MADRES de Sofia Kourtesis

literally just hit play on this but I have high hopes

losing my mind during "How Music Makes You Feel Better"

AOTY

i am also enjoying!

Funkhaus is a journey

I believe this is exceeding my high hopes

final verdict: fantastic album. "Moving Houses" puts the brakes on a little, but not fatally so and maybe you need a breather after "Funkhaus"

I'm going to take a walk and look at the fall colours and listen to this again later XD

also, s/o ilm since I first heard SK on one of the eoy polls

I get Enigma´s "return to innocence" vibes

Loved this. Reminded me a lot of Four Tet but whereas his albums are often deliberately narrow, she's painting with lots of different colors. First two tracks and "Funkhaus" were the standouts.

yeah I hear lots of continuity with elegant 00s/10s stuff like Four Tet, Caribou, Pantha du Prince, etc. (I don't really hear Enigma tbh), but I agree about the expanded palette. Plus for me there's real affective rush to it that I don't really get from those records—that could be a first impression sugar rush but we'll see

Good to excellent. Very welcoming, easy to get lost in, slowly undulating, slightly psychedelic, though I hear a lot of classic house behind it and the identity of each song could get a little muddled in similar piano / voices / effects (a minor complaint actually). Funkhaus and Si te portas bonito are A+.

i loved suddenly hearing her singing (is it her singing?) "deep inside" by hardrive. i think i'm predisposed to love "covers" of house and techno, even just in bits and pieces. people should do it more. i guess there are rights headaches tho probably? bleh

This is fabulous. I wasn’t sure about the inclusion of singing at first but it’s growing on me.

She makes me think of Ela Minor in ways I can’t fully articulate right now

losing my mind during "How Music Makes You Feel Better"

otm

listened to this album bc i saw it on a year-end list. blown away. baffled i hadn't seen the entirety of ilm rally around it. but then i found this thread!!!! not too late, rest of ilm!!!!

I think it might’ve come out too close to the end of the year for it to blow up here.

I rarely read full Pitchfork reviews these days but the site’s take on Madres made me roll the dice, and quickly I was enraptured. It’s in my top 10.

god it was even BNM'd! i had a really busy october lol

haha I feel you, I missed some amazing stuff by being super busy in the fall that I only caught on eoy lists (e.g., Corinne Bailey Rae)

I was also a bit surprised at the muted response bc as noted I learned about SK from ILM, but otoh I am not personally that great at talking about this kind of music.

at any rate, my update: this album is still a total rush

Her music has been high on my radar with every EP and single. She played at Portola in SF last year and was incredible. Madres will be very high on my list.

Top 5 of the year for me, I find it to be extremely moving in parts

yes! I said "affective rush" upthread, and I think that's accurate in terms of its more ineffable qualities, but it's also a deliberately emotional album. "Vajkoczy" is this wonderful dreamy mix of melancholy and joy that hits me harder than some more explicitly sad music

Longshot here, but does anyone know where I could find where the samples on Madres are from?

Just been given this on CD for my birthday (he's been doing his research!), so it's blasting out right now and WOW. Like others have said upthread, "Funkhaus" is an instant standout, and the sampling throughout the album is just stunning. Now I get why ILM voted it #2 AOTY. Good work, ILM.

Christ, even the Manu Chao track is great, and I can't fucking stand Manu Chao!

Thanks for reminding me - I want to get a CD copy of this!

Yeah, it really comes into its own at proper volume through proper speakers, when you can immerse yourself in the details. What she’s done is just phenomenal.

I want to get a CD copy of this!

Worth it. You get an extra minute on the start of "Madres" before the vocal sample comes in. lol. This appears to be the only timing difference across the formats.

Anyone like the vinyl? I could not mess with it for the totally different track order, not to mention 4 sides for 47 minutes.

I really dislike it when an album is split into 4 sides lasting less than 12 mins a side. If your record is shorter than 50 mins it should always be on one record. Is inner groove distortion that rough on sides lasting 15-23 mins?

Thanks for the reminder to get the CD!

I’m assuming the sides are 45rpm

her RA mix this week goes unbelievably fucking hard oh my god

do we know when the Daphni collaboration that opens the mix is coming out because I need to be able to play that on a loop incessantly, pronto

xp thanks for posting this. Absolute smash.

That's a big ol' tune

My 3 year old daughter went crazy, dancing and jumping around with the opening track. Can confirm it’s a banger.

What a mix, LOVE IT.

oooooooooooooo

I have the closer El Carmen on my running playlist and the rhythm gets me every time, such a dreamy jam.

briefly saw her being very charming at a festival recently, album is indeed lovely. Wish I'd stayed longer at that stage now (the classic festival tale).

glad ILX got me to check that RA mix, hearing "Disco Dewanee" (outside of the Ms. Marvel soundtrack I was briefly obsessed with....) woooah here we go.

do we know when the Daphni collaboration that opens the mix is coming out because I need to be able to play that on a loop incessantly, pronto

― monotony, Monday, 1 July 2024 10:44 PM (ten months ago) bookmarkflaglink

well, she took her time but it's finally out now. new EP out august 1, Volver:

01 Sofia Kourtesis: “Corazón”
02 Sofia Kourtesis / Daphni: “Unidos”
03 Sofia Kourtesis: “Canela Pura”
04 Sofia Kourtesis: “Ballumbrosio” [ft. Miguel Ballumbrosio]
05 Sofia Kourtesis: “Nitzan and Aminaa”
06 Sofia Kourtesis: “Sisters”

Canela Pura is rad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL-ZrmsamTk