Qobuzism

It’s a well-known cliché: two heads are better than one. Two years after his debut album, the 24-year-old London multi-instrumentalist Tom Misch (who has a distinctly Jamiroquai-esque sound) has partnered up with 27-year-old drummer/producer Yussef Dayes (the brain behind United Vibrations and one half of the electro-jazz duo Yussef Kamaal) for this irresistible album What Kinda Music. Up until now, Misch has cooked up a gourmet mix of smooth jazz syrup, funky foam, droplets of soul, hip-hop spices and a pinch of velvety pop, inviting along a star-studded line-up including De La Soul, GoldLink, Loyle Carner and Poppy Ajudha while sampling from the likes of Roy Hargrove, The Crusaders, Stevie Wonder and Patrick Watson. All these flavours and sounds form the foundation of this 2020 vintage, making the rhythmic side even more solid. Yussef Dayes jazzes up his interventions and makes his improvisations even more sophisticated. Each artist brings their own contribution to this truly collaborative work and the record strikes a perfect balance of voice and instrumentals. Both artists grew up in Peckham in South London and Tom Misch even saw Dayes play drums in the school talent show when he was 9! “Yussef comes from a more experimental background, and he has a lot of loose, crazy ideas. I know how to write a catchy melody, but with interesting chords and I have a good understanding of popular song forms, so I think I streamlined those ideas and made them accessible.” It’s this perfect symbiosis between accessibility and refined genre fluidity that makes What Kinda Music sound like a laidback trip - perfect record for electro-jazz geeks. Plus, there’s another reason for Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes to bulge their chests with pride: their album has been released on the prestigious label Blue Note, confirming that they embody a certain contemporary jazz sound. “Everything feels so divided these days, it would be nice for people to hear the record and hear two very different musicians coming together and realize it doesn’t have to be that way.” As for the featuring artists, the duo invited along Freddie Gibbs (who raps on Nightrider), Rocca Palladino (son of the illustrious bassist Pino Palladino who often practices with Alfa Mist) and the saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi. An immediate Qobuzissime, this record is the umpteenth proof that the London jazz scene is alive and kicking… and now showing its funky side! © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Dusty Springfield, Adele, Lulu, Sandie Shaw, Duffy… The tradition of British soul pop singers has always been rich, and Ren Harvieu’s second and Qobuzissime album continues this retro movement which saw great success in the 1960s. However, it hasn’t always been easy for this Mancunian singer: in 2011, fresh from signing for the Island label for whom she was recording her first album, she broke her back in a serious accident and spent months on a hospital bed. Her album Through the Night was nevertheless released but the slim success resulted in a long and tumultuous period of self-doubt for the singer. It’s a time she has now put behind her and which she touches on with Spirit Me Away and You Don’t Know Me, two highlights of this album Revel in the Drama. This sophomore record certainly feels like the result of her meeting with Magic Numbers frontman Romeo Stodart, who helped her rediscover her passion for music and her inspiration to record again. More refined than its predecessor, Revel in the Drama broaches the influences of this enchanting torch singer; while the spirit of Dusty Springfield (or closer to today, Rumer) is never far, it’s certainly KD Lang and her vocal inflections that you think of when listening. Ren Harvieu’s writing is however unique to herself. The sombre and bleak sequences are always punctuated with her signature humour, some light sarcasm that is 100% British. The freedom she expresses in her tone and her writing is similar to that of Fiona Apple, one of her idols. Revel in the Drama is a magnificent collection of timeless and moving songs, jewels of vintage pop enrobed in superb easy listening tones and high-quality arrangements that you can hum along to long into the night. ©️ Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Saying that a band doesn’t sound like any others is almost like saying that it sounds like all the others. Nowadays, we live in the era of open stylistic borders and only listening to things on shuffle, making Sorry (a band that is 100% 2020) even less categorizable. With an authentic rock spirit and ideas that are about as tidy as a teenager’s bedroom, Asha Lorenz and Louis O’Bryen’s first album is one of the most astonishing albums at the moment. Time will have no doubt helped these two Londoners perfect 925 as they have known each other since secondary school. No competition here, just a great collaborative effort that sees them exchange the microphone over the course of the album’s thirteen tracks, and also sharing it, much like Sonic Youth did years ago. In fact, you often think of a softer version of their New York elders when listening to this record. Like them, Sorry doesn’t smile, instead pouting with lazy nonchalance that could push you away instead of pulling you in… and yet they are fascinating. The Guardian summed it up perfectly: Sorry is “the band making ennui sexy”. The band borrows from various genres and legends: a slacker attitude from grunge, guitars from Pixies (Perfect), sultry cheek from Garbage (Snakes), a certain junky imagery from The Kills (More), intoxicating saxophone from the no wave movement and a shadowy vision from post-punk. You have to listen to this Qobuzissime on repeat to appreciate its originality and end up being enchanted by it. An album you simply can’t miss: Sorry, no excuses. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Having produced several EPs over the past few years that have placed him firmly in the category of artists to keep an eye on, the eclectic and prolific Polish producer Bartosz Kruczyński aka Earth Trax has now released his first long format, with the rather understated name LP1. Originally noticed for his dreamy deep house created with his fellow countryman Newborn Jr (the alias of Adam Brocki) which attracted comparisons with trailblazing British group Orbital, Earth Trax displays his versatility, talent for arranging and the full spectrum of his electronic culture: acid house (Full Throttle, Pandora’s Box), electronica (Adhocracy), breakbeat (Squawk Box), drum’n’bass (Fade Away or the single I’m Not Afraid), ambient/psychedelic (Your Fading Other) and atmospheric deep house (the languid Mechanisms)... They are all coherently injected in one way or another into this project, a real demonstration of musical intelligence. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

The most striking aspect of these Preludes by Chopin undertaken by Eric Lu is the absolutely lyrical tranquility that dominates the forty-minute-long journey which is so arduous to build fluidly and coherently. Eric Lu deserves admiration for the expressive and polyphonic unity that he brings to the cycle, which is usually more contrasted. The American’s playing resounds as his phrases transport you on a grand, noble journey of emotion. Behind this soft façade is a somewhat more tragic melancholy, which increases over the course of the album and reveals the sombre, or at the very least anxious nature of the 24 Preludes. Chopin is at his darkest romanticism, not too far removed from the Schumann of the Kreisleriana (April 1838). It comes as no surprise that Lu continues his second recital for Warner Classics with one of Schumann’s strangest works, the Theme and Variations in E-flat major, composed in 1854 as a sort of swan song by the German romantic composer. In this tribute to masters of the past including Bach and Beethoven, Schumann risks using particularly stripped back polyphonies in rarefied pianissimo nuances; in doing so, Eric Lu creates a direct link with Chopin’s cycle, firmly remaining on the gentle and meditative side (Variations 2 and 5), without searching for any particular contrast. Placing fourth in the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, where he already impressed with his rendition of the 24 Preludes, the young American pianist Eric Lu (born in 1997) delivers a captivating recital on this album, sometimes bewildering, but definitely the most accomplished of the three already published − the first was released on German label Genuin. This is definitely a musician to be followed very closely. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

