The Heartwood Institute : Witchcraft Murders

The Heartwood Institute is quite the Gothic and haunted musical world. I’m new to Jonathan Sharp’s musical project, but I’m quickly becoming obsessed. It’s a mix of vintage and modern sounds, like a childhood dream replayed with modern equipment. The fidelity is sharp, but the intention is still opaque and drifting towards morose. Listening to […]

Carlton Melton : Where This Leads

California psych rock purveyors Carlton Melton have been putting out wobbly, gauzy, far out rock and roll for well over a decade now. Recording in a geodesic dome in northern California amidst redwoods and the faint crashing of waves on a Pacific Ocean coastline, Andy Duvall, Clint Golden, and Rich Millman make music as more […]

The Besnard Lakes : The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings

Montreal’s The Besnard Lakes have been the patron saints of grand psych rock for years now. They’re one of those bands that you’ve never heard of until you have, then they’re all you’ll listen to for weeks. With leader Jace Lasek at the helm, this psych/pop rock behemoth has made records that feel like dizzying […]

“Through The King’s Wood” : Getting Lost in Pye Corner Audio’s Black Mill Tapes

I’ve been completely and utterly enchanted by Pye Corner Audio as of late. Admittedly I’m a late arrival to the haunted sound world of Martin Jenkins, but man I’m so glad I finally arrived. It’s a subtle music, that of PCA, but once you unlock the dark, melancholy magic that hides in the downtempo beats […]

The Budos Band : Long In The Tooth

When I first heard The Budos Band I thought I’d come across some long lost relic from the 70s. Super tight and funky rhythm section, jazz-inflected horns, Latin percussion, and slinky guitar all coming together to give the impression that James Bond could’ve been a lot cooler had he been spying to this soundtrack. Imagine […]

Luis Vasquez : A Body Of Errors

Luis Vasquez uses art to express his creativity, but also his internal world. With his long-running project The Soft Moon, Vasquez uses post-punk angst and darkwave doom and gloom to paint us jagged visions of the human experience. If that sounds like a drag, it’s not. Musically Vasquez builds pulsating soundscapes, pop industrial rhythms with […]

Camp Of Wolves : Granite Creek

The new album from David Salisbury’s electronic project Camp Of Wolves is heavy, man. Not in a d-tuned guitar and screamo vocals heavy, but the kind of heavy that hits you when you least expect it driving to work, or staring out at the sea. A monolithic melancholy that touches your cheek when some great […]

Deafheaven : 10 Years Gone

Deafheaven have reshaped what it is and what it can be to be a metal band over the last decade. Seamlessly combining elements of black metal, post-rock, thrash, shoegaze, and even dream pop throughout each of their releases, the California 5-piece somehow make switching gears from Burzum and Slayer to Wilco and Explosions in The […]

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE : Vertical Helix Scan(2020)

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE is a drum/synth trio out of Seattle, Washington that lock into dark, heady sci-fi grooves, taking the listener on a deep space journey that is part dystopian soundtrack and part electro-prog freakout. The band, which consists of Andrew Crawshaw(Synthesizers & Programming), Justin Thomas Kleine(Synthesizers), and Tim Call(Drums), creates a dizzying sonic dread that […]

Steve Moore : VFW Soundtrack

Ever since I heard Steve Moore’s score for The Guest I firmly believe that he is the secret ingredient to a truly great cinematic experience. Moore won me over of course as synth/bass wizard in the horror prog duo Zombi, but when I first saw The Guest and became enamored with that score it felt […]