At the end of the day, Cosmic Flute Rides Again is a great pop record that manages to stay interesting and exciting throughout the entire duration without once growing tired or repetitive.
Future Thunder Void is by far the band’s most cohesive and accomplished collection of songs yet, and represents a perfectly crystallized distillation of their ethos.
American indie rock trio Quiz Show – involving members of legendary DC alternative rock band Shudder To Think, Guided By Voices and The Dambuilders – presents their eponymous debut album, released via Montclair, NJ -based Magic Door Record Label.
Drummer/keyboardist Peter Manheim has served admirably in the engine room of cross-genre artists like Resavoir and Tony Glausi, but finally steps out to showcase his own compositions.
UK-France duo The Noise Who Runs has released the single “Takes a Long Cold Look and Then The Kitchen Sink” – the impossible, illegitimate child of solo album-era Syd Barrett and immediately post- Talking Heads David Byrne. The Bandcamp edition also features the B-side “More Beautiful Perhaps (LHT REMIX)”, created by Left Handed Tendencies (LHT).
Trumpeter/composer/multi-disciplinarian Rob Mazurek assembled the first version of the Exploding Star Orchestra in 2005, and has used the shapeshifting ensemble as a vehicle for whatever musical flights of fancy he deems necessary ever since.
The result is a splendid mutation of avant-garde jazz and string quartet (duo?) sounds that nods to free jazz tradition, but comes off like no one’s vision but Laubrock’s own.
A revolving collective, masterminded by Dave Derby (The Dambuilders, Lloyd Cole), Gramercy Arms is inspired by the artistic heyday of ‘70s and ‘80s-era New York City. They make addictive indie pop – exquisite hook-laden melodies filled with lyrics that will have you floating back in time, remembering your favorite mistake.
A leading light in experimental jazz, trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith assembled a brand new band for Fire Illuminations, the latest album in his nearly half-century career.
North Carolina indie pop outfit The Mystery Plan have released the single “Big Bliss”, previewing their forthcoming Haunted Organic Machines LP (their seventh full length album and 13th major release), to be released via American boutique label 10mm Omega Recordings.
Touted by Carlos Santana as “a work of supreme creativity”, Manhattan -based artist Nevaris has announced his forthcoming Reverberations LP, to be released this spring via celebrated boutique label M.O.D. Reloaded. Ahead of that, they present the lead track “Dub Sol”.
With two new releases, Bruce Licher and Independent Project Records continue their exploration of not only the deepest crevasses of their own archives, but the electronic, experimental underground of the American Southwest.
The New Day Bends Light is a good example of what makes the twenty-first century’s contemporary big band scene so exciting.
Just out March 10th, psych-shoegaze jangle merchants, Flyying Colours, have crafted a truly outstanding new LP. Their third album delivers 10 dreampop tunes with bite that will immerse and wash over you.
Future Strangers is the latest album from this SoCal guitar pop group, which means students of the style have a new batch of songs from John Andrew Frederick to emulate.
Splendor Never Dies is the debut release from Minneapolis -based December Friend, a new indie-rock project featuring songs written by Joel Leviton of Minneapolis band Circus of the West. December Friend was born out of the pandemic when Leviton reached out to friends Jeff Victor (Minneapolis -musician extraordinaire) and John Wlaysewski (of Brooklyn -based band Late Cambrian) asking if they wanted to collaborate on a new project.
The Scarlet Goodbye, labelled “the most unlikely mash-up in Minnesota music history”, is the creative combination of Daniel Murphy and Jeff Arundel. Their debut album, Hope’s Eternal is out now.
Liverpool’s The Room presents “Sleepless”, a song inspired by the modern-day phenomenon of internet addiction, social media and news junkies. Following lead track ‘The Drift”, this is the latest offering from their Restless Fate LP, the band’s first new recordings in 38 years.
Sloan sets up a background of electronically altered sounds and rhythm tracks, then brings in his buddies to add melodies and lyrics.
Alternative post-punk outfit The Bellwether Syndicate present “We All Rise” (with video filmed by Sidney Strong), the third single from their Vestige & Vigil album, which will be released in late April via Sett Records in North America and elsewhere via Nexilis Records / Schubert Music Europe. A tale of hope and struggle, of inner-courage and rage for what could be… A powerhouse of a track, the reflective tone of the verse climaxes in the screaming industrial chorus, stirring both the heart and mind.
As well-versed in classical music as in jazz, pianist/composer Billy Childs has a touch at the keyboard like few others.
Italian pianist Margherita Fava clearly has no interest in being flashy for flash’s sake.
Brazil-based sonic adventurers BIKE have announced that they will release their new album Arte Bruta on May 5 via Quadrado Mágico Records and Before Sunrise Records. Ahead of that, they preview “O Torto Santo”, the intriguing lead single from this psych-rock, post-Tropicalia, noise rock collection.
Australian bassist Christopher Hale befriended Korean master percussionist Minyoung Woo ten years ago, and the pair have been learning from each other ever since.
With the single “Black Bricks” having already paved the way for the full EP, Alchemy is the sound of Will Lawton and the Alchemists setting the bar even higher, even by the standards of their already impressive musical benchmarks.
Having just passed the fiftieth anniversary of his career as an ECM recording artist, Ralph Towner settles in to make his latest statement.
Serving as a sort of adjunct release to last year’s forward step View With a Room, Julian Lage’s The Layers features songs recorded during the same sessions with the same musicians.
Trumpeter Ralph Alessi is one of those major jazz figures who’s never quite hit the button of stardom, yet remains one of the most respected musicians in his field.
Pals due to the former’s renowned Alternative Guitar Summit, outsider guitarists Joel Harrison and Anthony Pirog have worked together for a few years now, and this is what their collaboration has led up to: The Great Mirage.
Calgary, Alberta’s classically-trained, award-winning Hickli possesses a beguiling voice that flabbergasts on first listen; though stylistically poles apart from Hickli’s solo side, Calgary art-rock/electro-pop quintet 36? is captivating in its own quirky way.
Bobo Stenson’s career goes back very nearly to the beginning of ECM Records.
In his third and most rewarding solo record to date, Radiohead drummer Philip Selway has scored with “Strange Dance”. Blending artful orchestral arrangements and outstanding songwriting, he explores life’s deepest themes with candor and curiosity.
Vectralux have truly come into their own here, maturing as songwriters and hitting upon a sound all of their own.
The leader of La Luz pivots from groovy psychedelia to unplugged strangeness.
Here’s a good way to be prolific: improvise everything.
Portland’s Eyelids sound like they’ve mainlined several generations of tuneful power pop and college rock on their fifth studio album.
Led by guitarist Ryan El-Solh, Brooklyn trio Scree combines ambient jazz, Lebanese folk music, and atmospheric psychedelia into music for walking lonely nights through a desert landscape.
Though Richmond, VA’s Barry reunited in 2019 for shows with Avail, the punk band he fronted from 1987-2007, he still releases quieter folk albums; this is his eighth studio LP since 2006.
For Corridors, Scott strips things down to the minimum, employing saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Reuben Rogers in a chord-less trio.
Few composers in jazz and its adjacencies command as much respect as Vince Mendoza.Few composers in jazz and its adjacencies command as much respect as Vince Mendoza.
The digital-only March On isn’t so much a follow-up as an addendum, featuring music recorded during the March sessions that’s related to what made it on the album.
Guitarist Dave Stryker has been performing with organist Jared Gold and drummer McClenty Hunter for a dozen years. Oddly, Prime is their first full-length record as a trio.
Though he’s established himself as one of Italy’s most important improvisational voices, clarinetist and saxophonist Gianluigi Trovesi has long kept one foot in the world of classical music.
Gareth Koch and Martin Kennedy have come together to make ”Music In The Afterlife” after collaborating separately with The Church’s Steve Kilbey. Playing to each other’s complementary strengths, the two have produced a magical new instrumental album that’s a much-needed salve for bleak and uncertain times.
Following 2008’s Crawler and 2009’s Dead Tongues, this punishing Cincinnati, OH post-punk trio put out a handful of split releases from 2010 to 2017; here finally is their third full-length.
Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys present “Heaving”, the title track and third single from their forthcoming Heaving album, following the recently-released lead tracks “Burning Building” and “Stereoscope”. The full-length album will be released in spring 2023 via Unique Records, a division of Schubert Music Europe.
UK-France electronic rock duo The Noise Who Runs presents “Beautiful Perhaps”, the anthemic first track from their imminent Preteretrospective LP, scheduled for release on April 7. This follows These Will Be Your Gods EP, released in January, and High Time in Lo-Fi, their third EP released in mid-2022.
Now in their fifth decade of existence, Australian rock icons The Church continue their evolution on their latest album The Hypnogogue.
Rising London indie pop gem Mari Dangerfield has released her album Love And Other Machines, a collection of 12 catchy synth-driven alternative pop tunes, on CD via Dimple Discs. She also presents a series of fun buoyant videos, including for the uber-catchy “Love Machine”, a song exploring how love can be a mechanical process.
Based in the New Jersey town of Secaucus, Clay Joule is a singer-songwriter who makes buoyant and uplifting soft rock music, characterised by his delicate vocal leads and backed up by warm organic instrumentation. His music always carries an important message and his latest release, “O’dream” is no exception – a vital and informative call for support for the Ukrainian people.
