Martin Lloyd Howard has engineered a peculiar but entirely hypnotic time-slip on his new solo single, "Hidden Andalucia". Here is a piece of acoustic fingerstyle that defies basic gravity, built upon delicately plucked arpeggios that float above a soft, rhythmic bassline. https://open.spotify.com/album/5N48ROhSDPPCQiy8IOydGs?si=HAir8cZET7y9cg5r36PJQw As a classically trained English guitarist, Howard knows exactly how to manipulate the negative space between notes. He anchors the outer edges of this...

Listening to Afaq Art Production's new single "Bejamalen (With Beauty)" performed by Ziad Kamal feels a bit like stepping out of a chaotic, sun-baked street into the sudden, vaulted vastness of an ancient sanctuary. https://open.spotify.com/album/7GbecQZE3yVH6enRaALvLk?si=seoOwwjgS_SE3MsuPg-rxw Kamal is only twenty-four. He manages the rather fascinating trick of balancing his daily life as a Mechatronics engineer with a profound, academic mastery of Eastern Maqams, violin, and oud. Here,...