General

The music of dark post-punk band Ötzi juxtaposes haunting melodic and aggressive musical elements, often within the same song. Their highly rhythmic sound twists in unexpected directions, with strongly focused songwriting keeping things together. It’s easy to pick out influences in Ötzi’s music, yet the resulting style is unlike anything else. Hailing from Oakland, CA, the group consists of singer/bassist Akiko Sampson, singer/drummer Gina Marie, guitarist K. Dylan Edrich and multi-instrumentalist Winter Zora. Though their planned spring tour is cancelled due to COVID-19, Ötzi will be releasing a new album, “Storm,” on May 22, 2020

When Azam Ali and her husband Loga Ramin Torkian realized they needed a new creative challenge for their musical project NIYAZ, they chose to pursue staging a multimedia experience. At the time, they weren’t exactly sure what that meant, but it evolved into a multi-sensory performance built around advanced projection/body-mapping techniques. The show is based around Niyaz’s 2015 album The Fourth Light, which was inspired by Rabia Al Basri, the 8th-century poet and first female Sufi mystic. Both Ali and Torkian were born in Iran and moved to America as children. Their music combines Eastern and Western influences, as well as traditional acoustic instruments and electronics.

After a long break between releases, Australian electronic band Real Life is back with a new album, Sirens. Though frontman David Sterry is the only original member, the new material successfully continues Real Life’s legacy while also keeping the sound modern. Best known for the 1983 synth-pop hit “Send Me An Angel,” Real Life also had chart and club success with such songs as “Catch Me I’m Falling” and “God Tonight.” From the 1990s on, their musical output became more sporadic but remained consistently strong.

“The Current” is the new album from hackedepicciotto, a collaboration between Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten) and Danielle de Picciotto (Crime & The City Solution, co-founder of the Berlin Love Parade). Recorded over a short period in Blackpool, England, “The Current” sees the married duo bringing their combined musical talents into new directions. The sound is very experimental but tends to be more energetic and rhythmic than their past work together.

“Reflection” is the debut album from Ukrainian electronic producer and songwriter VONAVI (a.k.a. Andrei Ivanov). The music has a highly cinematic feel to it, so it comes as no surprise that Ivanov has a strong interest in film. He’s done commercial work, scored documentaries, and had songs featured in tv shows How To Get Away With Murder (“Sunburst”) and Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger (“Feel the Embrace”).

New York-based experimental art-punk duo Cinema Cinema has always made unique music, but their newly released fifth album CCXMD is a radical departure from anything they’ve done before. Cousins Ev Gold (vocals/guitar) and Paul Claro (drums) teamed up with noted jazz musician Matt Darriau to record an entirely improvised set of material that was then edited down to an album. The result is atmospheric, noisy, and chaotic, and it sounds like nothing else.

With her new solo album, “Phantoms,” Azam Ali fully embraces electronic music and draws upon early influences previously not apparent in her music. Ali has been known as a world music artist with five previous solo albums and for her work with Niyas and VAS. But the intricately arranged electronic compositions on “Phantoms” bring to mind the music of bands like Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack, and Portishead. Ali even covers Cocteau Twins with a reimagining of “Shallow Than Halo.”

Formed in 1979, Disturbed Furniture were part of the arts and music scene surrounding downtown New York City’s Club 57. They put out a well-received 45, toured the East Coast, and opened for bands such as The GoGo’s, The Psychedelic Furs, and The Stranglers. But within three years, the group was no more. Now, Disturbed Furniture has returned with a new EP, “Continuous Pleasures.”