the dark flux

New Year in Roma

Roma is a wonderful city. So photogenic. However, I think the temptation is always to shoot the obvious and when downloaded the photos from my camera it was easy to see that I had fallen into the same trap. Not all the time, though. Here are my favourite ‘non-obvious’ shots from a magical trip.

24. Kendrick Lamar: Mr Morale & The Big Steppers

And so we arrive at our final destination: window 24 of the Musical Advent. Completing this odyssey through 2022, as is the convention, is my album of the year. Sometimes it is a difficult choice; other times more straightforward. There was never any doubt in 2022 – at least not after 13th May. That’s when I…

23. Gabriels: Angels & Queens

Bands like Gabriels only come along once in a generation. They are special; totally unique. Their ability to sound like something from the distant past and, simultaneously, something of the future, is mindblowing. It feels like it has taken ages to get to Angels & Queens. The band’s breakthrough single, Love and Hate in a…

22. Danger Mouse and Black Thought: Cheat Codes

“Please, you ain’t fucking with no amateurs, homie.” The first tune I heard from Cheat Codes blew my mind. I remember the moment vividly; a summer morning walking to work in London. The electrifying No Gold Teeth hit me like a jackhammer to the back of the skull, ensnaring me instantaneously. At that moment I…

21. Cecile McLorin Salvant: Ghost Song

Christmas. It’s the time for ghost stories, isn’t it? This year, it’s also the time for ghost songs. Well, Ghost Song, to be precise. Cecile McLorin Salvant’s stunning album is a worthy addition to the Musical Advent. Ghost Song is an album that is bold, innovative, ambitious and jaw-droppingly, expansively brilliant. Just take those first…

20. Calexico: El Mirador

No other album this year has got inside my head and transported me to another place quite like Calexico’s El Mirador. This heady brew of Latin American desert-rock is an absolute joy to behold. I have to confess, I wasn’t familiar with the output of Tucson-originating Calexico before this year. My loss. I absolutely love…

19. Moor Mother: Jazz Codes

“Ultimately, perhaps it is good that the people abandoned jazz/Replaced it with musical products better suited to capitalism’s designs“ Moor Mother’s Jazz Codes isn’t so much a musical record as an anthropological project. Prolific poet, musician and activist, Camae Ayewa, the artist behind the Moor Mother moniker, is a deep thinker and Jazz Codes lays…

18. James Alexander Bright: Float

In my Louder Than War review of James Alexander Bright’s second album, Float, I described it as the “sound of summer”. So how will it sound now that we are in the bleak mid-winter? At the time of writing, the streets are white with a deep frost. The mercury plummeted to minus eleven overnight. And as I…

17. Keeley Forsyth: Limbs

Keeley Forsyth’s brilliant sophomore album, Limbs, is a dark and brooding affair. It feels as though it has been unearthed after spending centuries underground, before being stripped of everything extraneous and presented before us. Writing about a Keeley Forsyth album for the Musical Advent feels a little like déjà vu. After all, it’s only twenty-four…

16. Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul: Topical Dancer

Rarely does an album come along quite like this. In my March write-up for Louder Than War, I described it as a “potent commentary on a cultural appropriation, misogyny and racism, all enveloped in a cloak of exuberant electro-pop”. In short, Topical Dancer is a banger with something to say. Incredibly, this novice duo, Charlotte Adigery…

15. The Brother Moves On: $/He Who Feeds You…Owns You

Strap yourself in, because the rollercoaster that awaits behind window 15 promises one incredible ride. Straight out of Johannesburg comes the mighty afro-jazz vibe of The Brother Moves On, with their third album, $/He Who Feeds You…Owns You. Released in Autumn on Shabaka Hutchings’ Native Rebel Recordings, $/He Who Feeds You…Owns You was described by…

14. Hatis Noit: Aura

I must confess to the use of the word ‘unique’ in describing several of the artists in this year’s Musical Advent. But, on reflection, I am relaxed about that. Benjamin Clementine? Alabaster DePlume? Svaneborg Kardyb? They all wear that cloak comfortably. However, if the Musical Advent auditors were to come-a-knocking and restrict my use of…

