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Tune in: Dave Rowntree’s Radio Songs
New album: A thematic, intimate, clever, thoughtful debut solo LP by the amusing and affable Blur drummer, decorated with shimmering synth sounds, sampled radio sounds, gentle percussion and gentle but arresting vocals
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Rian Treanor and Ocen James: Saccades
New album: A wonderfully original, vibrant collaboration between the Rotherham electronica experimentalist/producer and the Acholi fiddle player, inspired by a residency in Kampala and building on 2020’s album File Under UK Metaplasm
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John Cale: Mercy
New album: Slow, ghostly, challenging, droning, uniquely experimental, this is the 80-year-old former Velvet Underground member’s first original album since 2012, now with guests including Weyes Blood, Sylvan Esso, Fat White Family and Animal Collective
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Carnival of good will: Leila Moss’s Internal Working Model
New album: Passionate, powerful, eloquent, elegant and reflective, filled with beautiful musical texture, the former Duke Spirit singer’s third solo album ponders themes over society’s potential empathy against self-seeking global economics, and includes guests Gary Newman and Jehnny Beth
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Rozi Plain: Prize
New album: Beautifully textured, gentle, sensitive, understated, mysterious, stripped-back alternative folk by the English singer-songwriter, also joined by colleagues from This Is The Kit, saxophonist Alabaster DePlume and harpist Serafina Steer
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The Nightingales: The Last Laugh
New album: The very best ‘til last for 2022? Quite possibly, with this absolute belter from Robert Lloyd, Fliss Kitson and co, this October release packed with superbly Beefheart-esque, stompy, infinite wit, riff and rhythm change
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ALASKALASKA: Still Life
New album: Released in October, some tastily original, intelligent, minimalist, atmospheric experimental electro-pop by the south London duo of Lucinda Duarte-Holman and Fraser Rieley in this sophomore LP to follow up 2019’s The Dots
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Santigold: Spirituals
New album: Inspired by African-American folk and gospel, this powerful, feverishly intense, emotional fourth LP released in September by the singer-songwriter brings an electric mix of punk, hip-hop, funk, afrobeat, electro-pop, and reggae wrapped in rage, anxiety and reflection
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Makaya McCraven: In These Times
New album: An intricately beautiful and mesmeric fusion of polyrhythm and melody by the Paris-born, Chicago-based percussionist and composer, bringing together cosmic jazz, hip-hop breakbeats, funk, classical and African influences on this sublime fourth album, released back in September
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Leftfield’s fourth LP - This is What We Do
New album: A clever banger of a mesmeric LP, just the fourth in three decades return from the highly influential dance electronica maestro Neil Barnes including guest appearances by Grian Chatten from Fontaines DC and poet Lemn Sissay
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Gaye Su Akyol’s fourth album Anadolu Ejderi
New album: The Istanbul singer’s fourth album is an alluring fusion of Turkish folk and pop rhythms and instruments with psych-rock riffing with a spicier flavour, her seductive voice delivering heartbreak love stories and dark anthems of dissidence
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From the cover art of Iota by Lous and the Yakuza
New album: After her hard-hitting 2020 trap, pop and Congolese beats debut, Gore, the Belgian-Congolese rapper, singer, model and artist Marie-Pierra Kakoma returns with a dreamy, smooth eclectic mix of rap, pop, and electronica
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Richard Dawson’s The Ruby Cord
New album: Poetic, vivid, and original, the third in an great trilogy after the medieval-themed Peasant (2017), and 2019’s state-of-nation first-person narrative 2020, the remarkable Newcastle experimental folk artist’s newest LP is set in the post-human future
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DJ Yoda: Prom Nite
New album: A clever, inventive fusion of modern and retro , London DJ and producer Duncan Beiny’s new project captures heartbreak 50s American doo-wop song samples with live performers through soul, hip hop, harp, strings, and guest vocals from House Gospel Choir, Lily James, Homeboy Sandman, Jamie Cullum and Beardyman
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Five more fabulous albums by Sault
New albums: An unprecedented five albums landing simultaneously without warning, and with a temporary free download period on the mysterious London collective’s website, producer Inflo (Dean Josiah Cover) and co have again brought untold riches in soul, funk, gospel, jazz, RnB, hip-hop, experimental and contemporary classical
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Gold Panda: The Work
New album: A first album for six years by the London electronic artist Derwin Dicker, and it’s a welcome return with a distinctively lovely palette of twinkling sounds, loops and textures, with Japanese and other influences
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The Metallic Index, the story of the ‘electric girl’
New album: The acclaimed Liverpool-born experimental electronic artist joins forces again with Peter Philipson and Raz Ullah with an enthralling range of shimmering vintage equipment sounds and spectral vocalisations telling the story of Stella Cranshaw, the so-called paranormal ‘electric girl’ in 1920s London
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Plaid - Feorm Falorx
New album: A joyously nostalgic, beautiful and uplifting 11th album by the London cult electronica and dance duo of Andy Turner and Ed Handley based on a theme of a fictitious festival, Feorm, “an intergalactic shindig held on the planet Falorx”
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Vivid, droll absurdity: The Cool Greenhouse second album, Sod’s Toastie
New album: An excellent second LP by the wittily droll wordsmith Tom Greenhouse and band, bringing oodles of hilarious, oddball short stories and killer lines about the absurdity of life, backed by strangely wonderful post-punk and electronica
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Christine and the Queens: Redcar Les Adorables Étoiles (prologue)
New album: Grand and theatrical, with oodles of 80s synth sounds and a big dash of Grace Jones and David Bowie-sytyle glamour, Héloïse Letissier returns with his (recently confirmed as a trans man) flamboyant, poetic third LP
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