International Anthem: S/D

This Chicago-based jazz label has been dropping masterpieces at an alarming clip. I went with S/D since most label threads do, but I haven't heard anything that hasn't been worth at least a listen yet. And really only the Damon Locks album hasn't wowed me--and hell, I only listened to that once I should revisit.

Search:
Makaya McCraven (all three I've heard are fantastic, but if you're not sure where to start Universal Being is amazing & beloved on ilm)
Jaimie Branch (I've only heard Fly or Die II, which is great, but I noticed Fly or Die I was one of unperson's best of the 2010s)
Resavoir, s/t (a personal fave)
Junius Paul, Ism (big double album that covers a lot of ground; reminiscent of Universal Being at times but with much more stretching out and less beat-driven)
Angel Bat Dawid

Curious about:
Jeff Parker's stuff. I used to love Parker/Tortoise/Isotope/CUD and love hearing his highly recognizable guitar on UB, but he's been off my radar for at least a decade.
Ben LaMar Gay.
Irreversible Entanglements (also on unperson's list)
basically everything else they've put out

oh yeah: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/

I shouldn't start threads when I'm exhausted; it's Universal Beings (plural)

great label — i loved the Damon Locks album from last year.

ah ok that settles it, I'm going to give that another try right now

Pretty sure everything they put out is good. Angel Bat Dawid is my hero, she is so awesome

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/angel-bat-dawid-oracle-international-anthem-brothahood-jazz/Content?oid=67155097

ooh will read that later, thanks

um yeah this Damon Locks album rules, and I love Phil Cohran, which this is very much in the vein of, so I don't know what happened last time?

They really do have a pretty amazing catalog. Don't overlook stuff like Hear In Now's Not Living In Fear (a violin-cello-bass trio featuring Mazz Swift, Tomeka Reid and Silvia Bolognesi) and the Nick Mazzarella Trio's Ultraviolet (NM on alto sax, Anton Hatwich on bass, Frank Rosaly on drums).

The new Jeff Parker album is really great. More on this (maybe) when I'm not so tired

Parker's gearing up for a hell of a year. In addition to the new solo disc (which is excellent), he's on a disc with saxophonist Chris Speed and drummer Matt Mayhall (under Mayhall's name) and there's a Chicago Underground Quartet album, their first in 19 years, coming in March.

Haven't heard the new one yet, but I love The New Breed.

I too love The New Breed, and that CUQ album, can't wait for the new stuff.

Yes! This label is taking all of my money. All the Makaya McCraven records are fantastic. I especially like Highly Rare and Where We Come From. The Jaimie Branch record is great too.

Haven't heard the new one yet, but I love The New Breed.

― jaymc, Thursday, January 23, 2020 8:47 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I like almost everything he's done (solo or otherwise) and I think Max Brown is maybe his best work

His Eremite LP--while very different--was also excellent and kinda slept on imo

speaking of which, this
is an excellent review that for me encapsulates this record's greatness (and the kind of thoughtful piece that provides a nice antidote to the stuff in the 'worst music writing' thread)

I haven't had a proper headphone listen yet, but I could swear I heard some beatboxing on one of these tracks. One other observation: "Go Away" has the dopest bassline of the year

The New Breed is my favorite Jeff Parker work and my favorite IA record, can't wait to get into the new one.

All the Makaya records are worth a listen of course, but Universal Beings is the one I go back to.

Not so into jaime branch personally, great bands and the records are cool, but I can't get past the trumpet playing.

Loved Junius Paul when I've seen him live, but haven't been able to give his record (or the Angel Bat Dawid one) a real listen yet.

Confirmed, new Jeff Parker is where it's at.

Not so into jaime branch personally, great bands and the records are cool, but I can't get past the trumpet playing.