13. Svaneborg Kardyb: Over Tage

Welcome to window 13. The one that opens up the second half of the Musical Advent. At the time of writing, it seems that the mercury has not risen above the zero degree mark on the thermometer for several days. The streets are white with (depending upon where you are) thick frost or snow. How…

12. Loyle Carner: Hugo

The arc of Loyle Carner is a fascinating one. His 2017 debut, Yesterday’s Gone, was an incredibly bold record. The young rapper from Croydon eschewed the (frankly overused) stereotypical subject matters. Instead, he wrote and sang songs about his mum and, poignantly, his dad, who tragically and unexpectedly passed away three years before Yesterday’s Gone…

11. Benjamin Clementine: And I Have Been

I first heard Benjamin Clementine the night his debut album, At Least For Now, won the Mercury Prize. Until that 2015 show, this noble, angular, singer-songwriter had flown under my radar. I wasn’t alone; it seemed that few folk were familiar with his work. As is standard procedure at the Mercury, each artist is invited…

10. Black Midi: Hellfire

Consider Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Hecate and the Weird Sisters, hanging about on the misty heath; up to no good. “Double, double, toil and trouble”, they chant, as they chuck all kinds of detritus into their cauldron. Imagine you could look inside that bubbling potion. The chaos. That’s Black Midi’s Hellfire. Like the Alabaster DePlume album that…

9. Alabaster DePlume: Gold

“I remember the German word for calculator/But I forget that I’m precious.” Behind window 9 of the Musical Advent lounges an album released on April Fool’s Day. It contains a track entitled Who Is A Fool. When I heard the first two singles – Don’t Forget You’re Precious and I’m Good At Not Crying –…

8. Binker and Moses: Feeding The Machine

How appropriate that this beauty should reside behind window 8 of our Musical Advent. Consider that number. Placed on its side, it is the symbol for infinity. The infinite loop. Whilst it is the names of Binker and Moses that adorn the plaque above the door, it would be criminal to underplay Max Luthert’s role…

7. Snowdrops: Missing Island

I love modern classical music and the 2022’s finest example of the genre dropped just last month. Missing Island, the French chamber duo Snowdrops’ third album, may have arrived late in the year, but it was unquestionably worth waiting for. In my review for Louder Than War, I described it as “dramatic and emotive…never predictable, never…

6. Tara Nome Doyle: Værmin

Take care when peeling back window six of the Musical Advent, because something lurks deep within. Most of us are repelled by creepy crawlies, but Norwegian-Irish singer-songwriter Tara Nome Doyle sees them quite differently. Doyle’s sophomore album, Værmin, is a paean to little creatures, celebrating the wonder of them. The cover art is a bit…

5. Steve Lacy: Gemini Rights

Welcome to the sonic equivalent of Zidane playing football. Gemini Rights, the second album by virtuoso Steve Lacy, is effortlessly brilliant; languidly sophisticated. Reminiscent of Zizou, Lacy bestrides his workplace majestically, sprinkling stardust all over these tracks. We shouldn’t be surprised because the dazzling brilliance on show throughout Gemini Rights has been foreshadowed. As a…

4. JOEL ROSS: THE PARABLE OF THE POET

Earlier this year, for a brief spell, I was not a hostage to time. A rare experience. Finally, momentarily, I had time for introspection and reflection. Looking back, I’m not sure I really made the most of it. However, it was during that period that I was introduced to the music of Joel Ross and,…

3. Robert Glasper: Black Radio III

“On the ebony and ivory with the heart of a gnostic and the hands of a locksmith.” Allow me to introduce the velveteen chest of delights that lounges behind window three of our Musical Advent. No other album in this year’s collection offers something for everyone in the way that Robert Glasper’s Black Radio III…

GRANDAMME: HOLY MOUNTAIN

Picture this. Film noir. The fading glamour of the golden age of Hollywood. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity. Bogart and Bacall, Brando and Garbo. That’s where Holy Mountain, the brilliant debut by Grandamme, will take you. This dreamy and haunting chamber-pop delight, released on the consistently brilliant Def Presse in September, simply…

CLAUDE COOPER: MYRIAD SOUNDS

What a way to kick off our annual Musical Advent. Claude Cooper’s Myriad Sounds is nothing if not aptly entitled. Released in the dim and distant past (well, January), I described it in my Louder Than War review as “vital and vibrant and exactly what we need to kick start the year”. This incredible melange of psych-funk, jazz…

STREET SHOTS: LONDON, JUNE ’22

It’s been a while. But I got a new lens and, with that, a reinvigoration. Took plenty of shots this week, most of them pretty mundane. But these are my favourites. Not because they are technically great or anything. They just are. Hope you enjoy them. Oh, and the soundtrack to the shots was Joel…

LITTLE SIMZ: SOMETIMES I MIGHT BE INTROVERT

In an uncharacteristic moment of understatement, I described this album for Louder Than War as “quite probably the album of the year”. In truth, there was never any doubt. Nothing else could lay of glove on this. This spectacular collection of vignettes is a thrill-a-minute rollercoaster, sonically massive and sprawling everywhere. There is an intensity…

SONS OF KEMET: BLACK TO THE FUTURE

Ah, Shabaka. The workaholic, the virtuoso, the maestro. Always moving, always creating, always brilliant. Shabaka Hutchings, take a bow. This year it’s the turn of Sons Of Kemet. The album – a protest album no less – is entitled Black To The Future. Watcha protesting about, Shabaka? Well, how about centuries of inequality and discrimination?…

RUTGER HOEDEMAEKERS: THE AGE OF ODDITIES

No other album in 2021 has been so emotionally powerful. No other has had that level of impact. In my review for Louder Than War, I spoke about the way that other great works of art – Giuseppe Sanmartino’s sculpture of the Veiled Christ and Joy Division’s Closer – have a stunning tragedy about them.…

LONEY DEAR: A LANTERN AND A BELL

Few albums in 2021 have been as exquisite as this fragile, minimalist masterpiece. Like porcelain, there is a sense that the slightest pressure could crush it. Released in March on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, A Lantern And A Bell is a collection of nine beautifully crafted songs, delivered by a falsetto that would break…

SAULT: NINE

Here they come again. The enigmatic SAULT (are they still enigmatic?). It’s difficult to remember an artist/band who created the album of the year in one year, followed it up in the same year with an album just as good (almost), then followed them the following year with another album of (almost) the same standard.…

MANIC STREET PREACHERS: THE ULTRA VIVID LAMENT

Well, who saw this coming? Manic Street Preachers are one of my favourite bands of all time. I’m not the kind to retain ticket stubs and keep records, but I would guess that I have seen them live more than any other band. Perhaps. The Holy Bible is one of my top ten albums of…

MILES DAVIS: MERCI MILES

Miles Davis is unquestionably one of the most important artists of the twentieth century. His unbridled creativity was matched by very few. Therefore, when an album emerges that captures his brilliance just ninety days before his death, it matters. Merci Miles is a recording of one of the maestro’s last shows. Spectacularly set, in a…

SCRIMSHIRE: NOTHING FEELS LIKE EVERYTHING

Well, hello again. Now no stranger to the Musical Advent, Scrimshire makes an appearance for the second successive year. And deservedly so, because for the second year in a row he has released an album of undoubted quality. Released on Albert’s Favourites, Nothing Feels Like Everything has a different vibe from 2020’s Believers Vol. 1.…

TIRZAH: COLOURGRADE

Released in October on Domino, Colourgrade is utterly infectious. It draws you in and bewitches you, holding you in its spell as it meanders and weaves through the corners of your mind. It’s an album that delivers on the promise of Tirzah’s 2018 debut, Devotion. That was a good album, if a wee bit hit…

GABRIELS

Don’t look for an album. There isn’t one. I sincerely hope that 2022 brings one, because I need it. Apparently, it’s been in the works for years. What we do have is a three-piece from Los Angeles, consisting of producers Ari Balouzian and Ryan Hope along with that incredible voice of Jacob Lusk. Jacob’s a…

GREENTEA PENG: MAN MADE

What is this box of delights? It’s hip-hop and trip-hop, jazz and reggae – all chucked into a big cast iron cauldron and left to simmer and bubble until its essence consumes all. Aria Wells (for it is she) collaborates with a cast of tens to create this blissed-out vibe. The feeling you get from…

TONY ALLEN: THERE IS NO END

No hyperbole – Tony Allen was one of the greatest drummers of all time. According to Brian Eno he was THE best. This is a man who, with his great friend Fela Kuti, invented Afrobeat. I was fortunate to see Tony drum live on two occasions. He was the epitome of cool. Donning a pork…

DAMON ALBARN: THE NEARER THE FOUNTAIN MORE PURE THE STREAM FLOWS

The musical polymath of our generation returns. Once again, he brings something completely fresh to the party. Are there any other artists as versatile, bold and gifted as Damon Albarn? Just look at his body of work down the years. No genre is left untouched, yet nothing feels forced or unnatural. Now we have a…

JOHN GRANT: BOY FROM MICHIGAN

The consistently brilliant Boy From Michigan is back again…and this time it’s personal. Actually, when it comes to JG, it invariably is, although it’s probably fair to say that Boy From Michigan is even more personal than his previous workouts. Two things you can always rely on from Grant: the voice and that outstanding songwriting…

SAMUEL SHARP: PATTERNS VARIOUS

Patterns Various is, unquestionably, one of 2021’s most unique and innovative albums. This delicious fusion of jazz, minimalist, electronic and experimental is both ambitious and breathtaking, and it comes from an artist with a technique and style all of his own. Samuel Sharp has this uncanny ability to extract sounds from his saxophone that seem…

BLOOD WINE OR HONEY: DTx2

Strap yourself in, because this is one wild ride. In my review for Louder Than War, I described it as the most fun you can have with your clothes on. However, today, almost half a year later, I wonder how true that assertion actually is. Having lived with this album throughout the last six months,…

FLOATING POINTS, PHAROAH SANDERS & THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: PROMISES

Truly, this is a work of art. Nominated for the Mercury Prize, but somehow defeated by Arlo Parks. Nothing against Arlo, but…how? The genesis of this incredible body of work occurred six years ago, when jazz giant Sanders was sitting in his car. Held up in traffic, his mind wandered to the track playing on…

PUMA BLUE: IN PRAISE OF SHADOWS

Released in early February, this was one of the first albums I fell in love with in 2021. We were coming out of winter – a dark time any year, but doubly so against the backdrop of lockdown. So, this collection, inspired by Junichiro Tanizaki’s essay of the same name, resonated. Tanizaki talks of the…

FIELD KIT: FIELD KIT

Released in June this year, on Nonostar Records, the debut from German duo Hannah von Hübbenet and John Gürtler is quite dazzling. It is incredibly innovative, fusing classical and electronic to great effect. And having lived with the album for six months now, I can confirm that it’s also a grower. I liked it lots…

ST.VINCENT: DADDY’S HOME

Described by John Robb in Louder Than War as a “brilliant, shape-shifting chameleon”, Annie Clark never lets you down. As St. Vincent, she thrilled us with the release of Daddy’s Home in May. Here is Clark taking inspiration from a multitude a sources, including Beck, Prince, Joni Mitchell and, bizarrely on My Baby Wants A…

Nick cave & warren ellis: Carnage

Let’s start with the album, because that’s what this whole Musical Advent feature is all about. It’s typically Cave; dark, brooding, portentous and stark. Following the path laid down by Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen, it is stripped bare, moody, atmospheric. Unsurprisingly, the lyrics are pure poetry, often a throwback to his old notebooks. “By the…

CHRISTINE OTT: TIME TO DIE

There have been many great albums in 2021, but few have the drama and the emotional heft that Time To Die possesses. Upon its release in April, I described it in Louder Than War as “eight astonishing compositions that push the boundaries of modern music”. Time To Die gracefully takes us from the very heart…

NEIL COWLEY: HALL OF MIRRORS

Neil Cowley has had quite the career. It would be the ultimate “journey” in the parlance of an X-Factor evictee. From sought-after session musician to creating his own jazz combo, Neil Cowley Trio. But it seemed that he was unfulfilled. Retreating to the European capital of reinvention, Berlin, Cowley reacquainted himself with his first love,…

THE AVALANCHES: WE WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU

Okay, I hear you all. First album of the annual musical advent and it doesn’t even come from this year. Frankly, my dears – I don’t give a damn. Not with this one. This was one of those releases that seep out from that strange period. The void. The space between lists. Released in mid-December…