BeatCaffeine’s Weekly Record Rundown 09.13.24
This week’s BeatCaffeine Weekly Rundown features some incredible boundary-pushing releases, including the brilliant new album from Nala Sinephro, Paradise Cinema’s much-anticipated sophomore release, an adventurous new recording from the Bristol-based Ishmael Ensemble, and a superb new remix 12″ from two of Gondwana Records’ standout artists in Portico Quartet and Hania Rani.
Nala Sinephro — ‘Endlessness’
(Warp Records)
As a follow-up to 2021’s breakthrough recording Space 1.8, London-based Caribbean-Belgian composer, producer and musician Nala Sinephro has released a masterful new album, titled Endlessness on Warp Records. Featuring some of the best UK musicians, including Shirley Tetteh, James Mollison, Edward Wakili-Hick, Nubya Garcia, Jake Long and others, this epic 10-part suite named “Continuum” goes features a brilliant blend of acoustic instrumentation and electronics to create cosmic meditative tones and cinematic grooves that feel almost at times, like a soundtrack to an adventurous space sci-fi film. This might be the best album of 2024!
Paradise Cinema — ‘returning, dream’
(Gondwana Records)
Led by London-based multi-instrumentalist Jack Wyllie of both Portico Quartet and Szun Waves, Paradise Cinema releases it’s much-anticipated sophomore record, titled returning, dream on Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records. Featuring contributions from Senegalese percussionists Khadim Mbaye and Tons Sambe, and Australian drummer Laurence Pike, this superb 8-track album was recorded in London with additional recordings from Dakar and Sydney. Inspired by the groundbreaking global fusion sounds that artists like Jon Hassell, Terry Riley, Don Cherry and Midori Takada explored, this album melds together avant-garde jazz, contemporary electronics, minimalism, ambient and non-western music and even draws inspiration from physics and science fiction.
Ishmael Ensemble — ‘Rituals’
(Severn Songs)
Bristol’s Ishmael Ensemble returns with their third and most adventurous album to date, titled Rituals. Continuing to explore the melding of acoustic and electronic instrumentation, this 12-track recording pushes their sound to new heights fusing together spiritual jazz, dub, haunting cinematic grooves, and experimental psychedelic textures. The album also features more song-focused structure and vocals than any of their past releases, with a number of tracks primed for the dancefloor.
Portico Quartet / Hania Rani — Remix 12″
(Gondwana Records)
Two of Gondwana Records’ breakthrough artists in Polish pianist and composer Hania Rani, and East-London based widescreen minimalists, Portico Quartet team up on this remarkable limited-edition 12″ single featuring each of them remixing one of each other’s tracks. Side A, has Portico Quartet reworking “Nest” from Hania’s most recent album Home. On the flip, Rani adds beautiful haunting vocals and reverb-drenched piano to Portico’s “With, Beside, Against” from their breakthrough 2019 album Memory Streams. This is one of those singles that will be having you wishing for more from this unique collaboration.
