Qobuzism

The current era loves atypical bands eradicating stylistic barriers. The era will love High Pulp. Because even if this young collective from Seattle was built on a common passion for jazz, the language they speak throughout the forty minutes of Pursuit of Ends goes far beyond. As they say themselves, Rob Homan (keyboards), Antoine Martel (keyboards, guitars), Andrew Morrill (alto saxophone), Victory Nguyen (flute, saxophone, trumpet), Scott Rixon (bass) and Bobby Granfelt (drums) recognize themselves as much in Miles Davis and Duke Ellington as in Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine. And it is indeed solid cables that High Pulp stretches between bop and post-rock, electro and pop, jazz-fusion and new wave. Their exclusively instrumental soundtrack which resounds on this Qobuzissime—awarded debut, leans especially on a faultless melodic framework, itself solidly propped up against a fascinating rhythmic structure. One often thinks of the autonomous music of mad scientists like the late David Axelrod—another of High Pulp's idols—whose compositions, with vintage and futuristic flavors, have the shape of real music for fake films. It is in this loss of spatiotemporal reference points that Pursuits of Ends becomes fascinating. When its brass instruments wrap themselves around hypnotic grooves ("Kamishinjo"), when the clock does not indicate any time, and the calendar, no date.  Supported by some guests like Jaleel Shaw (Roy Haynes, Mingus Big Band), Brandee Younger (Ravi Coltrane, The Roots), Jacob Mann (Rufus Wainwright, Louis Cole) and trumpet player Theo Croker, the American collective makes a rather remarkable entry on today's jazz scene. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

After the self-released EP Young Hard and Handsome in September 2020, which included the brilliant 'Hey Boy (You're One of Us)', Walt Disco signed to Lucky Number for their first full-length. The Glasgow six piece, who all met at a party in 2016, wasted no time. Collectively inspired by love, androgyny and the present-day, the young Scots take inspiration from artists such as Scott Walker, David Bowie, fellow countrymen Orange Juice and Associates as well as SOPHIE and Arca, wrapping their prose in an eloquent mix of 80's post-punk, glam rock and futuristic pop. The look, as well as the music, does not dive into the past, quite the opposite. The former Glasgow University students simply draw inspiration from the past in order to tell the story of a youth that feels constricted and cramped in a narrow-minded era. “Our music has got theatre and glamour to it; it’s never really understated. The best review we ever got was someone saying: Walt Disco should rewrite The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, says singer James Potter.Unlearning, which should have been called Unlearning The Perfect Life, is about deconstruction and freedom. “You say we're stupid, I say you're old/Since when did you grow so stupidly cold?/Stuck in the past, you lost yourself there/And let us be young/Young, hard, and handsome, darling”, sings James over the prominent bass line of 'Cut Your Hair'. These twelve short sketches, which border on rock opera and for which the electronic experiments of 'The Costume Change' serve as a kind of interlude, are given their dramatic quality by James Potter’s voice - who learned to sing from a Freddie Mercury-loving opera singer. His voice naturally lends itself to the tragicomic choruses ('How Cool Are You?'). However, the album also moves through a kind of dystopian universe, where the pathos of darkwave ('Weightless') meets the joyful turbulence of Dead Or Alive-style dance pop ('Selfish Lover') with the help of drum machines and synthesizers, mixed with angsty hyperpop ('If I Had a Perfect Life, Macilent') sculpted in the vortex of software. Here’s the renaissance 2.0 of the New Romantics wave we've been waiting for - an obvious Qobuzissime! © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

