MUSIC

Strut presents Mulatu Plays Mulatu, the first major studio album in over 10 years from the father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke.

Featuring masterful new arrangements of some of his classic compositions, Mulatu Plays Mulatu finds Mulatu revisiting the sounds that helped to change the face of Ethiopian music during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The album was recorded between London and Addis Ababa, working with his long-standing UK band, a tight, intuitive ensemble honed through years of live performance, alongside cultural musicians resident at his Jazz Village club in Addis.

Mulatu Plays Mulatu realises Mulatu’s long-term vision of Ethio-jazz, intricately balancing Western jazz arrangements with the rich sounds of traditional Ethiopian instruments including the krar, masenqo, washint, kebero and begena. Throughout the album, he reshapes familiar material with rich textures, expanded improvisations and a deepened rhythmic complexity, creating a body of work that feels as vital and contemporary as it does steeped in tradition. Familiar compositions like ‘Yekermo Sew’, ‘Netsanet’ and the celebratory ‘Kulun’ are reinvented here as elegant big band performances.

“Ethio-jazz brings us together and makes us one,” explains Mulatu. “This album is the culmination of my work bringing this music to the world and pays respect to our unsung heroes, the original musical scientists in Ethiopia who gave us our cultural music.”

Bridging continents and generations throughout his 50-year career, Astatke now offers us an invitation to hear his music again, with a completely fresh perspective. Ethio-jazz, like its creator, is always in motion.

Mulatu Plays Mulatu was produced by Dexter Story and features contemporary artists LA-based artists Carlos Niño and Kibrom Birhane. The album was recorded and mixed by Isabel Gracefield at RAK Studios in London and by Dexter Story in Addis. The inspired album artwork was created by acclaimed Oslo-based Ethiopian artist, Wendimagegn Belete with photography by Alexis Maryon.

"Sametou Sawtan translates from the Arabic to “I Heard A Voice”. Spooky or spiritual, however one reads the phrase, it speaks to the ability of sound and language to cause pause, steal attention, and open us to the moment. Likewise, the music of SANAM blurs tender frenzies and fire-scorched ballads, collapsing free-flowing rock and jazz frameworks into deeply rooted Arabic tradition. To hear them in full flight is to be held in the present and reorientated towards an open horizon.

The record processes feelings of distance and dislocation. Whether in the yearning ballad “Goblin” or the slow-burning, autotune-doused freakout of “Habibon”, Sametou Sawtan captures the striving for stable ground in a world seldom capable of offering it. It rides the mesmerizing intensity of the SANAM live experience while affording their music nuance, depth, and tremendous dynamic range.

Like their debut, lyrics for many tracks are borrowed, words placed into new contexts to process the present. “Hamam” reinterprets an Egyptian folk song. In “Hadikat Al Ams”, the cracked hard-rock stomp propels text by contemporary Lebanese writer Paul Shaoul. And both “Sayl Damei” and the title track use poems by twelfth century Iranian poet and groundbreaking mathematician Omar Khayyam."

2025 repress. "Natural Information Society, like their partners in time Bitchin Bajas, live their days in flow motion. Rhythms come and go, instruments sound as a means to a greater end. Music is the way of their life. Their debut convergence, Automaginary, feels as natural as it does inevitable. Both groups were first heard in 2010, both emerging from solo endeavors that accessed a vastness, more room than a single player might ultimately fill -- a place then for fellow travelers! Joshua Abrams, a questing bassist and improviser by trade, with an extensive discography of solo recordings and collaborations with a wide variety of artists, formed Natural Information Society as a conduit for the live presentation of his guimbri music. Abrams had delved into the sound of the threestringed Gnawan lute on his own, intrigued by the instrument's ability to provide melodic and rhythmic direction with a minimal, hypnotic palette. Known for the drone also are Bitchin Bajas. Cooper Crain of CAVE started the Bajas to explore his fascination with vintage electronics and recording techniques. With Dan Quinlivan on keyboards as well, Bitchin Bajas' discography has explored a range of dynamic approaches, producing various proportions of atmosphere and soundtrack that move from becalmed stasis to synthetic beat-building with a prescient liquidity. Both Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas are in pursuit of the unconscious in their musical expression, and through their independent methods, both have ridden the wind to unseen places, using the playing as the carpet that will take them there. A multitude of influences swarm amoebically in their sounds, from the mud of ancient Afro-groove to 20th-century classical austerity, from the clatter of freedom jazz to the 4/4 of kraut and disco and fusion beyond -- and then beyond the music and into the air. Wrapped up in a screen-printed jacket from visual artist Lisa Alvarado, whose aesthetic sense is a touchstone for the vision of Natural Information Society, Automaginary is psychedelic and ambient and jazz -- yet none of it either, the whole being more than the sum of former parts. This is music of unique variance, a remarkably perfect congregation of the two tribes that are Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas."

