May: Six artists you need to check out this month

Andy Garvey shows club music is alive and well in Sydney. The Triple J Mix Up host put out her debut release via Lobster Theremin in March, merging techno, electro and broken beats on EP ‘Eternal Recurrence’. A European tour and second EP on LT-UNDR come later this year. She’s not forgetting her roots though, showcasing sounds from the Australian scene on her weekly FBi show Pure Space and on a new label of the same name.

[Photo: Alex Johnstone]

Cora Novoa is a Galician DJ and artist currently exploring loss in a trilogy of releases that will form an album, ‘Mental Diary’. Second act, ‘The Art of Losing’, draws inspiration from US poet Elizabeth Bishop, tackling themes of love, death and loss in a blend of glitchy textures. Lead track ‘State of Mind’ was also on ‘Sónar Calling GJ273b’, a radio message sent by Sónar to a potentially habitable exoplanet.

[Photo: Alexandra Cepeda]

Some leading-edge artists have been coming out of Australia in recent years. The latest name is Sydney-born, London-based DJ and producer Nite Fleit (AKA Alysha Fleiter). Fleiter has released two EPs in the past twelve months, via Steel City Dance Discs and Planet Euphorique, showcasing her versatility. An increasingly high-profile touring schedule, meanwhile, culminated in a slot at Berghain in February alongside Ben Klock and DVS1.

Anyone taken with Giant Swan will find a lot to like in Scalping. Also emerging from Bristol’s experimental scene, the group’s pairing of post-punk and analogue techno has been garnering attention via a number of incendiary audiovisual-focused live shows. They’ve finally begun committing their work to record, with two tracks released via new Bristol label Council Records. Remixes by two of the city’s most vital producers, Bruce and October, top off a stellar debut outing.

[Photo: Rowan Allen]

The bass continuum is mutating again and the result is Turning Jewels Into Water, a collab between Indian-born jazz drummer and producer Ravish Momin and Haitian percussionist and turntablist Val Jeanty. Their debut album ‘Map Of Absences’ hops through jazz, rhythmic syncopations and dubby rumble. It’s as hypnotic as you might hope, and comes backed with killer remixes by Slikback and PlayPlay. Subwoofer recommended.

[Photo: Ed Marshall]

Sepehr has been on the rise as part of the Bay Area scene, regularly DJing and playing live in San Francisco and its surrounding areas. As a producer and live performer, he’s pushing a hardware-driven sound that’s already notched up releases on Dark Entries and Adam Shelton’s newly-minted EON label. Sepehr's latest release saw him debut on Berlin-based SPE:C with a five-tracker, ‘Fury’s Edge’, that moves from acid-tinged jungle to electro.

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