Mac Demarco : Guitar

It’s been 6 years since Mac Demarco released a proper studio album(and no, 2023s Five Easy Hot Dogs doesn’t count.) The Canadian weirdo/slacker/multi-instrumentalist’s last proper album was 2019s Here Comes The Cowboy, an album that felt lacking when compared to the previous three LPs. This Old Dog from 2017 was his most promising, showing the […]

“She Hunts At Night” : Digging Into Pye Corner Audio’s ‘Prowler’

I didn’t discover Pye Corner Audio until 2016. I was in the midst of healing from back surgery(herniated disc) and I was obsessively searching the Mondo/Death Waltz Recording Company’s website to see if I could snag any soundtracks(for therapeutic purposes, of course.) During that time I’d found the amazing Pentagram Home Video’s Who’s Out There?, […]

New Psychedelics For Old : Music From A Spare Bedroom

My summer music project has come to fruition. What started out in a basement studio but then blossomed in a spare bedroom with lots of light and plants has turned into a 8-song set of weird, sad, and quirky electronic songs. Hobbled together with a couple synthesizers(one analog, another a cheap Casio), an occasional Rickenbacker […]

Mark Tester : Super Hiss

There’s an adventurous spirit with Indianapolis-based musician/songwriter Mark Tester’s new album Super Hiss. More than a collection of songs, it’s a vast gallery of passing thoughts and sparks of creativity captured on tape. Short clips of guitar, synth, and synthetic instruments derived from floppy disk. Pop-inflected psychedelic vignettes that feel like waking from a vivid […]

Alex Calder : Self-Titled

Alex Calder came up with Mac Demarco in Makeout Videotape. Playing lo fi, kind of sleazy pop with Mac, he went out on his own after Demarco struck it big with his album 2. Where Demarco displayed a kind of Cheshire cat grin and self-assured creepiness that came off more endearing than problematic, Alex Calder’s […]

Revisited : New Pale Swimmers

by EA Poorman When I first arrived in Fort Wayne, Indiana there were a few names that always came up when talking about true blue local music talent: Orange Opera, Thunderhawk, and Vandolah. It was as if these bands arrived fully formed and ready to rule the Midwest, then the world. I saw all of […]

Nightswimming : Mark Hutchins Talks New Pale Swimmers Digital Return

by EA Poorman Mark Hutchins used to make the rounds as one of the premier Fort Wayne songwriters. He started making a name for himself in the band Vandolah, which to my recollection recorded one of the best local albums to grace the cd racks at Wooden Nickel Music called Please. Hutchins also made a […]

Struck With Deer Lungs

Now here’s an odd one. I discovered Huerco S. while perusing the Software label’s roster and I was immediately drawn to the bizarre face on the album cover. I figured “Hey, this is weird looking. I think I’ll like it.” Sure enough I did. In fact, it’s one of my favorite electronic music discoveries in […]

Sounds for Enlightenment(and other things)

Hi. Yeah, I’ve been a little absent as of late. This week has been a long one, for sure. I haven’t felt much like writing, what with late nights, after work busyness, and just a general malaise. But like someone once told me in a dream, “Time to buck up, Skippy. There’s stars to lasso […]

dreamdistrict and you

I’ve been working on this little project by myself for about a month now called dreamdistrict. I currently have five songs done and felt like talking a little about it. What? You don’t want to? Okay, well cover your ears…err, eyes. So for some time now I’ve had this ridiculous idea about making some (mostly)instrumental […]