#global fusion

[bttrflyblu]

Mathias Duplessy & Florian Frère "Reve Fou"

[fire-toolz]

N҉o҉N҉L҉o҉C҉a҉L҉ F҉o҉R҉e҉C҉a҉S҉t҉ - B҉u҉B҉b҉L҉e҉ u҉N҉i҉V҉e҉R҉s҉E҉!  𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕦 𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟

The Words

Angel Marcloid does not quit. From the experimental vaporwave of Fire-Toolz to the longform atmospherics of Mindspring Memories, along with myriad other boundary-pushing projects, the Chicago artist has uploaded enough complex and challenging auditory and visual material to crash the kind of ancient computer on which it seems appropriate to engage it. Under the new moniker Nonlocal Forecast, Angel quite literally synthesizes some of her biggest influences from the eighties’ and nineties’ prog rock, smooth jazz, and new age scenes using almost entirely digital instrumentation and programming. The result, Bubble Universe!, is an eclectic, multifaceted, eminently listenable collection of ethereal neo-muzak.

Album opener “Celestial Nervous System” instantly grounds listeners in Nonlocal Forecast’s constructed-world uncanny valley. The first half of the song runs mellifluously with no clear sense of time signature—somewhat disorienting at first glance—before settling into a very brief swing groove just ahead of the two minutes mark. The song then blooms into a bouncier passage, where organic lead guitar is integrated with the synthetic orchestration for a romp before overlapping new-age melodies close the tune. Those hallmarks—time and tempo fluidity, juxtaposition of performance and programming, and diversity of musical intensities—are continually implemented and reinvented as the album proceeds. “Planck Lengths” features rapidfire Mixolydian keyboard dancing buoyed by rolling drums and occasional chirping birds; “Cloud-Hidden” perhaps most directly evokes an alternate-universe Rush radio hit remixed, with a dash of Richard Souther. “The Direct Path” sheds percussion, opting instead to form its base on a deep melodic motif (on… plucked strings? melodic drums?), which is accented with more crisp lead guitar and stargazing keyboard.

Angel audaciously “features” herself, in Fire-Toolz form, on the somewhat heavier “Triangular Format” which utilizes glitchy drum patterns rather than quasi-human ones and more bombastic synth tones. Sadly, this is one of the album’s shorter tracks; I could do with a full album of this autonomous collaboration. “The Evolutionary Game”, once it gets going, evokes a sense of nostalgia with its tinny keyboard melody and electronic pan-flute accompaniment. It’s conference-call-hold-music of the highest caliber, a song that you’ve definitely never heard yet you can swear you heard once twenty years ago. This din of familiarity is rebuffed by the end, though, as the percussion and heavier synth elements begin to dominate and transform the piece.

“Classical Information” puts a light swing twist in its department-store aesthetic, and has a lovely burst of more technical synth work. “Foam, Vacuum, Om” goes full-on ambient, sounding something like the musical equivalent of a bright hospital hallway at 3 AM. This relaxing soundscape extends into “Conscious Agent Combos”, as it progressively adds more active backing elements. Bird chirps return from their brief flight in album closer “Wave Nature”, which wraps things up with even more ambiance.

Altogether, Marcloid has assembled something boldly countercultural and unique with Bubble Universe!… Most modern art that conjures this retro aesthetic does so in a transformative, ironic, or modern-tinged way. Nonlocal Forecast approaches its subject matter straightforwardly and embraces what it is, not seeking to make the “uncool” cool, but making something “uncool” for those of us who like “uncool” stuff in 2019. (I’m using those quotes because I happen to be one of those people who unironically enjoys stuff like Yanni, Richard Souther, and eighties’ Rush.) I can’t imagine the investment of time it takes to program such intricate compositions, but acknowledging that, I do think the album is a little too short and a little too ambient. Its best and most novel parts by far are its most active and complex, but it would be a daunting challenge to craft a full fifty (or even forty) minutes of material like that. Nevertheless, Angel has proven herself beyond capable in yet another musical venture, and whatever comes next—for Nonlocal Forecast or any other Marcloid project—will always merit attention.

-Can This Even Be Called Music?

[twistedsoulmusic]

The Endless Dance feels like stepping into a world where rhythm, nature, and imagination move in constant conversation. Hannah Peel and Beibei Wang blend modular synths, prepared piano, traditional percussion, and improvised textures into something fluid, playful, and deeply physical.

[kimjanese]

[thebrewnews]

Music legends gather in Dubai for Alpen Capital's 21st Global Fusion event

Music legends gather in Dubai for Alpen Capital's 21st Global Fusion event. 21st edition of the Global Fusion Concert

Music Legends Unite in Dubai for Alpen Capital's 21st Global Fusion Event

Alpen Capital's 21st Global Fusion Event brings together renowned music legends in Dubai, creating a memorable fusion of cultures and sounds. Learn more about this spectacular gathering of iconic artists and the magic they create together.

[fire-toolz]

This week's essential listening includes Weather Channel jazz and a hardcore rap hybrid and basically anything else you could want.

Angel Marcloid—a nominally Chicago-based netizen who’s made a handful of incredible and incredibly difficult to categorize records as Fire-Toolz Angelwings Marmalade—introduces a new project indebted to the chintzy jazz they play during station breaks on the Weather Channel. Her take celebrates these sounds—keyboard lines that flutter enthusiastically like birds trapped in a Best Buy, sax-like synthesis, and gated reverb galore—but makes them a little more fantastically. There’s proggy drum breaks, sunny new agey passages, and jittery melodic contortions, the sound of a world a lot more surreal than ours. Catch it during Local on the 8s in the Jupiter Ascending universe. —Colin Joyce

[randomvarious]

Tok-Sin - “Sapphire Dust” Further East-Westercisms 1998

Tok-Sin aka Geoff Serle from Bristol, England is a musician who has never been content with sticking to one genre. His journey through music and his musical sensibilities seem to lie in a realm similar to that of Bill Laswell, though not nearly as prolific or avant garde. Starting in the late 70s, Serle has recorded contemporary and experimental jazz, industrial, ambient, and experimental rock music. As Tok-Sin, he constructs songs in which he fuses eastern and western sounds for the Law & Auder series East-Westercisms.

This track is dope. It’s both a groove one can easily nod their head to but is also an experimentation in sound. The foundation consists of a humming, persistent sitar chord and a TR-808 drum rhythm. He adds long, distant string synths and some quiet, but frequent short TB-303 squelches. With this foundation in place, Serle inserts a multitude of varying short loops consisting of different synths, drum rhythms, and sound effects. He weaves them in and out, creating different combinations and interactions between the different loops.

This song is kind of genreless. I guess it’s worldbeat / world fusion / global fusion. The TR-808 drum and bass is kind of hip hop-inspired but this isn’t instrumental hip hop. It’s also not trip hop. Hmm.