Natural Music #1: Feb 2024
A long overdue newsletter from Aleksander
There doesn’t feel like much of a need introducing myself to the small audience who will receive this but to keep it brief.
I’m Aleksander and I’ve been obsessed with music for the past 10 years or so. I started Natural Music to share that love and help others keep up with the torrent of new music by elevating the most interesting and under appreciated music I can find.
I’m not sure what the future holds for this newsletter or Natural Music but Instagram no longer works to reach large audiences and I don’t want to make TikToks (yet) and newsletters are all the rage so here I am.
Substack is where the strongest vestige of music journalism lives on and if I can contribute by sharing cool music with a few new people then I’ll be happy. I’m inspired by a number of writers but that will have to wait til the second newsletter because I need to get this out today before Bandcamp Friday tomorrow.
I started two running playlists that I’ll be updating throughout the year on Spotify and as always a monthly Buy Music Club list featuring a longer list than what’s seen here.
2024 Indie Standouts Playlist (Spotify)
2024 Electronic / Club Standouts Playlist (Spotify)
Natural Music Standouts - February 2024 (Buy Music Club)
Albums
Tapir! - The Pilgrim, Their God and The King of My Decrepit Mountain
Living somewhere between Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Black Country New Road, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Tapir craft a beautiful and lush fusion of electronic, rock, pop, chamber, and folk instrumentation on this impressive debut. The album follows a three-act structure – telling the story of a solitary traveler, an ambiguous red creature known as The Pilgrim, on a journey across a mythical landscape of eerie forests, stormy seas and unholy mountains populated by beasts.
Brittany Howard - What Now
What Now is a thrilling mix of jazz, R&B, soul, house, and metal from former Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard. It's a sprawling, sometimes chaotic, exploration of sounds and histories, not always hitting its mark but undeniably driven by a defiant and exuberant spirit.
Erika de Casier - Still
An idiosyncratic mix of luxuriant electronica and moonlit R&B drilled further into the one-of-a-kind sound of Erika De Casier. Her songwriting is as masterful and universal as ever, and her proficiency as a producer heightened as she produces other voices (They Hate Change, Shygirl, Blood Orange) for the first time.
Erika de Casier is playing at Warsaw (NYC) on March 30th. For a curated list of NYC shows over the next 6 weeks, skip to the last section on this newsletter.
Other Noteworthy Albums
Friko - Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here
Compilations
VA - no pare, sigue sigue 2 [TraTraTrax]
TraTraTrax’s latest compilation presents 18 explosive cuts, club-ready bangers at different tempos and rhythmic structures but with one thing in common: hi-tech sound design.
V/A - Bay Area Renegade Trax [NO BIAS]
24 tracks from the bay area’s finest for just $7. Usually riding 140 - 160bpm and banger after banger with highlights from Bored Lord, Farsight, and Swap Meet all mastered by the brilliant Bastiengoat.
V/A - Fast Fists Fest [ANSIA007]
'Fast Fists Fest' bridges footwork and left-field UK sounds, presenting a thorough selection of mind-bending club weapons spanning the 150-160 bpm while staying true to label's signature, unconventional approach to techno.
EPs
Pura Pura & Gipsyan - Nocto Vea [Nehza]
Dipping into trance, breaks, acid, dubstep, bass, and jungle, Pura Pura and Gipsyan co-produce four slinky, dancefloor-driven tracks that explore themes of nature and the pair’s musical roots. RONI’s Nehza label is quickly becoming one to watch for innovative club music that blends and fuses genres with a common thread of sub bass.
LT - Verb—0 [Tech Startup]
Sparkling, floaty, beautiful, dubby ambience that I could see working functionally in so many settings as a DJ. ‘Verb — Z’ cradles you like a forgiving goddess of bass, luring you into a floaty trance before turning off the lights about 2/3rds of the way through for a more muted and broken outro well suited to the EP.
Mercy System - Dials EP [Different Intel]
Four massive tracks blurring the lines between techno, broken beat, and dubstep with a distinctive intricate and textured style. Released on the day of dweller dubstep night at nowadays and any one of these tracks would have rocked the floor that night.
FLVXXX Feat. A-Tweed - Murdah / Chant [Local Knowledge]
A double drop of hi-detail, lo-hertzing corkers. ‘Murdah’ twists half-time drum-and-bass into a weaponised wall shaking mutation. B-side, ‘Chant’, is a tripped out 98bpm Dembow beat with expansive FX, rocked by heavy low-end and XL ballistics.
Sets / Mixes
We have an ongoing lists of our favorite mixes and sets from the year here but these are a few that particularly caught our attention this month.
New Year's Nonstop - Jan 1 2024 by DJ Voices
THE MORE THAT PEOPLE DONT TALK ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN GAZA, THE MORE DANGEROUS IT BECOMES FOR THOSE THAT ARE SPEAKING OUT.
