A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #85

Mid-Year Mini-Reviews Marathon Part 1: BEATS and/or RHYMES

Dear Listeners, Joseph here for a special installment of our bi-weekly newsletter. Usually, these missives collect recent reviews and features from ACL, but this week I’m delivering on part 1 of my long delayed Mini-Review Marathon. Part 2 will be out next Wednesday. It just got too long for a single newsletter. I guess at my current pace I should be doing these quarterly? In any case, Rich’s First Half Highlights article, where our staff voted on our favorite records we’ve reviewed on the blog this year, will be up in early July.

But before we get into the first installment of my Mid Year Mini-Review Marathon, collecting records we haven’t reviewed, a few announcements.

I’m back home in Montreal (not my hometown—that’s NY—but where I’ve spent most of my adult life at this point and it feels much more like home than anywhere in the States, especially these days). It’s the Suoni per il Popolo festival, which I wrote up for Cult MTL recently after speaking with co-founder and director Kiva Stimac. (Paid subscribers will receive a special newsletter with the transcript from our chat.)

But I’m also once again involved in a few events as part of Suoni this year. For those of you in town or nearby, tomorrow, 22 June, I’ll be joining Réverbérations d’une crise, a collective of sound artists and tenants dedicated to militant sound inquiry with whom I co-produced this podcast a few years back, for Funeral March for Lost Cultural Places [Marche funèbre pour les lieux disparus]. (I’ll also be recording and will share some sort of documentation in the future.) The group will lead a funeral march for Montreal’s “dead” venues, culminating at the gallery Produit Rien, in Mile Ex, where GAMBLETRON and Johnny Forever Nawracaj will present Screaming At Walls, a new work “about emotionally charged experiences navigating irreconcilable ethical and political rifts with family and friends”. The procession starts at noon, departing from Parc Jeanne-Mance, corner of Mont-Royal and Esplanade. More info at this link.

Tomorrow evening, 22 June, at La Sotterenea, voice and percussion duo MESTIZX’s draw on their ancestral Latin American rhythms, with opening soundscapes from Nicaraguan-Canadian Mas Aya, and Daniela Solís & Stefan Christoff further exploring the Mexico City-Montreal connection. I’ll be live streaming the show via Mexico’s Radio Nopal, broadcasting from 9-11pm Montreal time.

And lastly on Thursday 26 June, I’ll be in conversation with Eric Fillion, discussing his book, Soundtrack to the Revolution: Free Jazz and Leftist Nationalism in Quebec 1967-1975, for a 5 a 7 at Casa del Popolo. Afterwards there will be some wild improvisations for GET FREE! Soirée d’impro. I’m particularly excited for the unconventional electronics of Anne-F Jacques, Jarrett Martineau and Joël Lavoie (at Casa).

Remember Scott Alexander Howard and Stefan Christoff’s mix from a couple months back? Just wanted to share that their collaboration album Transit Assemblies is now available via Moon Villain.

One more bit of news. I’ve been hearing about the Getty’s Scores Project for years from my doctoral co-advisor, Michael Gallope—who’s book Musician as Philosopher I previously recommended—and I’m happy to share that the book version is finally available.

The Scores Project: Essays on Experimental Notation in Music, Art, Poetry, and Dance, 1950–1975. Edited by Michael Gallope, Natilee Harren, and John Hicks, with contributions by Emily Ruth Capper, George E. Lewis, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Benjamin Piekut, and Nancy Perloff.

Here’s what the Getty says about it:

Individuals working in and across the fields of visual art, music, poetry, theater, and dance in the mid–twentieth century began to use experimental scores in ways that revolutionized artistic practice and opened up new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration. Their experimental methods—associated with the neo-avant-garde, neo-Dadaism, intermedia, Fluxus, and postmodernism—exploded in notoriety during the 1960s in locales from New York to Europe, East Asia, and Latin America, becoming foundational to global trends in contemporary art and performance.