From being “three weirdos in Halifax”, sisters Esmé and Sidonie Hand-Halford (bass and drums respectively) and their childhood friend Henry Carlyle Wade (guitar) have become the indie band to watch. “If I went to space, I might never come back”, confesses Esmé who provides solid bass and delicate vocals for The Orielles. After the drowsy, Stone Roses-influenced Silver Dollar Moment was released in 2018, this second off-the-wall record bounces from Turkish psych music à la Altin Gün to experimental Italian cinema, in order to further distance themselves from 90s guitar rock. Two years is a long time when you’re on the cusp of your twenties, leaving the relative quiet of Halifax, West Yorkshire to go on tour in Europe. In the elapsed time, The Orielles have seen the arrival of Alex Stephens to play keyboard, a “highly educational” cover of Peggy Gou’s It Makes You Forget (Itgehane) which opened them up to dance music and a remix by the late Andrew Weatherall of their track Sugar Tastes Like Salt. Recorded at Stockport’s Eve Studios with their producer Marta Salogni (Liars, Temples, Björk and The Moonlandingz), Disco Volador puts melody front and centre, turning old into new. “All the influences we had when writing this record were present when we recorded it, so we completely understood what we wanted this album to feel like and could bring that to fruition”, says the drummer. Aerial 60s pop (Come Down on Jupiter), experimental disco (Space Samba (Disco Volador Theme)), 70s-style funk (Bobbie’s Second World, Euro Borealis), uptempo psychedelic (Rapid i, 7th Dynamic Goo) and Khruangbin-esque soaring tunes, it’s all top class. Bright, catchy and Qobuzissime. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

The new British jazz scene seems to be an indefinite source of talent, maintaining its creative flow with this first solo album released by Moses Boyd. Fans of the movement will already know that this eclectic young drummer has played alongside Shabaka Hutchings, Zara McFarlane, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Theon Cross and Ashley Henry but also that he makes up one half of duo Binker & Moses, the wild project he pursues with saxophonist Binker Golding. The album Dark Matter sees Boyd as more of a producer than a drummer, with a wide narrative detailing who he is and what he represents: a musician dreaming of becoming the next Max Roach or Tony Williams, all while growing up listening to Dizzee Rascal and Wiley as well as more Caribbean style rhythms, reggae and electronic music. The power of Dark Matter comes from the way in which it brings together a huge cast of varied icons to create a single snapshot of today’s London. Rich in sound, the album’s DNA is made up of jazz but takes us on a journey from afrobeat (BTB) to dubstep (2 Far Gone) before a detour via post-rock (What Now?). With the voices of Poppy Ajudha, Obongjayar and Nonku Phiri and double bass from the ex-Jazz Warrior Gary Crosby, Moses Boyd has created an orgy of off-the-wall rhythms. An album even more unclassifiable than those made by his friends of the same UK jazz scene. Invigorating. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Sunda Arc, the project started in 2018 by brothers Nick and Jordan Smart (from folk/jazz band Mammal Hands) with the EP Flicker on Manchester label Gondwana Records (GoGo Penguin, Portico Quartet) takes its next big step by releasing its first full length album, which would not have appeared out of place in the Erased Tapes catalogue. Like Nils Frahm, the two brothers harmoniously blend electronics with acoustics and are obsessed with “finding the ghost in the machine”, a concept dear to Terry Riley. The ghost must be floating around Vespers, a beautifully ambient track to be listened to curled up in front of a fire, the closing piece of an album which is perfectly on trend, somewhere between Jon Hopkins, Max Cooper and Rival Consoles. But although the ambient contemplations have got a special appeal, the Smart brothers don’t recoil from a dancing atmosphere – without crossing the line into club music however – on the hypnotic Cluster, the obsessive Dawn (which reminds you of certain Caribou productions) and Daemon, a nod to Moderat. They also know how to go lighter, almost into pop, like on the single Hymn which demonstrates their ability to make this project evolve into something very promising indeed. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Les Amazones d’Afrique is a pan-African supergroup created by singers Mamani Keïta, Oumou Sangaré and Mariam Doumbia in 2014: their agenda on this second album is both to fight for women’s rights and overturn the patriarchy. Amazones Power brings together divas from Mali (Mamani Keïta, Rokia Koné, Ami Yerewolo), Benin (Fafa Ruffino), Guinea (Niariu), Burkina Faso (Kandy Guira) and Algeria (Nacera Ouali Mesbah), and puts their vocal expertise together with modern arrangements concocted by Liam Farrell, better known under his alias Doctor L (Mbongwana Star, Bantou Mentale…). Hip-hop, afrobeat, dub and electro rhythms host ancestral and synthetic percussion, with both vintage and electric keyboards, frenzied guitars and powerful bass. Recorded between Bamako and Paris, mixed in Dakar, this bouncing and soul-filled manifesto also sees a few male sympathisers take to the mic, such as the rappers from the Parisian trio Nyoko Bokbae (Douranne “Boy” Fall and Magueye “Jon Grace” Diouk) on Heavy or the Malian reggaeman Koko Dembelé who features alongside Mamani Keita on Timbuktu and Dogon. A 5-star cast which produces a variety of ambiances, further reinforcing the militant purpose of Amazones Power. ©️ Benjamin MiNiMuM/Qobuz

