Mirage - Sometimes - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

'Mirage' is the anticipated fourth album from London-based Japanese producer Anchorsong aka Masaaki Yoshida. The highly-fêted MPC wizard presents a record that evokes hazy soundscapes constructed with wind instrumentals, choirs, and global sonic particles. Building on Anchorsong's long-standing tradition of Inchborderless musicInch, 'Mirage' fuses intricate rhythms with minimal yet immersive rich interplays of sound to create an auditory odyssey. 'Mirage' marks a departure from Anchorsong's previous two albums - 'Ceremonial' and 'Cohesion' - specific geographical references. Instead, the album which was half-written during lockdown and when nobody could travel, shows Masaaki internalise his global influences and worldview to conjure a Inchvague landscape that only exists in my mindInch. InchI let my imagination run wild and thought of places I've never been to. The tracks that came out of this process diversified the tones and colour of the record further. I hope it takes a listener on the journey I experienced.Inch1. Flourish2. Common Ground3. Horseback4. The Ocean feat. Bookend5. Saudade6. Remedy7. Hundred Lotus8. Tunis Dream9. Windmills10. New World

Following 2016's On the Legs of Love Purified and the recent InchDivine IllusionInch single, The Mirage pushes the band's ethereal sound into the murky depths of dub. Marking a sonic shift for the project, we find the duo trading in chaotic bursts of noise for understated minimalism that's still characteristically melancholic and potent with emotion. Labrador's drum production is as deft as ever with an expanded range of electronic samples and tape delay induced polyrhythms. Layered with Madden's persistently dubby bass, Labrador's sparse guitar and gliding soprano float above a labyrinth of hypnotic sequences. These dublaced dirges signify growth within the band, heard in their command of repetition, space, and effects to build a pervasive mood that's often utterly heartbreaking. The Mirage was conceived following major upheaval in the pair's lives, including the loss of Madden's brother and a number of friends in Oakland's Ghost Ship warehouse fire in 2016. Compounded with the dissolution of a marriage, and leaving San Francisco to relocate to Los Angeles, the album is an exploration of grief and the multifaceted heartbreak that follows such events. 'The Mirage' tells candid narratives of a heavy heart but does not wallow in despair.

For his second recording as a leader, bassist Will Goble is joined by drummer Dave Potter, his long-time rhythm section mate in Jason Marsalis' Quartet, master saxophonist Greg Tardy and the Atlanta-based pianist Louis Heriveaux. Through arrangements of compositions by Mary Lou Williams and George Gershwin, and originals inspired by the 2015 Nepali earthquakes, racial injustice, and other emotion-charged events, Goble presents the blues as an aesthetic through which all people can make their stories known. From the opening InchAnother Man Gone Down,Inch a traditional chain gang song with guest vocalist Tabreeca Woodside, to Goble's uptempo InchThe Ants Went Marching One By One But They Didn't Come Back,Inch the blues are captured with a variety of outlooks, but always through the infinitely variable lens of swing. InchMr. Goble delivers a gem... original and fresh... - JazzTimes