The Scores Project provides an in-depth view of this historical moment. Through expert commentaries from an interdisciplinary team of scholars with accompanying illustrations, this publication examines a series of experimental scores by John Cage, George Brecht, Sylvano Bussotti, Morton Feldman, Allan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Jackson Mac Low, Benjamin Patterson, Yvonne Rainer, Mieko Shiomi, David Tudor, and La Monte Young. Ambitious, provocative, and playful, The Scores Project is an illuminating resource to scholars and students who seek to understand this innovative and historically complex moment in the history of art.

An expanded edition of this open-access publication is available for free online at www.getty.edu/publications/scores/. It includes more than 2,800 images, audio/video files, and interactive features. Also available are free PDF and EPUB downloads of the book.

Even if you don’t purchase the book, I highly recommend you click through the free web version.

So let’s get to the first part of my….

Mid-Year Mini-Reviews Marathon

Short highlights of releases we’ve enjoyed during the first half of 2025 that haven’t received full reviews

BEATS and/or RHYMES

Aesop Rock ~ Black Hole Superette
The latest from our favorite verbose rapper-producer continues to extend his long winning streak, exploring the surreality of the mundane. Features from Armand Hammer, Open Mike Eagle, Homeboy Sandman, Lupe Fiasco, and Hanni El Khatib.

Andrew Broder ~ DIGNITY
The Minneapolis artist has produced for Joe Rainy, billy woods, and Armand Hammer, among others, but this EP departs from that work in favor of hypnotic dance floor explorations.

Asterix ~ No School (& Instrumentals)
Greg Davis has made a name in ambient / drone / folktronica circles with releases on the likes of kranky, NNA, and Room40, but he returns to his roots as a hip hop producer for an engaging release full of outstanding guest artists including Jesse The Tree, Lungs, Video Dave, Nosaj, Open Mike Eagle and many more.

billy woods ~ GOLLIWOG
GOLLIWOG finds the MC honing the dark humour and horror themes that have always been present in his work on his first multi-producer solo LP since 2019. Strong AOTY contender.

Blu & August Fanon ~ Forty
Personally I’m just the right age that this meditation on middle age hit extra hard. The LA rapper is on a remarkable run, dropping multiple killer LPs each year, but you already know how much we fuck with August Fanon’s production so don’t sleep on this.

DJ Haram ~ Beside Myself
Haram recently dropped the HYPERVIGILANT / NEVER NOSTALGIC BEAT TAPE, a physical only collection of instrumentals, only to announce her full length Hyperdub debut just weeks later. As on her Handplay EP from two years ago, Haram’s lethargic vocals elevate her beats.

Fatboi Sharif & Driveby ~ Let Me Out
New Jersey’s favorite weirdo rapper returns after a 2024 full of shorter offerings for a meatier collaboration of 16 dope tracks with producer Driveby. Featuring Curly Castro, Beans, and Lungs.

Fly Anakin ~ (The) Forever Dream
Executive produced by Quelle Chris, the beats are both experimental and accessible, with the Virginia MC continuing to elevate his craft. Guests include, among many others, lojii, Denmark Vessey, Pink Siifu, and BbyMutha. Much of the production is handled by Quelle and associated including Chris Keys and Mosel, with additional beats from the likes of August Fanon, Child Actor, and The Alchemist. One of my top rap records of 2025.

McKinley Dixon ~ Magic, Alive!
An uplifting suite of poetic stories over energetic and uptempo beats, featuring Quelle, Ghais Guevara, Siifu, Blu and more.

Midi Neutron ~ whosgonnafeedyou likeThis
Six track EP balancing experimental grooves and deep hip hop inspired beats.

MIKE ~ Showbiz!
While I’d also recommend MIKE’s second collab with Tony Seltzer, the rapper-producer’s seventh solo LP is the proper follow up to 2023’s excellent Burning Desire, with production again mostly handled by MIKE’s alter ego DJ Blackpower.

