News

Dig it, pals - The Silence are an analog unit, but the weight of their sound is unencumbered - they're also a mobile unit and that means they can, and do, hit the road! Masaki Batoh's group is more than a band, it's an energy passing through your body, starting in your ears and staring into your mind, making a clearing. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, and let the energy flow through you and into the earth. That's when... (read more)

Everybody feels they have a mission - David Grubbs' mission for the last 30 odd years has been to explore and exploit the potential of the guitar and song structure via hardcore, punk, post-punk and post-rock, both solo and with outfits as varied as Squirrel Bait, Bastro, and Gastr Del Sol. Grubbs is constantly moving and a massive collaborator as well; his current mission takes him overseas to Japan, where he's got a string of dates playing solo and in collaboration... (read more)

It was only just a few short weeks ago that Royal Trux duked it out, Pound for Pound-style, with ALL of Europe (and themselves!) on their first "real" tour in ages! Back home and victorious, there's little rest for the champs - they're 'bout to head back for round two, like an extended play. With just a few select dates in the cities that couldn't draw them the first match, Royal Trux will be in tour overdrive, fearing no one - stealing faces where... (read more)

Mike Donovan's latest opus is no mere studio project! Just off a set of Euro-dates, The Peacers are introducing Introducing the Crimsmen (their new record) to select audiences on the American road. A few dates up on in the Pac NW with Lavender Flu get it started in mid-August, then in Septo, The Peacers and the Crimsmen alike do the Goner fest and then a Chicago gig with bros from another mofo, Wand. This is the first time this iteration of the band is... (read more)

Laetitia Sadier's extensive US tour begins in just a few short weeks and what better way to kick off the party than with a new music video! Easily the headiest track on Find Me Finding You, "Sacred Project" electrifies the ears with an intimate immediacy, one anchored by incoming waves of measured and calculated double bass, baroque keys and lush synthetic experimentation. And then, THE voice. Oh that Sadier voice! The one that reaches you and wraps you up each time you hear... (read more)

Sapropelic Pycnic is the world debut of music presented under the name of Ka Baird. While this record is a commencement of many sorts, it is in no way a mere beginning: Ka was one of the founding members of experimental psychlings Spires That In the Sunset Rise. Formed in 2001 out of the Chicago scene, and described by late guitar legend Jack Rose as a "female Sun City Girls," Spires' sisterhood of sound deepened the New Folk slant with an array of... (read more)

Some artists are at a level of genius so singular and existing on it's own plane, it's difficult to fully surmise using our limited vocabulary. One such singer songwriter was brought to us by none other than Gregg Turkington (he of impeccable sharpness of ear only surpassed by the sharpness of his tongue as funnyman Neil Hamburger): the inimitable Frederick Michael St. Jude. Back in 2013 we gave a proper issuing of his inaugural, lost treasure, Here Am I - a trippy batch... (read more)

What do the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century, such as The Bjelland Brothers, The Blue Jean Committee, and Crisis of Conformity all have in common? Fred Armisen! A true renaissance man, Fred Armisen’s deep supply of locally-pressed records has presented undersung heroes from the history of music in his series Hometown Heroes. Without Fred, who else could bring you songs from the smooth and sensual yacht rock leaning The Blue Jean Committee or a band of young... (read more)

Holy shit, that headline reads true! Wand are all set to release Plum, coming to the world September 22nd! They've got a video for its titular track which you can scope right now, you lovely impatient music lover, you. And the world over is Wand's oyster, "plum" fresh with ripe new tour dates taking us into the new year! Plum is Wand’s fourth LP since the band formed in late 2013, but their first new album since 2015. After a whirlwind first two... (read more)

Bitchin Bajas and Bonnie Prince Billy released Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties a little over a year ago, and all who’ve subsequently come in contact with it continue to prosper! As such, the collaboration between BPB and the Bajas is one of the most exciting and unique musical happenings of our young century, as the history books will note. Everybody deserves to be a part of history, and the Bitchin’ Bonnies know this as well as any: that’s why they continue to tour Epic... (read more)