Latest Entries »

The Kentucky Headhunters – Big Boss Man (2025)

Filed Under: country-rock, remastered, southern rock by driX — 1 Comment
December 31, 2025

The Kentucky Headhunters have reissued Big Boss Man, a one-of-a-kind project originally recorded in partnership with Sony/ATV Music Publishing two decades ago.
Long considered a hidden gem within the band’s catalog, Big Boss Man returns as a newly remastered, fully restored project, released on the band’s own Practice House Records label. The origins of the project go back to 2005, when then Sony/ATV President Donna Hilley, compilation supervisor Jack Jackson and creative director of new music Tom Long, approached The Headhunters with an idea to take 12 classics from the Sony/ATV catalog and “Headhunterize” them, infusing each song with the group’s signature energy. The purpose behind the project was to breathe…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Ben Lamar Gay – Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun (IA11 Edition) (2025)

Filed Under: electronic, experimental, funk, jazz, world by exy — 2 Comments
December 31, 2025

If you’re worried that you’re a latecomer to the work of uncategorizable Chicago musician Ben LaMar Gay, take solace in the certainty that you’re not alone. Gay’s new album, Downtown Castles Can Never Block the Sun, supposedly draws from seven of his previous records, with curious names like Grapes, Benjamim e Edinho, and Confetti in the Sky Like Fireworks. But when you start googling, not one of these albums surface. In this age of Bandcamp and Soundcloud, the cornetist, composer, and vocalist recorded seven albums in seven years but never let anyone outside of his inner circle hear them. Instead, he worked with jazz and experimental artists like Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society, Nicole Mitchell, Jaimie Branch and Bitchin Bajas while…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Ulver – Neverland (2025)

Filed Under: electronic by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

Following between their three studio albums; 2017’s The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 2020’s Flowers of Evil and 2024’s Liminal Animals which showed Ulver’s move into traditional song and production levels, their next album marks a new beginning in the band’s history who have moved from the sounds of black metal, ambient, synth-pop and experimental music, haven taken a dive into the underwater worlds of continuing their electronic sound on their new album, Neverland.
Here, Ulver have taken the biggest step into the world of changing directions by setting foot into the Berlin school of music, video game and film scores combined as if they had created this pattern, revealing a world on the brink of collapse, now in its ghost town, pin-dropping…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Arthur Russell – Open Vocal Phrases Where Songs Come in and Out (Live 12-20-85) (2025)

Filed Under: experimental, live by exy — 5 Comments
December 30, 2025

…features 9 tracks of unedited live performance, including pieces that became parts of his seminal ‘World of Echo’ album.
It is testament to the astral, prolific talent of Arthur Russell that two decades after the first reissues of his archival material garnered widespread acclaim, crystals of such high quality are still being unearthed. 2023’s Picture of Bunny Rabbit and 2019’s Iowa Dream hinted at the depth and breadth of what remains unheard in the Arthur Russell Archives, but it is perhaps surprising that it has taken so long for a high-quality live recording to see the light of day. 2020’s Sketches for World of Echo: June 25 1984 Live at Ei and 2021’s 24 to 24 Music Live at the Kitchen both went some way to unravelling the enigma,…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Darrin Hacquard – Weights & Measures (2025)

Filed Under: americana by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

A balladeer of bad decisions, Darrin Hacquard is the soundtrack to doing something you’ll regret, and the repercussions you’ve earned. From being in a string band with acclaimed singer-songwriter John R. Miller, to stints in county lock-up and rehab, to grinding his songs out on the Appalachian songwriter circuit Weights & Measures is the culmination of hard-living, harder work, and honest autobiographical songwriting that admits to life experiences many have but are seldom shared.
Hacquard, now based out of Huntington, W.Va, writes with the storytelling of Tom T. Hall, the emotional honesty of Vic Chesnutt, and a sense of place like Breece Pancake.
If you walked into a bar or a hall anywhere in the US and found that Darrin Hacquard and…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Kim Carnie – A Chailleach (2025)

Filed Under: folk by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

Gaelic singer Kim Carnie’s A’ Chailleach is, to quote, “a concept record rooted in female folklore, spell work and hidden histories”. Steeped in tradition but rich in new sounds, it’s a thrilling and inspiring soundscape.
An impressive guest list features here, including Julie Fowlis, Donald Shaw, and Megan Henderson. Jerry Douglas lends his signature touch to the Americana-tinged ‘Clò nan Gillean’, while Innes White adds a layer of magic to the love charm ‘Eòlas Gràdhaich’. One of the standouts is ‘Òran na Bèiste Maoile’, featuring Senegalese musician Seckou Keita, where West African and Gaelic rhythms intertwine to irresistible effect.
At the core of the album are Carnie’s smooth, pure vocals – confident, expressive and…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Not Drowning, Waving – Malira (2025)

