Souled American Makes 2026 Lists at Country Universe and SPIN
Souled American‘s new album Sanctions is on the Country Universe list of best albums of 2026 so far. The site writes, “Venerable alt-country titans (yes, really) haven’t lost a step. What’s impressive about this set is how, despite a 30 year recording hiatus, they still sound ahead of their time when it comes to their singular brand of knotty, […]
The People Hear GULFF in Brooklyn
GULFF‘s new self-titled album is out now. The day before it was released, the project’s Tod Lippy hosted a listening party in the “remarkable” Sound Room at Public Records in Brooklyn. Lippy shares, “The evening began with an ambient sound installation composed by GULFF’s Owain Kelly along with the projection of a single-channel video (related to our Data Center Listening Station […]
Uncut Gives Maggot Brain A Solid Recommendation
Uncut gives 9 out of 10 stars to the new ORG Music/Westbound Records reissue of Funkadelic‘s Maggot Brain. The magazine’s review explores the content of the classic LP, writing, “Following Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow (1970), Funkadelic’s philosophy found sourer expression in ‘Maggot Brain’’s diseased 16 minutes of American breakdown. George Clinton infamously told guitarist Eddie Hazel […]
LA Times Explores Black Nile’s Connections To Art And The City’s Jazz History
The Los Angeles Times recently featured Black Nile, exploring how Inglewood brothers Lawrence and Aaron Shaw connect Los Angeles’ rich jazz history with a new generation of listeners. Published ahead of their recent Hollywood Bowl appearance on a bill with Erykah Badu, the piece traces the duo’s relationships with visual artists Lauren Halsey and Charles Gaines, who designed the artwork for their latest LP, Indigo Garden. The brothers discuss […]
Alt77 Enjoys Dren McDonald’s “Mesmeric” New LP
“Faced with the need to reconcile with grief and tragedy, and able to call upon a sophisticated psychdelically-tinged sound and a reputation as a musician which he’s built for years,” Alt77 writes, “Dren McDonald delivers Vox Pterous, a poetic meditation on grace, life, and time.” The site has a review of the new album, which is at radio now, here. […]
Spill Says Maggot Brain Is An “Essential Classic”
Spill says, “Originally released in 1971, Funkadelic’s seminal album, Maggot Brain, is an essential classic that plays like George Clinton’s response to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. In a single record, Clinton established himself among the greatest songwriters, bandleaders, and producers with a sprawling soundtrack for the Black Power era that remains powerfully influential… Maggot Brain is a […]
American Pancake Gets Tense With Charm School
American Pancake has shared “Tension,” a new remix of Charm School‘s “Simulacra” from Portland music producer Cryb that appears on the new Charm School EP SImulacra Remixed. The track, writes the Pancake, “feels so potently different as to be a bipolar version of the original. Not only is the time sig swapped out, sonically the rattling distortions and dirty […]
Fruit Bats Fish For An Acoustic Vision
Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats recently performed a beautiful “Sonoma Session” solo acoustic version of “Fishin’ For A Vision,” one of the songs on his new album The Landfill. Check it out here! Johnson’s done a lot of solo acoustic shows lately, but his current tour in support of The Landfill is a full band affair… just like the LP, […]
RNR Globe Gives Props The Definitive New Maggot Brain
According to Rock N Roll Globe, “as great as the music was, the succession of vessels that carried Funkadelic‘s Maggot Brain for the last 50 years have largely been marred with inferior sonic quality, especially when it was released in CD form. That is, however, until… Org Music, in conjunction with Westbound Records, gave Maggot Brain the audio rehabilitation it so richly deserves with […]
Dren McDonald Discusses Grief With Canadian Beats
Vox Pterous, the new album from Dren McDonald, is a response to grief. The musician tells Canadian Beats, “This is one reason this record took a long time. It often took several weeks to do one song, working a few hours a night on lyrics, to come up with something that felt right. I’d look through emails […]