In April 2021, Decca announced the signing of a contract with new young conductor, Klaus Mäkelä (born 1996), shortly after his appointment by the Orchestre de Paris as musical advisor for two years and then musical director from September 2022. The English label signed a conductor for the first time in several decades, in this case another student of Jorma Panula, who played an important role in many careers at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. In addition, to enter the recording scene with a complete set of Sibelius' seven symphonies is a daring venture. Each work in the cycle, which is particularly complex, is unique.Discographically, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra is not necessarily associated with Sibelius's orchestral works, having made few recordings apart from the four symphonies (Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 5) recorded with Mariss Jansons for EMI in the early 1990s, which suffered from a very reverberant sound recording. This is not the case with this Decca recording as the technical teams have done a remarkable job in recording. The listener will perceive everything about Sibelius' orchestral writing, the depth of the textures in particular, all the more so as Klaus Mäkelä masterfully takes care of the balances (Symphony No. 1), the numerous polyphonic exchanges, in the course of visions with moderate tempos. The listener will feel every bit of Sibelius' orchestral writing, the depth of the textures in particular, all the more so as Klaus Mäkelä masterfully maintains the balances (Symphony No. 1) as well as the numerous polyphonic exchanges in the flow of moderate tempo. There are no shocking contrasts or explosive breaks here. Klaus Mäkelä's gestures are extremely calm and composed. The conductor is not very receptive to the composer's rhythmic surges and phrases the broad lines with impressive majesty (Finale of the 3rd Symphony). Klaus Mäkelä does not exacerbate the contrasts between the orchestral blocks here. With remarkable respect for the silky nature of the Norwegian orchestra, he always tries to bring about fusion and promotes tonal continuity between the vocal groups. Even Symphony No. 4, composed during Sibelius's darkest period, is, under the direction of Klaus Mäkelä, largely bright, a far cry from the frightening cataclysms of Ernest Ansermet (Decca, 1963) or Sir Thomas Beecham (BBC Legends, in concert, 1954).Throughout the seven symphonies, this Sibelius work, marked by a general desire for euphony, is unquestionably distinguished by the coherence of the conductor’s vision and the sumptuousness of his production. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

Thanks to the youthful but tantalising grunge of the self-released EP Take Control in 2019, the Mysterines, initially coalesced around singer/guitarist Lia Metcalfe, George Favager (bass) and Chrissy Moore (drums), had caught the ear of BBC Introducing's talent scouts, who placed them on their radio airwaves and promptly invited them to play their Reading and Leeds festival springboard stage. This huge exposure opened the door to support acts such as Royal Blood and The Amazons, and created enough anticipation for their first full-length album. Released on the Fiction label, Reeling, a 43-minute rock explosion, allows the Liverpudlians to come out of the woodwork. Not without pain. After a year of ups and downs, a change of drummer and an extra guitarist, the quartet had to lock themselves up for three weeks in Assault & Battery studios, between two London confinements, to record under the watchful eye of producer and sound engineer Catherine Marks (Foals, Wolf Alice, The Killers). And all this was sometimes done in one take.It was a difficult gestation period that ended up being beneficial, according to drummer Paul Crilly: "We couldn't go out without forgetting the album, or spending time with other people. It was a real relief to hand it over once we'd done our bit." This tension captured within four walls creates the raw material and guides the tracklisting. At the climax of this pressure, this rock on the grill, opens Life's A Bitch (But I Like It So Much) and then Hung Up, with their fat riffs and saturations. The pressure eases but remains legible on the more country Old Friend / Die Hard and the guitar ballad Still Call You Home. They end insidiously on the dark and creepy Nick Cave-like slowness of Confession Song with its gothic piano. "When I first listened to the test pressing, I could feel all those moments in the studio again," says Crilly. Boosted by Lia's voice, like a destructive high priestess of rock, the aptly named Reeling unfolds an unbridled rock nuance, from garage captured on the fly to more delicately laid-back pop melodies. Amazing and rather mature for a band barely out of their teens. Qobuzissime! © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

Having first appeared on the scene with a feature on the fantastic soundtrack for the film Belgica (2016) scored by the Dewaele brothers, and then releasing two very well-received EPs (especially 2019's Zandoli which included the hit Paténipat), singer Charlotte Adigéry now launches her first full-length project with Bolis Pupul, her "musical partner" from Deewee, Soulwax's label. The two Belgian artists have decided to tease all intolerant people on Topical Dancer by tackling subjects such as cultural appropriation, racism, sexism and post-colonialism. 'Tease' is a fitting term as it's all done in an extremely funny way with Charlotte Adigéry at the top of her creative game as a lyricist.On Esperanto, Adigéry scolds isolationists ("Don't say we need to build a wall. Say: I'm a world citizen, I don't believe in borders") with a refined and stylish sense of rhythm. On the funky Blenda, it's the racists who find themselves in the firing line, before the misogynists are addressed on Ich Mwen, Reappropriate and the brilliant Thank You, which ironically blows away the unsolicited opinions of men on women's looks. Musically, this record oozes with the heavy yet chilled sound of Deewee, Soulwax's label/studio in Ghent, with, as always, a mix of genres (electro, pop, no (new) wave...) between hypnotic synths, edgy bass and groovy guitar riffs. Even though tracks such as HAHA (a concept track somewhere between laughter and tears where surrealism peaks) and Making Sense Stop (a slap in the face to all of French pop) are undoubtedly unmissable, it's not easy to pick out individual highlights from this surrealist album, which is as danceable as it is listenable. Funky, caustic, engaged; this is a truly complete album and an easy choice for Qobuzissime. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

The meeting of traditional Indian instruments and rap metal was probably the last thing aficionados of both genres expected. Yet, how effective! With its bilingual (guttural) vocals in Hindi/Punjabi provided by Jayant Bhadula and in English (rap) by Raoul Kerr, Bloodywood, champion of "Indian folk metal", spares nobody. It's the local and international politicians who get the shaft, all the time. Gaddaar ("traitor"), Rakshak's opening track, has a rare ferocity that manages to offer folk and symphonic elements with almost indecent ease in an explosive cocktail that takes us back to the best of nu metal.The band from New Delhi experiments a lot and with great success, as on the incredible Zanjeero Se, alternating with accuracy melodic and extreme moments with a result that takes you by surprise. One can appreciate the electronica influence on Dana-Dan, the use of the flute on Jee Veerey sprinkled with a host of traditional instruments, or the incendiary Chakh Le, which closes the album and is the perfect synthesis of what Bloodywood is trying to achieve. Rakshak is a manifesto for something new, unexpected, and incredibly powerful, wisely matured since 2016 on a YouTube channel with many covers. The experience gained is felt, and the verdict is clear: Bloodywood is set to become one of the big players on the metal scene in the next few years, and with style. A worthy Qobuzissime. © Maxime Archambaud/Qobuz

The night has never ceased to inspire artists, whether in literature, painting or music. And for good reason: is it not the place of intimacy, introspection and - above all - of the imagination? When the mystery of the night is expressed in music, and in particular on the harp, it touches us all and evokes very concrete images in each of us. In her album Nightscapes, Magdalena Hoffmann has set herself the task of capturing the magic of the night: "My instrument is the ideal vehicle for this intimate, but also magical and fantastic atmosphere. It's not for nothing that the harp often corresponds to celestial or underworld moments in the orchestra.The German harpist, born in 1990 in Basel, discovered her favourite instrument at an early age. Her career took a turn when, in 2016, she received two special prizes at the ARD International Competition. Two years later, she became principal harp in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2021 she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and Nightscapes is her first project.The album consists of original compositions for harp and arrangements of piano pieces. The former includes Benjamin Britten's Suite for Harp, Op. 83, a key work in the 20th-century repertoire for the instrument. There is also the Danse des lutins by Henriette Renié (1875-1956), a French harpist for whom Fauré, Debussy and Ravel composed.Magdalena Hoffmann also performs pieces by Chopin, Clara Schumann, John Field, Ottorino Respighi and Marcel Tournier. The genre of Nocturnes, in particular, conveys the intimate and mystical atmosphere that made it one of the most typical character pieces of Romanticism. But the light, dancing sound of the harp is also perfectly suited to Chopin's waltzes or Jean-Michel Damase's Fantaisie. Hoffmann, for her part, sublimates the very special intimacy of the instrument's sound. A magical stroll through the night. © Lena Germann/Qobuz

A hymn to Brittany. For his first full-length album on Astropolis Records, the label born from the thigh of the mythical Brest festival of the same name, Blutch chose to pay tribute to the region that revealed him as an intelligent and sensitive DJ, not the kind to bludgeon for the sake of the principle, but rather to take the side roads. Known for his hybrid house sets, the Morlaix producer offers an intimate and nostalgic first album, on which most tracks refer to places in the region, from Roscoff to Ouessant, via the street of his childhood.A concept that he puts into music in a sunny way, from the shimmering opening Terre Promise, with a lyrical side brought on by Mirabelle Gilis' violin. Blutch then melts this lyricism into a UK garage beat on Cobalan. Breakbeat is found on River, also surrounded by dreamy synths. Oneiric is the keyword of this album, which alternates between contemplative (Les Bois) and more chaotic (Remparts, with the modular synths of Maxime Dangles, another member of the Astropolis family). We also think of the 'to-be' electropop hit, Rosko, that falls somewhere between Bicep, Rone and Polo & Pan, and when we come back to the right kick, on Floatin, it's to leave in a whirlwind of ethereal keyboards like in a distorted version of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love.' An artist was born in this promised land who fully deserves his Qobuzissime. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