Filed Under: rock, world by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

Originally formed in 1983 as a duo, Australian band Not Drowning, Waving was created by classically-trained keyboardist-composer-producer David Bridie and guitarist John Phillips.
Quickly growing to a sextet, the group’s moody art-school ambience developed a niche national following, with their ’80s albums all receiving high praise. But after travelling to Papua New Guinea in 1989 and meeting PNG star George Telek, NDW changed direction, with 1990’s excellent collaboration Tabaran seeing them becoming part of the then-new genre of ‘World’ music, where the exciting live combination of NDW and Telek – along with percussion-driven PNG/Pacific musicians – proved extremely popular, gaining them many international listeners.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Fickle Friends – Fickle Friends (2025)

Filed Under: indie-pop by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

Brighton, England’s Fickle Friends choose pop happiness on their effervescantly hooky 2025 eponymous third album. The album arrives almost five years after Are We Gonna Be Alright?, a period that found singer Natassja Shiner and her bandmates going on a two year hiatus to recoup from touring and reconnect with their passion for making music. The time away seems to have proven fruitful and Fickle Friends once again reveal themselves as one of the sweetest sounding bands you might not have heard of.
Self-produced, the album feels at once lighter than past albums, and yet full of serious emotional weight as Shiner takes a deep look inside herself, unpacking her anxiety and fear in ways that seem nakedly raw. It’s feeling of speaking…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Max Richter – Sleep Circle (2025)

Filed Under: classical by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

Composer and pianist Max Richter’s album Sleep Circle is the newly recorded and abridged version of Richter’s 2015 project Sleep. Sleep Circle is informed by the experience of his concert performances of the original album.
Today, Sleep has become one of the most streamed classical compositions, heard nightly by millions of people around the world. Over the years, Richter has not only performed the entire 8-hour long Sleep cycle for audiences lying in beds, ready to drift off into slumber, but he also began performing an abridged, 90-minutes long version in selected venues. Inspired by these concert experiences, this new abridged version Sleep Circle focuses on the movements within the composition that are more in the foreground, which makes…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags: ,
Read More & Comment

Peter Knight – For a Moment the Sky Knew My Name (2025)

Filed Under: ambient by exy — 1 Comment
December 30, 2025

With For a Moment the Sky Knew My Name, Peter Knight extends his fascination with the porous relationship between body, instrument, and environment into one of his most personal and immersive solo works. The album takes its cue from extended fieldwork and improvisations undertaken near Yeerung River on Krowathunkooloong land, where Knight spent much of his early life. Each of the album’s pieces grew organically from direct encounters with that setting — the pulse of wind against brass, the crackle of heat, the buzz of insects — forming a meditation on sound as both a reflection of and response to place. It is a work of quiet fluidity, at once structured and spontaneous, where texture and tone gradually shape entire topographies of listening.​

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags: ,
Read More & Comment

Banco de Gaia – You Are Here (20th Anniversary Edition) (2025)

Filed Under: electronic, reissue by exy — 2 Comments
December 30, 2025

…The slightly delayed 20th Anniversary Edition comes with a second disc of standout remixes from the time, plus a handful of fresh versions.
Banco de Gaia (basically studio wiz Toby Marks and whomever he invites over) get their ethnic-electronic groove on again, but this time with extra vision. Maybe it’s the four years since the last proper Banco de Gaia album, or maybe the troubled globe of 2004, but whatever it is, You Are Here feels better put-together than any other Banco album before and the most direct message to the listener that Marks has ever attempted. You can use the cover art as a representation of the general feel of the album. Marks’ music is elaborate as ever but it’s compact in purpose, like the cover’s red dot and just as vivid. If Banco could…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Eric Alexander – Like Sugar (2025)

Filed Under: jazz by exy — 2 Comments
December 30, 2025

Tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander delivers a soulful modern tribute to Stanley Turrentine with his album Like Sugar. Recorded at the renowned Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, with longtime collaborators David Hazeltine on piano, Dennis Carroll on bass, and George Fludas on drums, the album reinterprets Turrentine’s spirit rather than simply copying it, resulting in a deeply swinging and cohesive set that blends tradition with contemporary artistry.
Alexander begins this session with one of his originals, “Jave,” and incorporates the shout chorus from Turrentine’s signature tune “Sugar,” using it as a melodic springboard. The outcome is an energetic romp where Hazeltine’s solo bridges classic hard bop with modern harmonic…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Heat On – Heat On (2025)

Filed Under: jazz by exy — 1 Comment
December 29, 2025

Heat On is Lily Finnegan’s debut as a bandleader and composer. In fact, while this CD is credited to a band called Heat On, the quartet played several gigs under the name Lilly Finnegan Quartet before it took on its current moniker.
Finnegan is an emerging presence on the Chicago scene. Since moving back here after school in 2022, she has drummed with every iteration of Ken Vandermark’s Edition band, and has participated in other combos with locals Katie Ernst and Sarah Clausen, among others. She’s also curated concerts for the Option Series, a schedule of salon-style concerts hosted by Experimental Sound Studio, is a member of the musician’s collective, Catalytic Sound.
If that combination of playing and organizing…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags: ,
Read More & Comment

John & Yoko, Plastic Ono Band with Elephant’s Memory – Power to the People (An Exclusive Mojo Sampler) (2025)

Filed Under: rock by exy — 2 Comments
December 29, 2025

This month’s covermount CD is the amazing ‘Power to the People’ – an exclusive sampler of John Lennon tracks from the new box set. Features killer versions of ‘Come Together’, ‘Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)’, ‘Cold Turkey’, ‘Well Well Well’, previously unreleased Lennon and more!

1. Come Together
2. Well Well Well
3. Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)
4. Cold Turkey
5. Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking…
6. New York City (Ultimate Mix)
7. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Ultimate Mix)
8. Attica State (Evolution Documentary)
9. Send Me Some Lovin’ (Home Jam)

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags: , ,
Read More & Comment

Motorpsycho – Child of the Future (2025 Remaster)

Filed Under: psychedelic rock, remastered by exy — 1 Comment
December 29, 2025

…Remastered by Helge Sten.
Back in 2008, Motorpsycho MK3 was beginning to gel and settle. Kenneth Kapstad’s entry into the band a year earlier had not only started to inspire a new and different writing, as shown in their first album, Little Lucid Moments, but also given the musicianship a solid kick up the behind. By summer 2008 the engine room was back to firing on all cylinders, ushering in a new era of intense and ambitious work for the band.
In hindsight it’s hard to quite remember the sequence of events, but some time early in 2008, an invitation to play the Terrastock Festival in Louisville dovetailed with an opportunity to fulfill the long held ambition to record at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

The Unfaithful Servants – Fallen Angel (2025)

Filed Under: bluegrass by exy — 2 Comments
December 29, 2025

Fallen Angel, The Unfaithful Servants’ second full-length release, serves up a splendid sampling of the Vancouver Island-based quartet’s distinctive take on contemporary Americana.
Call it newgrass, if you will, which necessarily entails a predominant bluegrass component augmented by lots of swing, tricky time changes, nicely woven melodic lines and the occasional hint of rock/pop in the mix.
The Canadian band’s line-up of uber-talented whippersnappers consists of mandolinist Jesse Cobb (founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters), singer-songwriter-guitarist Dylan Stone, fiddle virtuoso Quin Etheridge-Pedden and bassist Mark Johnson.
‘Endless Highway’ sets the stage for…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Le Vent du Nord – Voisinages (2025)

Filed Under: folk by exy — 2 Comments
December 29, 2025

Le Vent du Nord have been at the forefront of the Quebecois progressive folk movement for more than two decades, and yet are still as joyful and dynamic as ever.
Voisinages, their 13th album, whose title translates to ‘neighbourhoods’ in English, features 12 tracks “telling the stories of the neighbourhoods that connect us and especially those that have enriched Quebec’s repertoire: Irish and Scottish Celts, American folk, songs from Acadia, and French-speaking Americans.”
Whether traditional, like the rambunctious call-and-response of opener ‘Par-dessus le pont’ or newly-minted from the five members of Le Vent du Nord themselves (Nicolas Boulerice, André Brunet, Réjean Brunet, Olivier Demers and…

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags:
Read More & Comment

Neda Mohamadpour, Mehdi Rostami, Isa Farah, Dhaivat Jani – Where the Rain Is Stored (2025)

Filed Under: world by exy — 1 Comment
December 29, 2025

Traditional South Asian music blurs the lines between composition and improvisation. The Persian dastgah is a looser structure than ragas in the Hindustani or Carnatic lineage.
Where the Rain Is Stored, a new album from a quartet of Toronto-based musicians, is a natural step from those styles to an even freer, more contemporary form of improvisation.
The foursome consists of three members with ties to Iran and a fourth to India.
Vocalist Neda Mohamadpour is trained in the Persian classical style, and her improv stays largely inside those lines. The chordal instrument here is a setar (four-stringed lute), played by Mehdi Rostami. Isa Farah, on cello, alternates between melodic counterpoint and bass figures.

You need to be logged in to view the rest of the content. Please .
Tags: , , ,
Read More & Comment