Is it the tone, technique, or melodic lines / choices? Or something else? Genuinely curious as I find I like a very specific trumpet sound (a more breathy, less 'sharp' sound is the best way I can describe it--Tomasz Stanko, Miles obvs) and certain players really get on my nerves in a way that reeds players rarely do

Definitely the former, she just doesn't sound like a great trumpet player to me. I know I'm being a snob, but I'm spoiled by great technical trumpet players in the New Orleans mode (which is really a trumpet city), and for me that instrument is about having a big sound (even if you're not necessarily playing loud or high). For some instruments technique doesn't matter so much and you can express your ideas without having a lot of it, but idk, trumpet is pretty unforgiving, there's so much that goes into just having a decent sound on it before you even get to anything else.

I've heard her in a variety of contexts (she recorded a bunch as a sideman before coming out as a leader) and she's an extremely skilled player who can make the horn do whatever she wants. She sounds the way she does on her own albums by choice. Just listen to the way she shifts from slurry blues to brassy mariachi horn on "Prayer for Amerikkka."

Great track, and everything works in context, but I still find the trumpet playing in the last couple minutes a little cringe-y, sorry! She definitely has her own thing though.

Maybe slightly off topic (since the album isn't actually on IA), but what does everyone think of the Moses Boyd full length? I'm one of the only people (judging by ILX, anyway) who didn't love "Rye Lane Shuffle," but I absolutely adore "Drum Dance" and was wondering how much of the album sounds like the latter as opposed to the former.

love the new jeff parker great stuff

I am pretty into all the Ben LaMar Gay stuff, though admittedly it is all kind of all over the place so yr mileage may vary
Jeff Parker's stuff for the label is just fucking fantastic

Paul, I listened to that once and don't really remember what I thought (but loved both Rye Lane and Drum Dance, so not a great sign). You might get more of a response on the general rolling jazz thread, or there could be some past discussion on the Shabaka Hutchings one as it sort of evolved into a broader London jazz thread

my to-listen pile for IA is intimidating right now

bookmarked, thanks all

If you haven't checked out Angel Bat Dawid at all, this song is a great place to start. It's what I remember from the first time I saw her play. Her rise has truly been meteoric and she is a gracious wonderful person afaict

https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/track/we-are-starzz

thanks, will listen tonight

great album and that profile you posted, LL, made me <3 her

does anyone know anything about angel bat dawid's black hebrew israelite background/ which community or temple she belongs to? just curious.

i feel like i read an article/interview where they talked about it a little but i don't remember which one or where
that's not very helpful sorry

Mordy, all the articles I have seen about Angel Bat Dawid mention her parents being Black Hebrew Israelites, but never say much about her faith . They do say she practices her music a lot and travels a lot. Plus her name is a reference to being a daughter of David ( Old Testament) but that’s about all I have noticed

This has become one of my favorite labels in the last few months. I just picked up the new Jeff Parker, but I'm still working my way through all of the stuff from the past few years I picked up - Angel Bat Dawid, Jaimie Branch and Damon Locks. Was already into the Makaya McCraven album from last year.

Resavoir, s/t (a personal fave)

Damn, thanks for this recommendation. This is really great in a way I wasn't expecting (strings! Fourth World vibes!)

Yes! I've struggled to articulate what is so good about that album, but while I'm not sure I'd argue it's the best IA release, it is my most played

It just does so many things, and in a way that seems natural and doesn't draw attention to the fact that its "eclectic" or whatever. It's just really good music!

Yall know Moor Mother is Present on Art Ensemble of Chicago o We Are On The Edge, right? Got this press release yesterday---heavy hype, but for who better:

Irreversible Entanglements Announce New Album, Who Sent You?,
Out March 20th on International Anthem/Don Giovanni

Watch the Video for Lead Single, “No Más”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLm3HEQgW50&feature=youtu.be

Free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements announce their new album, Who Sent You?, out March 20th on International Anthem/Don Giovanni, and today present its lead single/video, “No Más.” The group is comprised of Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), saxophonist Keir Neuringer, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Tcheser Holmes. Who Sent You? is the punk-rocking of jazz and the mystification of the avant-garde. This record weaves kinetic soul fusion, dreamy yet harrowing poetry, and intricate rhythms into warmth-giving tapestries that comfort and conceal, confront and coerce all at once.

