The Heartwood Institute Returns With ‘Witchcraft Murders’; Listen To “Who Put Bella Down The Wych Elm?”

There were a series of brutal murders that took place in the English countryside back in the early 1940s. A man impaled on his own pitchfork, the remains of a woman found stuffed inside a tree, and clues that led to the possibility these murders were witchcraft-related. What became known as The Lower Quinton & […]

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 […]

Devouring The Worldly Coil : Burial Grid Talks New Album, Concepts, and Working Through Grief

Adam Michael Kozak, aka Burial Grid, makes music that goes head first into loss and grief. Electronic music that veers to the melancholy lean of Giallo and into industrial-tinged metal reminiscent of the Melvins, NIN, and St. Vitus. Kozak is honest in his work, dealing in the realities of our existence in our mortal coil. […]

Darkside Return With “Liberty Bell”; New Album ‘Spiral’ Drops Spring 2021

Featured photo by Jed DeMoss One of my favorite albums of 2013 was from the Nicolas Jaar/Dave Harrington project Darkside. That album, Psychic, was a mixture of slow motion electronics and Dave Gilmour-like guitar licks. A cross between Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons, and Four Tet all mixed into this unique, slow burn of a record. […]

Enter The Void : Soundtracking The Void and Music For The End Of The World

Thomas and Ashleigh Ragsdale began their journey as music label owners at the end of 2018. Soundtracking The Void’s first release was Thomas Ragsdale’s Honley Civic Archives Volume 1. From there the two released music together as Ffion, Thomas released a series of solo LPs and then the label branched out to artists as diverse […]

Monochrome Echo : Moonkeeper

Listening to Monochrome Echo’s new album Moonkeeper I’m reminded of simpler times. Times when dystopian science fiction films didn’t have to have dread-inducing scores filled with ominous synth and hellscape ambient tones. A time when touches of light and elements of electro pop could cleanse the mental palate after someone is twisted into a pretzel […]

Baldocaster/Traveler CS : Exodus/Solare Split EP

In these tumultuous times I find music is the saving grace. A place to get lost in and a place to heal those psychic wounds. Of course it’s a temporary reprieve, but in these caustic days even a temporary locale to let your guard down is welcome. I’m finding that electronic music has been my […]

Salvatore Mercatante : The Foundations Of Eternal Sin

The musical world of Salvatore Mercatante is a mysterious and darkly brooding one. Working in the world minimalist synth, ambient, and Giallo, Mercatante locks into emotions and visceral experience when he composes. His work puts me in mind of Maine, another synth maestro that goes for feel and the musical journey over aping what’s come […]

Oneohtrix Point Never : Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

Daniel Lopatin has been world building as Oneohtrix Point Never for over a decade now. His albums started as drone and ambient vibe fests that brought to mind bleak science fiction and dystopian landscapes. Druggy, psychedelic musical experiments with old, battered synths, samplers, looping stations, and guitar pedals. As ramshackle as that sounds, those early […]

Stefan Bachmeier : The Strange Worlds Of Stefan Bachmeier

Who is Stefan Bachmeier? Where does he come from? Is he a time-traveling synthesist following portals to other dimensions leaving albums of wobbly, heady synth music for us to find in various decades and universes? Is he a world famous musician working under an alias, corrupting frontal lobes and right hemispheres of the minds of […]