Crucial Listening

Intuitive resonance, cataclysmic dualities, bandleader grace. The UK-based saxophonist discusses three important albums.Xhosa's picks:Sonny Rollins – With The Modern Jazz QuartetShirley Horn Trio – SoftlyBalimaya Project – Wolo SoXhosa's latest album, Ibeji, is out now on Stoney Lane Records. Listen here. His website is here.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Heart wrung like a towel, Skullcandy bass, the magic of music boxes. The Beirut-based multi-instrumentalist, video artist and puppeteer discusses three important albums.Yara's picks:Aphex Twin – DrukqsColleen – Et Les Boîtes À MusiqueDaniel Johnston – Hi, How Are YouYara's debut album, Home Recordings 2018 - 2021, is out now via Hive Mind Records – check it out here. She's on Instagram – @microwave.blues.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Visions of hell/paradise, two G's in eggs, bizarre lemonade. The composer/multi-instrumentalist from Austin, Texas discusses three important albums.Mari's picks:Jim O'Rourke – EurekaRobert Ashley – Private PartsSOPHIE – ProductThe fabulous Strawberry Season by More Eaze is out now via Leaving Records. Check it out on Bandcamp or Boomkat. Mari is on Instagram and Twitter.

Vocal imitation games, aural cocktails, jazz-adjacent ingenuity. The New York-based composer and pianist discusses three important albums.Phillip's picks:Ensemble Organum & Marcel Peres – Guillaume de Machaut: Messe de Notre-DameRan Blake – Painted Rhythms: The Compleat Ran Blake Volume 1The Claudia Quintet – I, ClaudiaPhillip's debut solo album, Filters, is out now via Greyfade. His website is here and he's on Instagram @phillipgolub.

Too-short tracks, dying melodies, birds mimicking electronics, the highest organ note. The musicians and collaborators discuss their important albums.Julian's picks:J Dilla – DonutsJean C. Roché – Birds Of VenezuelaFeldermelder's picks: Autechre – LP5Pedro Santos – KrishnandaBonn Route is out now via -OUS. Check it out here. Also worth checking are Feldermelder's new solo album, Euphoric Attempts, and Julian Sartorius' recent record Mux.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Tim Hecker beneath the aurora borealis, nerdy icebreakers, blurs and beats. The Turkey-born, UK-based composer and guitarist discusses three important albums.Elif's picks: Tim Hecker – Haunt Me, Haunt Me Do It AgainTangerine Dream – RubyconBowery Electric – BeatElif's new album, Green Drift, is out now on Expert Sleepers. Her website is over here and she's also on Instagram. Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Harnessing ugliness, memories of Okinawa, Pärt in the snow. The Japanese vocal performer discusses three important albums.Hatis' picks:Meredith Monk – MercyYasukatsu Oshima with Geoffrey Keezer – S/TArvo Pärt – Tabula RasaHatis Noit's new album, Aura, is out now on Erased Tapes. Check it out on Bandcamp or on the Erased Tapes site.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Hours of jazz in the city, matching Spiderland tattoos, vertiginous rabbit holes. The guitarist and label curator discusses three important albums.Greg's picks:Miles Davis – Bitches BrewSlint – SpiderlandBernard Herrmann – Vertigo OSTHead over to The Lord Bandcamp to hear/buy the first album Forest Nocturne, and to preview/preorder the upcoming record Devotional with Petra Haden. Both are released on Southern Lord.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Sad tween car journeys, dismantled pop, pioneers of Baltimore Club. The South Asian-American vocalist, sitarist, composer and producer discusses three important albums.Ami's picks: Sardari Begum – OSTPortishead – ThirdK-Swift – Club Queen Vol. 3Ami's new album, The Living World's Demands, is out on November 4th via Phantom Limb and Leaving Records. Preview/pre-order on Bandcamp. Follow Ami on Instagram and check out her website.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening

Brazen electronic keys, odes to the rig, ripping everything out. The UK composer and performer discusses three important albums.Laurie's picks:"Blue" Gene Tyranny – Out Of The BlueImproved Sound Limited – Road TraxMica Levi – Blue AlibiLaurie released three new albums this Spring: Years Went By with Eliza McCarthy via Entr'acte, Fatty via 33-33 and Sharp Love Slow Faint on Hyperdelia. They're all on Laurie's Bandcamp too. His Instagram is here.Donate to Crucial Listening on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/cruciallistening