Hey it’s Under The Stars, your weekly rundown of what is popping in The Bay and beyond. A column that presents new music releases, upcoming shows, opinions, and other adjacent items. We keep moving with the changes and thinking outside the margins.
Spend some time with us… and don’t forget that Noise Pop is at hand.
DERYA YILDIRIM & GRUP ŞIMŞEK, “COOL HAND” FROM YARIN YOKSA (BIG CROWN RECORDS)
So it does not matter if you are not familiar with a “bağlama composition,” which would be a piece of music designed to be played on a traditional Turkish string instrument. Derya Yıldırım and her band Grup Şimşek wrap woozy, groove-tinged arrangements around that bağlama, so you feel as though you are at some type of Khruangbin-adjacent event, and the vibes are choice. Because those melodies and rhythms associated with Turkish folk music will put you on a cloud of tranquility and sway in a matter of seconds.
In short, think Los Bitchos on Kush.
Their new album, Yarın Yoksa, out on Big Crown Records in mid-March, is produced by the vibe-master himself, Leon Michels. Between twisting up critically acclaimed albums for both Norah Jones and Black Thought over the past two years, expect smooth sailing and a more invested interest in psych-rock influences and traditional Anatolian folk songs.
US tour dates are coming soon.
Pre-order here.
DARAMA AND KUSH ARORA, “RATTLE“
The last time we wrote about Bay Area-based producer Kush Arora, it was last year for the Life In The Jungle EP. Such an active reminder of how jungle and drum and bass can be reintroduced, interpreted, and just overall continually embraced. Kush Arora returns with Londoner Darama for the Rattle EP, which expands the sound of bass music, infusing various cultural accents, hitting different frequencies. That’s one of the joys in this low end frequency music—the canvas remains vast, always open to new ideas for patterns and schemes.
“Heart Meter,” packed with flute lines, drill-type regiment, and inner step beats, alerts us how footwork remains open to interpretation. “Rattle” comes fully rolling hard-n-tight with that dubstep temperature, while the closing track “Grid” pogos to snapping basslines, handclaps, and robotic ticks, causing the right type of bashment for your sound system.
Kush Arora is all about that London humid touch, filling up the 415 with bass laden earworms, vibrating through the fog. Salute!
Pick it up here here.
NADI AND OTUS, FREEFALL (ALL MY THOUGHTS)
Always look towards the track made by junglist producers and/or speed garage enthusiasts that breaks from their conventions and does something out of pocket—even for leftfield techno and breakbeat creatives. That’s the test.
Nadi’s played at Glastonbury Festival 3 years running and Otus, a London-based producer and DJ, both known for their bouncy basslines and out techno productions, create the thing you want from a four-track EP by two unique electronic music producers: make the weird track, the one that sounds nothing like the others, swing to its inner metier.
Make no mistake, the first track released, “Bombay,” pushes the button, forces off the lid, and makes the head-nod quotation hit a 9 with that melodic bassline and the vocal clip of “uh” snapping us all through humidity. “Pari,” the third track, gives all the break-beat, bass wobble, and vocals swirling in this hurricane of frenzy, and the first track, “Salt,” is a speed garage flashback, complete with the gentle jungle grumble lurking under all the flash and fashion of a night with champers and shiny outfits. So when we hit the final track, aptly titled “Freefall,” it’s downtempo seether like somebody accidentally did play a track at a slower speed, so all the whirring by of oncoming traffic is given its own paused language.
Tracks like these, perfected by Reinforced Records back in the day, always found their way into my record bag because the middle breaks were filled with emotion. The stretch in “Freefall” where the sped-up voices from earlier begin to sing with vibrant beauty is particularly striking.
This Freefall EP, from the same label that released last year’s GEMZ by Sakura Tsuruda, I think it’s wise to keep Nadi and Otus in your rotation.
Pick it up here.
JON SPENCER & THE HITMAKERS AT BOTTOM OF THE HILL, FEBRUARY 23
A boisterous combo where ripping lines and thump meet up, Jon Spencer & The Hitmakers is a post-White Stripes, rawk-n-blooze, delivery system where Jon Spencer’s badassery flourishes. This déjà-vu interpretation debuted with 2022’s Spencer Gets It Lit, where they delivered a less antiquated, more out version of Spencer’s Blues Explosions’ previous junctures.
