Needle Drops

Music is delicious, and we return with another selection of newly released tasty morsels. This is part of a recurring series we call Needle Drops, where your fearless editors recommend the most exciting albums landing today that might have gone unnoticed.

Since our last drop of the proverbial needle, we've been enjoying this fantastic live footage of N to The Power at NYC's Nublu, arguing in the writer's room about 'nostalgia concerts,' hoping this new restoration of The Wages of Fear screens in our town, and learning how George Orwell's life shaped Nineteen Eighty-Four. We were also quite impressed by this rundown of McCoy Tyner's 1970s output, a little moved by how choked up this guy gets about Seven Samurai, and have had that James Bond guitar riff stuck in our heads for the past few days.

Now, we bring you the music. You'll find a likely soundtrack for the falling leaves of autumn, tracks unearthed from one of the giant bands of modern jazz and funk, a frantic mix of jazz, punk, and mathematical equations, and the forlorn hymns of an artist about to leave her home. We'll start with the fascinating sounds of a cellist who digs techno, so open your ears wide and let these sounds in.

Chloe Lula - Oneiris

Berlin musician Chloe Lula's Oneiris merges her classical cello background with electronic production. After her time at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, she left classical performance behind for techno DJ'ing and music journalism. Interviews with composers Hildur Guðnadóttir, Max Richter, and Yair Elazar Glotman opened new paths for blending acoustic and electronic sounds.

The ten tracks, co-produced with James Ginzburg for Subtext Recordings, mark her first return to cello. The instrument now links memory and the subconscious, reflecting both her classical training and current electronic work. Pedro Maia's abstract artwork and Simen Lambrecht's portrait photography also echo this fusion of organic and synthetic elements. Rather than fully abandoning her past, Lula has created something new from these seemingly opposed musical worlds. (LP)

From Overseas, James Bernard, & zakè - Flint

Flint presents its music as freshly autumnal, from the double-exposed trees of the cover art to track titles like "Fir" and "Cedar." Zach Frizzell, the proprietor of the impressively prolific Past Inside the Present imprint and participant on this album under his artist name zakè, says, "October and November are my favorite months, representing a time of winding down and the promise of reflective stillness." That's no joke—this album, a collaboration with ambient heavyweights From Overseas (aka Kévin Séry) and James Bernard, offers many reasons to reflect, wind down, and achieve stillness. Its gentleness is a warm wash, all sustained chords and slow-motion melodies, layered and interacting with a nostalgic sea of barely-mentioned noise.

The album's title track is an unanticipated uplift. Its dramatic chord progressions are built around muted synth textures and possibly a bass guitar strum or something like it. Subtle variations in the interweaving lines give the impression of change even though things might still be pretty much the same—that feeling of autumn, right? The bass guitar is unquestionable in the shortened "Cedar," adding a low-end prominence to a modulating tapestry of bright drones and feedback colors. "Thistle" quietly flips the script with the extra contribution of Los Angeles vocalist marine eyes and some watery guitar tones. The voice is an ethereal presence in line with Flint's sonic ethos, poking out of the song's mesmerizing swirl of sound with a reassuring, human touch. It's a welcoming score to autumn's gradual chill. (MD)

The Greyboy Allstars - Grab Bag: 2007-2023

The Greyboy Allstars have unveiled their latest album, Grab Bag: 2007-2023, a nine-track collection culled from 16 years of unreleased material and rare recordings. Their new single "Boxes," written by keyboardist Robert Walter as a homage to Wayne Shorter's compositional style, uses extended chord progressions as a framework for group improvisation. This collection includes an instrumental jazz reworking of Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" alongside original pieces like "Slip the Grip" and "San Diegogo."

Born as the house band for DJ Greyboy's San Diego record label, these musicians have built remarkable individual careers: Michael Andrews scores films like Donnie Darko and the Pharrell Williams documentary, Robert Walter tours with Roger Waters and Mike Gordon, Karl Denson plays saxophone for The Rolling Stones, while Chris Stillwell and Aaron Redfield work as session musicians for Sia and Elton John. They maintain their collective identity, blending soul-jazz fundamentals with modern expressions. (LP)

Pefkin - The Rescoring

Gayle Brogan is one-half of Glaswegians Burd Ellen and also records and performs on her own as Pefkin. To quote her Bandcamp bio, the musician and sound designer specializes in "slowly unfolding, ritualistic hymnals that draw heavily on the landscape and natural world." That description is a great starting point for falling into The Rescoring, Pefkin's new album on Nite Hive. The album contains three tracks ranging from seven minutes to seventeen and features Brogan's first attempt at playing and recording viola. The adoption of an unfamiliar instrument, accompanied by Brogan's more acquainted voice and synth, consciously reflects anticipation of a move from her longtime home of Glasgow to the unknown environs of Sheffield. “I wanted to channel all the different feelings and thoughts I had," says Brogan. "Writing one piece that reflected on an aspect of the landscape I was leaving, one about the land I was moving to, and the last track ties it all together as the potential for transformation and the places where that make it possible—the tideline, sacred yew trees, the changing of the seasons, the woodland edge.”

The limited palette and intention to layer each track in one take give The Rescoring an intimate and restless air, but there's also more warmth and assuredness than one might expect. These songs exist in spacious spaces, reminding me of Nico's Desert Shore but with the viola as the backbone instead of the harmonium. Brogan's vocals float wistfully, sometimes wordless, detached outward as if in plainsong, and wrapped in church-like reverb. Field recordings, such as in the especially elegiac "Gossip In The Leaves," bolster a sense of fading memory and approaching departure. A sudden brightness hits when the title track opens itself to harmony, and the possibility of the hope that awaits in starting a new life becomes felt. It's an enormously lovely work, lodging Pefkin firmly on my radar. (MD)

Spinifex - Undrilling the Hole

The Amsterdam-based sextet Spinifex builds on their fusion of avant-jazz complexity and punk rock aggression with Undrilling the Hole, the group's ninth album. Written entirely by alto saxophonist Tobias Klein, these seven compositions channel South Indian Carnatic influences and mathematical structures while maintaining the raw energy of a sweaty nightclub performance.

This multinational ensemble features Belgian trumpet master Bart Maris, American saxophonist John Dikeman, Dutch guitarist Jasper Stadhouders, Portuguese bassist Gonçalo Almeida, and drummer Philipp Moser—a lineup that spans free jazz, ambient noise, and progressive metal backgrounds. Together, their music layers intricate compositional elements over aggressive rhythmic foundations before opening into passages of unfettered improvisation. Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicles and your seatbelts fastened at all times. (LP)

More recommendations: