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Oh boy. 2020..."Don't complain, don't explain", right? But in the six years since since Magik Markers  Surrender To The Fantasy, lots happened!  2020 was meant as a sweet'n'sour commentary on this already-incisive year way before COVID and everything else; now, the Markers' time-stamped album statement is poised to hit even harder, its exterior further textured by coarse residue of the glue that binds us all together. Fortunately, the music in this statement doubles as a timeless demonstration of what John Shaw, Pete Nolan and Elisa Ambrogio do best:... (read more)

"I remember being home and just watching a storm from the horizon
Walk over like a cloak of death
The rain was so thick that it looked like another cloud, a phantom
Though other clouds near it would cause the sun’s light to bounce off of it,
And create a different light
It’s strange seeing a sunset and a storm together
Soon the storm reaches the land and you’re in the rain,
All under the glow of... (read more)

Lama Lobsang Palden and Jim Becker's forthcoming Compassion delivers a universal message through the only otherworldly methods that are available to man that don't involve destroying life as we know it. It's simple - just listen to and feel sounds of third single, "Blessings", Lama's voice, chants and percussion join with Becker's eclectic production, with layers of overdubs transmitting deep overtones to strengthen a peaceful atmosphere. 
 

Jim's deep musical ability is on full... (read more)

Rock and roll was a relief after the rigor of Henry Cow.  
 
That was one of the thoughts in Anthony Moore's brain in late 1975. Of course, leaving Henry Cow had meant the dissolution of the band he'd founded, Slapp Happy, as the two groups had essentially merged over the previous year. Still, there was plenty yet to do with music, and with Anthony's propensity for odd left turns, a solo career in the pop world seemed like a... (read more)

Launched in 2015 by Ghost's Masaki Batoh, The Silence have rocketed to their fifth album in an impressive arc, continuing their singular journey to known and unknown places in the musical universe with Electric Meditations. Recorded in an all-analog process at GOK Studios in Tokyo, the sounds are a measure of the The Silence's soul! Descending to great depths and expanding immeasurably from minimal to maximal, The Silence resonate off blues and hard rock vibes in the process.

The first Electric... (read more)

Dope Body's sonic mutations boil out from their flesh like a lather of sweat, dripping into yer mouth with the tang of toxic waste. Illuminated by hammer-on harmony leads, funky post-hardcore, and glinting metallic edges, their latest single "Jer Bang" breaks the chain and bursts through the daily routine like a grim landmark. Raw aggression detonates, unblinking at the blinding flash in the chorus (to be shouted from rooftops around the world): "Watch me - revolt!"
 

Filmed in an isolated location by lead... (read more)

Orbiting our planet - a guitar in space. As the world turns, it's only a few minutes between continents - we're not that far apart at all! Receiving and transmitting the actions from the surface has moments of disconnect before the signal becomes clear: the play of rich tonalities, and the complimentary music of nations that Tashi Dorji finds in the neck of his acoustic guitar.

Piss and vinegar spray from Tashi's resolute, resourceful acoustic guitar improvisation, while behind the initial flurries lies a tactile,... (read more)

Here we are in 2020, exploding like a dream. All keeping busy in new ways and old. Like Magik Markers - as they make new music, they're processing  the mysteries of growing up and being older (memories of the future from your youth) and today's numbed nation, rubbing upon sacred roots and art-noise jamming their way into nonlinear song sense. As it can only be, the music of 2020 (duh, their new album!) is raw and beautiful all at once. So, here we are in the murky and... (read more)

Sun Araw and Cameron Stallones' ever expanding universe absorbed the cosmic energies of Jon Leland and Marc Riordan with Rock Sutra, which was recorded live to midi--the first Sun Araw record (or maybe first EVER?!?) of it's kind! As was hoped, new purity in musical transcendence is tapped in the process, and is offered in the spirit was made: that of generosity and adventure.

With its bright, hypnotic loop "Arrambe" is all about that feeling you get when you zoom in far enough: a granularity... (read more)

Knowing that all good things must come to an end, Bill's penultimate single "Ry Cooder" leaves a lasting impression. Stop-start licks melt into vaudevillian relief as Bill unpacks and reassembles Ry's history with deadly dry affect, guaranteeing to break up your late-night guitar jam, no matter how deep!

A knee-slapping roundhouse of a tribute to America's own polymath guitar legend-in-his-own-time, "Ry Cooder" leaves one to wonder what sort of fandom is being indulged here. One thing to be certain of, however, is Callahan's ability as a songwriter and wordsmith... (read more)