Ok, lemme cut to the chase. I had the homie hit me last week with the “Jon Spencer is playing BOTH on Feb 23” text. “Heard him play on KEXP in Dec. He still fucking rocks and takes no shit.” So people, this ain’t no revival gig; get ready to drag some dirt on that rug.
Grab tickets here.
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA, “EARTH 1” IC-02 BOGOTÁ (JAGJAGUWAR)
Falling out of the sky like a Keith Jarrett pastel sunrise, Rubian Nielson, leader and head cat wrangler of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, has dropped the first single and visual from the upcoming album, IC-02 Bogotá. It’s the second entry in the band’s instrumental series. Mentioned in the press release as “possible background music for some strange parties and night drives in your future,” the previous instrumental album IC-01 HANOI dropped unannounced, born out of live jam-outs during the Sex & Food recording sessions, showcased multiple sides of this living, breathing organism that can turn out hits alongside chuggy, muggy electronic Miles nods as well.
It’s called range. IC-02 Bogotá is out February 28 on Jagjaguwar.
Pre-order here.
EMMA-JEAN THACKRAY, “WANNA DIE” (BROWNSWOOD RECORDING)
Getting a real sense there is a stylistic change happening with the oncoming new project Weirdo from the ever-non-compromising Emma-Jean Thackray. With a fussy, breezy, odd-time signature R&B-esque track called “Wanna Die” and getting the co-sign wink from label head and global tastemaker Gilles Peterson himself, playing along in the visual, this may be the record that breaks EJT big in the States.
Citing unfortunate circumstances for the inspiration, Thackray divulges: “I think we need to talk about the dark shit in our heads, and finding the humor in it only makes that easier. The lyrics to this are very diary-esque, like confessional poetry, and the bare emotion of it is balanced out with lush jazz harmony, sweeping synths, and pop-punk silliness. When you center in on the silliness, it’s easier to speak on your pain, and easier for others to hear it.”
Pre-order Weirdo here.
A CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF ZAKIR HUSSAIN AT GRACE CATHEDRAL, FEBRUARY 28
Zakir Hussain’s life and music will be celebrated on February 28 at Grace Cathedral. While it’s not a concert per se, the event shall provide vivid performance-like moments from friends and colleagues, uplifting the legacy of a beloved SF musician, known all over the globe.
Hussain, the composer and actor was such a legend that he was referred to as the greatest tabla player and percussionist of his generation. Hussain died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, on December 15, 2024.
The ceremony, featuring the Bay Area’s finest musicians, organized by Zakir’s family, with tickets ranging from $30 to $90, promises to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime celebrations of a life that only this city can execute in total ovation and glee.
100% of ticket sales will go to the Zakir Hussain Institute of Music.
Featuring appearances and performances from George Brooks, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Eric Harland, Marcus Gilmore, Mickey Hart, Alam Khan, Anantha Krishnan, Jayanthi Kumaresh, Julian Lage, Charles Lloyd, Third Coast Percussion w/Salar Nader, Chris Potter, Harish Raghavan, Ganesh Rajagopalan, Kala Ramnath, Joshua Redman, David Sánchez, John Santos, Marvin Sewell, Steve Smith, Tabla Choir and more, this commemoration, a tribute in sound and spirit, shall be like no other.
You can purchase tickets here.
ORIONS BELTE PRESENTED BY (((FOLKYEAH!))) AT THE CHAPEL, FEB 26
According to lore, the origins of Orions Belte stemmed from one of those mystical moments in time, which spawned a lasting creative connection. The first time all three members—Øyvind, Chris, and Kim—met up to work on ideas, they ended up recording their entire first album over a weekend together.
Mint, that début release from the Oslo-based collective power trio, didn’t subscribe to a paint-by-numbers disposition. It set the foundation for this prog-rock, underground pop, post-punk, and gothic atmospheric-loving band that tends to its low-end bottom business all too well. Citing various influences such as Nigerian ’70s rock, postcards from the French Riviera, Formula One races at the Monza track in Italy, and when Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali in the ‘Fight of the Century’ in 1971, Orions Belte paints quite the rhythmic mosaic. Wear your trainers.
Grab tix here.
