American Pancake Says Gus Englehorn’s “Tarantula” Is An Earworm
According to American Pancake, “‘Tarantula’ by divergent artist, singer-songwriter and world class snowboarder Gus Englehorn feels like a punching forward amalgam of The Pixies, spaghetti western soundtracks by Ennio Morricone, Wall of Voodoo and maybe even a Paul Reubens incarnation. The thick palm mutes, the perfectly cajoling drum moves courtesy of Gus’s sig-other Estée Preda, the quirky vocal aesthetics and the B-movie feel sits perfectly […]
June McDoom Plots Early 2023 Tour
June McDoom is going on tour next year in support of the self-titled EP she released this year. McDoom has been hyped by the likes of Aquarium Drunkard, Flood, Grimy Goods, and Higher Plain Music, and her EP currently at radio from Temporary Residence Ltd. On tour, she’ll be opening for fellow Brooklynite Nick Hakim. See them live: 1/20 – Boston, MA – […]
Trouser Press Tells Savage Republic’s Story
Trouser Press – the original bible of the undergound rock and punk scenes – has an overview of Savage Republic‘s career. The seminal band has two records at radio right now – Africa Corps Live at the Whisky 30th December 1981, which was just released by Independent Project Records, and the 40th anniversary edition of their debut album Tragic Figures, put […]
Creature Canyon Plays Pioneertown For New Years
Creature Canyon has announced a New Year’s Eve show at Pappy & Harriet’s, the venerable performance space in the heart of Pioneertown, California, just north of Joshua Tree National Park. The band says, “Hang with us as we bring in the new year at one of our favorite venues.” If you’re in Southern California and looking for […]
New Music From Mary Halvorson
Nonesuch Records presents Belladonna, the second of two twin label debut albums (preceded by Amaryllis), from Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson. The two suites, which Halvorson describes as “modular and interlocking,” were produced and mixed by John Dieterich of Deerhoof. Belladonna is a set of five compositions written for Halvorson on guitar plus The Mivos Quartet: Olivia De Prato (violin), Maya Bennardo (violin), Victor Lowrie Tafoya (viola), and Tyler J. […]
MXDWN Reveres Alex Lilly’s “Remarkable” Songwriting
About the new Alex Lilly LP Repetition Is A Sin, MXDWN writes: “The siren of avant-pop strikes again… Inspired by predecessors Kate Bush and XTC, the album fuses familiar organic instruments like piano, acoustic guitar, and horns with a surreal universe of synthesizers, drum machines and warped samples. Lilly’s love of music theory certainly shines through in unorthodox note choices, harmonies and […]
Cult MTL Compares Gus Englehorn To Black Francis and The White Stripes
Cult MTL is out with a review of Gus Englehorn‘s final performance of the year at the M For Montreal festival. The site writes, “Quebec-via-Alaska oddball Gus Englehorn closed the Cléopâtre showcase with a short set full of his trademark quirkiness, simple-yet-hypnotic instrumentation and Black Francis-like spoken word sections. Playing a number of tunes from his album Dungeon Master, released back […]
Closed Captioned Cites The Magical Softness Of Jason Bajada’s “Walt Disney”
Closed Captioned has a feature on Jason Bajada‘s “Walt Disney,” among the standout tracks on his most recent LP Crushed Grapes. “The song,” according to the site, “has a numbness to it in its honesty. The softness in how the song plays out is magical while the realness of the video can’t be taken away. There’s a sweetness to […]
Pitchfork Gives The Nod To Mary Halvorson’s Two New LPs
Pitchfork has a glowing dual review of Amaryllis and Belladonna, the two 2022 albums from Mary Halvorson that are at radio now from Nonesuch. According to the review, “The most important thing is to find your own voice. More than perhaps any other guitarist working today, in jazz or elsewhere, she has succeeded at that deceptively simple aspiration. Hear her play […]
David Fricke Reviews Exploratorium In Rolling Stone
Upon its initial release in 2007, Bruce Licher‘s Exploratorium was reviewed in Rolling Stone by none other than David Fricke. According to the venerable scribe, the EP presents “billowing minimalism… ‘Peak,’ ‘Going Home’ and ‘The Penstome Field’ [sic] total twenty-two minutes and are four-track home recordings from 1997 — overdubbed guitars, bass and Martian-ocean echo — that combine the industrial ghost […]
Exclaim Says Better In The Shade Offers Great Additions to Patrick Watson’s Catalog