The sky is quite grey, almost like anthracite. The ideal fertiliser to make this teeming post-punk revival scene, which has been shaking the indie planet since the beginning of the 2010s, grow a little more. But how do you get your head out of an already dense melee in which Girl Band, Fontaines DC, Shame, Dry Cleaning and a thousand other bands armed with square guitars and vocalists closer to scansion than to song are jostling each other? To achieve this, Yard Act takes the genre's markers and predictable influences (The Fall, Gang of Four, Wire, early Talking Heads) down often unexpected paths. Better still, they don't limit themselves to being an electric ball of nerves or an old spit in the face of a (post-Brexit) society gone wrong. No, no, Yard Act uses their rage to find different forms of expression. The Overload, the brilliant first album of this Leeds-based quartet, closes with the almost peaceful tempo of 100% Endurance. On the mic, James Smith is a worthy heir to the dalaïlama of post-punk, the late Mark E. Smith of The Fall, with a hint of groove to boot. Along with guitarist Sam Shipstone, bassist Ryan Needham and drummer Jay Russell, Smith wraps his cynicism and bile in bright clothes. A form of proletarian dandyism on amphetamines that sometimes resembles Sleaford Mods (a lot), Ian Durry and his Blockheads or even Pulp! Never caricatured but still tainted with a dash of dark realism, James Smith's vignettes are sometimes funny and musically eclectic. Enough to leave a mark and make The Overload a shock album of 2022. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Two is better than one. What’s better than a pair of hands for playing the piano? Two pairs of hands! Considered 'intimate', the four-handed piano genre has long been confined to inner circles; played in front of friends but rarely in concert. There are of course some famous exceptions (almost always sibling pairings), such as the Labèque sisters, the Walachowski sisters or, among the younger generation, Lucas and Arthur Jussen. It is therefore all the more refreshing to see two ‘independent’ pianists, David Salmon and Manuel Vieillard, making their mark on the world of chamber music by performing the piano duo repertoire on the biggest stages.Graduates of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, Manuel Vieillard and David Salmon are concert performers of the highest level. Between meeting during their studies at the CRR in Paris and the beginning of their international career, a musical symbiosis was born, with the desire to form a "real" duo - not just to meet for concerts. The wish certainly came true: after almost ten years of collaboration, the duo won first prize in the prestigious ARD International Music Competition (Munich). They have now delivered their first album, released on Mirare: Schumann - Brahms - Dvořák, a fine selection of romantic pieces on which the colours of the piano shine through two-fold.Although the composers chosen are among the most famous of the Romantic era, this album offers up innovative and little-known pieces that have rarely been performed or recorded to date. From the very first of these, Schumann's Images d'Orient (Bilder aus Osten, op. 66), you can clearly feel the complicity and complementarity between the two instrumentalists. The piece carries us away with its changing moods, taking us through all emotions. The romantic and melancholic atmosphere is also wonderfully captured on Brahms' Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23, in which the composer pays tribute to his colleague and mentor. The album ends with Dvořák's piano cycle From the Bohemian Forest (Ze Šumavy), op. 68, a masterpiece of the four-hand piano repertoire masterfully performed by Salmon and Vieillard, whose unique artistic symbiosis shines through once again. Without doubt, two is better than one! A beautiful Qobuzissime to start off the new year! © Lena Germann/Qobuz

