This album documents a mystic standoff between Shahzad Ismaily on drums and Niño Lento es Fuego (a.k.a guitarist Camilo Rodriguez) on electric guitar, featuring hypnotic synth storms and spiritual beats brewed into a heavy healing trance.

“It was like having that conversation that we never really had,” says Niño Lento, “‘cause he’s shy, and me too.”

Niño Lento and Shahzad Ismaily – multi-instrumentalist, producer and studio owner – have been circling each other for years. They are both legendary players and leaders in their own right who have built many musical worlds in Brooklyn. Ismaily records and performs with artists such as Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Laura Veirs, Sam Amidon, Ceramic Dog, Secret Chiefs 3, John Zorn, Will Oldham and Nels Cline. Rodriguez is a NY-based guitarist and percussionist who co-founded Combo Chimbita, M.A.K.U Soundsystem, Bulla en el Barrio, and Carolina Oliveros y la Nación along with fellow Colombians in New York. He also performs with La Cumbiamba eNeYé, where he first met Ismaily.

On September 22, 2022, Figure & Ground releases Ahora Contra el Resto de los Tiempos, Vol. 1, an exploratory and improvisational project comprising six original tracks composed in real time by Shahzad Ali Ismaily (drums) and Niño Lento es Fuego (electric guitar). Produced, recorded and mixed by Lily Wen, the duo recorded live in the room upstairs at Figure 8 Recording. Limited to 300 vinyl copies, the 12-inch LP will be a Bandcamp-only release and is available for pre-order.

Listening release party at 360 Van Brunt Record Shop in Red Hook on September 22, 2022 ⚡

Shahzad Ali Ismaily - drums / rogue

Niño Lento es Fuego - guitar

Recorded & produced by Lily Wen

Mastered by Jamal Ruhe

Artwork by Karolina Bebop

Design by Gonzalo Guerrero

Brooklyn, NY

© Figure & Ground 2022