A to Z

Following visits to Mali, Nigeria and Ethiopia, the Damon Albarn-co-founded project headed to South Africa for seven days. Its goal, as always, to eliminate barriers between cultures, genres and generations in the hope of capturing joyous spontaneity through collaboration. That’s why you get London pop sensation Georgia singing with veteran trio Mahotella Queens and Gruff Rhys on the dreamy pop song “Johannesburg”. South African rapper/singer Moonchild Sanelly’s distinctive delivery is a standout discovery on “Morals”. There’s masses to take in – 18 tracks – and stylistically it’s disparate, but that’s the point. It’s a one-time postcard. An advert for uninhibited experimentation. Wish you were here? You bet. GREG COCHRANE

Fate has decreed that the sons of Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts and Berry Oakley carry on the legacy of The Allman Brothers Band, and their first album is a baby step in that direction. It would be unfair to expect a “Whipping Post” from Devon Allman, Duane Betts and Berry Duane Oakley on their first outing, cut live to tape in Muscle Shoals, as they seek a comparable chemistry, but they manage to capably shoulder the responsibility rather than sinking under its weight. The most inspired track is the nearly nine-minute Dixie soundscape “Autumn Breeze”, on which Allman and Betts solo ecstatically while the spirit of Gregg Allman resonates through Betts’ grittily mournful vocal. BUD SCOPPA

Yesterday’s avant-garde becomes tomorrow’s tradition, but five decades into their existence, Art Ensemble Of Chicago still sound cutting edge, their fluid mix of improvisation, poetry, funk and black expression again in step with the zeitgeist. This time out, saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and percussionist Famoudou Don Moye are joined by a host of contemporary musicians, including cellist Tomeka Reid, vocalist Rodolfo Cordova-Lebron and Moor Mother (whose excoriating spoken word adds devastating charge to the exploratory improv of “I Greet You With Open Arms”). A 4LP limited box adds a typically transcendent live set from Ann Arbor, mixing new tracks with retooled classics: a 19-minute take on “Tutankhamun” still feels far out. LOUIS PATTISON

Too engaging to be ambient, too amorphous to be melodious, Félicia Atkinson’s latest continues her ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) experiments, her poetry whispered – often indistinctly – over strangely riveting electro-acoustic collages. Distorted speech – and a perceptible bassline – guide us through “Shirley To Shirley”’s rippling synth patterns, but with its quivering pianos, high-pitched hisses and sampled birdsong, “Moderato Cantabile” is neither moderate nor songlike. “You Have To Have Eyes”, too, blurs the alien and the human, layering eerie adult and child voices over the hum of machinery and distant church bells, while Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley emphasises Des Pierre’s drone-like qualities. WYNDHAM WALLACE

The title suggests that, five years on from Turn Blue, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are getting back to youthful basics, but the lack of an exclamation mark is telling: Let’s Rock is as much mellow rolling as it is firing on all Midwestern, ’70s-rock cylinders. They’re on fine form with the hammered glam-boogie of “Eagle Birds” and the absurdly good-time “Lo/Hi”, but underwhelm with the mid-tempo “Walk Across The Water” and QOTSA-ish “Shine A Little Light”. Surprisingly, there are echoes of former producer Danger Mouse’s style, notably on “Breaking Down”