Alabaster DePlume

Recorded during the middle of his tour last year with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Tcheser Holmes, saxophonist and composer Alabaster DePlume is dropping new EP "Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue" this spring, an epilogue of sorts to last year's "A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole."  Check out the wonderful new song "It's Only Now Once (Elbit Systems Windowpane)" below and pre-order the download here from International Anthem.  Also, be on the lookout for a limited vinyl pressing in April on Record Store Day.

Gregory Uhlmann

LA composer and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Uhlmann is set to drop new album "Extra Stars" in March, an experimental jazz opus.  Check out the Alabaster DePlume assisted "Lucia" below and pre-order the LP here from International Anthem.

SML

Experimental quintet SML dropped on the scene last year with their excellent "Small Medium Large" LP, a weirdo mix of jazz, post punk, no wave, dub, and more.  The band continues that trajectory with the upcoming new "How You Been" LP out in November.  Check out the frenetic "Taking Out the Trash" below and pre-order the record here from International Anthem.

Tortoise

Attention!  Attention!  New music from Tortoise incoming!  The long running post rock originators are set to release their first album in 9 years with impending "Touch."  Pre-order it here from International Anthem and listen to "Layered Presence" below.

Tortoise Remixed by Saul Williams

Long running post rock band Tortoise released new track "Oganesson" a little while back on International Anthem, and the track is now getting the full remix treatment from a variety of artists on the new "Oganesson Remixes" 12".  Check out the strange spoken word rendition from Saul Williams below and get the record here.

Ben LaMar Gay

The good folks over at International Anthem just released the latest album from Ben LaMar Gay, and "Yowzers" is a wonderful mix of jazz and soul...basically the kind of thing you come to expect from Ben LaMar Gay.  Dig on the soulful title track below and get the LP here.

Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer

Electronic artist Jeremiah Chiu and violist Marta Sofia Honer released one of my favorite records last year in collaboration with composer Ariel Kalma with "The Closest Thing to Silence."  The duo is back with the upcoming "Different Rooms," an avant garde mix of jazz, new age, and neo-classical compositions.  Listen to "Mean Solar Time" below and pre-order the LP here from International Anthem.

Resavoir & Matt Gold

Chicago based artists Resavoir and Matt Gold provide the easy jazz sounds on "Canopy" from their upcoming new album "Horizon."  Pour yourself a drink, hang out in the shade, and watch the sun set behind the trees.  Dig on the track below and pre-order the LP here from International Anthem.

Tortoise

Holy shit!  We've got new music from Tortoise.  The iconic experimental post-rock band are back with new single "Oganesson," their first new music in 9 years.  And it's out on the indispensable jazz label International Anthem.  Check it out below and download it here.

Alabaster DePlume

Singer, saxophonist, composer, and poet Alabaster DePlume has a new record of experimental jazz coming our way in March.  Pre-order "A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole" here from the indispensable International Anthem label and listen to the lovely album opening "Oh My Actual Days" below.

Alabaster DePlume

Experimental jazz composer and saxophonist Alabaster DePlume just released new EP "Cremisan: Prologue to a Blade."  The first two tracks were recorded in Bethlehem at The Wonder Cabinet, an experimental arts, music, and architecture space, collaborating with local artists and musicians.  The result is beautiful, aching, and somber.  Check out "Honeycomb" below and download the EP here from International Anthem.

SML

Over the last few years, Chicago record label International Anthem has fast become one of my favorite labels, just constantly upping the ante with each subsequent release.  On deck is the debut album from SML, a quintet of likeminded jazz artists who just started playing together over the last year or so.  "Small Medium Large" is a weird and wild mix of improvisational jazz, post punk, no wave, psych, dub, and more, a whole synthesis of sounds that really sticks to your bones.  Check out "Industry" below and pre-order the LP here.

Ariel Kalma, Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer

Jazz meets new age on the collaborative new album from Australia based musician Ariel Kalma and LA artists Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer.  "The Closest Thing to Silence" is out now on International Anthem, and it plays like a hypnotic daydream.  Check out the album opening "Ten Hour Wave" below and get the record here.

Ruth Goller

Let's get weird with some new music from Italian-born, London-based musician and composer Ruth Goller.  I'm at a loss for how exactly to categorize the sounds on the artist's upcoming "SKYLLUMINA" LP, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of gothy, psych-tinged improvisational jazz.  It's equal parts haunting and intoxicating, and feels like waking up in an alternate plane of reality.  Listen to album opener "Below My Skin" below and pre-order the LP here from International Anthem.

Alabaster DePlume

Last year when Alabaster DePlume released the fantastic "Gold" LP, the artist's assembled group of musicians created so much music during their sessions, that a lot of the unused material is now surfacing on new album "Come with Fierce Grace."  Our first taste is the Momoko Gill assisted "Did You Know," a relaxed but contemplative tune that for whatever reason sounds to me like sitting on a beach at night, moon reflected on the surface of the ocean, the gentle crashing of the surf moving the sand around me.  Check it out below and pre-order the album here from International Anthem.

Makaya McCraven

September brings us a new album of no-wave jazz from Chicago percussionist, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven.  Check out the wonderful and gorgeous "Seventh String" below, and pre-order the "In These Times" LP here from International Anthem.

Anteloper

Here's a wonderfully weird mix of electronica, jazz, and other assorted oddities from the duo called Anteloper.  "One Living Genus" is a swirling head trip of a tune, sprawling and intoxicating.  Check it out below and pre-order the upcoming "Pink Dolphins" LP here from indispensable International Anthem.

Alabaster DePlume

International Anthem continues to demonstrate why it's one of the best labels in the biz with every single release.  And April brings us "Gold," the latest opus from composer and saxophonist Angus Fairbairn, more commonly known as Alabaster DePlume.  Jazz, folk, and no-wave abound.  Check out "The Sound of My Feet on this Earth Is a Song to Your Spirit" below and pre-order the record here.

Jamire Williams

I know i talk up Chicago record label International Anthem a lot on here, but they may have outdone themselves with the upcoming new album from drummer/producer/performance artist Jamire Williams.  "But Only After You Have Suffered" begins with a building sound, like an orchestra tuning up, but with more players than you can possibly count, leading to something grand.  Elements of jazz, soul, psychedelia, no wave discordance, and southern hip-hop abound.  Check out the Fat Tony and Zeroh assisted "Safe Travels" below and pre-order the album here.

Irreversible Entanglements

Even if you have only a passing interest in jazz, the stuff getting released by International Anthem is almost obscenely good.  And the latest is the third LP from New York/Philadelphia/Washington DC free-jazz outfit Irreversible Entanglements.  "Open the Gates" is a blast and swirl of sound and textures that feels like the birth of something enormous.  Check out the album opening title track below and pre-order the record here.