Heiner Schmitz’s Symprophonicum Sins & Blessings (Big Band Records)
Colin StetsonThe War Show / Color Out Of Space / Le Peur OST (Milan)
Jerzy MilianRivalen / Cutting(GAD)
Kemper NortonEstrenyon (Kemper Norton)
Author and PunisherKruller(Relapse)
King GizzardButterfly 3001 Remixes(KGLW)
Zeal & Ardor Zeal & Ardor(MVKA)
VoivodSynchro Anarchy (Century Media)
Svin & Arhus SinfoniettaElegi(Big Band Records)
SoleyMother Melancholia(Dischord)
Juliana BarwickThe Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
Mira CalixSkimskitta(Warp)
Jazzhaus Orchester Hamburg Cosmopolitans (Big Band Records)
Transcendence OrchestraAll Skies Have Sounded (Editions Mego)

Don’t let anybody tell you that you’re safe

These are they eyes that saw them die

These are the hands that dug their graves

SO DON’T LET ANYBODY TELL YOU THAT YOU’RE SAFE!

Tour admat for Baroness for their North American co-headline tour with Deafheaven, with Zeal & Ardor joining them, in March/April 2019.

Always a pleasure & honor to work with John, although this one was produced under a bit of time pressure, even more than usual with an aperfectmonster collab ( I’m not complaining, mind you.) because of that, I didn’t take my usual time to sort out models, etc but straight away went to my archive of photos: the osprey is based on a great shot by @joinus12345 & the heart/beetle is based on an earlier design of mine (go down my feed to find that one.) That being said, limited time can sometimes lead to good things: it forces me to make bolder decisions, “downside” might be that I had to do a bit more digital work. I made this in 5 days from scratch. Swipe to see the art in different stages. Layout by John Dyer Baizly.

Thank you again John for your trust!

❤️

Zeal & Ardor-Wake of a Nation

Having covered their output since their debut and being a big fan of Manuel Gagneux’ project, it pains me to say, especially given the noble pretext and occasional momentary flashes of sobering messaging, that this six-song mini release really doesn’t capture the unique sonic pallet that has made Zeal & Ardor such an interesting act to listen to for the past few years in the most flattering light.

The title track is possibly the least egregious of the offenders here, but all the songs here function similarly by taking a little snippet of sound that samples Zeal & Ardor’s broader stylistic range, and drawing it out across these short, but all too minimally composed tracks in such a way that they lose their momentum very quickly, never to regain it until a defibrillation attempt by the next song.

Like I said, I wholeheartedly appreciate, sympathize with, and support what Manuel Gagneux is doing to lend his band’s platform to the addressing of the dire issue of today’s racism through musical means with this project, and when its social motivation is at the forefront, it’s at its most potent, but musically, unfortunately, Wake of a Nation is just desperately underwritten in a way that doesn’t fairly represent how accomplished Zeal & Ardor really are with their sound.

5/10

• Zeal & Ardor •