Filippo Diana : The Haunted Palace

Italian musician and composer Filippo Diana works in the dark corners. His music feels pulled from some Gothic nightmare; dark corners, monolith castles hid in ancient forests, and existential dread just under the surface all built from ambient textures, propulsive synthesizers, and the drive to take the listener on a journey. For most of the […]

SML : How You Been

SML is a supergroup of sorts. A supergroup for those in-the-know. Comprised of Anna Buttress(bass), Josh Johnson(saxophone), Jeremiah Chiu(synths, electronics), Gregory Uhlmann(guitar, sampler, electronics) and Booker Stardrum(drums), all of these amazing musicians orbit the worlds of modern jazz, experimental, electronic, and underground music. And all have recorded with each other in different projects associated with […]

From Overseas : Thinking Like A Mountain

From Overseas (aka Kévin Séry) makes the kind of bold, engaging, and ethereal music you can’t help but get lost in. Like some crystalline forest in a dream, you’re surrounded by a beauty not quite tangible. As if thoughts and visions form from the subconscious in rays of light and wonder, not quite able to […]

Oneohtrix Point Never : Tranquilizer

Discovering the musical world of Daniel Lopatin known as Oneohtrix Point Never was a revelation. Much like stumbling across Boards of Canada, you feel like you’re coming across something completely singular and unique. There was nothing quite like that music before it. There were bits and pieces of 80s new age and drone music -as […]

Cheap Trick : All Washed Up

I’m pretty sure that every young rock n roller coming up in the Midwest and beyond had a Cheap Trick phase. It was a rite of passage, really. You were already exposed to the At Budokan version of “I Want You To Want Me”, as well as hearing “Surrender” ad nauseum enough to grow to […]

Kronstad 23 : Sommermørket

Norway’s Kronstad 23 make music with a toolbox full of influences, vibes, and moods. Songs ranging from “Electric Miles” vibes to the hard-hitting grooves of Fela Kuti to the expanse of post-rock. The four-piece -which consists of Øyvind Vie Berg (keyboards), Aleksander Tøsdal Tveit(guitar), Eirik Rømcke(bass) and Hans Christian Dalgaard (drums)- make songs that feel […]

Tortoise : Touch

The music collective Tortoise has been around for 30 years, coming out of the experimental/underground music scene of Chicago. With drummer and studio wizard John McEntire behind the kit and soundboard -along with bassists Doug McCombs and Bundy K. Brown, drummer John Herndon, percussionist Dan Bitney, guitarist Dave Pajo- released their pivotal Millions Now Living […]

Midlake : A Bridge To Far

Midlake were a much obsessed over, nearly cult-like band back in the 2000s. With singer and main songwriter Tim Smith, Midlake made two highly exalted records in Bamnan and Slivercork and The Trials of Van Occupanther. The Denton, TX-based band made an outsider art record with the former, and the latter was revered for it’s […]

Liam Kazar : Pilot Light

I came across Liam Kazar four years ago. A song of his popped up randomly while streaming music one afternoon and it made an impression. Singer/songwriter from Chicago that was a chef before concentrating on songwriting, his music is very much in the pop category. But pop like Tom Petty, Talking Heads, Wilco, and Jackson […]

Metavari : House Tetra Sessions, Vol. 1

Nate Utesch has always been about the evolution of sound and art when it comes to his long-running musical project Metavari. From the early days as a Midwestern post-rock outfit(Be One Of Us And Here No Noise) to moving into more synth-based electro pop(Moonless), to creating more ethereal/new age soundscapes(Metropolis, Absurda, Soft Continuum), Utesch is […]