This year has been a challenge for all of us and we were lucky enough to have such tremendous records on our side to comfort us in difficult times. From gentle melancholia, to raging fury - the albums of 2020 had a lot of stories to tell and these are the ones our staff enjoyed the most. If you haven't listened to all of them you now got a whole lockdown winter ahead of you to do that.
On her search for hope in times of despair, Peruvian artist Sofia Kourtesis found it in the work of a famous neurosurgeon and her Berlin community. Her first full-length album "Madres" tells the story of her mother's recovery, of finding and nurturing family, and of fighting against homophobia. Norman Fleischer met with Sofia to discuss some of these topics.
The Berlin-based musician Yousef Kekhia just released his sophomore record "Polylog". It follows the introspective "Monologue" but turns its gaze outwards. Influenced by conversations, encounters, and exchange the record is a fluid piece of music opening doors and asking questions. We met the artist to speak about his music and he curated a "Beyond Borders" playlist update with his personal favorites from the contemporary Arab music scene.
Syrian musician OMAR SOULEYMAN has shared the title track from his upcoming new record Wenu Wenu with the world. The track is the first teaser from the album which was produced by famous British electronica mastermind Kieran Hebden aka FOUR TET. The record will be released on October the 22nd via Ribbon Music. And with the first piece now surfacing it looks like we can expect a really crazy mixture of two worlds. Ethno electronica at its finest. Listen to the new OMAR SOULEYMAN piece right here.