“No Más” was composed by the Panamanian-born Navarro in a harmonic echo of a Strata East free jazz classic over a movement-inducing Latin rhythm. Over its peak moments, poet/MC Ayewa professes: "No mas. No more... No longer will we allow them to divide and conquer, divide and oppress, define our humanity..." Its stunning accompanying video was shot in Johannesburg, South Africa by filmmaker and photographer Imani Nikyah Dennison. The video explores the concept of Africans escaping planet earth, on a path to liberation. A story of migration told through collage, stock footage, and movement, all being driven by the sounds of free jazz and poetry.
Originally performing as two different ensembles at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event in 2015 (in response to the NYPD slaying of Akai Gurley), the future members of Irreversible Entanglements recognized a shared ethos, and shortly after, assembled as a single unit for an impromptu studio date at Seizure’s Palace in Brooklyn. That session yielded their debut album, 2017’s Irreversible Entanglements. Critical and communal acclaim for the album (including “Best of 2017” nods from NPR Music, WIRE Magazine, Bandcamp, and others) fueled a high demand for the band in the live setting, and the group have since spent much of 2018 and 2019 on the road. They have collaborated in performance with many legends of creative music including Amina Claudine Myers, Pat Thomas, and Nicole Mitchell; and their highest profile shows have included Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Le Guess Who Festival In Utrecht NL, Barbican in London, and the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

Where the band’s self-titled debut was all explosive noisy anthems and glorious cosmic bluster, Who Sent You? is a focused and patient ritual. Irreversible Entanglements take their time in between these grooves, stalking the war-torn streets of the Deep South and post-Columbian apocalypses—taking their time to dream up an amalgamation that sounds truly euphoric. More than the sum of its parts—war-like basslines, haunting saxophone, cyberpunk brass, the unwieldy storm of drums, and the oracular phyletic incantations of Ayewa—Who Sent You? is an entire holistic jam of “infinite possibilities coming back around,” a sprawling meditation, a reminder of the forms and traumas of the past, and the shape and vision of Afrotopian sounds to come.
Who Sent You? Tracklist:
1.The Code Noir / Amina
2. Who Sent You - Ritual
3. No Más
4. Blues Ideology
5. Bread Out Of Stone

Irreversible Entanglements Tour Dates:
Tuesday, March 31 - Chicago, IL @ Co-Prosperity Sphere
Wednesday, April 1 - Iowa City, IA @ Mission Creek Festival
Saturday, May 23 - Atlanta, GA @ Atlanta Jazz Festival
Praise for Recent Non-Album Track "Homeless/Global"https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/homeless-global

“Just 30 seconds into this 23-minute improv, upright bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Tcheser Holmes hit the runaway-train pocket hard and fast. Folks, the track doesn't let up from there...a dense, moving preview of the group's upcoming album.” - NPR Music

“Against a simmering backdrop, Ayewa holds forth rivetingly on border violence and
forgotten black history.” - Pitchfork

“seriously compelling” - Stereogum

“23 searing minutes that consist of breathtaking, brutal saxophone leads, mournful trumpet drones, and a nervy rhythm. Over the fray, Ayewa ruminates, states and repeats indelible phrases and images” - WXPN’s The Key

“When at full flight, the group is a volcano of emotional sound — a radical, unapologetic Blackness of so-called avant-garde emanating from its every note and syllable, chronicling the pain, rapture and circumstance of our shared moment.” - Afropunk

Dunno what's happening with that video link; it opened instantly in gmail. Another ILM thing--anyway, it's on youtube.

Here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLm3HEQgW50

And here's an hour-long performance from 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diLI9m5PFXs

This new Jeff Parker record is a holy mess but I keep coming back to it.

I was going to ask what the consensus was on the new album. Just ordered the CD.
By holy mess, do you mean it's unfocused? I really hope it's as good as The New Breed.

Not unfocused as such, skittish, certainly, and fragmented. I've not made sense of it a whole yet, but it is coming together.

Could be a slow burner then. They're generally the best.

So far I don't like it as much as The New Breed, but I think it will be a slow burner. "3 for L" is fantastic.

Digging the Makaya McCraven / Gil Scott Heron thing at the moment.

