Morph Stereo Returns With ‘Divers’ EP

For the past several months Keith Canisius(Rumskib, Astral TV, Shortwave Broadcaster) has been gifting our ears with singles from a new project called Morph Stereo. Since February of 2024 Canisius has been releasing a series of singles from his new electronic project, six singles in total up to July. August saw an EP and yet […]

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 […]

Umberto : Black Bile

Musician/composer Matt Hill, aka Umberto, started out releasing albums that felt like imagined soundtracks to horror and sci fi films. Pulling heavily from 70s Italian horror films you’d catch late night after everyone went to bed, his early albums had everything from Italio Disco, Giallo melodrama, and synth-heavy sci fi sounds. His moniker was taken […]

The Smile Return With “Don’t Get Me Started”

The last Radiohead album was 2016s A Moon Shaped Pool. The last before that was 2011s The King Of Limbs. That was 5 years between albums. With Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s current project The Smile they have released two albums plus two live LPs over the last two years. Now that’s some seriously inspired […]

J.R.C.G. : Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra)

Justin R. Cruz Gallego, aka Tacoma-based musician known as J.R.C.G. defies a tag to any sort of genre. Listening to his Sub Pop debut Grim Iconic…(Sadistic Mantra) you’re hit in the chest with serious rhythmic and groove intentions. He locks into his Latin roots and lays down some seriously heady percussive trips, but on top […]

Sml : Small Medium Large

The latest to come out of Chicago’s forward-thinking record label International Anthem is by Sml. Sml consists of the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. The project began as a series of long form improvisations at the beloved but now closed LA venue […]

Shameless Self Promotion Time

For the most part these hallowed pages here at Complex Distractions are meant to highlight musicians and bands that I find interesting. Artists that inspire me enough to talk about them and spread their word across these internet wastelands. As well as talking about music, movies, books, and other art-related stuff, I talk about me. […]

Witchboard Readies New Album ‘Incidental Goth Club Music For Television and Film’, out 7/12; Listen To “Get Anxious”

Witchboard is the musical project of writer, producer, and director Glenn McQuaid. Known most notably for his debut film, 2008s I Sell The Dead, as well as his audio series Tales From Beyond The Pale(both with Larry Fessenden and Fessenden’s production company Glass Eye Pix.) McQuaid also directed a segment of the original anthology film […]

Strand Of Oaks : Miracle Focus

Timothy Showalter has been kicking around as Strand of Oaks since his 2009 debut Leave Ruin. Starting out with a folksy, singer/songwriter vibe he shifted focus into more synth and pop touches on the project’s breakthrough record Pope Killdragon. His Neil Young affectations were replaced by Tangerine Dream and Kate Bush as influences on his […]

MIDI Janitor : Holy To Dogs

There’s something eerie – almost ghost-like – to the music of MIDI Janitor, aka Jonathan Orr. It’s like music made of spare parts; ancient, broken down machines wheezing out bygone melodies to steam-powered beats. Sometimes the eerie gives way to the ethereal, as if Orr was soundtracking a digital sunset in some early 80s Capcom […]