The Nordic countries have always offered a fascinating uniqueness in their approach to jazz. A uniqueness that is no doubt confirmed by this magnificent album by Linda Fredriksson. With Juniper, the Finnish saxophonist, already active in the Mopo trio and the Superposition quartet, demonstrates the full range of their artistic skills here. Surrounded by Tuomo Prättälä on piano (electric and acoustic), Minna Koivisto on modular synth, Olavi Louhivuori on drums and Mikael Saastamoinen on bass, Fredriksson combines themes composed over a number of years on guitar, piano and vocals (heard on 'Lempilauluni'), which have now been beautifully arranged for this group. Juniper is, according to Linda, a singer-songwriter's album but performed by an instrumental jazz band. The album is, above all, a record centred around introspection, a form of soaring meditation, that is then speckled with little findings, like the watermark rain heard on 'Neon Light' (and the 'Sky Was Trans'), the weightless opening theme...The fascination for singer-songwriters like Neil Young or Sufjan Stevens - two influences that Fredriksson notes - gives their playing a real narrative force. This ethereal, essentially acoustic style of jazz, capable of haunting digressions ('Nana - Tepalle'), also appropriates a whole electronic instrumentation that is handled with great delicacy. Fredriksson succeeds in fusing all of this disparate material, which evokes the most rudimentary folklore as well as futuristic sounds. For this album they borrow elements ranging from the music of Satie to the atypical jazz of labels such as ECM or Hubro. Binding all these ingredients together is Linda's musical touch, adopting a spiritual approach like that of Pharoah Sanders or the more free-spirited Eric Dolphy. Here's a Qobuzissime album that is invigorating and full of rare musical poetry. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Describing something as bewitching is often overused. However, with Kesiena Ukochovbara aka Wayne Snow, it is more than fitting. It only takes a few second to lose oneself in this ultra-sensual neo-soul blend from this fascinating Nigerian artist who grew up in Paris and lives in Berlin. A sprinkle of pop, a dash of electro and a few pinches of jazz a little later on (Kokoroko guitarist Oscar Jerome is part of the mix), Figurine turns the codes of modern R&B upside down by tweaking only the smallest of details. Produced by Frenchman Crayon for the Roche Musique label, the album is first and foremost a vast patchwork of past, present and future sound textures; like an Afro-futurism soundtrack that fires the legacy of Marvin Gaye and Sade into a completely new realm. Though Wayne Snow's main goal here may be to conquer his own cultural and musical identity, he is also striving to answer some of the wider question of our time. As for the feeling of bewitchment, this mainly comes from the fact that this soulman, rooted in the present, never ends up sounding like an umpteenth subpar Frank Ocean. Wayne Snow is an original musician, as he shows us with this phenomenal record. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

The Solem Quartet is no stranger to the classical and contemporary music world. As winners of the Jerwood Arts Live Work Fund 2020, they are one of the UK's most significant artistic voices. In addition, the ensemble stands out for its musical diversity and openness due to its involvement in innovative projects as well as collaborations with artists from different genres. Now the four musicians from England release their long-awaited debut album, The Four Quarters on Orchid Classics: a musical, transcendent journey influenced by composers from the Baroque period to the present. Despite such a diverse selection of compositions, one piece stands out as spanning the entire album: Thomas Ades' masterpiece The Four Quarters. The four movements meander through the enormous range of recordings and appear between arrangements by Henry Purcell, Florence Price, Béla Bartók and Robert Schumann. Ades' composition is based on the cycle of the day as a central metaphor - a ramble from the early hours of the morning to the depths of the night. The juxtaposition of time and space, earth and sky is also reflected in the music. In the first movement, 'Nightfalls', the violins sound fine overtones in regular patterns, the viola and cello play the deep harmony far below and thus remain grounded. Another highlight of the album is certainly the interpretation of Aaron Parker's 'easqelä'. It is the fourth movement of the five-part work 'Tuoretu', which was composed specifically for the Solem Quartet. The name was invented freely and refers to the eternal expanses of eastern England as well as the fading colours of the sunset, which, just like the sounds, merge boundlessly into one another. The melancholic, haunting viola solo, underpinned by the dim fifth and fourth parallels of the other strings, reinforces the ever-present transcendence and once again draws out the fundamental elements of the album: closeness to nature, dreamscapes and timelessness. And even though it is the penultimate track on the record, the end of the musical dream journey is far from in sight...With The Four Quarters, the Solem Quartet releases a unique and highly inspiring album that sets its own timeless anchor between contemporary art and traditional sounds. © Lena Germann/Qobuz

