Long-awaited albums are difficult to live up to at the best of times, particularly if you’re Madlib aka Otis Jackson Jr – an artist who has created some of the most beloved, futuristic productions, and samples, in hip-hop and electronic music history. Capturing the sparkling energy, of live performance without becoming untethered, across its 8 compositions Promises ushers you into its singular sonic meditations with a hushed magic.

Driven by Sanders’ ethereal saxophone, Floating Points weaves his keys and electronics amidst instrumentals from the London Symphony Orchestra. Living up to its name, Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points’ collaborative album Promises is as transcendent as we all hoped it would be – a multi-generational creative celebration that comprises some of the most transfixing work by all involved. – Gabriela Helfetįloating Points, Pharoah Sanders & London Symphony Orchestra Promises Which raises the question: if this is the home edition, what sort of ecstatic iterations are waiting for us all when we can be together again? Something to look forward to, this much is certain. (Expect club-orientated live versions to follow.) That said, in their current form, many of these tracks would set a dance floor alight – take the whirling acid rollercoaster of ‘X’, the glitched-out builds of ‘Atlas’, or the shimmering Malawian vocals of ‘Apricots’, for example. As such, on Isles’ album recordings, Bicep present ‘heads-down-eyes-closed-at-home’ primed versions of the tracks.

Yet, Isles’ tracks encapsulate the euphoric, in-person thrill of Bicep’s music better than ever before, finding new freedom in the experimentation that they honed while touring. When it came time for Bicep to make their second album however, there were no dance floors to road test the tunes on. Bicep’s debut album came into its own during the duo’s next-level live tour – each performance saw different variations on the tracks, framed by neon-hued luminescence to fill your eyeballs with a blazing glee.

Rage plugin hook july 2021