Neil Drumming ~ Writing on Airplanes
Yes, a rap album from NPR/Serial’s Neil Drumming. The emphasis is more on the sharply-written rhymes than the beats, but the entire record is surprisingly competent, sometimes darkly funny, and often profound. Strong features from Breeze Brewin and Nappy Nina.

PremRock ~ Did You Enjoy Your Time Here…?
Another solid installment from Backwoodz, here Prem—now best known as the yin to Curly Castro’s yang in ShrapKnel—is at his best over beats from Controller7, Child Actor, Blockhead, Sebb Bash, SmallPro, and Jeff Markey, with features from woods, Naps, ELUCID, Cav, Siifu and more.

Previous Industries ~ Evergreen Plaza
A new EP from Open Mike, Video Dave, and STILL RIFT following up on their ode to dead malls from last year.

KUTMAH ~ Sacred Conversations
Long since relocated to Berlin, LA is still in KUTMAH’s heart in this tribute to the late legend Ras G.

R.A.P. Ferreira ~ OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING
This release snuck in at the tale end of 2024, but since you may have missed it too I’m including it here. Elite wordsmithing, Ferreira is in a reflective mood meditating on isolation and solitude. Most of the soulful production comes from randal bravery.

Shemar ~ emerge "n" see
His 2024 EP Sunscreen, produced by Child Actor, put this young NYC rapper on my radar, and this LP raises the bar even higher. Tons of strong features from rappers including Jay Cinema, Hester Valentine, and Defcee, but Shemar never lets them steal the show. Sonically optimized by GENG PTP for maximum impact.

Sluggwerth ~ The Wizard Behind The Curtain
Hazy beats from Slugg with verses from AJ Suede, Ugly Frank, Sharif, Fat Ray and many more.

UPCOMING RELEASES

(complete list with Bandcamp links here)

We’ve been waiting all year for summer, and now it has finally arrived! Schools are out, vacations are planned, cars are packed and the beaches beckon. The music release schedule slows down to make space for the concert season, but there’s still plenty of brand new music to look forward to: a steady stream of new releases eager to serve as the soundtrack to summer. We hope you find your next favorite album right here!

zakè & Pallette ~ Somewhere (18 June)

Chad Kouri ~ Mixed (20 June)

Chamber Winds of South Dakota ~ Moxie (Aerocade, 20 June)

Clara Kim ~ our little matches (New Focus, 20 June)

Eduardo Ella ~ Desvíos (577 Records, 20 June)

Elskavon ~ Panoramas (Western Vinyl, 20 June)

Hampus Lindwall ~ Brace for Impact (Ideologic Organ, 20 June)

Julien Mier ~ Gradually (Lapsus, 20 June)

Lia Kohl & Zander Raymond ~ In Transit (Un je-ne-sais-quoi, 20 June)

Matmos ~ Metallic Life Review (Thrill Jockey, 20 June)

Mosley Jr. ~ Rollerskate (Mood Family, 20 June)

Osmium ~ Osmium (Invada, 20 June)

Raimund Wong and Suren Seneviratne ~ A Record of Living Beings (Kit Records, 20 June)

Sally Anne Morgan ~ Second Circle the Horizon (Thrill Jockey, 20 June)

Susana López ~ Materia Vibrante (Elevator Bath, 20 June)

Tassery ~ My Own Mirror (Comme dans les films, 20 June)

Vanessa Tomlinson ~ The Edge is a Place (Room40, 20 June)

Various Artists ~ Blackout Tape (20ft Records, 20 June)

ZÖJ ~ Give Water to Birds (Parenthèses, 20 June)

When Colors Are Fading ~ September Sun (21 June)

Giovanni Di Domenico – Alex Zethson ~ Edge Runner – Noema (defkaz, 22 June)

Universal Affirmation Ensemble ~ Unconditional Propositions (Katuktu Collective, 24 June)

Jonathan Schenke ~ Passages (No-Gold, 26 June)

Sveið ~ Latent Imprints (577 Records, 26 June)

Alec Goldfarb ~ Shadows (Long Echo, 27 June)

Black Sites ~ R4 (Tresor, 27 June)

Brighde Chambeul ~ Sunwise (Glitterbeat, 27 June)

Canzonieri ~ All Creature (Kuboraum Editions, 27 June)

Cate Francesca Brooks ~ Lofoten (Clay Pipe Music, 27 June)

galen tipton & Shmu ~ dewCLAWS (Orange Milk, 27 June)

Jasmine Guffond ~ Music for the Encouragement of Unproductivity (LINE, 27 June)

knox ~ Fragments (27 June)

Sonologyst ~ Planetarium (Cold Spring, 27 June)

Client_03 ~ Testbed_Assembly (Client_03, 4 July)

Darragh Morgan ~ For Violin and Electronics – Volume II (Diatribe, 4 July)

G Clef Fusion ~ With Dark and Light (27 June)

Jonathan Uliel Saldanha ~ Surface Disorder (Perf, 27 June)

Merzbow ~ Sedonis (Signal Noise, 27 June)

Nev Lilit ~ Hyperit (Moloton, 27 June)

Nitrada ~ Everything That Is Not Counted Will Be Lost (2nd Rec., 27 June)

Pan American & Kramer ~ Interior of an Edifice (Shimmy-Disc, 27 June)

Sary Moussa ~ Wind, Again (Other People, 27 June)

Simonel ~ Cartographies of Silence (LINE, 27 June)

sofii ~ i want this feeling to last forever (Soul Feeder, 27 June)

Stephen O’Malley ~ But remember what you have had (Portraits GRM, 27 June)

Tropos ~ Switches (endectomorph music, 27 June)

Various Artists ~ Resilient Resistance (BSR, 27 June)

VOLTU ~ The Violets Are Blue (27 June)

Zimoun ~ Harmonium I-IV (Room40, 27 June)

Zoh Amba ~ Sun (Smalltown Supersound, 27 June)

Haarvöl ~ Horizons of Suspended Zones (Cronica, 1 July)

Amina Hocine ~ ātamōn (Subtext, 2 July)

Dmitry Evgrafov ~ Research Center (Open Pathways, 4 July)

Marc Neys ~ Sanctuary (Audiobulb, 4 July)

Rival Consoles ~ Landscape from Memory (Erased Tapes, 4 July)

SJUSH ~ Temper Shift (Intrepid Skin, 4 July)

skanderjaibi ~ Who has the right to closure? (Uncloud Editions, 4 July)

Traverse ~ It’s Broken (Somewherecold, 4 July)

V/A ~ Gost Zvuk 10 Years (Gost Zvuk, 4 July)

V/A ~ Perceptions Vol. 6 (Bigo & Twigetti, 4 July)

Yann Novak ~ Continuity (Room40, 4 July)

Fabrizio Cucco ~ Tempo Firmo (577 Records, 5 July)

Lewis Fautzi ~ Unwritten Chapters (Faut Section, 7 July)

7XINS ~ One Knob Per Function (Live Cuts) (Severn Electronics, 9 July)

Aho Ssan & Resina ~ Ego Death (Subtext, 11 July)

Alan Noblock, John Butcher, Mark Sanders ~ Tectonic Plates (577 Records, 11 July)

Annie Blythe, Bendon Randall-Myers ~ Only in the Dark (cmntx, 11 July)

Benoît Pioulard ~ Stanza IV (Disques d’Honoré, 11 July)

Colin Andrew Sheffield ~ Serenade (Elevator Bath, 11 July)

Fuubutsushi ~ Columbia Deluxe (American Dreams, 11 July)

Hammock ~ Nevertheless (Hammock Music, 11 July)

Kiji Suedo ~ Velvet Textures (Hobbes Music, 11 July)

Molly Joyce ~ State Change (Better Company, 11 July)

Patricia Wolf ~ Hrafnamynd (Balmat, 11 July)

phase space ~ Degrees of Freedom (11 July)

Reid Willis ~ Reliquary (Mesh, 11 July)

Siavash Amini ~ Caligo (Room40, 11 July)

V/A ~ Hardwired – curated by JakoJako (Air Texture, 11 July)

Yearns ~ Fata Morgana (Room40, 11 July)

Ement ~ Choice Paralysis (PZ, 17 July)

David Donohoe & Kate Carr ~ A Storm and its Aftermath (Flaming Pines, 18 July)

DJ Haram ~ Beside Myself (Hyperdub, 18 July)

KILN ~ Lemon Borealis (A Strangely Isolated Place, 18 July)

Nizar Rohana Trio ~ The NCO Session (Worlds Within Worlds, 18 July)

Norman Westberg ~ Milan (Room40, 18 July)

Paul Pèrrim ~ Itara (Discrepant, 18 July)

Sarah Wilson ~ Incandescence (Brass Tonic, 18 July)

Shrunk feat. Fabiana Striffler ~ Pixie People (577 Records, 18 July)

Sudden Voices ~ Scruples (18 July)

Thee Reps ~ Cryptocarography (Gold Bolus, 18 July)

pdqb ~ The Electrifying Dojo (Synaptic Cliffs, 19 July)

The Vardaman Ensemble ~ FR FR (19 July)

Giant Claw ~ Decadent Stress Chamber (Orange Milk, 24 July)

The Allegorist ~ From Birth Until Death (Awaken Chronicles, 25 July)

Autistici ~ Familiarity Folded (Audiobulb, 25 July)

Duchamp ~ The Wild Joy (Torto Editions/Ramble/Atena, 25 July)

Eric Siereveld’s Organic Quintet ~ Sweet William (Shifting Paradigm, 25 July)

Flying Sutra with Ayumi Ishito ~ Out Beyond Orbit (577 Records, 25 July)

John Also Bennett ~ Στον Ελαιώνα / Ston Elaióna (Shelter Press, 25 July)

leon todd johnson ~ wa kei sei jaku (Whited Sepulchre, 25 July)

Manslaughter 777 ~ God’s World (Thrill Jockey, 25 July)

747 ~ Pacific Spirit (Aquaregia, 25 July)

Shelley Burgon ~ The In Between (Thin Wrist, 25 July)

Sideways Ebb ~ Sad Buffer V (28 July)

Teddy Abrams ~ Preludes (New Amsterdam, 25 July)

Kory Reeder ~ In Place (thanatosis, 29 July)

Andy Graydon & Klaus Janek ~ A Book of Waves (Room40, 1 August)

Brian Wenckebach ~ Memory & Anticipation (Somewherecold, 1 August)

Caimin Gilmore ~ BlackGate (New Amsterdam, 1 August)

Eva Novoa ~ Novoa / Gress / Gray Trio, Vol. 2 (577 Records, 1 August)

Felicity Mangan ~ String Figures (Elevator Bath, 1 August)

High Gardens ~ Secret Places of the Lion (Not Not Fun, 1 August)

Keefe Jackson, Jakob Heinemann, Adam Shead ~ Stinger (Irritable Mystic, 1 August)

Madeleine Cocolas ~ Syndesis (Room40, 1 August)

Stephen Finn, Sylvain Monchocé, Jung-Jae Kim ~ Quark (Creative Sources, 1 August)

Viv Corringham ~ Soundwalkscapes (volume 2) (Flaming Pines, 1 August)

Professor Flitch ~ Uneven (3 August)

Meitei ~ Sen’nyū (Kitchen, 8 August)

Tom Gershwin ~ Wellspring (8 August)

Tony Orzano, Bryan Rohmer, Jeremy Wexler ~ Balloons on Grass (577 Records, 8 August)

Erik Griswold ~ Next Level Avoidance (Room40, 9 August)

Jake Baldwin ~ Vanishing Point (Shifting Paradigm, 15 August)

Dan Rosenboom ~ Coordinates (Orenda, 29 August)

Oren Ambarchi & Frederik Rasten ~ Dragon’s Return (Viernulvier, 12 September)

Grandbrothers ~ Elsewhere (_and_others, 26 September)