The Music Box.

Entries about the music I like.

Thiago Nassif — Mente
Jazz, Topicalia, Funk Akhil Srivatsan Jazz, Topicalia, Funk Akhil Srivatsan

Thiago Nassif — Mente

Mente navigates seamlessly through avant-garde experiments, while also showcasing its pop sensibilities. There’s no wave infused with funk, pop infused with dissonant jazz. Melody + noise. Over its ten-track run, Nassif collaborates with 20 musicians from the Rio underground, chiefly Arto Lindsay, the album’s producer.

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Peter Gabriel — So
Synthpop, Pop Akhil Srivatsan Synthpop, Pop Akhil Srivatsan

Peter Gabriel — So

A classic of experimental pop, striking a deliciously fine balance between those two words that are unfortunately (read: incorrectly) often seen as contradictory: experimental and pop.

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Seasonal Affected Beats — 2°
Electronic Akhil Srivatsan Electronic Akhil Srivatsan

Seasonal Affected Beats — 2°

New Delhi-based jazz drummer Tarun Balani’s debut EP under this electronic music moniker, is 20 minutes of carefully crafted, moving electronica; what used to somewhat condescendingly be called ‘intelligent dance music’ or IDM.

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Nicolas Jaar — Cenizas
Ambient, Electronic Akhil Srivatsan Ambient, Electronic Akhil Srivatsan

Nicolas Jaar — Cenizas

Since his previous album Sirens, Nicolas Jaar has been particularly concerned with how electronic music can reflect his anxieties about the geopolitical future of the world. Cenizas appears to very much be a continuation of that exploration. It isn't bleak, but it is certainly concerned.

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The Soft Pink Truth — Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase
Ambient, Electronic Akhil Srivatsan Ambient, Electronic Akhil Srivatsan

The Soft Pink Truth — Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase

Great ambient albums don’t sit in the background, but are instead unforgettable. Be it Music For Airports, or Disintegration Loops, or The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid, they’re all hugely memorable. The same is true for Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase, by The Soft Pink Truth, the pseudonym of Drew Daniel, one half of Matmos.

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Run The Jewels — RTJ4
Hip-hop Akhil Srivatsan Hip-hop Akhil Srivatsan

Run The Jewels — RTJ4

The murder of George Floyd isn’t just an American issue, but a global one. RTJ4, Run the Jewel’s fourth album, is a hip-hop album made for this particular moment in history.

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