Gaspar Claus' first solo album is long overdue! Over the past fifteen years, the cellist has travelled, met and collaborated with many great artists from a multitude of backgrounds: from his father Pedro Soler to Barbara Carlotti, from Rone to Bryce Dessner. With all these influences under his belt, all that remained was for the musician to find the best possible home for the release of Tancade: the label InFiné. It's an eminently personal album as this is the first time Gaspar Claus has been out on his own. We should also salute the remarkable contributions made by Francesco Donadello and David Chalmain in mastering and mixing this record, giving it a unique sound which is rich in contrasts.The material is minimalistic; with nothing but a cello, Claus captivates with the variety of his compositions, making an infinitely diverse use of his instrument's innumerable possibilities. Pizzicatis, bowing that is alternately smooth and grating, resonance in the low notes answered by aerial high notes... a true sonic architect, this performer succeeds in making each of this work's tracks into a world of its own, each summoning unique sensations. We are drawn into the almost tribal and hypnotising trance of the percussive 'Une foule' before entering the more meditative atmosphere of the crepuscular '1999'. One can only admire Claus' genius in sculpting so much material with so few tools, the contribution of electronics being limited to a bare minimum with only discreet reverb or distortion effects.Tancade's great strength lies in the way that it never sinks into mere demonstrations of technical skill. This album is not a simple catalogue of everything a cellist can do with their instrument. On each track, the composition and execution are all determined by the atmosphere that the artist wishes to create. Gaspar Claus has created a magnificent album, full of inventiveness and poetry, which reconnects the listener with a host of age-old emotions. So it's hardly a stretch to declare that Tancade is sure to become an essential classic of the contemporary cello. © Pierre LAMY Qobuz

After making a splash in 2018 with her debut EP If U Want It, which included the hits ABC and I DON'T CARE, Park Hye Jin went on to attract attention with live performances during which she would grab the mic to sing/rap over what she was mixing on the decks. Hastily branded the new prodigy of lo-fi house, on her first album the South Korean demonstrates that her palette is actually a lot broader than that. Coming from her base in Los Angeles, you can feel the laid back spirit of Californian rap hovering over this record, which starts with a UK garage vibe (but with a powerful kick) on Let's Sing Let's Dance. Park Hye Jin raps throughout the first half of the album, with moody choruses like on Good Morning Good Night with its muffled boom bap and reverb guitar that serve to accentuate the sunny side of the track. In the same vein, note the hypnotic I Need You or Where Did I Go, as well as the artist’s gift for simple and catchy choruses with a nonchalant flow that goes back and forth between the front and the back of the sound stage.While there's a very rap flow to the record, house is never far away. You can hear small elements of it on tracks such as Whatchu Doin Later or Can I Get Your Number (which is set to be remixed very soon); you hear it in the phrasing of the choruses, or in the effects on her voice. The second part of the record is more straightforward with 4/4 beats on Sex With Me (DEFG), which follows the principle of her hit ABC with slightly more daring lyrics, and Where Are You Think, a model of lo-fi house that is much too short. Hey, Hey, Hey and Never Die raise the BPM and move towards techno, the latter brightened by a looped piano chord and a voice that disperses like steam. It all ends in a steamy trap-style fusion on Sunday ASAP and i jus wanna be happy, a track that's as cottony as they come. Out of nowhere, Park Hye Jin has built a new bridge between hip-hop and electronic music; a more than deserving Qobuzissime. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

One of the most exciting punk bands of the last few years, it has been said and repeated over and over: Amyl and the Sniffers. The Australians, led by the brilliant Amy Taylor, are gradually climbing the ladder of notoriety with their explosive live performances and 'no shits given' attitude. After two EPs they recorded their first album with Joey Walker of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. This self titled album landed them the award for best rock album at the prestigious ARIA Awards, and now, here is Comfort to Me and its deformed cover. The aptly named Comfort to Me was born out of the confined period during which Amy, Bryce Wilson (drums), Dec Martens (guitar) and Fergus Romer (bass), behind closed doors in a Melbourne house, worked daily on these haunting tracks filled with a garage energy.The recipe inherited from Cro-Mags or Cosmic Psychos differs slightly from Amyl's previous releases: a repetitive and searing rhythm section; simple, raw and looped lyrics; intricate howling guitars and ultra-short tracks. The key difference: more meticulous production. But it's best to let Amy talk about that: "If I had to explain what this record is like, I'd say it's like watching an episode of One Hell of a Nanny, except the setting is the Australian car show, Fran is interested in social issues, she's read a few books, and Mr. Sheffield is drinking beer in the sun. It's a Mitsubishi Lancer going slightly over the speed limit in a school zone. It's realising how good it is to wear sweatpants to bed. It's having someone want to make you dinner when you're really tired. It's me shadow-boxing on stage, covered in sweat, instead of sitting quietly in a corner."  Here lies everything we love in a Qobuzissime! © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

