Mouse on Mars "AAI (Thrill Jockey)"
From Thrill Jockey:
AAI compiles some of the most immediate and gripping music in Mouse on Mars’ extensive catalogue. Emerging from a primordial ooze of rolling bass and skittering electronics, hypnotic polyrhythms and pulsing synthesizers propel the listener across the record’s expanse. Hidden in the duo’s hyper-detailed productions is a kind of meta-narrative. Working with AI tech collective Birds on Mars and former Soundcloud programmers Ranny Keddo and Derrek Kindle, the duo collaborated on the creation of bespoke software capable of modelling speech. What appears to be Louis Chude-Sokei narrating through the story is in fact the AI speaking. Text and voice from Chude-Sokei and DJ/producer Yağmur Uçkunkaya were fed into the software as a model, allowing Toma and Werner to control parameters like speed or mood, thereby creating a kind of speech instrument they could control and play as they would a synthesizer. The album’s narrative is quite literally mirrored in the music – the sound of an artificial intelligence growing, learning and speaking.
Phillip Norman Watson "Joan (Team Love)"
From Team Love:
Phillip Norman Watson writes contemplative compositions for solo piano. “Joan” is an homage to one of his most cherished inspirations.
Jim Keller "By No Means (BRM)"
New album from New York musician, Jim Keller.
Nonconnah "Songs For And About Ghosts (EJRC)"
From EJRC:
Memphis-area dronegazers Nonconnah return February 12th, 2021 with their third full-length release, Songs For And About Ghosts. Zachary and Denny Wilkerson Corsa hereby share their most ambitious sonic tapestries yet, spun across four extended tracks of swirling guitars and haunted static frequencies, and joined by special guests Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy, The Arcade Fire) and synthwave juggernaut Jenn Taiga.