Certain aesthetics may survive from one generation to the next, but in the process often undergo a metamorphosis as a culture’s approach toward making music changes. We have become gifted multi-taskers – all the different roles we have to take on to make a living wage, attention spans doled out between phones and friends, apps running side by side, our browsers buried deep in open tabs. Our ability as time-shifters to bounce through multiple worlds at a given moment, to pick up and pause a multitude of running stories – these features of our daily lives are teased out in the works of Philly sound maverick Ada Babar. Babar’s music conveys a sublime terror, a highly technical and often hilarious succession of musical splendor laid out before a lush backdrop. His newest release, Nino Tomorrow (Favourite Tapes), is a split EP with Palm frontman Kasra Kurt. The first half of the album is Babar, transitioning via a phone call sequence midway through to Kurt’s laidback, drifting contribution. The production value is painstakingly consistent throughout, maintaining a sense of space and tone as the songs progress. In many cases, split releases give the impression that the album is a converging point for two distinct worlds, but on Nino Tomorrow, both artists are enmeshed within the other’s sonic palate, resulting in music that feels alien yet wholly relatable. – Josh Kelly