Charm School is “Dark and Energetic,” Writes Zona Emergente
Mexican site Zona Emergente likes Charm School‘s “Simulacra,” the Steve Albini mix of which has been recently released as part of the Simulacra Remixed EP. They write, “This musical creation is built around textures of both post-rock and post-punk, along with certain details that also connect with darkwave… The rhythm gives both a dark and energetic atmosphere—a thoroughly unconventional delight that I […]
Lira Loves Fruit Bats’ Bright, Yearning Vocals
“Musically, The Landfill reflects a number of American genres, from ’60s soul through Woodstock-era Americana to indie rock,” writes Swedish site Lira. “But Fruit Bats’ music is, at its core, every bit as distinctive and fascinating as Eric D. Johnson‘s bright, yearning voice. He stands with one foot in the American songbook and the other in a Fruit Bats tradition […]
Dan Vitale Enjoys The “Perfect Touches” That Abound On Inara George’s New LP
Dan Vitale writes that Inara George‘s Songs of Douglass and Littell is “an experience of pure musical delight… The music is in different modes, carrying echoes of bossa nova, West Coast jazz, French pop, show tunes, or the sounds emanating from a smoky nightclub in a noir film.” Vitale continues, “Perfect touches abound… and then there is the singer. George […]
New Music From GULFF
GULFF is a multidisciplinary collaboration by Owain Kelly and Tod Lippy. Lippy is an artist, editor, and the founding editor of the arts publication Esopus in Brooklyn. Kelly (NO CEREMONY///) is an electronic musician and composer in Manchester. The project’s first offering is a self-titled album exploring the cultural, political, commercial, and technological ruptures of the mid–2020s. This exploration is communicated […]
Maggot Brain Is Among The Best Reissues of 2026, Writes Vinyl Cut
Funkadelic‘s Maggot Brain, writes Vinyl Cut, “is by equal measures beloved and notorious, a jolting assemblage of psychedelic R&B, phantasmagoric funk, and blotter-sheet rock that aims for the solar plexus and leaves listeners simultaneously enraptured and unsettled.” Vinyl Cut has an expansive feature on the glorious and long-awaited new reissue of Maggot Brain that is out now from Westbound Records and ORG […]
Two Legends Get Together On “No Country For Old Men”
Two legends – Doors drummer John Densmore and Public Enemy frontman Chuck D – joined together for do+pe = no country for old men, an amazing collaborative LP that came out this year for Record Store Day and then spent a while on the NACC Hip Hop charts. Now, the duo has a new music video for the album’s title track, “No Country For […]
Fruit Bats’ Eric D Johnson Hits The Terrapin Crossroads
Fruit Bats’ Eric D. Johnson recently had a conversation with the Terrapin Crossroads Podcast. “The wide-ranging conversation,” writes the podcast synopsis, “covers Johnson’s prolific recent run of albums, his evolution as a songwriter, the economics and frustrations of being a career indie artist, his early break opening for Modest Mouse and signing to Sub Pop, his lifelong […]
The Daily Vault Appreciates David J’s Diverse Capabilities
David J‘s new LP Tracks From The Attic Revisited showcases the “diverse capabilities” of the Bauhaus and Love and Rockets Founder, according to the Daily Vault. They write, here, “Considering his globally revered full band work, you might expect doom and gloom here, but J opts for classic country nods, ’70s New Wave and Nick Drake-ish bouts. J put much care […]
Roger Pairs Black Nile With Walter Mosley
AmApAc’s Roger Turlington reads a lot, and he also listens to music. Often, he does those two activities together! We asked Roger to tell us more for the first installment of a new feature called Roger’s Record Pairings. Here’s the first: Many people who read have strong opinions on what, if anything, to listen to while reading. Vocal […]
The Free Press Details Funkadelic’s Stunning New Version Of Maggot Brain
“If any music deserves an overdue brush-up,” writes Detroit Free Press, “it’s the dark, danceable funk-rock of Funkadelic‘s Maggot Brain, recorded by George Clinton and Co. at Detroit’s United Sound Systems. For years, collectors endured reissues of varying dubious quality, including some even cut at the wrong speed.” Now, there’s a stunning remaster of the album, and it’s at radio now […]
