Trevino
Klockworks 09

The unstoppable Bokeh Versions welcome the new year with some forward looking digi-dub gold. This one comes from Nottingham based sound sculptor TNT, who has never put out a vinyl record until now. An artist who has been pursuing a solo career since his Earthquake collective went south in 2002, he has stayed relatively low key while putting out various dub plates. The best of them from 2006 to 2018 are now collected here with production by Aba Shanti making each one pop. This album tells the story of a fine chapter in UK dub history, so don't miss out.

The duo behind the double album “Duets”, consisting of musicians Bendik Baksaas & Kristoffer Eikrem, is a minimalistic and cinematic ambient experience with emotion, creatively conducted by simple melodies and sounds. Duets’ emotional nerve has some emphasis on the traditional ambient form of music, but at the same time has more of an imaginary and comprehensive take on structure, form and melodies with organic elements spontaneously scattered throughout the music. These organic elements can be heard through the trumpet’s lyrical sounds, field recordings from various parts of the world (recorded by Baksaas) and percussion loops. Baksaas & Eikrem are interested in maintaining the same playfulness and communication often found in jazz bands.Baksaas & Eikrem had already worked together several years prior in 2015, when Baksaas worked with the jazz band Mopti, which Eikrem was already a member of. Their musical collaboration however developed after one concert, where the band Mopti decided that the two of them should perform a duo piece. Both were positively surprised by the result (takes from the concert can be heard on the track “This is nothing personal”) and decided to continue their collaboration together aside from Mopti.Apart from some musical and field recordings, the the album was recorded in Baksaas’ studio, improvised over various ideas. Bendik Baksaas has mixed the album and it is mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio.

We live in divisive times. Multiculturalism rises hand-in-hand with racial tensions, and politicians seem powerless to even bring people within earshot of their convoluted message. It’s time for a different perspective.On his second studio album, More Arriving, Sarathy Korwar blasts out his own vibrant, pluralistic missive for the world to hear. This is not necessarily a record of unity; it’s an honest reflection of Korwar’s experience of being an Indian in a divided Britain. Recorded over two and a half years in India and the UK, More Arriving draws on the nascent rap scenes of Mumbai and New Delhi, incorporating spoken word and Korwar’s own Indian classical and jazz instrumentation. This is a record born of confrontation; one for our confrontational times.With this album, Korwar expands his politicised narrative to envelop the entire diaspora. “This is a modern brown record. The kind of record that a contemporary Indian living in the UK for the past 10 years would make,”Korwar says. “This is what Indian music sounds like to me right now.” It all begins with the title: “More Arriving comes from the scaremongering around Brexit,” Korwar says. “It’s a tongue-in-cheek play on the fact that there are more people coming and you’ll have to deal with it!” Through this defiance, Korwar takes clear pride in the knotty mix of his identity – harking back to the new India of the Mumbai hip-hop kids, as well as identifying with London’s cultural diversity. “I want the idea of brown pride to come through,” he says. “My voice is one amongst a thousand, but this record is a snapshot of something much greater than myself. It’s the chance to send a message.

Gem after gem. Play it Loud.