New release of the week: Gum, Ambrose Kenny-Smith - Ill Times

Co-founder of Pond and touring member of Tame Impala, Jay Watson, also makes music as Gum.

‘Gum is my brain, unfiltered,’ Watson says.

A labour of love and an exercise in joy, written and recorded with Ambrose Kenny-Smith, best known as the mesmeric harmonica-player, keyboardist and vocalist with King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and The Murlocs.

The debut collaborative album between the two is a 10-track exploration into groove, blues and soul, deeply hypnotic from start to finish. Ill Times is easily as much fun to listen to as it appears the duo had while making it, and that was ridiculous amounts of fun.

‘What’s so rewarding about making this album with Ambrose – him taking ideas that I’ve loved for so long, and making them exist in real life and sound as good as they did in my head, or even better.’

Sound Pick: Satellites - Satellites

The Şatellites’ sound shimmers between traditional Turkish folk and instrumentation, ethereal psychedelic guitar leads and groovy dance-floor basslines.

The resulting concoction of songs draws on cross-continental influence, yet at its core there is a desire to illuminate the vivid qualities of classic Turkish music, honouring the Anatolian folk and psych artists from this golden era of music.

From the funky disco beat of Disko Arabesque to the celestial lead guitar in Yağmur Yağar Taş Üstüne, the band add fire and flair to time-honoured pieces of Turkish music, giving them new meanings.

Covering important tracks such as female singer Kamuran Akkor’s track Olurmu Dersin, and musician and guitarist Zafer Dilek’s Yekte, the album covers an array of original pieces of different musical styles and sounds, that once have and continue to flow out of Turkey.

The featured albums are available from Sound Records which can be found in Wellington Street, Douglas.