Exclaim! has a review of the new Patrick Watson album, Better in The Shade, which opens by noting that “more than 15 years after releasing his breakthrough record Close to Paradise (2006), Watson remains an important figure in the Montreal indie scene. Like others, he has enjoyed a significant amount of international success, but it’s his ability to embody the culture […]
New Music From Mary Halvorson
Nonesuch Records presents Amaryllis, the first of two twin label debut albums (to be followed by Belladonna), from Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson. The two suites, which Halvorson describes as “modular and interlocking,” were produced and mixed by John Dieterich of Deerhoof. Amaryllis is a six-song suite performed by a newly formed sextet of master improvisers, including Halvorson, Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Nick Dunston (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Jacob Garchik (trombone), and Adam […]
The Guardian Profiles Tyondai Braxton’s Telekinesis
Telekinesis – Tyondai Braxton‘s epic work for an 87-piece orchestra – was just recorded in a studio in collaboration with The Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Dianne Berkun Menaker, and chamber choir The Crossing conducted by Donald Nally. While this is the first studio recording of the piece, it’s not the first time it’s been heard – that […]
The Big Takeover Recommends Savage Republic and Exploratorium
The Big Takeover has reviewed both Independent Project Records releases that went for NACC Adds this week. About Savage Republic‘s Africa Corps Live at the Whisky A Go-Go 30th Dec 1981, the site says, “it’s easy to hear how songs like ‘Real Men,’ ‘Mobilization’ and ‘When All Else Fails’ would’ve blown minds and shattered eardrums back in the day… given a life-enhancing […]
Spectrum Culture Hails Tyondai Braxton’s Telekinesis As An Expertly Crafted Work Of Art
Spectrum Culture recently took readers into the world of Telekinesis, Tyondai Braxton‘s new and massive orchestral recording. The site points to the “sheer amount of sonic detail” that is immediately apparent upon hearing the record in headphones, calling it “magnificently produced and orchestrated.” According to the site, “Telekinesis feels like the culmination of [Braxton’s] entire career, his brand of […]
New Commute Embraces The Ethereality Of June McDoom
New Commute has a stream of “Stone After Stone,” one of the highlights on June McDoom‘s self-titled debut EP that’s at radio now from Temporary Residence Ltd. The site writes, “June McDoom’s folk songcraft embraces the ethereality of Sibylle Baier and melancholy of Nico for a frosty and euphotic episode.” Enjoy “Stone After Stone” right here, and get her hazy, dreamlike tunes on […]
New Music From Exploratorium
Exploratorium – the eponymous album by Bruce Licher (Savage Republic, Scenic)’s experimental solo project – was originally released as a mini-CDr mounted on a twelve-inch sheet of heavy card stock letterpress printed in seven colors as a limited edition of 300 signed and numbered copies. Now, the album’s three immersive solo recordings have been expanded with the addition […]
Tyondai Braxton’s Telekinesis Is “Ambitious and Imaginative,” Writes Sequenza 21
Sequenza 21 describes Telekinesis as “an ambitious and imaginative piece… Tyondai Braxton at his best.” The site reviews the new studio recording of the work, noting the contributions of Braxton’s many collaborators. “The performers on the Nonesuch/New Amsterdam recording are the Metropolis Ensemble, conducted by Andrew Cyr, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Dianne Berkun Menaker, and The Crossing conducted by Donald Nally. The coordination between these various forces and […]
Higher Plain Music Reviews June McDoom’s Debut EP
Higher Plain Music, which previously hyped June McDoom‘s debut single “The City,” is out with a glowing review of her new EP. “Primarily a hazy, ethereal folk-driven collection of songs, one of its strengths is in how she mixes her sound palette with other genres to make music that shapeshifts carefully and thoughtfully.” According to the […]
RIFF Says It’s Great To Hear From Alex Lilly
RIFF Magazine says, “it’s great to hear from Alex Lilly again!” The site references her excellent 2019 LP 2% Milk, “a gem,” while sharing the track “Frank” from Lilly’s even-more-excellent new album Repetition Is A Sin. According to RIFF, the song “is most welcome. On ‘Frank,’ Lilly wonders over space-age synths and stuttering drum loops if she’ll still […]
