With nineteen tracks segueing into each each over two sides of vinyl, Tucson duo Trees Speak continue their earthy yet intergalactic run of albums (6 in 4 years!) for Soul Jazz Records. ‘TimeFold’ is a krautrock Blade Runner set in a doomy 1970s horror film castle (filmed on Mars) but with powerful arpeggiated Tangerine Dream synth weapons and disembodied spoken word amongst their heavyweight blend of influences. Intoxicating stuff. Read / Listen.

A cross-cultural tour de force from London’s Waaju crew and Moroccan Gnawa master Majid Bekkas on this fantastic live album out now on the mighty BBE! A stunning fusion of Afro-Latin, jazz, psychedelia, Gnawa and heavy heavy grooves recorded in the beautiful Church of Sound in East London, Ben Brown’s new arrangements of traditional Gnawa songs are revelatory, the ensemble’s performance transcendent. Read / Listen.

We don’t really cover single releases (apart from the occasional premiere) so we thought we would start a new section on the blog where we shout about some random new singles we have been sent or discovered ourselves in some dusty corner. All kinds of music that we may not have time to cover as albums or one time one-offs. Enjoy! Tell your friends! This episode includes Nicola Cruz, Voodoo Drummer, Romperayo, Cyril Cyril, Chizawa Q & more...

We are delighted to premiere the first single from Phil Dawson ٤-tet’s forthcoming ‘Don’t Waste Your Ancestors’ Time’ album on Funkiwala. ‘Ilé (Iyesa)’ is an absorbing, funky and spiritually charged number that stands up tall next to Airto’s Afro-Brazilian experiments in the 70s and features an outrageous lineup of world class musicians from Nigeria, Brazil and the UK jazz scene. Read / Listen.

The Swiss trio Ali Dada have carved themselves an album of languid cinematic tracks out of late night jam sessions and a few guiding rules: vibes and 'mistakes' as important as intent. Nineties trip hop sounds have been reappearing quite a lot recently and this immersive album of dope beats, psychedelic guitars and atmospheric textures certainly resides in this smoky territory. Read / Listen.

The second album by Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist Damian Dalla Torre is a sublime ambient-not-ambient jazz-not-jazz record that inhabits its own beautiful meditative space. Inspired by the environment of Santiago, Chile and awash with a painterly quality, ‘I Can Feel My Dreams’ is an experimental record that is somehow also universal in its emotional naturalness. With guests of the calibre of Miriam Adefris, Ruth Goller, Christian Balvig and Jan Soutschek along for the trip, why not tag along? Or just lie down and let it float around you. Read / Listen.

Our favourite Venezuelan polymath Alex Figueira is back with another full length album of burning hot ‘tropical’ psychedelic dancers. For once, he doesn’t do everything himself, inviting the members of the live incarnation of his Conjunto Papa Upa band to bring their instrumental magic to his ever-improving songwriting and vocal chops. With over two dozen genres mashed into this Latin music charged feast, ‘Fruta Madura’, has fire, wit and groove in its belly. Read / Listen.

Hailing from the tiny sovereign islands of the African state of São Tomé and Príncipe, the long-running band África Negra have a second anthology on Bongo Joe Records deservedly dedicated to their exhilarating blend of Congolese rumba, soukous, highlife and the high speed local puxa style. Whether it’s high-energy dancers or sitting back into a swaying rumba, the emotional power of their sound and playing will make your soul sing. Read / Listen.