It's really good! I actually really like that Alabaster Deplume album too.

otm! big up calzino for mentioning the DePlume on the rolling jazz thread: it is achingly beautiful

Agreed!

i could use some achingly beautiful today; queuing up now.

Oh, the dePlume is really nice!

yeah it is! not sure it lives up to the promo copy I mentioned upthread, but it's probably better for that as it sounds totally contemporary

and new Butterss solo coming out in November: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/mighty-vertebrate

Press release now saying Oct release for album---new video here

http://international-anthem.lnk.to/MightyVertebrate

ANNA BUTTERSS LIVE
September 28 - Marz Brewing - Chicago, IL
October 4 - 2220 Arts + Archives - Los Angeles, CA

ALBUM CREDITS
Produced by Ben Lumsdaine and Anna Butterss.
Recorded by Chris Schlarb at BIG EGO Studios and Ben Lumsdaine at Laundry Works II Recording Services.
Mixed by Ben Lumsdaine.
Sequenced by Scott McNiece.
Mastered by David Allen.

Artwork by John Herndon.
Layout by Jeremiah Chiu.
Photographs by Robbie Jeffers.

Josh Johnson - alto saxophone, effects
Gregory Uhlmann - guitar, effects
Ben Lumsdaine - drums, percussion, guitar, lap steel, drum programming
Anna Butterss - upright bass, electric bass, guitar, synths, flute, drum machine
Jeff Parker - guitar (on “Dance Steve”)

All compositions by Anna Butterss

That link leads to audio options and to the video, which is on youtube.

that SML album is awesome

― alpine static, Tuesday, July 9, 2024 4:57 PM (four months ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is great, never really clicked with this label, based on descriptions of stuff in the catalogue, i guess the SML album is closer to what i would've expected/hoped but never got

it definitely is for me.

i kinda think Jeremiah Chiu is the secret ingredient that i need in there. not just him, but i like everything he does.

label is extremely hit and miss for me, but the good stuff is very good

They were much stronger in their first couple of years. They've diversified their "sound" and allowed in way too much watery indie psych disguised as post-New Age spiritual jazz, but they still manage to pull it together about half the time.

watery indie psych disguised as post-New Age spiritual jazz

yep, this is my primary complaint. I have a hard time taking some of these guys seriously (Alabaster and Carlos in particular)

The ETA IV is quite good.

I'm not keeping up with this label like I once was, but running down their catalogue I'm not seeing such a huge change. You could say they've gone from "jazz label that releases other stuff" to "other stuff label that releases jazz" but it's a fairly subtle shift imo

Paul, you praised Carlos upthread -- did you change your mind or am I misreading that post? Not trying to gotcha you or anything, I'm curious because I liked the first couple of his but lost interest. I like 2/3 De Plume albums but would rather not talk about him on ILM ever again (will make one point I've made before: he makes more sense viewed as post-punk than jazz)

I find Carlos Niño to be a fascinating dude (I had him on my podcast this summer and it was a really good conversation) but I don't listen to his records very often.

my primary complaint is the prodigous release schedule.

Paul, you praised Carlos upthread -- did you change your mind or am I misreading that post? Not trying to gotcha you or anything, I'm curious because I liked the first couple of his but lost interest. I like 2/3 De Plume albums but would rather not talk about him on ILM ever again (will make one point I've made before: he makes more sense viewed as post-punk than jazz)

― rob, Thursday, November 28, 2024 4:40 PM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

I was definitely crazy about Chicago Waves, which in retrospect was relatively light on some of the more conspicuous new age love guru aspects I find objectionable. I bought a few Carlos records after that one, and to say it was diminishing returns would be an understatement.

I also think that, in my mind, I sorta bundled Chicago Waves with Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes’ Heritage Of The Invisible II, a truly great record that, if I'm remembering correctly, came out around the same time. Those two, along with To Cy & Lee – which I also loved – had me thinking I’d found a new favorite label. I still think IA does great work, and almost always check out new releases, but the spiritual-jazz-as-hippie-ambient stuff is a big buzzkill for me, and Carlos and DePlume are the biggest offenders.

