The Associates – Sulk [Deluxe Edition] (2016)
The edition of Sulk which was the most common to find while record shopping throughout the late ’80s and ’90s was originally the American issue. Heavy substitution and track reordering — a typical...
View ArticleF.S. Blumm & Nils Frahm – Tag Eins Tag Zwei (2016)
Followers of the Sonic Pieces catalogue will already be familiar with the individuals of F.S.Blumm and Nils Frahm as well as their acclaimed work as a duo. But even though they’re making use of...
View ArticleEartheater – Metalepsis (2015)
Guardian Alien, the ecstatic experimentalists that singer-songwriter Alexandra Drewchin has run with over the last few years, have been described as “psychedelic.” But despite that tag — and despite...
View ArticlePalm – Trading Basics (2015)
The Philadelphia-via-Upstate New York quartet Palm’s approach to wiry genre-hopping art rock emphasizes density. Guitar lines creep like vines, winding around the heaving tree trunks of drummer Hugo...
View ArticleNAVVI – Omni (2016)
Hardly anyone on the Seattle electronic scene does intimacy quite like NAVVI does. In the two and a half years since they started asking about our weekend plans, the duo of Brad Boettger and Kristin...
View ArticleThe Beverleys – Brutal (2015)
The Beverleys‘ angsty, up-front vocals and rough, forceful live show make them a perfect fit for Buzz Records. With label mates Greys, they share the influence of bands like Nirvana and Hot Snakes...
View ArticleIan William Craig – Cradle for the Wanting (2015)
Upon reviewing Ian William Craig‘s 2014 debut album, A Turn of Breath, we couldn’t help but notice similarities between Craig’s vocal-based music and Akira Rabelais’s, specifically the style of music...
View ArticleOwen – The King of Whys (2016)
Owen – the acclaimed solo musical guise of singer/ songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mike Kinsella – has made an astonishing leap forward with The King of Whys, the first work in his two-decade-plus...
View Article1987 – Härskarkonst (2015)
It’s love that rules over the world of Swedish producer and musician 1987 (Victor Holmberg was previously one half of Montauk along with Johan Cederberg, now of HNNY, a man with a huge presence within...
View ArticleXylaroo – Sweetooth (2016)
There are many ways to push musical boundaries. Some artists, from Albert Ayler to Can to Sunn O))) and far beyond, do it sonically. Xylaroo are not a band in this vein. Consisting of east London-based...
View ArticleIn Æternam Vale – Pink Flamingos (2016)
The French synth veteran In Æternam Vale is releasing an album of archival material and new tracks spanning four decades. The project of Lyon-based Laurent Prot, In Æternam Vale debuted in 1983 with...
View ArticleIlya Beshevli – Wanderer (2016)
Russian pianist and composer Ilya Beshevli paid tribute to the natural world with his first album, Night Forest. Wanderer follows his relocation to Moscow, and looks inward for tranquility while also...
View ArticleBat for Lashes – The Bride (2016)
Employing a multifaceted approach to her fourth album as Bat for Lashes, Natasha Khan draws from her studies of film, visual art and fashion design to create a tangible world on The Bride. Khan takes...
View ArticleMetronomy – Summer 08 (2016)
Despite their impressive ascent to mainstream success in the UK with their last couple of albums, it appears that success isn’t such a big concern for Metronomy‘s frontman/founder Joe Mount. Now a...
View ArticleBeliefs – Leaper (2015)
Beliefs‘ influences aren’t any secret — Jesse Crowe and Josh Korody have always worn their influences on their sleeves, and as part of the new guard of well-loved alternative rock born in the late ’80s...
View ArticleDeerhoof – The Magic (2016)
On albums like La Isla Bonita and Breakup Song, Deerhoof took a back-to-basics approach, concentrating on joyful blasts of noise pop and surprising funk. With The Magic, they look back even further,...
View ArticleBing & Ruth – City Lake (2010, Remastered 2015)
Brooklyn pianist and composer David Moore’s Bing & Ruth originally released City Lake in limited release on Happy Talk in 2010. In 2014, RVNG Intl. issued the outfit’s acclaimed sophomore effort,...
View ArticleTashi Dorji & Thom Nguyen – Manas (2015)
Bhutanese guitarist Tashi Dorji has been searching for new ways of squeezing abstract tones from his instrument since first laying ears on the likes of Derek Bailey and other free improvisers....
View ArticleBo Rocha – Even Green EP (2015)
Under the guise of Bo Rocha, London-based producer Kate Sproule has become a perennial staple of the 2015 blogosphere having caught the eye with a drip drop run of singles since the start of the year....
View ArticleVA – Uncut: The Best of 2015 (2015)
1. Ryley Walker – Summer Dress 2. Courtney Barnett – Depreston 3. Wilco – The Joke Explained 4. Father John Misty – When You’re Smiling and Astride Me 5. Björk – Quicksand 6. Sufjan Stevens – All of Me...
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