I hope you all spotted that TSMM’s radio show has risen from the ashes, and I’ve also made it available as a Substack podcast for those who like to keep things tidy. I was in a hurry, so I just grabbed some great cuts from albums I’ve recommended over the last twelve months, so it’s a nice newsletter companion, and considering it was thrown together has a nice flow to it. Moving forward, I’ll be playing more recent releases, as well as dropping some of my playlist picks, which, if you haven’t explored them yet, are a treat for the adventurous listener and algorithmically jaded alike.
Summer, along with January and February, is usually a bit light on good music releases, but, partly as I’m still playing release catch-up, August is actually sounding very tasty this year. The logic behind avoiding a summer release is that everyone’s on holiday and nobody will listen, but I just don’t buy it. Surely the holiday period is the perfect time for music lovers to do some listening? Well, unless you’ve got kids, in which case you’re screwed. I think it’s actually more about the music industry wanting a holiday. I’m telling you, independent artists - July and August are your moment; the music media are desperate for something to write about and aren’t swamped by big artist and major label PR, and DJs are desperate for some new tunes. Thank me later.
If you’re anything like me - time-poor and trying to absorb a lot of music, then you might not read my reviews. And that’s alright. Well, as long as you hit play and give the music a chance, I’d like to think that all my tips are at least worthy of that. Saying that, I would urge you to check out my Gaf & The Love Supreme Arkestra “review”, that turned into something of a rant highlighting the sad economic reality for underground musicians and artists and which, if you don’t have time, could be summed up as: support and use alternative culture of all descriptions before you lose it and Bezos, Zuck, Arnault, Musk, Durov, Eek become your daddies.
Enjoy the music.
Christer Bothén / Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin - Serpentine (Black Truffle)
The first two Ghosted albums were on repeat at TSMM HQ when they dropped, two and four years back respectively, and according to me at time were rich in “extended, insistent grooves, ritual percussion and mantric minimalism”, you know all those good things that I keep raving about month in, month out. Well, the trio: Ambarchi on guitar, Berthling on bass and Werliin on drums are back, this time with Swedish multi-instrumentalist Christer Bothén on board for this album of jazz-not quite-jazz-minimal-not quite-minimal-but-good-definitely-good music, that was recorded back in 2023 in Sweden, but which, probably due to the Ghosted triptych, is only now seeing the light of day.
The trio settle straight into their trademark grooves, Berthling and Werliin perpetrating this year’s most lethargic yet hypnotic groove, whilst Bothén’s clarinet and Ambarchi’s Hammond-sounding guitar gently spar - hinting at livelier times ahead. “Antigorrite” is initially not that time, but stick with its eight-minute-long transcendental, outernational first half as, egged on by Ombarchi, the quartet eventually erupt into cosmic glory. “Lizardite” adopts a lolloping Afro-Jazz groove, Bothen with his Donso n’goni sitting in for Berthling’s bass, as Ombarchi’s chameleon-like guitar work comes through like a cascading harp for a spiritual jazz win. The album closer oddly ditches the ritualistic rhythms for a moodier, lower gravity, freer jazz finale, and, whilst it has serious merit, probably belongs on another recording. But don’t let that distract you from the other thirty-six minutes which are just stunning.
Dawuna - African Laptop Musick (Self Release)
Dawuna blew the underground soul world away, well, those that noticed - it was pretty low-key, with his raw, lo-fi and militant debut five years ago, and this enigmatic Baltimore resident has been ploughing a similarly low-watt, idiosyncratic nu-soul path ever since. He’s just dropped a new mixtape I guess you’d call it, with the promise that something big is on the way, so it seems like a good time to introduce him to those that aren’t familiar.
This transmission is somewhat unusual, and ties in with the last newsletter’s theme of artists riffing on serious health issues, in that it was recorded whilst Mugerwa was suffering from amnesia due to an unspecified traumatic head injury, so he didn’t actually remember much about its recording except that he wanted to record a concept piece about his family. Well, I’m glad to report that whilst his memory banks were glitching, his creative faculties were in full flow and he managed to cobble together a serious collection of nu-soul, interspersed with some sonic doodles and field recordings of family members musing on life and family. It’s a great intro to this singular soul artist, and a better-lit gateway to the murkier, deep soul depths of his back catalogue.
DJ Plead - Please (Smalltown Supersound)
Berlin’s DJ Plead has been blessing open-minded clubs and the global bass world with a steady stream of heavyweight productions that fuse all sorts of beats with the sounds of his Lebanese heritage, not to mention the energy of his country’s wedding dancing circles - which are something to behold. He keeps it simple but deadly.
After 2024’s collaborative EP with rRoxymore for the ever-great and eclectic Smalltown Supersound (check Phillip Sherbournes recent Substack interview with the label’s guiding light), he’s back up north with a full-length, downtempo solo departure that is more suited to after-the-after party and I’m all in.
As always, he keeps things refreshingly simple: subwoofer-testing bass, lazy, stripped-back but swinging beats and a taste of Lebanon permeate all the cuts. Well, apart from the early dancehall nodding “Ride TV” that gets a bit of a sweat on, whilst winding and grinding its way through the speakers. The vibe is Balearic at times, and I hope the island’s sunset DJ’s pick up on this before the season is out.
Odd Okoddo & Ogoya Nengo - Palagoma (From Cool Waters)
German percussionist and producer Sven Kacirek has been fusing electronic music with field recordings and various global sounds for twenty years, but always kept coming back to the rich sounds of Kenya where he is now based, immersed in the music that brought him to the attention of many - me included.
He’s also just set up a label from his Nairobi home called From Cool Waters and the imprint’s debut just dropped, featuring previous collaborators - eighty-three year old folk artists Ogoya Nengo and dodo singer/songwriter, luthier and five-stringed okodo player Olith Ratego - and its blend of Ratego’s vocal prowess and string work, Nengo’s more traditional vocal approach and Kakirek’s percussion and Buchla synth has just got the label off to a flying Afrofuturistic start.
Unlike many octogenerian vocals still active, Nengo’s voice is still strong as she channels her ancestral traditions and spirits into the new millennium and beyond; it’s the perfect foil for Ratego’s more exuberant and urgent vocal delivery. The pair effortlessly ride Kacirek’s electronic backdrop that variously pulses rhythmically and floats effortlessly through the speakers, elevating the everyday tales of Kenyan life, love and toil. Kacirek’s main focus is the Buchla, but he still finds time to add some organic percussion, further seasoning the star-bound ballads, weekend dance tracks and Afro-cosmic visions, and we can only wonder what wonders will come in the future now Kacirek is based their full-time.
Hana Stretton - tiarn
After recommending Helen Franzmann and Nick Huggins’ - public holiday at you yangs regional park album in the last newsletter; praising its “songs saturated in field recordings that bring oft-ignored ambient sound, whether natural or urban, to the fore and to your attention“ along comes another great “ambient folk” album, this time from Hana Stretton which ploughs a similar furrow, and when I checked the credits, it features the voice of Nick Huggins - amongst others, so it appears there’s something of an Australian micro-scene going on. The world of quality, alternative music is a small and often supportive place - long live the underground.
The album opens with the sounds of life’s unremarkable events, before a distant accordion wheezes into life and starts to slowly approach the microphone as the field recordings of all descriptions, not to mention some operatic endeavour - possibly from an old recording, rise to meet the occasion. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better album intro this year. But fear not, this is no folk rock theatre, and despite the assorted vocals, pipes, violin, cello and outsider choral work from the supporting cast, the album then proceeds on more even keel. Next up, “Salt” evolves a strange rhythmic pulse to usher Stretton’s competition with the looped backing vocals to see who has the softest tones, an approach which obviously found favour with the local fauna the other side of the open window who chime in too. More vocal looping and a foot-stomped rhythm then guide the building strings towards its opiated hoe-down conclusion.
The album then follows a meandering course, probably best explored than read about, but trust me, it’s a constantly surprising listen. Some of the vocal passages having a vague gospel quality, and the eminently listenable avant-production a faint blues echo whether real or imagined, possibly due to the 78prm shellac sonic aesthetic. Couple that with the operatic infusion - possibly the least black music you can find, the field recordings that might have sounded tired and detached in more traditional ambient work, but which here are a living, breathing part of the compositions, the cobbled-together percussion, Stretton popping up when she feels the urge to sing in varying styles, and you have an LP of genuine avant-ambient-folk wonder.
Gaf & The Love Supreme Arkestra - Retiro Espiritual (Keroxen)
GAF & The Love Supreme Arkestra are a “psychedelic, experimental, space rock music collective based in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain”, who have also been playing and recording under the Gaf y la Estrella de la Muerte moniker for the last twenty-five years. If you want to go down an Iberian/southern European experimental music wormhole, then click a few of the links on their website. You might discover the Keroxen crew, who are keeping the Canary Islands’ experimental music scene alive and vibrant; perhaps you’ll discover the Edge Project, which in turn leads to the Azores for one of the most intriguing music festivals I know and one of the few still on my agenda to attend, or maybe over to Cyprus for this intriguing, new-to-me event. The internet isn’t all just big tech and advertising and still has a bit of its early wonder if you’re not too jaded by Google’s present search results shit show and the major apps these days to explore it.
So what of the music? It's as winding, interconnected, tangential and out there as the above paragraph. It’s also great. Think free-flowing jazz-led genre fluidity meets spiritual psychedelic wonder guided by grooving, ritualist, hypnotic rhythms. It’s gentle but forceful when it needs to be. It’s acoustic and electronic, searching, questioning and curious. If you are too, then hit play on the music, and perhaps follow a few of the links above, then look for similar music and events in your area and support them before modern music becomes as depressing as today’s internet.
If you need a bit more encouragement to support GAF and other little guys, here’s a bit more food for thought. There is a vinyl run of the album, I’m guessing 200 or 300 copies for the whole world, which is priced at an altruistic €18 - half the price of most new albums. If you look on the Bandcamp page, the album has sold four copies. If you head over to the album’s Spotify page, the first track got just over 1000 plays in its first month, which means Spotify will pay the band the $3.50 for those streams. Because the other four tracks didn’t break 1000 streams in the first month, Spotify won’t pay the group, but instead redirect that money to more popular, mostly major label artists. If the tracks then break a thousand streams over the couse of a year Spotify will pay them, minus the streams from the first month. This is their “artist-centric” payment model, and it’s heartbreaking. This is amazing music, and the artists deserve so much better.
Nick Hakim - I Can See (Earseed)
I almost didn’t include this album by Nick Hakim, even though I supported his debut, mainly because I’m guessing he’s reaching a certain level of popularity where he can probably make a living from music, and is probably turning heads at major labels. It’s something of a personal issue, which I flip-flop about but am currently trying to address, that I continually tend towards the alternative and lesser known, probably to the detriment of my personal listening and recommendations. But being as I’ve come back to this album several times since release, and it’s sounding just perfect on this Sunday morning as the sun rises above the distant rooftops on what promises to be a scorching day, the lesser-known be damned - say hello to this great, Washington-born, New York-residing psychedelic soul singer.
Hakin has always had a low-key soul charm, a vocal delivery that invites you closer and encourages you to stop what you’re doing and pay proper attention lest you miss it, but he’s dialled up the intimacy even further on “I Can See”. His voice is a whisper at times, as if he’s not sure whether he should be sharing so much, his vocals either just floating over or melting into the nicely stoned arrangements that more often than not trade traditional form for atmosphere. It’s seriously sweet, soulful introspection for early mornings or late nights, don’t even think of hitting play between 10am and 10pm.
Various Artists - The Places We Carry (Home Normal)
I’ve been given Whitelabrecs quite a few props this year, possibly at the expense of what I consider to be the UK’s other great ambient label - Home Normal, run by Ian Hawgood, who as well as being a top-drawer ambient producer is also a great mastering engineer. I teamed up with him when I needed to get the TSMM label catalogue polished before release. Mastering is something of a dark, unsung art, but a good mastering studio works wonders, and Ian genuinely made each release shine so much brighter.
It’s been seventeen years since Home Normal’s inception, and I was somewhat taken aback when researching this release, to discover that Ian is winding the label schedule down to more of a release trickle, although having run a label I don’t blame him! It’s hard work, for many reasons becoming increasingly difficult and having artists’ hopes and dreams in your hands is serious responsibility.
Fortunately for those who are late to the party or have been distracted this year, Ian has decided to do one of his legendary ambient mixes to showcase 2026’s releases - including those still to be released. Taking tracks from a veritable who’s who of quality ambient music including: Wil Bolton, David Cordero, anthéne, Far away Nebraska, zakè, Federica Deiana, Tomosla, Tomotsugu Nakamura, Michael Scott Dawson, Rhucle, Aiko Takahashi, landtitles, maps and diagrams, midorinozu, Jason van Wyk, James Murray, Daniël Jolan, and Ian Hawgood, many of whom will now be familiar to newsletter followers, he’s skilfully blended the music into a seamless, two-hour-long trip through the ambient spectrum. So find a couple of hours to spare, lie back and close your eyes - you’re in for a real treat, and something of an ambient masterclass.
Don’t Forget TSMM’s Playlists and Podcast.
From ambient sound baths and wellness imbuing new age vibes to underground house via jazz, neoclassical, folk, dub and more, the twenty one TSMM playlists and podcast cover a lot of ground, and are updated regularly.
They’re available on Tidal, Apple Music, Amazon, Youtube Music, Youtube, Deezer, Soundcloud and Spotify (if you don’t worry about them not paying most of the artists on the playlists).
Digging deeper on a few of these recommendations
Hana Stretton knocks it outta the park again!