New Anna Buttress album does not disappoint.

SML is very nice but washes over me even more than other similar records, I don't remember anything after it's over. It seems like I should love it, but Lados B and the new Jeff Parker have more to grab on to.

thanks for the response, Paul. I had a similar trajectory w/ Carlos Niño

The new Butterss is a notch below Activities for me, but still very good.

I've also found the SML to be fun while it's playing but not super memorable, though I can't quite decide if I think that says anything about its quality or not.

I haven't gotten to the new Parker yet -- stirmonster otm!

Jordan, I'm with you on the SML take. I think they are just editing together live recordings run through a modular synth and other processing. So on the one hand it's the Miles/Teo thing which is my favorite thing ever, but on the other hand they're just editing together live takes run through a modular synth. There is not a lot of structure to the songs.

i don't put it on to remember every little bit. i put it on to vibe / work / write.

i wouldn't argue that disappearing from the brain after it's done is a positive, but it does what i need it to, and i enjoy how it *sounds* when it's on.

Ah yeah that’s a good way of phrasing it

Don't get me wrong I listen to tons of vibey ambient jazz these days - I can't remember much about the new Jakob Bro record after I listen to it, but I keep feeling compelled to go back to it. I'm just not getting that feeling from SML after a couple listens.

damon locks’ new album is very bracing and powerful

saw daniel villareal + band a few weeks back, was awesome — think he's hitting the east coast in a week or so. highly recommend.

Thanks for heads up , but it looks like NY and Philly gigs only.

https://danielvillarrealmusic.com/shows

Thanks, seeing one of the Philly shows and just reading that he's now apparently based here? V cool

noooo
he left Chicago?

The Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes record sounds like a hit from the preview tracks, I'm even more impressed with the ETA recordings after reading that interview with the engineer.

New Anna Buttress album does not disappoint.

The Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes record is really good, features probably one of the few Beatles covers I can really get behind ("Fool on the Hill").

Just saw Villarreal live in Chicago. Amazing show.

new jeremiah chiu and marta sofia honer came out yesterday. excited to check it

yes it's wonderful

New Ben LaMar Gay is fantastic. I've found IA pretty hit and miss of late, particularly its mediocre UK releases, but this and the recent Damon Locks are the shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuk4OLhK7uQ

Ben LaMar Gay is amazing. He's become one of my favourite contemporary musicians, genuinely sui generis, and yeah the new album is super. I've been pondering starting a dedicated thread for him, mostly because I'm curious if anyone has sifted through all those old albums he put out before Downtown Castles (I have not).

New Ben LaMar Gay is great, w/r/t to the old records, I really liked Confetti in the Sky Like Fireworks soundtrack and East of the Ryan though that one is a real yr-mileage-might-vary type record

thanks, chr1s! looking up Confetti to add it to my queue, I realized I did listen to Benjamin e Edinho and liked it.

(also I should have said "recorded" not "put out" since the whole point was they weren't released at the time)

Chicago FTW!!!

haha yeah my fondness for Chicago is definitely part of why I like him. I adore "Oh Great Be the Lake" on Open Arms to Open Us

my brother works at a restaurant in Chicago and once served him

He made a wonderful mix for The Wire https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/wire-mix-ben-lamar-gay

Makaya McCraven sat in my section once! He was really nice.

McCraven seems to be touring in the fall — there's a Denver date in October anyway. Hopefully he's got a new one coming out soon!

Faintly related, Jeff Parker is on my Neil Young podcast today: https://www.talkhouse.com/all-one-song-jeff-parker-on-the-needle-and-the-damage-done/

New Chicago Underground Duo coming out in August.

https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/hyperglyph

enjoying the new resavoir

yesss so good, love that project

loving the ben lamar gay

4 new makaya mccraven eps on the way

https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/track/away

Xp Yowzers is such a great album!! So many ideas, super enjoyable to listen to.

He played the Sound & Gravity launch party earlier this month.

the international anthem youtube channel posted this jaimie branch video recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmAC4YC1pV8