Jace Clayton is an artist and writer also known for his work as DJ/rupture.
1
REMA, “CALM DOWN” (Jonzing World)
Flawless Nigerian pop optimizedfor global consumption, complete with love-song lyrics that double as an odeto degrowth.
2
SHYGIRL, NYMPH (Because Music)
If love is timeless, then sex is now. Shygirl’s lyrics double down on the latter, bulwarked by forward-facing rap andR&B production.
3
LA MATERIA VERBAL: ANTOLOGÍADE LA POESÍA SONORA PERUANA(Verbal Matter: An Anthology of Peruvian Sound Poetry) (Buh)
This exemplary comp pulls together a spectrum of Peruviansound poetry, balancing the audio’s poly-stylistic playfulness with great contextual liner notes.
4
GAVILÁN RAYNA RUSSOM, TRANS FEMINIST SYMPHONIC MUSIC (Longform Editions)
One seventy-one-minute synthsong across four movements. In an ageof distraction, attention is an ethos.
5
ALHAJI WAZIRI OSHOMAH, WORLD SPIRITUALITY CLASSICS 3: THE MUSLIM HIGHLIFE OF ALHAJI WAZIRI OSHOMAH (Luaka Bop)
Understated, sophisticated,and free, Oshomah’s music also happensto be holy. I wish I had the energy to google beyond Luaka Bop’s ethnographic branding and learn more about this man.
6
BILL ORCUTT, MUSIC FOR FOUR GUITARS (Palilalia)
These tart, moiré-patterned post-punk miniatures come with handwritten transcriptions, as if to say: Find your people, then make a shared sound.
7
BERGSONIST, FASTING (self-released)
Selwa Abd puts out consistently interesting club music faster than I can listen to it (she released nearly seven hours of material in 2020, and dropped eight EPs this year). The energy on this record sparks between machine-assisted creation and embodied urgency.
8
BARTEES STRANGE, FARM TO TABLE (4AD)
Thought I was done with singer-songwriter music made with guitars, and maybe I was . . . but Bartees’s plot-twisting genius pulled me back in.
9
CARL STONE, WE JAZZ REWORKS VOL. 2 (We Jazz)
The inimitable Stone hallucinates a jazz catalogue from the inside out.
10
BROADCAST, MAIDA VALE SESSIONS (Warp)
This extraordinary document reaches a quarter century back to capture vocalist Trish Keenan and her retro-timeless band in top form across fourBBC Radio sessions.