Recorded in a matter of days in a Chicago backyard, 'NOW' joins together three essential Black American genres - jazz, gospel and hip-hop - made with the goal of getting together to commune and make art. "The feel is that of a live prayer-meets-politics meeting... The overall experience is restorative and uplifting" - All About Jazz reviews the new album by multi-talented composer, musician, educator, and visual artist Damon Locks and his impressive collective Black Monument Ensemble. Stereogum describes ''NOW' as "a sweaty, roiling piece of music, answered by vocalists who are tracing pathways from grief to ecstasy... Dense with ideas and sounds", while Pitchfork praises "grand and luminous statement" made by it.

Alfa Mist announces his new album with jazzy-hip-hop single 'Organic Rust'; "rocky pop" band Wolf Alice share their grand new ballad 'The Last Man On Earth'; Damon Locks - Black Monument Ensemble share a jazzy afrobeat song 'NOW (Forever Momentary Space)'; Mattie shares an electro r'n'b song 'Human Thing'; Bomba Estéreo goes tribal pop on 'Aqua'.

People behind Chicago label International Anthem like it to be defined as "boundary-defying music", or at least “jazz and its offshoots”, “jazz-identified music”, and “post-jazz” instead, especially with its two founders, Scottie McNiece and David Allen, coming from a DIY-punk scene. McNiece said they wanted to create publish music that was modern and less academic - “It was very important to us to create a more inviting entry point”. by now, they've released local musicians such as Makaya McCraven, jaimie branch, Damon Locks, Junius Paul, and Angel Bat Dawid.

BC's selection is different from the most other big outlets, plus we like BandCamp, so here it is, their 100. The top 10 - mostly albums that others don't feature: 10. False - 'Portent' 9. Helado Negro - 'This Is How You Smile' 8. Ex Hex - 'It’s Real' 7. Jamila Woods - 'LEGACY! LEGACY!' […]

Where Future Unfolds started life as a solo project for Chicago musician and activist Damon Locks, who used samples from civil rights era speeches and recordings in improvised performances with a drum machine. Over the past four years he gathered a band Black Monument Ensemble, and 'Where Future Unfolds' is a live recording of The […]