THIS IS HOW THEY ARE
SYSTEMATICALLY INTIMIDATED AND SILENCED.
A good DJ set should tell a story and many have tried but few in recent memory tell such a vivid and legible journey. It was halfway through the month hearing this mix that finally kicked my ass into gear to start on this newsletter finally.
DJ Voices kicks off the set with the first of many computer generated voice loops reading various pro-Palestine statements (see above and the linked IG post) which she blends simply into a track by Muslimgauze and then a steppy, uplifting track which welcomes us into DJ Voices’ sonic world for what you can already feel will be something special. When she brings Six Billion Humans Can't Be Wrong in around minute 20 she subtly alludes to the themes of resistance weaved throughout the mix.
dBridge B2B Ehua at Draaimolen Festival 2023
Titans in their own right, this pairing exceeds expectations with a live recording from Draimollen, a festival in the Netherlands known for interesting b2bs among immaculate lineups (e.g. Blawan b2b Skrillex & Darwin b2b Mala). The pair deliver a particularly lethal second hour as they take a turn towards darkness and really lock in.
Excellent selections from the artist behind my favorite album of the month. About 10 minutes into the mix, an unreleased ML Buch tune is blended into a dubby edit of the best track on the album, “Lucky”, and the vibes don’t let up for the hour of beautiful r&b, ambient, and techno.
Unsound Podcast 100: phil in a maze
Phil In a Maze’s set at the Unsound Closing Party harnesses the power of tech-inflected dnb and the impressionistic sophistication of dub. It's a game of tempo division and multiplication, featuring stuttering drum patterns and sludgy dancehall.
Distant Signals: Como Se DJ
A transmission not far from the mix above from a theoretical Martian future with a short story written by Paul in the description to set the scene.
James K - Trip Lick - NTS February 2024
Singles
Ethel Cain - من النهر
No words needed for this one, a breathtaking track from Mother Cain
Links
DJs Against Apartheid Statement
Recording of DJS Against Apartheid NYC Panel 2/27
+ Upcoming Events for Palestine + [
Gig / Rave Reports
This is a new content format coming to the site to highlight standout live moments. The series will begin with a poetic writeup of a breathtaking performance by Godspeed You! Black Emperor this past weekend.
If you’ve ever wanted to write about parties or concerts online, I’d love to talk.
NYC Concerts in the Next Six Weeks
Tues, Mar 05 Domo Genesis, Fly Anakin, Remy Banks @Baby’s All Right
Fri, Mar 8 Dawn Richard and Spencer Zahn perform Pigments @ LPR
Wed, March 13 Sleater‐Kinney / Black Belt Eagle Scout @ Brooklyn Steel
Thur, Mar 14 Kate NV @ Lincoln Center (FREE)
Fri Mar 15 Bar Italia @ Warsaw (SOLD OUT)
Fri, March 15 Tierra Whack @ Webster Hall
Sat, March 16 Cherry Glazerr / Ex Pilots @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Tues, Mar 19-20 Amaarae @ Warsaw
Wed, Mar 20 Laetiti Sadier (Stereolab) @ National Sawdust
Wed, Mar 20 KOKOROKO @ LPR
Fri, Mar 22nd Otoboke Beaver @ Knockdown Center
Fri, Mar 22nd Orbital @ Webster Hall (Early & Late)
Tue, Mar 26 Dry Cleaning & They Hate Change @ Bowery Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
Fri, Mar 29 Jeff Rosenstock @ White Eagle Music Hall
Fri, Mar 29 Skullcrusher @ Union Pool
Mar 29 -30 Roger Eno with Acme @ National Sawdust
Sat, Mar 30 Erika De Casier @ Warsaw
Mon Apr 1 Molly Lewis @ Bowery Ballroom
Mon Apr 1 Caleb Landry Jones @ The Sultan Room
Fri, Apr 05 Caroline Rose with Metropolis Ensemble & La Force @ BK Steel
Fri, Apr 05 Destroyer (solo) / Lightning Dust @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sat, Apr 6 glass beach @ Gramercy Theatre
Tues, Apr 9 L’Imperatrice @ Racket
Fri, Apr 12 BODEGA @ Baby’s All Right
Sun, Apr 14 - A Beacon School @ TV Eye
Thur, Apr 18 Dear Nora & Pleasure Systems @ Baby’s all right
Wed, Apr 24 Black Country, New Road @ Brooklyn Paramount
Fri, Apr 26 Oneohtrix Point Never @ Paramount Theatre Brooklyn
If you enjoyed this newsletter or this concert list I’d really appreciate if you shared it with a friend or two. It’s a lot of work, and I enjoy it, but the point is helping other people discover new music or make it to a live show they may have missed otherwise.