Universal Beings cover

Universal Beings

Released

What a difference a few years and a burgeoning musical community can make. Where In the Moment, his first album for International Anthem, gathered a collection of his live performances for later dissection and reassembly, Makaya McCraven’s approach on Universal Beings was to create a communal exposition that spread his concepts across four different ensembles in four different cities, and take in what they give back in the process. Which, in both cases, is a lot — in physical form, it’s four LP sides; in thematic terms, it feels like four different LPs. But that leaves you with a lot of different threads to follow and modes to explore: reflective and spiritual in the vibes-and-harp-laced Queens session, bristling with percussive restlessness in Chicago, basking in Rhodes-soaked post-acid jazz in London, and glowing with IDM-meets-neo soul low end praxis in L.A.

Nate Patrin

Suggestions
Maternity Beat cover

Maternity Beat

Hedvig Mollestad Trio, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra
Motion cover

Motion

The Cinematic Orchestra
Melaza cover

Melaza

Scorch Trio
Initiate cover

Initiate

Nels Cline
Cinzento cover

Cinzento

Marcos Valle
Infinity of Now cover

Infinity of Now

The Heliocentrics
Apocalypse cover

Apocalypse

Thundercat
SuperBigmouth cover

SuperBigmouth

Chris Lightcap
Junk Trap cover

Junk Trap

Charles Bobo Shaw, Human Arts Ensemble, Joseph Bowie
Emergency Exit cover

Emergency Exit

Throttle Elevator Music