Experimental song reaching out from all quarters tonight, in extremely different ways. A surprising South & Central American focus. We also have some experimental beats, some classical and jazz hybrids, and some sound-art.

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SANAM – Habibon – حبيبٌ [Constellation/Bandcamp]

I was instantly hooked when I first heard the music of Lebanese singer Sandy Chamoun on some compilations a few years back. Two years ago, her new band SANAM released their debut album on London’s Mais Um, featuring other Lebanese luminaries like guitarist/electronic musician Anthony Sahyoun and two members of legendary Beirut shoegazers Postcards – their drummer Pascal Semerdjian and guitarist Marwan Tohme. Rounding out the band are Farah Kaddour on buzuq and Antonio Hajj Moussa on bass. The band have now signed to legendary Montréal postrock/experimental label Constellation – an unusual endorsement as they’re not Canadian let alone from Montréal. But the album was recorded & mixed by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, the Lebanese-Canadian musician who’s made astonishing music as Jerusalem In My Heart and who co-founded the Constellation-affiliated Hotel2Tango studio in Montréal. OK, that’s a lot of background; this second album is a brilliant synthesis of Arabic music, folk, experimental rock, and dream-pop; Chamoun’s auto-tuned vocals, the cascading keyboards, soft-but-motorik percussion and floating guitars take this in a very different direction from the first single. I note that the Bandcamp page has tags for both “post-folk” and “free rock”. Love it.

Crimewave – White Label [Fool’s Gold Records/Bandcamp]

Manchester’s Crimewave makes a pretty unique mixture of UK bass & experimental electronic styles with shoegazey indie guitar music. He now finds himself of New York label Fool’s Gold Records with new single “White Label“. It’s short & sweet and definitely hits those old-new vibes, kinda ’90s rock-gone-electric with near-d’n’b rhythms and jittery synths. Don’t leave us waiting so long this time, Crimewave!

plus44Kaligula – Home [plus44Kaligula Bandcamp]

Cally Statham, who performs as plus44Kaligula, hails from England’s north and makes the kind of pop music that lives somewhere between performance art and pop, in the experimental traditions of English pop songwriters like Kate Bush, David Bowie, Annie Lennox et al. There’s a political consciousness to the three songs on this short EP, hidden behind a sardonic, satirical image. And there’s an electronic backbone that takes it out of vaudevillian cabaret into something un-pin-downably modern.

Lucrecia Dalt – the common reader (feat. Juana Molina) [RVNG Intl./Bandcamp]

Lucrecia Dalt – stelliformia [RVNG Intl./Bandcamp]

I’ve been following Lucrecia Dalt‘s music since she was The Sound of Lucrecia, making lovely indie music that only fainly hinted at the highly experimental electronics or Latin music that would come into her music in latter years. Her last album, 2022’s ¡Ay!, somehow combined her modular synth work with the music of her Colombian roots and incredible, counter-intuitive orchestrations – a masterpiece. On her new album A Danger To Ourselves, the connection to Latin America is still strong, but it feels like Dalt’s electronics take more of a leading role. There are violins and cello, saxophone and percussion throughout, with some bass and guitar on some tracks. And as well as Dalt’s now-partner David Sylvian, who co-produced the album, there are a few prominent South American guests including Mexican singer & sound-artist Camille Mandoki and the wonderful Juana Molina, whose loop-based, hypnotic songwriting was a favourite on Utility Fog since 2004, and it’s a treasure to hear her voice with Dalt’s here. The balance, if you could call it that, between the experimental and the “pop” elements on this album is thrilling.

Titanic – La dueña [Unheard of Hope/Bandcamp]

Titanic – Gallina degollada [Unheard of Hope/Bandcamp]

Guatemalan (Mexico-resident) cellist Mabe Fratti and longtime collaborator Héctor Tosta de la Rosa (who records as I. la Católica) released their first album as Titanic in 2023. The project is an outlet for I. La Católica’s compositions and arrangements with Fratti’s distinctive, creative cello playing and her emotive voice comfortably at home. Vidrio is now followed by Hagen. There’s some absolutely gorgeous songwriting on here, mostly by I. La Católica, with some co-writes by Fratti, whose singing on all tracks is possibly her best ever. Of course she plays cello too, all over these tracks alongside I. la Católica’s instruments and the pair’s electronics. Hagen has a guest spot from Daniel Oneohtrix Point Never Lopatin on one track, and Lopatin collaborator Nathan Salon adds instrumentation and production on about half the album; the brilliant drummer (and yes, OPN compadre) Eli Keszler also appears. As expected, this is evocative, glistening, and not quite like anything else.

Shapednoise – Repeater (feat. Armand Hammer) [Weight Looming]

When the last Shapednoise album came out, I pointed out that Nino Pedone has one foot in the noise realm, with releases on Prurient’s Hospital Productions among others, and one foot in the bass world, collaborating with Mumdance & Logos on the cyberpunk project The Sprawl. That was Absurd Matter, an ambitious set with many guest vocals, set to massively overdriven beats & bass, and electronic walls of noise (and sometimes melody). Out on September 17th, Absurd Matter 2 is the sequel you’d expect, with both Armand Hammer and Moor Mother returning as guests. And Armand Hammer are easily able to rap over the collapsing structures here – apocalyptic visions.

Ziúr – Though The Trees feat. Iceboy Violet [Kuboraum Editions/Bandcamp]

Based in Berlin, Ziúr has been taking her own path through club music and pop, punk and glitchy experimentation for about a decade, with releases on PAN and Planet µ among others. Her new album Home, released