The Hard Quartet : The Hard Quartet

I think the majority of folks coming across the new music project The Hard Quartet would scoff at it being called a “supergroup”. But those with their heads in the world of early 90s college/alternative rock would think the label apropos. The band – which consists of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus, Chavez and Superwolve’s Matt Sweeney, […]

The Smile : Cutouts

The Smile -the Radiohead side project of Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood- shouldn’t work as well as it does. Like Yorke’s solo albums and Greenwood’s film scores they are great listening experiences, but we’re always waiting for them to get back together with their Radiohead counterparts and give us another masterpiece. Since 2022 Yorke and […]

Justin Sweatt : North Texas Electric

Justin Sweatt has been making forward-thinking electronic music for well over a decade. He first began making electronic music as Xander Harris, releasing a collection of classic electronic music that ranged from darkly illuminated techno to hazy ambient to 80s-inspired synth pop with a touch of 70s German electronic pioneers for good measure. But then […]

The War On Drugs : Live Drugs Again

The live album really came into prominence in the 70s. Kiss Alive, Frampton Comes Alive, and Cheap Trick At Budokan were some of the biggest albums of the decade of decadence. While selling millions, they were merely chum thrown into the waters for hungry fans to nibble on while the bands went back into the […]

Black Wick : \\VIDEO//|\\DRONED//

I get a lot of invites from labels to check out their latest releases. I check out as many as I can given the volume, plus the fact that I have a pretty jam packed life outside of writing about music. But the main reason I started doing this back in late 2011 was because […]

Repeated Viewing : Strip Their Flesh + The Artefact

Ahh, the double feature. There’s nothing quite like pairing up a couple horror movies for a sleazy horror marathon. The first double feature I can remember seeing was at the Warsaw Drive-In when I was probably 4-years old. For some unknown reason my parents thought it’d be a good idea to pack me and my […]

Peel Dream Magazine : Rose Main Reading Room

Peel Dream Magazine is what I would call intellectual pop. The L.A.-based band has effortlessly swayed through Krautrock, shoegaze, twee pop, and dream pop throughout their four full-length albums. Each one saw sonic expansion and a deeper connection to storytelling via band leader and songwriter Joseph Stevens. Stevens incorporates everything from early 90s college rock […]

Max Richter : In A Landscape

Sadly there are few modern classical composers that can sustain a career that isn’t buoyed by film, television, and video game score work. The late Johann Johannsson was working towards that. The great Hans Zimmer is another, but he first established himself in film work. Danny Elfman pretty much sticks to film and TV, besides […]

David Gilmour : Luck and Strange

David Gilmour is known as much for his crystalline guitar tone and soulful vocals as he is for being the guy that replaced Syd Barrett in Pink Floyd back in the 60s. Of course his main gig over the last 50+ years is hard to overshadow, but Gilmour brought a grounded, bluesy component to Pink […]

Tycho : Infinite Health

Scott Hansen has been releasing music as Tycho since 2006, starting with debut Past Is Prologue. Tycho’s sound can be described as low key electronic. Elements of chillwave, ambient, post-rock, downtempo, and IDM. Don’t know what any of those mean? Well, imagine groovy electronic beats layered in dreamy synthesizers with touches of guitar, bass, and […]