Earth heartbeating, spirtual jazz nodding, modern day mysticism & star gazing ritualism from Hu Vibrational aka musical polymath Adam Rudolph, aided by the cream of New York's esoteric instrument players who add a further culturally diverse twist to this already outernational journey through kosmische tribalism, universal resonances & Fourth World perpetuation.

Looking for some fresh and innovative soundscapes? Hu Vibrational's fifth album Timeless puts forth nine tracks of gorgeously rich and densely textured music. The spiritually intoxicating grooves of Hu Vibrational are the brainchild of Adam Rudolph , who calls them “Boonghee Music” —a cascade of world - inspired beats mixed with jazz, hip-hop and electronica. The result is music that thrives on the balance of simultaneously reaching backwards and forwards in time.

While Timeless finds Rudolph playing most of the instruments, he is joined on several tracks by some of his longtime associates: Norwegian guitar sound painter Eivind Aarset, drummer Hamid Drake, and several members of his Go: Organic Orchestra. Moroccan percussionist Brahim Fribgane and North Indian performers Neel Murgai (sitar) and Sameer Gupta (tabla) bring unique sounds that Rudolph weaves in to the compositional fabric. Hu Vibrational combines world music with electronica and improvised jazz to create music that is funky, spiritual, hardcore, and soothing.

With Rudolph employing his “organic” orchestrations, arrangements, and electronic processing to shape the compositions, he works with his musicians in his “sonic mandala” concept to build layers of percussion, electronics and otherworldly sounds. Beats are the core, and influences range far and wide , yet these influences only provide a foundation. “Orchestration is the key” says Rudolph. “In the creative process of making this recording, I was looking for new ways of balancing the rhythmic elements I use with innovative colorations. As Don Cherry used to say ‘the swing is in the sound’.

This audiophile LP was beautifully mixed and mastered by James Dellatacoma, Bill Laswell’s (and Rudolph’s) longtime engineer at Laswell’s Orange Studio. The gatefold album opens onto nine gorgeous pen and watercolor paintings by Nancy Jackson that, like the art of Robert Crumb, are both humorous and deeply philosophical. It is the second time Rudolph and his wife Ms. Jackson have collaborated, the first being the 1995 book and CD release The Dreamer, an opera inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s“The Birth of Tragedy.

Those primarily familiar with Rudolph’s recent releases with his 30+ piece Go: Organic Orchestra ,like their collaboration with Brooklyn Raga Massive (Ragmala, Meta 023) ,or his spontaneous composition trio with Tyshawn Sorey and Dave Liebman ( New Now, Meta 027), or even his 2021 electronic soundscape with Bennie Maupin (Strut Records) ,might find in the music on Timeless a whole other direction. But, as Rudolph states ,“With each release I try to do something I have never done before.” This is no small claim for an artist who has released over 35 recordings featuring his compositions and percussion work.

Besides leading his own ensembles, Go: Organic Orchestra and Moving Pictures, Rudolph is known for his work over the last four plus decades with innovators such as Yusef Lateef, Don Cherry, Jon Hassel, and Pharaoh Sanders among others

Rudolph was hailed by the New York times as “an innovator in World Music” and indeed his experience is long and varied; In 1978 he co-founded, with Foday Musa Suso , the Mandingo Griot Society, one of the first groups to combine African and American music and in 1988 he recorded the first fusion of American and Moroccan Gnawa music with sintir player Hassan Hakmoun.

Rudolph’s creative methodology and philosophy has been outlined in two books, Pure Rhythm (2006) and Sonic Elements (2022). The compositional concepts are applied in all his creative output: from his through composed string quartets to his newest Hu Vibrational release. Rudolph notes: “The underlying elements are the same, like a kind of musical DNA. They come to life in the context of the what it is I wish to express at the time it has nothing to do with style it has to do with the creative impulse what needs to be allowed to come forth in the moment.”

