Black Dirt Studio in Upstate NY has hosted many fine clients over the years, including artists on Thrill Jockey, Northern Spy and Sub Pop.
From the ashes of Crank, Upstate NY’s Cell 63 continue the noisy punk onslaught with four songs that show the trio at the top of their game.
Austin’s baroque composer collective, Some Say Leland, find new perspectives on their new long player, Brought Low.
An “antimacassar” is the doily placed over the back of a chair or on the ends of the armrests to prevent soiling, a practice that began in Victorian England with the popularity of Macassar oil, the contemporary hair grease.
There are others out there today doing the same sort of art pop as Thorpe, but not only has she carved out her own individual brand, while others wile away their time with meaningless lyrics, few are as bold as Thorpe.
Daniel Lanois will release “Papineau” on Valentine’s Day 2014. The new single captures a disagreement between a father and daughter over matters of the heart.
Stanley Brinks (of Herman Dune) once agan joins his old pals, The Wave Pictures, for a booze inspired LP entitled, Gin. It’s a fitting title for an album brimming with snickered lyrics and tipsy melodies.
Follow truly is a full-album experience, well-rounded, and wholly enjoyable from start to finish, with moments to make you laugh, moments to make you cry, and moments to make you let loose.
England’s countryside is rife with myths and legends concerning strange creatures and magical places.
The new album entitled, Old Fears, trades in SOL’s charm for smooth intricacy.
The trio of, Belfi/Grubbs/Pilia, reach the spire of their collaborations on their newest, Dust & Mirrors. With Grubbs and Pilia’s guitars center stage, the unit give clarity to the sonic concepts first examined on 2010’s Onrushing Clouds.
New Bums automatically bring to mind the mystical songwriting duo of Dave Kusworth and the late Nikki Sudden. While Voices in a Rented Room does share obvious artistic similarities to Robespierre’s Velvet Basement, the album displays far more than the suave, scarf and cigarette shuffle regularly offered by The Jacobites.
What happens when you combine the spawn of a Beatle, Deerhoof‘s drummer, a Ceramic Dog and a projectionist? You get Crotesque.
Half-Life is another fantastic offering from Mase, and if already a fan, it’s worth adding to your collection, or if a newcomer, it is a perfect introduction. Mase delivers more of her unique take on 70’s New York art proto-punkers like Patti Smith, Television, and David Byrne
Featuring members of Pylon and Olivia Tremor Control, Athens, GA’s New Sound of Numbers deliver a post-punk spacerock masterpiece with their sophomore LP. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Covering ANY Beatles song, much less enough songs to fill the majority of an album, is a decision that must be taken seriously because there are a lot of questions that will come up. MonaLisa Twins have undertaken this challenge with their new album and have ended up with pleasantly surprising results.
The world’s best underground electronic artist triumphantly returns yet again, this time adding hip-hop to his repertoire.
Though Verna Brock may be more well known for her contributions to ’90s indie rock with Northern California bands like Holiday Flyer and Rocketship, she also recorded several 7“s and EPs as Beanpole, her 4-track persona.
The trio make assured and destructive steps with every crushing track on this album, a new watermark in menacing, cathartic neo-doom.
Whatever format you like will suffice, though, as the more I play it, the more I also think that this is Dum Dum Girls’ best work to date.
What is that accent? Northern English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish? Actually, it’s Greek.
The myth of teenagers being only interested in American Idol, Disney princesses, etc. gets further dispelled by the arrival on the international scene of this cracking young Irish quartet.
Hailing from London, Cosines offer a brief glimpse into their multifaceted repertoire with two songs that could come from two different bands.
Having begun his musical career as a piano and harpsichord tuner for the likes of La Monte Young and Glenn Gould, Rhys Chatham went on to create his own style of avant-garde composition, blending minimalism, punk rock and his studies under electronic composer Morton Subotnick into a single unique vision.
And now for the filthy side of the Athens, GA music scene.
Sophie Cooper comes from Stoke on Trent, but now lives in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.
As well as writing for Mojo, The Wire and Quietus, Brighton’s Joseph Stannard is known in the UK for organizing The Outer Church, a recurring event that brings together experimental electronic musicians and underground filmmakers.
When searching for engaging, consistent, emotional American noise, we need not look further than Southern California’s +DOG+, whose body of work remains unpredictable and unapologetic.
Over the past 30 years, Kazuyuki Kishino has made his name in the Japanese experimental rock scene in bands such as Zeni Geva, Absolut Null Punkt and YBO2, as well as releasing a steady stream of noise releases establishing him as the reigning prince of Japanese noise, second only to Merzbow.
Alcest is one of the original progenitors of metalgaze, that conceptually curious but practically successful hybrid of heavy metal and dreampop.
Unafraid to do their own thing, or even add influences from other genres, Oakes & Smith have created a fine album with influences of 60s and 70s folk icons like Paul Simon and Cat Stevens clearly shining through.
Edward Giles, aka Ed Nervo, has made noise in Final Solution, Eckankore, Caveat Emptor, DDDD, +DOG+ and Home Audience, to name a few.
As Early Songs proves, Pola’s headphone music was pacifying and pleasing right from the get-go.
In Pennsylvanian folklore, the Albatwitch is a small Sasquatch-like, apple-loving creature rarely seen around Chickie’s Rock on the outskirts of Columbia, PA.
Vancouver-based indie pop quartet, Lakefield, is calling it a day. After five years and only one full-length album, the band is closing the book with their final release, the aptly titled EP, Swan Songs.
With an album title like Progtronica, it definitely seems like Gumshen is trying to invent a new genre, and they certainly attempt it here.
This new EP from Portland, OR folk-rocker Marble is centered around a song from his 2012 third LP Where the Knives Meet Between the Rows.
Howe’s strong voice and her smart, personal sense of lyricism, make her one of the greatest and most exciting musicians in country music today.
Who’s going to pick up the mantle of contemporary Mississippi blues? If Sabougla Voices is any indication, it’s Leo Welch.
The Plum Magnetic explores every aspect and type of jam band from jazz freestyle to the psych-folk of the Grateful Dead and the prog of Yes.
A 150 year old band featuring members of groups like Indigo Girls, the New Mongrels are set to release their first album in over fifteen years.
This lo-fi holiday EP makes for a pleasant soundtrack to your next blanket-draped, cider-sipping wintry evening in front of the fire.
Guitarist Patrick Higgins is perhaps best known for his work in Zs, though, on his own, he is an accomplished modern classical composer with several opuses to his name.
Gary Lucas has collaborated with Captain Beefheart, Lou Reed, Nick Cave and David Johansen, to name a few, though his true passion has always been film soundtracks, an obsession that eventually allowed him to compose some of his own scores.
The Escape has a deeper, more dynamic full band sound, while still retaining all of their debut LP’s spacious, sweeping, and snowpeak-scaling folk-rock beauty.
The ever-mysterious Martin Jenkins, aka Pye Corner Audio, reemerges under a new name with a series of ambient sonic textures that are as firm as they are fluid.
Including every song from the Ghost Stories EP, Monks of Mellonwah offers more of the same great rock, and they certainly have expanded and more fully defined their sound from their first releases.
Whereas other folk revivalists are content with creating empty anthems disguised with acoustic guitars, Matthews is the real thing, intent on making you think and carving his own path.
Occasionally, Morrone drifts towards the love-it-or-hate-it humdrum of Jack Johnson, but there are enough interesting ideas that this will end up being the perfect music to play to your mother.
