: 31 MAY ::

Bedouine – Bird Songs Of A Killjoy

Denzel Curry – ZUU

Duff McKagan – Tenderness

Frank Iero And The Future Violents – Barriers

J. Robbins – Un-becoming [Jawbox co-founder’s solo debut]

Pip Blom – Boat

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – And Now For The Whatchamacallit

red steppes – Arcs

Remo Drive – Natural, Everyday Degradation

Sacred Paws –  Run Around The Sun

Sarah Davachi – Pale Bloom

Sinkane – Dépaysé

Skepta – Ignorance Is Bliss

Thomas Rhett – Center Point Road

Richard Hawley – Further (BMG)

Sinkane – Dépaysé (City Slang)

Sacred Paws – Run Around the Sun (Rock Action)

The Gotobeds – Debt Begins At 30 (Sub Pop)

School of Language – 45 (Memphis Industries)

Mush – Induction Party EP (Memphis Industries)

Nightmares on Wax – Back To Nature – Ricardo Villalobos Remixes (Warp)

Ash – 94-04: The 7” Singles Boxset (BMG / Echo / Infectious)