Adam Rudolph: keyboards, thumb pianos, merimbula, cajon, mbuti harp, mouth bow, vocal, slit drums, udu drums, wooden and bamboo flutes, double reeds, gongs, kudu horn, zither, caxixi, kongos, tarija, gankogui, bells, percussion

Alexis Marcelo: fender rhodes, organ (Hittin, Proto Zoa Gogo)

Brahim Fribgane: tarija (Oceanic)

Damon Banks: bass (Hittin, Proto Zoa Gogo)

Eivind Aarset: guitar and electronics (Serpentine, Timeless, Honey Honey, Proto Zoa Gogo, Psychic)

Hamid Drake: drum set Space, Oceanic, Hittin, Jammin, Proto Zoa Gogo)

Harris Eisenstadt: bata (Hittin, Timeless)

Jan Bang: sampling TImeless, Honey Honey, Psychic)

Kaoru Watanabe: nohkan flute (Proto Zoa Gogo)

Marco Cappelli: guitar (Hittin)

Munyungo Jackson: tambourine, shekere (Oceanic)

Neel Murgai: sitar (Hittin)

Sameer Gupta: tabla (Space, Timeless)

Salamanda and Tristan Arp lend effervescent reworks to key numbers off the gossamer-spun debut of ambient electronica by Singapore/London’s Yingtuitive, all flyaway strands of gamelan, flickering pulses and 8-bit circuitry given an emotive warmth and quiet strength...

“Singapore-born, London-based producer yingtuitive introduces herself with Letters To Self 寫情書, a deeply personal debut LP arriving on Will Hofbauer’s Third Place.

A classically trained pianist whose musical identity draws from Southeast Asian traditions, electronic experimentation, and diasporic reflection, yingtuitive crafts soundscapes that feel both intimate and expansive. The project is accompanied by two stunning reworks from esteemed creators: South Korean ambient duo Salamanda, known for their lush, meditative textures, and US artist Tristan Arp, celebrated for his organic, shape-shifting productions.

“Every musical moment in this album is essentially a letter to my self in some form…” - yingtuitive

Across eight original compositions, Letters To Self 寫情書 unfolds as a sonic diary, a search inward, a series of tender emotional missives to the self. Gamelan-inspired textures glimmer alongside field recordings captured in Singapore and the UK, while delicate, improvised piano passages echo memories of home. These elements intertwine with fragments of film samples and experimental electronics, resulting in tracks that glide through ambient, ethereal, and blissful terrains. It’s music that floats and envelops, as though nature itself had grown into sound, serene and rich in emotional resonance.

Written during a period of deep reflection, the album meditates on identity, homesickness, belonging, and the overwhelming noise of the world outside. Each piece feels like a still moment within chaos, a soft conversation between past and present selves, where harmony emerges from internal conflict. From angelic piano melodies to glitchy bursts of experimentalism, yingtuitive bridges her Singaporean roots and UK influences with blissful grace. Letters To Self 寫情書 marks not just a debut release, but the formation of a unique musical voice, gliding between cultural languages with honesty, vulnerability, and quiet strength.”

We are delighted to present the new 12" maxi on Dubatriation records, two extended tracks for complete immersion ! This opus defines the encounter of Panda Dub and Adi Shankara, two artists already signed to the label.

Like buried treasures, these tracks from a joint studio session have been unearthed and reworked for this release.

Infused with the orientalist flavours of French dub, these two tracks elevate the genre with their neat sound design. Panda Dub's ethnic samples and catchy melodies blend with Adi Shankara's rough and hypnotic textures.

Following the label's signature style, this record offers a deep and solemn musical experience. Embark on an introspective journey without further ado !

RIYL: The Focus Group, AFX, Mica Levi, Coil

Collaged from juddery electroacoustic rhythms, analog synth squelches, environmental recordings, text-to-speech poems and what Akira Umeda calls “ghost sounds”, ‘Clube da Mariposa Mórbida’ is a transcultural voyage into pure sonic fantasy. The São Paulo-based DIY maverick and former historian trades impressions and delusions with Nyege regular Metal Preyers, aka Jesse Hackett, imagining gory VR avatars, lovestruck arachnids, supermassive black holes and the titular morbid moth club, absurd iconography that stains their warped, mutable soundscapes. Hackett initially contacted Umeda after hearing last year’s sprawling ‘Gueixa’, an hour-long postmodern mixtape made from 202 fragments of the artist’s seemingly bottomless library of experiments. Spotting a similarity in the way they were both driven by collage and curation, Hackett embarked on four whirlwind months of exchange, sending Umeda audio snippets and concepts that the Brazilian eccentric would decode with Google translate. Umeda’s contribution was more uncanny; listening to the sketches on repeat until the sounds created “evasive impressions” in his mind, he used analog instruments and text-to-speech software to recreate these phantom occurrences. “Specters are never clear and always shifting, so the experience of synthesizing them is similar to clay modeling,” he explains. “To record these synthetic ghost sounds is like firing ceramic pots.”

And the hybrid nature of their collaboration doesn’t begin and end there. Both Hackett and Umeda work within visual art: Umeda has made films, ceramics and illustrations, while Hackett works on jewelry and sculpture with his father Bill, the proto-punk jeweler best known for creating Keith Richards’ iconic skull ring. Two of Bill’s artworks are featured on the album art and shadow the record’s themes, both carved in wood that’s stained with a shellac dye made from old 78rpm records. Umeda and Hackett’s music is similarly recycled, as if they’re dousing fresh art with long forgotten colors. On the opening track ‘One Eyed Weasel’, decelerated Brazilian funk syncopations are twisted with weightless voices, orchestral flourishes and canned screams before being lowered into eerie beds of unplaceable white noise. Even at the best of times, it’s difficult to pry apart what’s real and what’s synthesized; cyborg voices in different languages stutter around tangled, colorful musical threads: tablas, overdriven psych guitars, cryptic santur chimes and microtonal reed echoes. But Umeda and Hackett’s music isn’t an accompaniment to some post-Hassell Fourth World concept, it’s a projection into parallel future where our patchwork of cultures, digital and otherwise, has been reduced to hazy memories.

On ‘Boi de Piranha’, defective temple bells punctuate blown-out spiraling beats and unsettling backmasked chatter, and ruffled, featherlight rhythms and mbira-like repeating sequences quiver through sleazy 4/4 architectures on ‘Cut Throat Mickey’. Unfolding like a hypnagogic soundtrack to an unwritten queer, post-apocalyptic noir, ‘Clube da Mariposa Mórbida’ retches and heaves in the glamor of decay; slithering electro-plated music box earworms burrow into ‘Hora Do Slime’, while on ‘Olhos De Facão’ humid synth sequences chew on bone-rattling acoustic percussion and dissociated traces of humanity. It’s Hackett’s most bizarre offering yet, a few paces beyond ‘Shadow Swamps’ murking shadows towards Umeda’s kaleidoscopic concrète jungle.

"Natural Information Society, like their partners in time Bitchin Bajas, live their days in flow motion. Rhythms come and go, instruments sound as a means to a greater end. Music is the way of their life. Their debut convergence, Automaginary, feels as natural as it does inevitable. Both groups were first heard in 2010, both emerging from solo endeavors that accessed a vastness, more room than a single player might ultimately fill -- a place then for fellow travelers! Joshua Abrams, a questing bassist and improviser by trade, with an extensive discography of solo recordings and collaborations with a wide variety of artists, formed Natural Information Society as a conduit for the live presentation of his guimbri music. Abrams had delved into the sound of the threestringed Gnawan lute on his own, intrigued by the instrument's ability to provide melodic and rhythmic direction with a minimal, hypnotic palette. Known for the drone also are Bitchin Bajas. Cooper Crain of CAVE started the Bajas to explore his fascination with vintage electronics and recording techniques. With Dan Quinlivan on keyboards as well, Bitchin Bajas' discography has explored a range of dynamic approaches, producing various proportions of atmosphere and soundtrack that move from becalmed stasis to synthetic beat-building with a prescient liquidity. Both Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas are in pursuit of the unconscious in their musical expression, and through their independent methods, both have ridden the wind to unseen places, using the playing as the carpet that will take them there. A multitude of influences swarm amoebically in their sounds, from the mud of ancient Afro-groove to 20th-century classical austerity, from the clatter of freedom jazz to the 4/4 of kraut and disco and fusion beyond -- and then beyond the music and into the air. Wrapped up in a screen-printed jacket from visual artist Lisa Alvarado, whose aesthetic sense is a touchstone for the vision of Natural Information Society, Automaginary is psychedelic and ambient and jazz -- yet none of it either, the whole being more than the sum of former parts. This is music of unique variance, a remarkably perfect congregation of the two tribes that are Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas."