Max Roach: Freedom Now Suite (Tears for Johannesburg + Prayer / Protest / Peace)

This striking performance of North Carolina-born drummer Max Roach’s “Freedom Now Suite,” a medley of “Tears for Johannesburg” and the triptych “PRAYER / PROTEST / PEACE,” is believed to be recorded by a Belgian television station in 1964—the same year the Civil Rights Act deemed discrimination based on race, color, religion, and gender illegal. Referred to as “an early soundtrack to Black Lives Matter” by …

Run the Jewels: a few words for the firing squad (radiation)

Run the Jewels’ album RTJ4 (which features previously released “Ooh La La“) was due two days from now, but the duo surprise-dropped the album today, along with the statement, “Fuck it, why wait. The world is infested with bullshit so here’s something raw to listen to while you deal with it all.” The duo (aka El-P and Killer Mike) made the album available for free …

Saya Gray: SHALLOW (PPL SWIM IN SHALLOW WATER)

Without a hint of percussion, “SHALLOW (PPL SWIM IN SHALLOW WATER)” by Japanese-Canadian singer and musician Saya Gray proves itself stirring and powerful. The song changes cadence often over its 3:50-minute lifespan, with Gray altering her voice from speak-singing and soft cooing to flawless falsetto, up to soaring high-pitched squeaky vocals. This self-recorded tune is the artist’s debut solo song—minimal but textured.