Dec. 8, 2025
As expected, I got a little overwhelmed by new releases in September and after, so I’m late getting this batch posted. A few of these were released earlier in the year, it just took a while for them to find me. Artists with a strong connection to the PNW are in bold, titles link to the albums, and blurbs in quotes are lifted directly from the artist’s or label’s PR or from credited reviews. Any comments not in quotes are by me.
Chris Cochrane - Unhinged
"I invite you to listen to "unhinged" as a whole. The intention was to have the listener experience it in this way. It was conceived to unfold as chapters, referencing material, introducing and subtracting various elements throughout, and at times possibly folding back in on itself. Listen, and re-visit as you will."
Lucrecia Dalt - A Danger to Ourselves (Colombia)
"...a fearless reflection on the unfiltered complexities of human connection... A Danger to Ourselves unravels like a deeply personal conversation; Dalt’s voice is foregrounded and formidable, supported by a lush array of acoustic orchestration and processing, collaged percussive patterns, and an esteemed cast of collaborators including David Sylvian, who co-produced the album with Dalt, Juana Molina, Alex Lazaro, and Camille Mandoki."
Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle (IA11 LP Edition)
"Angel Bat Dawid’s International Anthem debut The Oracle introduced her multifaceted voice to the world. The response to its modest, initial cassette/digital release in January of 2019 was immediate, and immense... The collection of compositions on The Oracle present a deep blend of powerful and emotive songs alongside heavy and free improvisation. In true DIY fashion, with pure presence and a spirit of creative abandon, Dawid recorded and mixed the album using only her cell phone, entirely."
Robin Holcomb & Peggy Lee - Reno
"A combination of instrumentals and songs, some tightly arranged, others very improvisatory. Holcomb [piano, voice, compositions] and Lee [cello] have played together for over 20 years and now present their first recording as a duo."
Rani Jambak - Vibra Genetika (Indonesia)
"Rani Jambak, a distinguished composer, producer, field recordist, instrument designer, and vocalist of Minangkabau descent from Medan, actively engages in the exploration of electronic music and soundscapes derived from diverse locations across Indonesia. Her body of work frequently addresses themes related to nature, socio-cultural dynamics, and the interrelationship between humans and their ancestral heritage."
Larum - Treatise, by Cornelius Cardew
Unusual instrumentation for this classic graphic score: Micah Frank, Modular Synthesizer; Chet Doxas, Woodwinds and Foley; Taylor Deupree, Looping and Processing. Three pages from the score, each performed twice. "In researching Cardew’s notes and his Treatise Handbook, it became clear that he didn’t intend the piece to be an open-ended free-for-all. Rather, he encouraged performers to develop a personal yet logical approach. So we devised a method: each piece begins at the score’s consistent center line, which we treated as a timeline. From this anchor, we identified waypoints where the geometry converged and used those moments for the performers to meet on a predetermined harmony. We then interpreted the surrounding geometric forms as cues for dynamics, density, and instrumental voicing—allowing the score’s abstract visuals to shape the arc and texture of each performance."
Stuart McLeod - Triptych
"3 pieces. The first of which, trembling | arrival | descent is itself a triptych. On A Salient Day is arranged around field recordings from Hawaii May 2003. Holism was created with the restriction to only use one note."
Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer - One Voices (Norway)
"...a unique sound universe created solely by Ruth Wilhelmine's unprocessed voice in real time, without loops. Ruth Wilhelmine has crafted an entirely analog and acoustic vocal universe with ultra-precise vocal articulations, seductive melodic lines, breath textures, and acoustic structures in an intuitive flow. The music has a crystal-clear artistic vision, and at times it doesn't sound like voices, but more like a vocal orchestral work."
Amanda Mur - Neu Om (Spain)
"...the Cantabria-born musician stretches between worlds, blurring the lines between contemporary classical, folk musics, and electronic styles, drawing from time spent on dancefloors and in conservatories. Her debut record...lives at the center of that Venn diagram; it tangles up histories and stuffs her keyboards with ghosts, imagining folk and classical music as haunted and disoriented, and presenting new-school techno as a decidedly baggy-eyed endeavor" (Michael McKinney, Tone Glow)
Kassa Overall - Cream
“GRAMMY-nominated jazz visionary and Doris Duke Artist Award winner Kassa Overall presents eight interpretations of hip-hop classics by The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, Digable Planets, and Juvenile.”
Raica - The Absence of Being
"From the softly undulating opening chords and gradually building synth-scapes, you’re immediately enveloped in a beautiful warmth - vivid and vast, patient and all-encompassing...each track a kaleidoscopic microcosm - perfect in themselves and together more than the sum of their parts. Minimal and expertly produced - this is ambience of the highest order."
Patrick Shiroishi & Piotr Kurek - Greyhound Days (Poland/USA)
"Featuring pieces for tenor saxophone and digital keyboard, and accented by traces of additional instruments, these songs sound a fated exchange mutually effortless and expansive. The collaborations collected here speak to an open spirit of trust and discovery as the duo’s light-footed sonics interact with a deft grace."