Babatunde Teemituoyo Doherty, or Baba Ali for short, is an '80s man. But there's more to him than that, as Memory Device proves. He grew up to the sounds of Prince, Michael Jackson and even Femi Kuti (who was a family friend), D'Angelo and J Dilla. A New Jersey native with Nigerian roots, Baba Ali combines the sparkle of funk, the coldness of post-punk and the effusiveness of dance music to create the stunning Memory Device. He's an aesthete in search of total art who as a high schooler formed a duo called Voices of Black: "We were like, well, we're two Black kids but we listen to Radiohead and Joy Division and all this different music, and we don't wanna feel like we're in this box anymore. We want to make music that is expansive and goes everywhere and touches on everything." This attitude lay behind the creation of the philosophy they called "Yarchism," promoting an instinct-led approach to creativity and the pursuit of the purest possible expression of one's creative vision. Ali developed this idea further while studying art at Brown. The more mature demos produced in this period caught the eye of his comrade Nicolas Jaar, who helped the pair bring out their first EP on the electro label Wolf + Lamb (Seth Troxler, Shaun Reeves), which was where Jaar himself had started out. There followed Nomad (2017) and This House (2020), two initial solo EPs influenced by the sounds of grime and the artist's repeated listening of LCD Soundsystem and Iggy Pop, whom he discovered in London where he now lives.Written in the solitude of lockdown and recorded between September 2020 and February 2021 with Al Doyle (Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem) in East London, this first long-format release is inspired as much by James White and The Blacks as by Yves Tumor's Heaven to a Tortured Mind (2020). There's some late-'70s post-disco lurking in the heavy atmosphere of these avant-garde experiments ("Better Days," "Nuclear Family") as well as distorted vocals and depressive lyrics ("I've seen better days"). Synths predominate in this successful outing ("Nature's Curse," "Got an Idea"), with support from bass and beats ("Black Wagon") and a rounded-out sound that recalls funk and new wave ("Draggin' On," "Temp Worker"). But quite apart from the broad variety of musical references on display, what really makes this album captivating is the way the tension is maintained from one track to the next, making it the stuff of cathartic club trips. In short, a gem of a Qobuzissime, whose magic simply has to be shared. © Charlotte Saintoin/Qobuz

The extraordinary recital "Le clavecin mythologique", also for the Versailles-based label L'Encelade, provides an original pretext for a colourful and inspired exploration of the harpsichord repertoire of eighteenth-century France (mainly). Once again, the Austrian Anne Marie Dragosits lavishes us with her art for enchantment and takes us into the heart of the night, a moment conducive to dreaming and beyond that, into her imagination and world of artistic creation. Taking its origins from the idea of sleep, which came from French music (and brought to its peak by Lully in his lyrical tragedies, starting with Atys), Dragosits invites us on a journey which takes - curiously, and this is where all the interest lies - its roots in Germany between the 17th and 18th centuries and not France.The Bach dynasty is well represented on this album, from the sons to the father: Wilhelm Friedemann and his incredible Fantasia, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and his Variations on "Ich schlief, da träumte mir" that preceed a few other pieces at the opening of the programme, including the very beautiful La Mémoire Raisonnée from a set of little-known miniatures, Wq. 117. From Johann Sebastian, Anne Marie Dragosits chose the too rare Praeludium (Harpeggiando), BWV 921, a true keyboard improvisation that is full of contrasts and explosive joy, whose hybrid tone recalls Buxtehude's "stylus phantasticus". The harpsichordist then inserts, here and there, according to her own whim - and no doubt her dreams - a few pieces by Graupner, Fischer and Kuhnau. From the former, two very beautiful pieces entitled "Sommeille", taken from two different suites by the composer. On the sublime Christian Zell harpsichord of 1728 - one of the most beautiful harpsichords in the world, preserved in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Hamburg - Dragosits then deploys treasures of tenderness, as well as implacable majesty. Her playing is constantly impressive, even in the Passacaglia by Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, the apotheosis of the first part of the programme, bursting with Lully like influences which were to have a strong influence on the young J. S. Bach.A supreme testimony to a discreet harpsichordist with a captivating musicality, this recital "Ich schlief, da träumte mir", has a highly original programme and often very subtle transitions. Bach's Komm süßer Tod followed by Kuhnau's Biblical Sonata No. 4 should not be enjoyed in any other way than on a stroll, especially as the instrument itself remains perpetually enchanting, with its incredibly deep bass and its stunningly beautiful lute playing; however if all this frightens you, perhaps start with the Sommeille from Graupner's "Febrarius" Suite: such a moment of capricious gentleness and sublime tenderness will undoubtedly not leave you by the side of the road! © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz-------For thousands of years, mankind has been concerned with the interpretation of dreams, seeking medical and philosophical explanations of all that happens to us during sleep. At the same time, mankind has been obsessed with the images of dreams – be they beautiful or terrible, like an imaginary theatre – offering a rich playground for all branches of art.Hypnos, son of night and darkness, is the god of sleep. As Ovid reports, his sons are the Oneiroi, the dream gods being, Morpheus who is able to take on human form, Phobetor, the horror who slips into the skin of wild animals and Phantasos who appears in the form of inanimate nature. Hypnos’ realm is guarded by Hesychia (calm), Aergia (indolence) and Lethe (oblivion). While Hypnos is often called the “generous one,” his twin brother is Thanatos, "the gentle death"; and often the two often appear together.These and other nocturnal visitors find their matching counterparts in music. The selection of musical pieces for this most subjectively arranged recording is as varied as night’s images. Certain titles make references to the night and dream worlds. Other works were chosen partly for describable musical reasons, partly in free association with my own subjective dream visions.A significant stake in the choice of program was claimed by the highly characteristic sound of the harpsichord by Christian Zell (1728). As one of the few surviving and playable large German harpsichords, its clarity and transparency embodies the music of the German high baroque ideally. But the great sonic difference between the warm, resonant lower manual and a very brilliant and nasal upper manual (which is nevertheless equipped with great lyrical qualities) also provides the instrument – together with its charming lute stop and a four-foot stop that is as clear as a bell, along with the roaring sonority of the coupled registers – all the colours and possibilities necessary for gallant music. (Anne Marie Dragosits)© L'Encelade

