In his work with images and sounds, Bruno Duplant courts mystery. The French polymath’s photos are blurred, smudged, and absent of color; his music proceeds from bare suggestion and generally covers its tracks. Judith Wegmann, on the other hand, engages with the immediate. The Swiss pianist is active in both new music and improvisational circles, and even her recent foray into electronically affected sound, a recording of Stockhausen’s Kon.Takte, was recorded in just a couple days. They may not sound like an obvious pairing, but Univers Parallèles: Des Nuits Et Des Jours is their second record.
The revealed details of their collaboration leave a lot to speculation. It was “recorded in 2024 at Judith’s atelier in Biel, Switzerland and…
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“Dodici,” the lead-off track and first single from Solo Sueno, is one of the most ebullient tracks of the new year. Beginning with a literal breath of excitement, the piece plunges into brilliant interplay between sax and electronics, representing the friendship between Cuneo, Italy’s Filippo Ansaldi & Simone Sims Longo.
After its initial burst, the music takes another literal breath before diving into a deeper pool of brass and beats. It’s a wonderful wake-up song, a celebratory introduction.
If there’s another track like this here, it’s “Curundu,” the second single. (These two would make a perfect 45!) The tempo-driven piece is swift to the point of being hyperactive, imitating club music without the techno beat.
…The Deluxe Version expands the original 10-track album into an 18-track collection.
In Alan Moore’s all-encompassing three book epic Jerusalem he carefully and painstakingly depicts the multi-generational lives of the inhabitants of the mediaeval centre of Northampton known as The Boroughs. Through tracing their surreal, mundane, magickal, exhaustive, and, at times, harrowing existences, Moore posits the notion of ‘Eternalism’: a theory in which all events, past, present and future, occur simultaneously. Much as geographical spaces still exist without our presence, the same can also be said for these instances of time. For Mark Van Hoen, the music he created nearly thirty years ago is equally concurrent with his recent sonic efforts.
Formed in California in 1967, Children of the Mushroom were the quintessential garage-psych band. As the times evolved, the band hardened their sound, shortening their name to Mushroom. Jerry McMillen remembers the start: “The initial issue: every member was quite novice on their instrument.” He continues, “Al began playing bass, Dennis took up drumming, and Mark McKean and I both handled guitars. We were already developing original compositions beyond the cover songs we performed—that might have been the catalyst.”
By 1970, Mushroom became Lady, incorporating prog-rock influences and instruments like flute to their hard-pych organ/guitar dominated sound, drawing inspiration from bands like Jethro Tull, Steamhammer, Gypsy or Bloodrock.
In a career full of great albums, most Tom Petty fans call Wildflowers a masterpiece, likely his most acclaimed album. Produced by Rick Rubin with Tom Petty & Mike Campbell it was released in November of 1994 featuring 15 songs. ‘Wildflowers’ is considered a creative high point in Tom’s career. Originally conceived as a double album as Tom had written and recorded 25 songs ‘Wildflowers’ was eventually cut down to 15 songs. “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, “You Wreck Me”, “It’s Good To Be King”, and “A Highe
‘Wildflowers’ was originally recorded, mixed and mastered on analog tape, so this One-Step version is a true All Analog presentation as Chris Bellman carefully cut 7 lacquers from the original master tapes as the source for this incredible…
If you had an uneasy feeling that 2025 would somehow be the year of Thee Headcoatees, then give yourself a hearty handshake – for surprisingly, ’tis true!
We can indirectly blame the passing of our dear departed Great Ribbon, Mr Don Craine, for instigating a regurgitation of Thee Headcoats back in 2022. Ostensibly booked to record a tribute EP as Thee Headcoats Sect – featuring Don’s fellow Downliner-in-Chief Keith Grant Evans – the chaps found they had a few extra hours to fill in the studio, so they figured they may as well record a new Headcoats album, too. And why not? This materialised, with minimum fuss, as Irregularis (The Great Hiatus) on Damaged Goods in 2023.
Come late 2024 and before you could…
In 2022, alternative pop singer Alice Merton delivered S.I.D.E.S., a sophomore LP recorded with “Koz” Kozmeniuk (Kendrick Lamar, Dua Lipa) that charted in the Top 30 in her native Germany. It was released on her own Paper Plane Records in conjunction with Mom + Pop Music. Recorded at Flóki Studios in Iceland, the follow-up, Visions, was co-produced instead with Jennifer Decilveo (FLETCHER, SASAMI) and is her first album to be released fully independently.
In line with this signal of self-reliance, while Merton’s music has always been confident and anthemic in nature, she sounds more self-assured than ever here. A song like “Mirage” lands on its soaring chorus within 30 seconds, amid lyrics about being in love with the dream, even…
The reappearance of These Were The Earlies for its 21st-anniversary is a surprise. Although The Earlies‘ debut LP received a maximum-marks review from NME on its 2004 release – and widespread praise in general – it is not an album instantly shouting “cult item.” Nonetheless, as the reissue and a tie-in reformation of the band show, there is a residual affection.
Playing These Were The Earlies confirms why. From its opening seconds, it sets itself up as top-notch modern psychedelia, with references – some overt, some subtle – to The Beach Boys, Love and, more contemporaneously, Mercury Rev. A lyric with the words “Mother Mary” cannot have been written without knowing The Beatles would instantly spring to mind.
Charlie Bruber started out slowly, building a name for himself in Minneapolis music circles (and elsewhere) primarily as a multi-instrumentalist and engineer. As is often the case, there is always an extra personal drive there to do your own music, in most cases as a singer-songwriter, whatever the results may be, for better or for worse.
Judging by Prized Burden, Bruber’s second solo outing and luckily for both him and all the listeners that venture into it, better is the direction he is moving in as a solo artist. No, Brugber is definitely not sticking to what is considered the ‘standard’ singer-songwriter formulas, although the album has that slow-building, often languorous feel.
The difference lies in the fact that Bruber has the ability to build his songs…
Imagine you’re in a watering hole somewhere, the English Midlands or the U.S. Midwest. The bar is in a strip mall, but perfectly fine. Perhaps it’s called the Trysting Place or a name with the word ‘lounge’. Maybe you’re alone nursing an old-fashioned, or you’re with somebody you want to get to know a little better.
In the background, there’s a group playing. You can hear the lead guitar. It has a jazz tinge, a little bossa nova, maybe a hint of blues. There’s a real steady bass underneath the lead. And a drummer who is right there, he’s present, an important part of the sound, but you haven’t paid a lot of attention. Then the guitarist starts singing. He sounds a little like Roy Orbison mixed with Jon Hendrix. You go back to your drink,…
…The Australian singer-songwriter Georgia Knight‘s debut record, Beanpole, is a dark, introspective meditation on desire — the Lacanian kind: desire rooted in the Other. Always is, isn’t? In some sense, we’re actors waiting to be seen and chosen, as if by a film director (where are you, Antonioni? Dead. Oh.). You won’t be hearing Knight drawing these conclusions — as the narrator, in the throes of an all-consuming desire, can barely think, let alone think critically.
Desire is about escaping yourself; this is why, on Beanpole, you will hear of a character wanting to be a “rockerbilly”, and, although it might seem silly, transcendence is at the heart of desire and, thus, the record.
Recorded between Knight and Andrew “Idge”…
Endless Cold, Endless Darkness, the latest effort from experimental ambient artist Ugasanie, is centered on deep, rich layers of drones evoking windswept and snow-covered landscapes (a repeating theme across Ugasanie’s releases). Even when played at a modest volume, the low frequencies emanating from your speakers resonate with desks, chairs, walls, and so on to an immersive and suffocating effect.
Accompanying these undertones are additional sonic elements – either from field recordings or synthetic processing – that crackle, skitter, and echo. Animal noises, wordless vocalizations, and ritual percussion add to the haunting, pneumatic atmosphere. For the most part, the pieces are low-density ambient, combining…
Just Gravity is pianist Haeun Joo‘s debut for New York’s 577 Records. She released her first, 2021’s We Will Find on Next Level in 2021. Joo’s playing style connects many poles of jazz thought. It revealed her deep love of lyricism and her influences — Bill Evans, Fred Hersch, and Keith Jarrett — with a quartet.
Here, the composer and improviser shines through, bringing her love of blues and stride piano, melodic improvisation, and a canny rhythmic sensibility. Joo plays solo on most of the labum, but on four tunes she is accompanied by bassist Chris Tordini and drummer Steven Crammer.
Opener “Salt and Silence” offers a modal cadence in the piano’s middle and higher registers. She literally creates melody as she switches…
The Grateful Dead performed at The Warfield in San Francisco on October 4 and 6, 1980, as part of a historic 15-night residency celebrating the band’s 15th anniversary. These shows featured a unique three-set format: one acoustic set followed by two electric sets.
Highlights from the acoustic sets of these specific dates were recently compiled and released as a limited edition live album titled The Warfield, San Francisco, CA Oct 4 & 6, 1980 for Record Store Day Black Friday 2025.
A perfect blending of older cuts from Dead’s extensive repertoire, these two sets include classics like ‘Bird Song’, ‘Cassidy’, ‘Dire Wolf’, and ‘To Lay Me Down’, amongst many others, with each set ending with ‘Ripple’. Produced for…
As an original member of Magazine and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Barry Adamson is the perfect choice to compose the soundtrack for SCALA!!!
The documentary film traces the history of the infamous countercultural movie venue in King’s Cross, which from 1978-1993 attracted more than its fair share of outsiders while screening a cornucopia of niche films: horror, kung-fu, sexploitation, LGBTQ+ cinema. From sticky floors to wandering cats, live concerts to customers shagging on the floor, the venue became infamous for more than its movies.
The soundtrack is as seedy and grungy as its source material, but it is also vibrant and raw. Adamson has prepared 22 miniatures, which seem like trailer music for 22 classic indie films.
The Doors’ 60th anniversary celebration continues with The Doors – Immersed 1967–1971, featuring Dolby Atmos mixes of the band’s six studio albums on Blu-ray for the first time. The set includes Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround, and high-resolution stereo (192/24), alongside remixes in 5.1 surround sound and immersive 12-channel Dolby Atmos versions of The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun, The Soft Parade, Morrison Hotel, and L.A.Woman. Each disc is housed in a mini-jacket with the original album artwork.
Bruce Botnick, the band’s longtime engineer and mixer, created the immersive mixes, and in a short note in the set shared, “With Atmos, having loudspeakers on the ceiling allows ‘Riders on the Storm’ to come alive with rain and thunder…
Patience and elegance permeate Laura Baird’s work, both as a solo performer and half of The Baird Sisters, with sister Meg. Laura’s last album proper was the wonderful I Wish I Were a Sparrow (2017), and some of the songs of Under Blue have been around since 2012, written during initial recordings for Sparrow. Says Laura on her craft: “Taking your time, letting things go, and letting something bloom before you go into the next thing is something I learned from Meg.”
Both artists have a talent for performing very deliberate music, where each note feels right and nothing is superfluous; this was immediately evident on Sparrow and is here as well. Although Under Blue began life early, it became an album focused on the process of grief,…
When you ponder Belgium, you wouldn’t immediately consider it a hotbed of americana music. You would most likely think of their excellent footballers, chocolates, and even a fictional detective. Lucky Came to Town is a six-piece band from the hills around Leuven in Belgium, and their debut album, The River Knows My Name, dispels any preconceptions you may have. Songwriter Kim Van Weyenbergh and bass player Joost Buttiens met in 2015, driven by their mutual respect for country music and started playing tunes together. Although this collection has enough twang, it leans away from traditional country, and fans of American Aquarium will find similarities between this offering and the band’s music. Formed deep in the Hageland Hills,…
Nobody knows who Daguerreotypes’ James Samimi Farr is, and judging from his expansive and warm folk debut, This Is My Way to Tell You That Everything Is Real and Is Happening Now, this knowledge has eaten away at him quietly for the better part of a decade. After abandoning his dreams of a music career in his early 20s, Farr has returned to these dreams, or perhaps to the grave where he believes they are buried. The album’s 20 songs are the resigned and rueful sound of him making amends with his obscurity, and his larger place in the universe. “If this is all there is, and we are all alone/My voice can go no higher,” he sings on “Born a Baritone.”
As a writer, Farr belongs to a long and storied line of married men wrangling poetry from…
In the realm of indie folk music, the strength and veracity of the work springs from the sincerity in which it is sung. All of which may be worth bearing in mind when it comes to a songwriter’s jaundiced perspective on their surroundings. In terms of Wormy’s Shark River, there is an emotive in this particular record that remains unfulfilled by the close of the work.
Judging it on a commercial level, there is only one pop standout. “27 Days,” all twangy guitars and longing, dots the work with tales of British tourists undertaking the voyages that have brought them to certain fulfillment. If only the rest of the record had made similarly good use of this breezy charm, it could make an impression with the 14-year-old market, but Brooklyn…