The final part of this intelligent and well-rounded triptych certainly deserves a Qobuzissime! It has been several years since we have been following this grandiose but relaxed duo, made up of violinist Lorenzo Gatto and pianist Julien Libeer. The Belgian pair have brought their complete collection of Beethoven’s sonatas for violin and piano to a close. There is a lot of spontaneity in this integral work, yet this freshness is not synonymous with offhandedness. On the contrary, the fruit of a well thought-out project, it unfolds as a thrilling story in three parts.The first volume opened like a stage curtain on this landmark of Beethoven with the iconic Kreutzer sonata, a strong score which trumps the expectations of the genre. The vehement drama of the first movement, slow and in a minor key, contrasts with the gentle nature of the second movement and confirms that the sonata is well and truly a format for two instruments on an equal footing and not just a support act to the piano, a Steinway in this instance.The second one delineated the milestones of an expanding genre. From the first to the last sonata, via the most popular nicknamed Spring, we bear witness to a general amplification of style. From Opus 12 to Opus 96, the form expands, the technical difficulty of playing increases and the light-hearted fun gives way to a more energetic rhetoric. For this second album, the duo chose the lustrous power of Chris Maene’s parallel-stringed piano. The instrument affords the necessary resonance to the interpretation of this sometimes outright zesty, sometimes tenderly subtle score.The third volume frames the Steinway’s radiance (Sonatas 6 and 7) with the more ample Maene piano (Sonatas 3 and 8) and is dedicated to the works conceived when the composer’s hearing began to falter. Paradoxically, this nightmare for Beethoven has brought about a gift for his listeners. Varied combinations of timbres, styles and character are constantly renewed in this cycle which Gatto and Libeer faithfully interpret throughout its entirety. Our award of recognition is also a retrospective on the first two milestones of this adventure which has valiantly held its promise. An important integral work to explore and encourage others to do so as well! © Elsa Siffert/Qobuz

More than 10,000 kilometres separate Khartoum and Cleveland. A distance erased in one fell swoop by Brittney Parks, aka Sudan Archives, on her magnificent first album, Athena. At 24 years old, the self-taught American who grew up in Ohio builds some unlikely yet strong bridges between the sounds of the continents. And her contemporary, languid and dreamy soul is unlike any other… The violin, prevalent in the Sudanese music which she admires so much, is her tool of preference. It’s a sound that she meshes together with electro and some light hip hop beats. In 2016, Sudan Archives even covered Kendrick Lamar’s King Kunta (re-baptised Queen Kunta) using just her voice, the violin and an effect pedal. Her unusual musical fusions were conceived from a revelation the Los Angeles-based artist had while listening to recordings by the Cameroonian Francis Bebey, an artist who himself blended African music with minimalist electro. On Athena, released on Stones Throw, the excellent Californian label started by Peanut Butter Wolf which specialises in underground rap and kooky funk, Sudan Archives certainly draws on the legacy of the queens of underground soul (Erykah Badu, Solange) all the while retaining her originality. And her futuristic afro-R&B, which has layers upon layers of different sounds, shows enough avant-garde talent to make her stand out from the crowd. A shock, but a sweet one. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Six quartets that are key to understanding what Joseph Haydn brought to the history of western music. This effort by the Quatuor Hanson is particularly successful because they know how to construct and express the quintessence of this subtle art. And what's more, they bring it off with a fascinating level of instrumental skill. Listening to this piece, we have to bow down once again before the genius of a composer who, along with Boccherini, invented a new genre and immediately studded it with masterpieces of staggering quality. Its title, All shall not die, is the international translation of the Latin epigraph engraved onto Haydn’s tombstone (non omnis moriar). The choice of this phrase indicates the permanence and universality of Haydn's body of work. Judiciously picked out from among Haydn's vast corpus, these six quartets are touching both in their expressiveness and in the perfection of their writing. Not a single note out of place, a perfect balance of four voices and an inspiration at every moment. The closing Opus 77, left unfinished, was a contemporary of Beethoven's first Quartets, Opus 18 – works that betray the lessons their writer learned from his master.More than two hundred years after his death, Haydn has only just found recognition as one of the greats, a status denied him in life. More than a forerunner, Haydn is a founder, a genius whose influence was felt by those who came after him, foremost amongst whom Beethoven and Schubert. This splendid album puts him (back) in his rightful place. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Bach celebrated his first Christmas in Leipzig (1723) in style. On the morning of 25 December, his cantata Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 resounded in the church of Saint Thomas. It opens and closes on a great choir, a perfect prelude to the Magnificat, BWV 243A played at afternoon vespers. The young conductor Valentin Tournet (23 years old!) is particularly interested in the lesser- known aspects of Bach's great works. And so for his ensemble's first release, he has chosen to record the first version of the Magnificat. Written in E-Flat Major, a great key for horns, this score prefers recorders, with their pastoral timbre, to traverso flutes. Much less-played and - recorded than the revised version of 1743 (in D Major and numbered BWV 243), this score is offered here alongside four laude for the Nativity. Valentin Tournet brings courage and talent to these works and presents us with a particularly brilliant version, thanks to well-made, judicious choices. A viol player, he is sensitive to the vital energy which the cello unleashes, provided that it isn't overpowered by the organ (a positive organ has been selected for this reason). The piece's élan is all the greater because the soloists don't restrict themselves to their own arias, but mix with the choir. The continuity is total, and the emotion is truly collective. © Elsa Siffert/Qobuz

The American dream is an inexhaustible subject. It is approached head-on, sideways, from behind, above and below. It is the ultimate fuel for hordes of songwriters; even when they weren’t even born in America. As is the case for J.S. Ondara. This young Kenyan, who his label calls "the link between Tracy Chapman and Michael Kiwanuka" (an easy claim but not wrong), went there to try his luck. In 2013, Ondara dropped anchor at his aunt's house in Minneapolis. Having only previously known his native Nairobi, the musician took his songs into bars, clubs and even out onto the street, equipped with only his voice and a simple acoustic guitar, perhaps in the hope of becoming a third millennium Bob Dylan. The Dylan of The Freewheelin', his favourite record; Springsteen's Nebraska also being one of his top picks... But to limit himself to cloning those giants wouldn’t be very interesting. And Tales of America avoids that. First of all, J.S. Ondara has his own voice. His plaintive tone is a little androgynous and makes him truly unique. On the instrumental side, he adds some more daring flavours with the help of the great Andrew Bird, Griffin Goldsmith from Dawes and Joey Ryan from the Milk Carton Kids duo. In a divided America and a crisis-riddled world, J. S. Ondara's songs are more than just bandages, they’re powerful balms that penetrate the skin and warm the heart. This is a Qobuzissime that we needed... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Everyone likes a bit of soul and old-school funk! Successors to Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Prince, Sly Stone et al are born every day. But more often than not, interest in the genre is lacking… In only two albums, the band Alabama Shakes have displayed an original and torrid take on southern garage funk. Their secret ingredient? Brittany Howard, the band’s singer of enormous character and gravitas. Such a sense of charisma is all-the-more present in this shock debut solo album. The record holds onto some of Alabama Shakes’ merits but also delivers a more atypical, less conventional feeling. Howard makes our heads spin with this psychedelic and trippy funk record that verges on the experimental with tracks such as the opening History Repeats with lively guitars, stumbling rhythms and chaotic vocals.The Athens native is joined by limited backing musicians that compose of Zac Cockrell, the bassist for Alabama Shakes, and two prevalent, unique jazzmen, Robert Glasper on piano and keys and Nate Smith on drums. On top of this rich yet minimalist backdrop, Howard weaves in a study of both herself and her contemporaries. Everything is here! Homosexuality (Georgia), death (the album’s title, Jaime, is the name of her older sister who was lost to cancer at the age of 13 when Howard was only 8), religion (He Loves Me) and the racism that she, the daughter of a white mother and black father, has often encountered (Goat Head relates to the morning when her mother found all four tires of her car slashed and the severed head of a goat on the garden bench). You will be left shaken after listening to this exciting and very personal record. Howard’s values, references and influences (Prince, Curtis and Sly) are clearly heard – or so it seems – but the end result is one of great originality. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Not a week goes by without a new prodigy emerging from the (very) lively UK jazz scene. Ashley Henry sees the genre as a plurality, mixing together traditional sounds with soul, funk, rap afrobeat, grime and Caribbean sonorities. Born in November 1991, and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music since 2016, the young London pianist is the talk of the town, having already collaborated with household names such as the rapper Loyle Carner, singers from Christine & The Queens, and Zara Mcfarlane, as well as popular jazz cats like Terence Blanchard, Robert Glasper, Jean Toussaint, Jason Marsalis or Anthony Joseph. For his first real studio album, titled Beautiful Vinyl Hunter, Henry crafted an honest musical portrait of his education and multi-cultural heritage. “My music is a clear expression of what I am, of what London is in all her glorious diversity. The immigrant in me has roots that go back to the 17th century. It’s important to me that my music today reflects that lineage, through different styles of music and different generations.”That much is done with energy and vigor, with three drummers – Luke Flowers (Cinematic Orchestra), Eddie Hick and Makaya McCraven, trumpet players Theo Croker, Jaimie Branch and Keyon Harrold, saxophone player Binker Golding, bassist Dan Casimir, percusionnist Ernesto Marichales, singers Judi Jackson and Milton Suggs as well as Sparkz the rapper. Like a new millenium Herbie Hancock, Ashley Henry has a warm, generous groove ; he fusions whatever he touches with ease, such as the Solange - Cranes (In the Sky) cover at the mid-point of his album ! No calculating approaches, juste pure pleasure and the joy of sharing music. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Could Dublin be at the center of another post-punk earthquake? Following in the footsteps of Fontaines D.C and Girl Band, with whom they shared a rehearsal space, here come The Murder Capital’s 5 Irishmen and their urban claustrophobia. They’re post-apocalyptic, tender, furious and emotional. Taking from the likes of Joy Division, The Cure and Fugazi, their first album is titled When I Have Fears after the famous John Keats poem. As always, frontman James McGovern has a calculated approach when it comes to his band: “It would be too easy for us to write an album of ten punk songs at 170 bpm; we could deliver that. It’s a reflection of what’s inside our heads and there is no way we can be angry for that amount of time”. At the heart of that nuanced manifesto, equal amounts brooding romanticism and angry outbursts are the channels for McGovern’s socio-political concerns. He traces When I Have Fear’s inception to a traumatic event: “I had a very close friend of mine take his own life in February and we wanted to reflect the neglect held towards mental healthcare in Ireland. Unnecessary deaths happen due to neglect from the State, or from general emotional intelligence from our society. My friend simply couldn’t afford the help he needed.” The baritone drew from the Emerald Isle’s vast literary tradition in order to paint a scathing portrayal of youth communities plagued by binge culture. His message is underlined by razor-sharp arrangements that verge on the minimal. Their simplicity contributes to the sinister sense of urgency in many of the songs. Nonetheless, Diarmuid Brennan’s hyperactive drumming – listen to those hi-hats! – on Don’t Cling To Life, as well as the piano and the somber growls on How The Streets Adore Me Now demonstrate that the band is more than capable of going beyond the formal frameworks set in place during the early-2000s post-punk revival. When I Have Fears is 100% a Dublin record, transcending the cold and the misery without ever giving up on sincerity and power – A thunderous and sensitive Qobuzissime. © Alexis Renaudat/Qobuz

Anatolian lo-fi samba, sung in English, French and Turkish! With such a colourful program, Mantra Moderne is poised to be summer 2019’s most iconic album. This indie-world soundtrack is the lovechild of duo Kit Sebastian. Kit Martin, the one-man-bedroom-band, lives between London and Paris, writing and performing the songs on this first album over which his accomplice Merve Erdem lays her voice. The singer from Istanbul cast her anchor in the British capital. These days it seems unexpected stylistic fusions are all the rage, and Mantra Moderne is the flag bearer for that trend. From Brazilian tropicalism to 60s British pop, and turkish psychedelics to analog electronica, Kit Sebastian like to sift through 20th century music just as Stereolab, Broadcast and Khruangbin did before them. Their cabinet of curiosities includes acoustic and analog instruments, tablas, darbukas, a balalaïka, an oud, a Korg MS-20 and a Farfisa organ. The pair crafts a deliciously minimalistic symphony. It’s mischievous, and oh-so-sixties: The most exotic Qobuzissime of the year! © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

After two EPs and a breakthrough European tour, this Kinshasa combo now face their biggest challenge yet: a full-length album. KOKOKO! consists of two DIY musicians (with instruments made from cans, typewriters and junkyard scrap), the vocalist Makara Bianco also known as the Lingwara Devil, as well as French producer Xavier Thomas, aka Débruit (author of the mini-hit Nigeria What?) who was immediately attracted by their “experimental side”. He says, “It’s not your stereotypical African music. They want to break with the past and the traditional Congolese rumba. There are no limits, they’re not afraid of anything”.It’s this freedom and creativity born from constraint that can be heard in Fongola, with its sonic collision of polyrhythms, Western harmonies, guitars and mbiras, jerry cans and a TR-808. The formula is designed for live performances, but it is just as effective here: street samples, a 4/4 techno beat, catchy lyrics and earthshaking base lines all have an entrancing effect. The album was recorded in makeshift studios in Kinshasa and Brussels and was then put together in Anderlecht by Débruit, who describes it as “a giant electronic puzzle with no blueprint and pieces that don’t fit”. He couldn’t have put it any better - by combining so many sounds and letting them clash together, KOKOKO! have achieved a state of permanent chaos. And that’s exactly what makes this project so exciting. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Lost in the middle of a beige factory, Ms. Brown stands tall. The well-designed album cover is both clever and visually arresting. By day, this young woman is a graphic designer at MailChimp. “It’s like I have two full-time jobs: designer and musician,” she says, but we certainly prefer her as a musician by night. Under her work uniform, Mattiel (pronounced Ma-Teel) Brown hides a voice with a fierce and impolite tone. She grew up in the vast countryside of Georgia – from where this brusqueness and thick skin probably originated – before moving to the more urban Atlanta. It was here that Mattiel met Randy Michael and Jonah Swilley, with whom she would start writing what would go on to be the basis of Satis Factory. They managed the instrumental compositions, while she took care of the lyrics.It's a perfect formula that works beautifully. The riffs are catchy (Je Ne Me Connais Pas), the melodies are heady, and there’s this distinctive personality that the Burger Records team are very used to sniffing out. Mattiel brings back ‘60s folk with accents of surf pop, old-fashioned blues and vintage soul. A balanced blend of influences, among which she cites Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, André 3000, Marc Bolan, the Staple Singers and Jack White. Very promising. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz