Sam Amidon - Sam Amidon (Nonesuch)
I reviewed this for musicOMH here.
Sam Burton - I Can Go With You (Tompkins Square)
Perfect reverb soaked laconic songs.
Sam Gendel - Satin Doll (Nonesuch)
Sam Gendel - DRM (Nonesuch)
Crazy video game jazztronica. Deconstructed standards on Satin Doll, modern standards (Old Town Road!) and original compositions on DRM.
Sam Lee - Old Wow (Cooking Vinyl)
Another excellent album of repurposed folk material that sounds fresh, engaging and spirited.
Santrofi - Alewa (OutHere)
Tremendous Ghanaian Highlife.
Sarah Davachi - Cantus, Descant (Late Music)
Sarah Davachi - Figures In Open Air (Late Music)
More mesmeric, immersive soundscapes. Figures In Open Air captures some assured live performances and is intended as a supplementary work. Cantus, Descant is a brilliantly coherent, strangely moving work for various organs and keyboards.
Sarah Louise - Earth and Its Contents (Bandcamp)
Originally created as a soundtrack for Nick Crockett's film Fire Underground, this elemental music now stands alone as it is made more resonant by climate change and by the pandemic.
SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) (Forever Living Originals)
SAULT - Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Supposedly mysterious artists shy of the limelight but actually no doubt an exceedingly effective PR project, Sault's two albums this year captured the BLM Zeitgeist with righteous protest and jubilant celebration. Most likely the work of producer Inflo and singer Cleo Sol (whose own somewhat overshadowed album was masterful).
Schnellertollermeier - 5 (Cuneiform)
Polyrhythmic delirium.
Seafarers - Orlando (Bandcamp)
Jazz musicians tackling modern original folk songs - vocals from the tremendous and very versatile Lauren Kinsella.
Secret Machines - Awake In The Brain Chamber (TSM)
Welcome return of heavy progressive shoegaze outfit.
Shabaka and The Ancestors - We Are Sent Here By History (Impulse!)
For me, the best and most important of Shabaka Hutchings' various projects.
Shabason, Krgovitch & Harris - Philadelphia (Idee Fixe)
Intimate, hushed songs capturing the detail of the mundane and the routined. Not sure I get the same satisfaction from making the bed, but the consolations of the home life meant something more in lockdown.
Shabazz Palaces - The Don of Diamond Dreams (Sub Pop)
Inventive and compelling avant-hip hop.
Shackleton/Zimpel - Primal Forms (Cosmo Rhythmic)
Three long, slow building pieces in this successful collaboration between Sam Shackleton and Polish clarinettist Waclaw Zimpel.
Shamir - Shamir (Bandcamp)
Shamir - Cataclysm (Bandcamp)
Artful pop music with wide-ranging vocal presence. These albums are refreshingly different from Shamir's prior work - much less disco and much more angular rock band.
Shirley Collins - Heart's Ease (Domino)
Collins' assured comeback continues apace with this graceful collection, providing beautiful framings for Collins' conversational and direct delivery. This includes four new non-traditional tracks.
Sibusile Xaba - Ngiwu Shwabada (Komos)
Part of the maskandi and malombo traditions but also clearly with a distinctive and individual approach, this album of South African guitar and vocal music, apparently recorded in one continuous take, is revelatory.
Sidi Toure - Afrik Toun Me (Thrill Jockey)
More softly rhythmic. beautiful and joyful music from Mali with Toure joined by guitarist Mamadou Kelly and Boubou Diallo on calabash.
Silver Scrolls - Music For Walks (Three Lobed)
The title would suggest that this music is very much for me - and indeed, its combination of meditative, reflective space and exploration of rock music terrain is robust and effective.
Sink Ya Teeth - Two (Hey Buffalo)
Great art pop for the dance floor.
Sir Richard Bishop - Oneiric Formulary (Drag City)
Some fascinating divergences and tangents on this one, from electric guitar pieces to use of keyboards.
Siti Muharam - Siti of Unguja (Romance Revolution On Zanzibar) (On The Corner)
The granddaughter of legendary taraab singer Siti Binti Saad places her own interpretation on romantic musical traditions.
Six Organs Of Admittance - Companion Rises (Drag City)
Ben Chasny wrote, recorded and played everything here, sometimes adroitly blending acoustic guitar performances with treated vocals and electronics. This is not a lockdown record (it was released back in February), but one that maybe inadvertently set the scene for that type of independent, reflective release.
Skeletons - If The Cat Comes Back (Shinkoyo)
Nebulous, floating, curious song structures from Matt Mehlan.
Skyway Man - The World Only Ends When You Die (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
Country got soul.
Slauson Malone - Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Bandcamp)
Brilliantly uncategorisable, disorientating, sonic verbiage.
Sonar with David Torn - Tranceportation Vol. 2 (RareNoise)
Second volume of lattice like groove structures with the innovative guitarist guesting.
Songhoy Blues - Optimisme (Transgressive)
Desert blues now with urgent, punkish energy.
Space Afrika - hybtwibt? (Bandcamp)
Mixtape of sounds, samples and recordings reconstructed with a strong narrative. Revenue donated to a range of BLM related charities.
Sparkle Division - To Feel Embraced (Musex International/Temporary Residence)
Bizarre collaboration between William Basinski (sometimes playing saxophone) and Preston Wendel.
Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (BMG)
One of the most consistently imaginative and underrated of bands.
SPAZA - Uprise! (Mushroom Hour Half Hour)
Subtly stirring improvised score documenting the battle against Apartheid.
Speaker Music - Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry (Planet Mu)
Released without prior publicity in response to the death of George Floyd and the issues again highlighted as a result, DeForrest Brown Jr.'s second full album for Planet Mu is intellectual and theoretical but also visceral, hard hitting and uncompromising. A compelling amalgam of words and rhythm.
Spencer Zahn - Sunday Painter (Cascine)
Beautiful, lush, atmospheric instrumentals - delivered with a sense of painterly detail.
Spike Orchestra - Splintered Stories (Tzadik)
Sam Eastmond's radical modern big band music with remarkable dynamic range and intensity.
https://www.tzadik.com
Squarepusher - Be Up A Hello (Warp)
Tom Jenkinson still has the ability to surprise and delight - and this favours his mischievous side.
Starebaby - Natural Selection (Pi)
Dan Weiss' David Lynch-inspired noisy electric ensemble continues to produce music of impressive intensity and impact.
Steve Spacek - Houses (Black Focus)
Minimal and efficient soulful dance music.
Stillefelt - Stillefelt (Stoney Lane)
Chris Mapp's excellent ambient jazz trio offers space for contemplation and reflection.
Still House Plants - Long Play (Bison)
Still House Plants - Fast Edit (Bison)
Bursts of combative defiance - free improvisation with a DIY/punk energy, interaction built on anxious and querulous interjections.
Sufjan Stevens - The Ascencion (Asthmatic Kitty)
Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams - Aporia (Asthmatic Kitty)
I'm still somewhat unconvinced by Sufjan Stevens' detours into electronic music - the clutter seems to too often detract from his emotional intentions. Still, The Ascension still has sublime moments and belongs here for its vaunting ambition alone. The instrumentals on Aporia, made in collaboration with his step father, radiate a genuine warmth.
Sun Araw - Rock Sutra (Sun Ark)
Manic and gleeful electro weirdness.
Sun Ra Arkestra - Swirling (Strut)
First studio album from the Arkestra, corralled by the great Marshall Allen, in over 20 years. Still very much in touch with the core astral concerns.
Surprise Chef - Daylight Savings (Mr Bongo)
Lithe and breezy groove pieces, recorded over the course of a single weekend.
Susan Alcorn - Pedernal (Relative Pitch)
Expanding the vocabulary and possibilities of the pedal steel guitar. Also, dream ensemble with Mary Halvorson, Mark Feldman, Michael Formanek and Ryan Sawyer.
SUSS - Promise (Northern Spy)
Dreamscapes of the American west.
Swamp Dogg - Sorry You Couldn't Make It (Joyful Noise Recordings)
A great new set of country soul songs to relish. The sadly missed John Prine guests on two tracks.
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