On
Altin Gün
Altin Gün are an international Turkish psychedelic rock band from Amsterdam mixing Turkish folk, psychedelia, funk and rock with riffs that take us back to the beginnings of acid rock, albeit with a levantine twist. By founding this joyfully crazy group, residing between the Netherlands and the former Constantinople, bassist Jasper Verhulst succeeded in brightening up the hallucinogenic pop he so loves. The result: assertive pop, traditional scents, groovy folk and psychedelic rock. Altin Gün is a clever assemblage, a joyfully organised mix, shaped by Dutch and Turkish musicians, an enjoyable and improbable union that offers a beautiful opening to the world in our time, fresh, intense and plural. Altin Gün’s universe is unfolding on the Geneva label Bongo Joe. (sgs)
Bongo Joe, January 2019
When I Get Home
Solange
«Solange’s fourth album is unhurried, ambient, and exploratory. From spiritual jazz to Gucci Mane, Solange conjures her hometown with exceptional song-craft and production.» (Pitchfork) For a period of her career, the singer was simply «Beyoncé’s sister», trying to find her place in the world of music. «She has embarked on her own mission, bringing her very own pop sensibilities to a wide range of music she thought was cool and interesting. With 2016’s acclaimed A Seat at the Table she reached her pinnacle, pairing a hip, neo-soul style with thoughtful discourse on race, gender and social anxiety. Three years later, Solange releases When I Get Home, with nineteen tracks that expand the boundaries of her own sound and artistry.»
(Spin)Columbia Records, March 2019
Deserted
The Mekons
«California’s High Desert is heavy with rock history. It’s where country-rock icon Gram Parsons had his corpse cremated by friends; where an Irish band found a name and cover image for a great LP; where Jim Morrison dropped acid and made a movie. Now The Mekons — those zany, erudite and beloved British punk-country-reggae-rock survivors — join the processional with Deserted. Recorded near Joshua Tree, the LP loses itself in the desert and finds timely survival metaphors everywhere. And it burrows deep into desert mythology without invoking any of the hoary narratives above (they’ve already done a Bono tribute, after all)… It’s the blooming desert and its inhabitants as testimony to resilience, invoked by a crew of joy-marauders who’ve embodied resilience for four-plus decades.» (Rolling Stone)
Bloodshot Records, April 2019
Celia: La vida es un carnaval
Angélique Kidjo
With her powerful and warm voice, the African queen of song has reinvented Cuban music, honouring another queen supreme: Celia Cruz. «Cruz, who died in 2003, became a massive star in the US after refusing to return to Cuba when Fidel Castro took power. But Kidjo’s album is a reminder of Cruz’s African roots, born in a poor black neighbourhood of Havana: the salsa hits are reworked with Afrobeat hero Tony Allen on drums, joined by the west African Gangbé Brass Band, Britain’s Sons of Kemet and American Meshell Ndegeocello on bass. Kidjo’s singing is powerful and assured throughout, from the upbeat revamp of Bemba Colorá to the brooding, chanting echoes of Santería, the Afro-Cuban religion, on Elegua and Yemaya, a tribute to the orisha (spirit) of motherhood and ruler of the seas, now set to an African juju beat. Magnificent.» (Robin Denselow)
Verve, April 2019
The 20 greatest weed songs of all times according to Rolling Stone