Look out, we've got a phenomenon on our hands! Naia Izumi is a young artist with a talent for pluralistic grooves; a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist who draws inspiration from the history of soul music as well as rock and jazz fusion. Diagnosed with autism at the age of 16, this Georgia native, now living in California, quickly focused his attention on culture, reading dozens of books and learning several instruments, the guitar first and foremost. Naia Izumi won the Tiny Desk Contest organised by NPR in 2018, attracting the attention of many different labels wanting to sign up this endearing and unique character. From the bass to the drums, the mandolin and even the koto (the plucked string instrument used in traditional Japanese music), Naia Izumi could do it all.Izumi's unique sound is very obviously influenced by Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill and Musiq Soulchild, but also by legends of progressive music such as King Crimson and, above all, jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, the mastermind behind Shakti and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. His powerful signature sound of elegant chordal constructions and arpeggiated melodies is entwined with his delicate, soulful voice. Naia Izumi’s main weapon of choice is his Fender Jazzmaster ’64, on which he favours a tapping technique over strumming or plucking. However, all of this stylistic and instrumental complexity never prevents his music from remaining organic and sensual. Everything flows perfectly on A Residency in the Los Angeles Area; deep and graceful. Here’s a tender, healing groove to soothe the wounds of the world. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

A tone of voice, words, and a dreamlike sound. When you're writing an introspective indie pop-folk song, getting these elements right will help you stand out from the crowd. Tori Zietsch, alias Maple Glider, has mastered them all, and so she has made it out in front of the pack. The Australian, who spent time in Brighton before returning home to Melbourne, can hold her own alongside Cat Power, Adrianne Lenker, Angel Olsen, Julia Jacklin and Sharon Van Etten. The subject matter she is working with might be classical and familiar (a strict, religious education, first love, an awakening to the ways of the world, solitude, distance) but To Enjoy Is the Only Thing offers a truly unique kind of intimacy. With a splash of humour here or a graceful confession there, she is always able to sidestep heavy-handedness or lukewarm cliché. But first and foremost, this record is a showcase for a sublime voice. On really stripped-down sequences, as on Be Mean, It's Kinder Than Crying, where her voice bounces off the same two repeating chords, Maple Glider is awe-inspiring. “To me”, she writes, “To Enjoy Is The Only Thing feels like walking past tinsel-covered trees in mid-September, swimming along the calanques in the south of France, frost on the hood of a car, darkness at 4pm, lightness until 10pm, a muted feeling, the perpetual grey fog that swallows the Silver Coast in Portugal, an ugly green dress, the color red, red wine, red blood, red lips, the red of a cardinal’s robe, Switzerland, my mother’s diaries, a coroner’s report, the sun on my face, the end of love”. One comes away from this album feeling deeply moved, blown away by these 35 timeless, graceful minutes... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz