Giallo Prog Duo Dressel Amorosi Return With ‘House of Dolls’, Out 10/24; Listen To “Octagon Tower”

My first experience with the Giallo/Prog duo Dressel Amorosi was 2018s excellent DeathMetha, a hypnotic and bloody slab of sleazy disco and late night panic. I didn’t hear the album proper till it was re-released on limited edition cassette via Spun Out Of Control in 2020. It touched on classic Giallo grooves and panic-laden tension […]

Delta IV : Radium Arc

If you’ve been following along with Seattle’s electronic synth duo Delta IV for the last few years, you’d notice a steady progression. They’re following in the footsteps of legends like Zombi, Tangerine Dream, post-Gabriel Genesis, and The Secret Machines; forging thoughtful, expansive sound worlds through big drums and steely synths. And while the retro-futuristic, chromed-out […]

Elephant9 & Terje Rydpal : Catching Fire

I’ve been listening to Elephant9 & Terje Rydpal’s live album Catching Fire for a couple months now. Letting the immense 80 minute concert recorded in 2017 soak into my brain just to try and put words together to describe it. Putting this into some narrative has eluded me, but I figured what the heck. Elephant9 […]

The Smashing Pumpkins : Aghori Mhori Mei

There was a time when The Smashing Pumpkins were a revered, loved, slightly misunderstood but ultimately great band. Gish, Siamese Dream, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were all monumental albums. Gish was the psychedelic little brother to the giants Siamese and Mellon Collie. Siamese laid the groundwork for Big Muff guitar fuzz that […]

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE : Exit Signal

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE, the heavy synth trio of Andrew Crawshaw(keys), Justin Thomas Kleine(keys), and Tim Call(drums) have been honing their skills as songwriters and musicians for a few years now. Combining the sonic explorations of 70s electronic titans Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Vangelis with the more modern sound worlds of Zombi and Sinoia Caves. Over […]

Zombi : Direct Inject

The prog/synth duo Zombi, which consists of keyboardist/bassist/composer Steve Moore and percussionist/keyboardist AE Paterra, have notched out a very specific sonic corner in electronic music. Influenced/inspired by horror scores and films, as well as 70s prog and more thoughtful metal of the 70s and 80s, these two Pittsburgh-raised musicians have rewired the idea of the […]

“Solidifying Our Sound” : A Conversation With Delta IV’s Michael Schorr And Jared Pace

Featured Photo by Chris Schanz There’s been an electronic music renaissance in the last few years, and SFI Recording has been the epicenter of that. The circuital pulse emanating from the Pacific Northwest home base of Andrew Crawshaw’s record label can be felt in a visceral way from coast to coast. It’s building into something […]

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE : Seek Sound Shelter

On the latest release from Seattle’s SOMAFREE INSTITUTE, the heavy synth trio lays out a cosmic space epic in EP form. Seek Sound Shelter sees the trio, which consists of Andrew Crawshaw, Tim Call, and Justin Thomas Kleine, building a sonic bridge which spans across decades of progressive electronic music. Touches of Klaus Schulze, Zombi, […]

Birth : Born

There’s something transcendent about the album Born, the debut long player by California’s prog/psych outfit Birth. Southern California has been ground zero for a new wave of prog and psych bands in the last decade and a half, with heavyweights like Astra, Psicomagia, Monarch, Sacri Monti, and Earthless lighting the way to some kind of […]

Hawksmoor : Head Coach

Musician James McKeown, better known in the heady electronic music world as Hawksmoor, has put out some of the most forward thinking and far out heavy synth albums in the last couple years. Albums like Methods Of Dreaming, On Prescription, as well as his collaboration with The Heartwood Institute Concrete Island have demonstrated McKeown’s knack […]