News

Twenty plus years ago, The Children’s Hour (Josephine Foster, Andy Bar, David Pajo), fresh from a cross-country tour supporting Zwan in arenas across North America, made a final stop in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Gathering in the studio of Paul Oldham, they would lay down an album’s worth of material they had been refining on tour, recording over the course of a single day. They each went their separate ways, unsure of when they would reconvene again to share the new record. As... (read more)

The debut record from nehan (an evening with nehan) is a technical feat that borders science fiction: led by Masaki Batoh (Ghost, The Silence), the avant-garde rock quintet improvises each performance off the rhythm of a 9hz brain wave emitted from a test subject in a deep hypnosis. Batoh — who's also an acupuncturist — had the idea for a machine that could generate sonic data based on brain waves back in 2010 after winding down work with Ghost.... (read more)

Our friends at Streamline are making a sonic statement in 2024! With new releases from Sygtryggur Berg Sigmarsson and Brunhild Ferrari already due later this month, Streamline is now proud to announce OG23, the first in a series of projected new LPs by Chicago-based composer Kevin Drumm, famous for his string of great releases on labels such as Sonoris, Mego, Moikai, Thin Wrist etc.

Ever unpredictable, Drumm this time takes the fellow time-traveller through what sounds like an electronic field recording,... (read more)

Let the glistening sounds of BCMC envelop you this winter, like a fresh blanket of snow! The celestial combo of Bill MacKay and Cooper Crain will breeze through the East Coast this February on tour, bestowing the blissful tones of Foreign Smokes upon eight cities.

Like two beams of light colliding, Bill and Cooper combine shimmering guitar strings, towering cathedral organs, and fluttering synthesizers to build an otherworldly aura across each BCMC performance. The secret to BCMC’s serenity lies within its improvisational nature... (read more)

"Fifths Twice" is the second single taken from Rafael Toral’s Spectral Evolution. This new excerpt from the forthcoming album exemplifies the beautifully crafted chord treatments of the entire project, sourcing jazz’s traditional harmony with guitar and expansive electronics. Modulating twice through all the pitches in this circle with Toral’s advanced treatments of guitar and electronics produces an organic flow of near-classical majesty, paced glacially and imbued with granular ambiance.

In Rafael's words " "Fifths Twice" is... (read more)

Returned to us from early 90s Japan are the holy sounds of Ghost, with the long-awaited reissue of their first three releases: Ghost (s/t), Second Time Around, and Temple Stone are back on vinyl this February, twenty-five years since they were last in print.

These first three Ghost titles were originally released by P.S.F. on CD in 1990, 1992 and 1994, respectively, radiating enigma and energy in palpable waves with their original sound. After the acclaim that greeted Drag City’s 1996... (read more)

Today marks the return of The High Llamas - the longstanding musical project of acclaimed songwriter/producer/arranger Sean O’Hagan - who have announced their 11th studio album, Hey Panda, for a March 29th, 2024 release via Drag City. In conjunction, the group has released the title-track single, along with a video from director Simon Russell.

Discussing the “Hey Panda” single, O’Hagan notes, "I spent lock down and recovery as a TikTok fan of a Panda bear who ate giant carrots every day. It made... (read more)

There’s a time and a season for everything, they tell us – and now we find ourselves at the end of the Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You season. No, the new album won’t go away – and the Bonnie ‘Prince’ will continue to tour – but the cycle of release, the unboxing as it were, is drawing to a close. Fittingly, it goes out with a mighty soar: an epic reading of the title song to the album – a song, by-the-by that, for royal... (read more)

From the subterranean depths of sonic artistry come two encompassing new vinyl releases from our favorite curator of abstract/concrete/ambient/and beyond sound, Streamline.

Icelandic artist/musician Sigtryggur Berg Sigmarsson is known for his work with Stilluppsteypa, numerous solo albums and collaborations with other artists, such as Swedish composer BJ Nilsen. With Into The Second Half, he takes the listener into a mysterious, yet calming sound world, where carefully composed textures weave hypnotically in and out of each other, as subtle and varied... (read more)

Today, Laetitia Sadier - co-founder and singer for the legendary band Stereolab - arrives with her new album Rooting For Love on February 23rd via Drag City, her first since 2016’s Find Me Finding You. Alongside the album’s announcement, Sadier shares the video for lead single “Une Autre Attente” and announces 2024 North American tour dates. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, November 17 at 10AM local time.

Over the course of her career, spanning three-plus decades, Laetitia Sadier... (read more)