Paramour

To mark their 6th Anniversary, Steyoyoke invited some of the best producers to create remixes of their favourite tracks of 2017. The release will feature remixes from Hernan Cattaneo, Audio Junkies, Martin Roth, Simon Doty, Nairo and Township Rebellion. Opening the release is Hernan Cattaneo and Audio Junkies’ take on Blancah’s “Talus”. The result is pure energy with playful rhythm, soothed by melodic synths. Reinventing Soul Button’s “Paramour” is Martin Roth, who certainly adds a bit of forthright edge and deeper undertones to the original mix. Next up is Simon Doty and Nairo’s version of Nick Devon’s “Overflow”, which unleashes vivid elements scattered across heavy bass lines. The fourth and last track in this release is Clawz SG and Nick Devon’s “Syndicate” remixed by Township Rebellion. Saturated with explosive attitude, this remix surely won’t let one stand still!

As part of ECM'0bs Old & New Masters series of box sets, John Abercrombie's The First Quartet collects three albums recorded for the label between 1978 and 1980. Two titles, 1979's Abercrombie Quartet and 1981's M, have been unavailable for decades. By the guitarist's own admission, this band represents the guitarist's first time as a "proper" bandleader. His earlier dates on ECM had been co-led sessions (Timeless, Gateway, Sargasso Sea), a solo album (Characters), and sideman gigs (Jack DeJohnette's New Directions, David Liebman's Lookout Farm, etc.). These three dates also represent an important foundation for Abercrombie as a composer.

Now that the whole Return to Forever reunion experience is in his rearview mirror (and unlikely to be repeated ever again), guitar star Al Di Meola is pursuing his own musical vision with newfound conviction via his World Sinfonia. Essentially an acoustic ensemble featuring Fausto Beccalossi on accordion and Di Meola’s longtime collaborator Gumbi Ortiz on cajon and assorted hand percussion, along with second guitarist Peo Alfonsi, bassist Victor Miranda and drummer Peter Kaszas, this edition of the World Sinfonia has developed a tightly knit chemistry through frequent touring. This limited-edition release, the first in a series of live recordings being sold initially at World Sinfonia gigs, documents their easy rapport in concerts held in Seattle, San Francisco and Istanbul.

Generally speaking, guitar wizard Al Di Meola has divided his musical attentions over the years between electric and acoustic, fusion and world music directions. This time out he splits the difference with some dazzling results. Coming off his short-lived reunion with Return to Forever, Di Meola returns to the solo spotlight with Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody, a strong and varied effort that moves mostly in the acoustic direction and features some high-profile personnel, including pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and bassist Charlie Haden.

On her second album proper, the Scottish producer/composer/singer-songwriter dials up her rock band’s dynamic power, creating a nervy, chaotically controlled embodiment of contemporary uncertainty.

For a brief point in the '90s, Mary Lou Lord was an indie rock celebrity, best-known as a pre-Nirvana paramour of Kurt Cobain and a bête noire of Courtney Love, which was enough to get her plenty of headlines during alt-rock's heyday. Lord never capitalized on that notoriety, releasing a couple of acclaimed EPs on Kill Rock Stars before moving to the Sony imprint WORK to release her 1998 debut, Got No Shadow, which retained her sensibility but polished it for a wider adult-alternative audience that never came.