Cosmic Clash

Earth, a shiny jewel floating in the blackness of space… and for the robot known as Brainiac, the last piece to capture for his collection of planets. Not if the Justice League has anything to say about it!

A heavyweight astral shower of rhythm and vibes, Ash Walker’s third album ‘Aquamarine’ is set for release on 19th July via Night Time Stories. An avid collector of jazz, blues, soul, funk, reggae, and all things in-between; Ash has DJed far and wide… from the infamous Royal Mail squat party to the canals of Venice, spinning vinyl in Brixton with The Specials to scattering dub across San Francisco and LA. Ash’s production output is similarly exploratory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Inspired by a deep dive of sounds from artists including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, King Tubby, Bo Diddley, 4Hero, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Curtis Mayfield, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich; his first two albums, ‘Augmented 7th’ (2015) and ‘Echo Chamber’ (2016) gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Don Letts, Gideon Coe and Clash Magazine, XLR8R and MIMS.

It’s a tough task going for transcendence straight from the off, but that is what Skadedyr’s new album does, almost immediately summoning up a mood of ecstatic abandon whose wailing guitar and keyboard drones, ululating voice and rattling percussion, bring to mind the cosmic spirit of Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana, or the deep spiritual jazz of Pharoah Sanders at its most cathartic.