PARADE Tells Readers To March On Over To The Louder Than You Think Listening Party
PARADE has alerted readers to the Bandcamp listening party happening later today for the Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young and Pavement official soundtrack. The site notes that the collection includes never-before-heard Pavement tracks. For those who aren’t in the know, PARADE notes that “Between 1992 and 1999, Pavement released five full-length studio albums, […]
The Big Takeover Salutes Independent Project Records and The Well
According to The Big Takeover, “The Well, a sprawling two-volume compilation curated by Independent Project Records founder Bruce Licher, is less a retrospective than a revelation. Spanning over four decades, forty-one tracks, and a dizzying array of genres, it positions IPR not just as a label, but as a laboratory of independent creativity; a place where ambition, idiosyncrasy, and […]
Willamette Week Recommends Fruit Bats
Fruit Bats’ Portland show next week is on the Willamette Week’s calendar, due in part to the epic backstory behind it. “More than 12 years ago,” the site says, “Eric D. Johnson played what he said would be his last show with the Fruit Bats at Portland’s Aladdin Theater, but the folk-rock project has proven tenacious […]
Beatique Covers Woo’s Newest Cult Classic Reissue
“Now considered something of a cult classic,” writes Beatique, Woo’s Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is “a collection that brought together psychedelic, minimal synth and jazz-tinged sounds in a way that was years ahead of its time.” The site has the story of brothers Clive and Mark Ives, who, “around the junction of the 1970s and […]
TapeOp Compares Fruit Bats To Nick Drake
Geoff Stanfield of TapeOp recently reviewed Baby Man, the newest LP from Fruit Bats that is at radio now from Merge Records. Stanfield writes, “Intimate recordings of acoustic guitar or acoustic piano bring the songs on Baby Man to the listener as if you are sitting in the room. In some ways, it reminds me of Nick Drake records; rich, dark, smooth tones, and minimal vocal processing […]
Philip Brasor Reviews The Louder Than You Think Film
Blogger Philip Brasor has seen Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History Of Pavement, the documentary film, and he says “the almost obsessive attention afforded Gary Young and his story helped me appreciate Pavement’s singular achievements in a new way.” The review tells the story of the film, which is soundtracked by a compilation that will be released later this week from Independent […]
New Release From Independent Project Records: The Well
For more than four decades, Independent Project Records has embodied what true independent record labels should stand for. The compilation The Well is its past, present and future rolled into two albums-worth of genre-defying, utterly unfettered music. You’ll find them living together, post-punk and ambient, psychedelia and desert surf rock, dream pop and goth rock, well-traveled singer-songwriters and young […]
The Big Takeover Digs Woo’s Shifting, Eclectic Debut
The Big Takeover writes, “There are records that feel anchored to a moment, and others that seem to exist on a parallel timeline, quietly ignoring fashion and chronology. Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong, Woo’s debut album, belongs firmly to the latter category. More than forty years on, this newly remastered double-LP reissue from Independent […]
Nina Protocol Chats With Venera
Nina Protocol is up with an interview with Chris Hunt and James “Munky” Shaffer about their collaboration, Venera, and the new album they have at radio now, Exinfinite. The LP, writes the site, “serves as a deepening of the core Venera sonic language—both cinematic and damaged.” The interview hits lots of points, including details on the band’s collaboration with FKA twigs, the gear […]
New Release From Woo
Independent Project Records (IPR) has reissued UK cult band WOO‘s debut album, Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong, originally released in 1982 via the band’s The Sunshine Series Records label, as an expanded edition. The remixed and remastered edition of Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong includes new album cover art and ten previously unreleased bonus […]
Patrick Watson Talks Gear With Arturia
Last year, Patrick Watson spoke to Arturia about his “distinctive musical identity” as well as the Arturia synths he uses. According to the feature, “From his perspective, anything that keeps him from feeling fully present in the moment is a distraction. ‘If I’m behind a laptop, it might break that connection,’ he notes, preferring hands-on gear that allows him […]
Eric D. Johnson Tells Glide Mag About Fruit Bats’ Baby Man
In a 2025 interview with Glide Mag about his new Fruit Bats album Baby Man, Eric D. Johnson explained, ““It’s like a snapshot of a week in the life. With my other records, there might be songs I worked on for a year. But this one—I wrote and recorded everything in a week and a half. Some of the first lines were literally […]
Join The Louder Than You Think Listening Party On January 28
The soundtrack for the SXSW-award-winning documentary Louder Than You Think: a Lo-Fi History of Gary Young & Pavement is out on Friday, January 30 via Independent Project Records. Join IPR on Wednesday January 28 at 5pm PST for their next Bandcamp listening party, where you’ll be able to chat along with Pavement’s Scott Kannberg (aka Spiral Stairs) and film producer/IPR […]
CKUA Covers The Baby Man Tour
CKUA is getting excited for Eric D. Johnson’s solo Fruit Bats shows in Alberta next month. The site quotes Johnson as he explains the charming nature of playing solo. He says, “I’m just learning to enjoy it. I found it quite terrifying at first. But there’s a freedom and stealth that comes from being up there […]
Patrick Watson, On Tour Soon, Performs on Dutch TV
Patrick Watson recently appeared on 2 Meter Sessies, the Dutch TV show. “Witness the emotion and intimacy of Patrick Watson’s live performance,” the site writes, continuing, “In this exclusive session, the Canadian singer-songwriter performs five captivating songs, showcasing his signature falsetto, poetic songwriting, and cinematic sound.” Check that out here. Watson’s Uh Oh, his most recent album, was […]
ArcticDrones Includes Venera On Its 2025 List
ArcticDrones has Venera‘s Exinifinite on its list of 20 Best Electronic Albums of 2025. According to the review, found here, “This one feels like a malfunctioning starship engine: serrated textures, acidic synth pressure, and industrial riffs that sound like they’re clawing their way out of the mix. And the guest vocal spots (FKA twigs, Dis Fig, Chelsea Wolfe) add a […]
RBR Pod Talks Louder Than You Think
Louder Than You Think, writes the RBR Music Podcast, is an “oddball, fuzz-covered documentary that drags you straight into the chaotic genius of Pavement drummer and underground legend Gary Young.” In the December episode of the podcast, RBR discusses the film, to “pull apart the film’s messy magic… the wild early days of the band, the blurred lines between […]
Andrew Stogel Says Dying’s Okay
Andrew Stogel – formerly known as War Strings – is at radio now with his newest release, American Miserable. It’s a brutal, playful and immersive installment that finds Stogel at his most searing. According to Tits Upon Tyne, Stogel’s work presents an “internal theatre — a place where dread, absurdist humour, and raw confession are tangled together with deliberate intensity.” […]
NPR’s 2025 List Includes Patrick Watson and Mary Halvorson
NPR’s 2025 Best Albums list includes Mary Halvorson‘s About Ghosts, out via Nonesuch, and Patrick Watson‘s Uh Oh, from Secret City Records. The full list is here. WRTI‘s Nate Chinen writes, “It usually only takes an instant to recognize the sound Mary Halvorson gets out of her hollow-body guitar: percussive but pliable, with the odd subversive wobble. Her voice as a composer and orchestrator is no less unmistakable, […]
New Release From Woo
Independent Project Records (IPR) has announced that UK cult band WOO will reissue their debut album, Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong, originally released in 1982 via the band’s The Sunshine Series Records label, as an expanded edition on January 16, 2026. This genre and time-defying selection of songs marked the public’s first exposure to the wild sonic […]
