Midlands Traveller Enjoys The Nostalgic Warmth Of Jeffrey Runnings’ Piqued
Midlands Traveller writes that Jeffrey Runnings‘ posthumous album “Piqued is a stark, lo-fi collection that feels like a dream-pop mixtape unearthed from the late ’80s, warm with nostalgia but weighted with the poignancy of mortality. The album features 10 tracks that blend analogue drum machines, synths, and Running’s unmistakably vulnerable voice. The arrangements are sparse but effective. Just […]
It’s Psychedelic Baby Speaks With Melvins’ Buzz Osborne
It’s Psychedelic Baby says the new Melvins LP Thunderball “feels like a fresh tremor from a band that has long operated on its own frequency. For Buzz Osborne, it’s a recalibration to their enduring, almost accidental genesis. This is a band that, four decades in, still manages to sound like nothing else, avoiding nostalgia by simply being too busy to […]
New Music From Letters Under Glass
Letters Under Glass was born when Mano (guitar, vocals) and Pavel (keys) crossed paths on a train in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains. They traded scribbled words in a notebook as the tracks carried them past forests of fir and drifts of snow. What began as fragments of pen sketches and half-formed poems soon grew […]
Jazzwise Lists Mary Halvorson’s About Ghosts Among The Best of The Year (So Far)
Jazzwise has Mary Halvorson‘s About Ghosts on its list of best albums of 2025 so far and calls the LP “a glorious gallimauphry of sounds.” The album, writes Jazzwise, is “a gnat’s crotchet more structured [than] earlier releases,” noting the dense arrangements provided by Halvorson’s Amaryllis sextet. Read more here. About Ghosts, out now via Nonesuch, recently spent two weeks on […]
Americana UK Calls Fruit Bats One Of Their Favorites
Americana UK calls Fruit Bats “one of our favourite Americana artists,” and the site has shared the act’s new single “Let You People Down.” According to Americana UK, “it’s a short and sweet song – that finds thoughts of the darkest kind beating on those night wings. It’s a searching for answers kind of song, it’s a song […]
Beatique Rates Jeffrey Runnings’ Piqued As “A Beautiful Final Solo Album”
According to Beatique, the posthumous LP Piqued from For Against’s Jeffrey Runnings is “a beautiful final solo album… both a testament to Runnings’ creativity and a loving tribute to the musician.” The review notes, “There’s an eclecticism to the album. ‘Batman Forever,’ which opens the album and is one of few vocal tracks on Piqued, is melancholic dreampop and is immediately […]
Mary Halvorson, Writes Steve Pick, Is “Legitimately Great”
According to Steve Pick, Mary Halvorson “makes legitimately great records damn near every time she steps into a studio. This new one [About Ghosts] brings back the wonderful ensemble that made Cloudward last year and adds saxophones by Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles. Halvorson’s compositions are slow burners, insinuating their way into your bones as you enjoy the tight arrangements and expansive solos […]
New Music From Fruit Bats
GRAMMY-nominated singer/songwriter Eric D. Johnson (aka Fruit Bats) has released the sparse and intimate new track “Let You People Down.” The song appears on his deeply personal forthcoming album Baby Man, which is set for release September 12th on Merge Records. “This is an ode to the people pleasers of the world,” says Johnson. “It’s about breaking […]
Tracking Angle Says Mary Halvorson’s About Ghosts Is A Terrific Album In Every Way
Tracking Angle says “It is beyond time to herald Mary Halvorson as a true and brilliant original. Some have likened her music to Anthony Braxton or Joe Morris, mainly because she studied with the former at Wesleyan and the latter in private lessons. But interviews with all three suggest that what Halvorson gained most from both mentors was permission—and insights into […]
The Second Disc Calls Piqued “A Fine Tribute” To The Late Jeffrey Runnings
The Second Disc says Jeffrey Runnings‘ posthumous release Piqued is”a fine tribute to the late artist.” The site notes that the longtime For Against leader “believed in stripping music down ‘to the bones,’ and that lo-fi, often dreamy aesthetic is on full display throughout the eleven mostly-instrumental songs on Piqued. The homemade feel adds to the retro ’80s vibe and intimate milieu of […]
KUVO Jazz Features Mary Halvorson’s About Ghosts, Which Has Topped NACC Jazz For Two Weeks
KUVO Jazz has shined a spotlight on About Ghosts, the newest album from Mary Halvorson‘s Amaryllis sextet. The feature notes that the record is “not literally ‘about’ ghosts, rather it is a celebration of sonic ghostly effects. Random sounds, sighs from electronic sources, horn bleats that call to mind the chill of a ghostly presence. Halvorson does nod […]
“You Know It’s Coming,” Van Lupo’s Debut Single, Gets The Video Treatment
“You Know It’s Coming,” the debut single from musical duo Van Lupo, is a song about mundane urban boredom – compromise, quiet emptiness, and yearning. From the duo’s new Raw Tapes LP, Devices for Profit or Escape, the track leans heavily on the pensive vocals of Dan Sheinman and the percussive, harmonic groove of Offir Benjaminov‘s classical guitar to create a tightrope walk […]
Alison Clancy Shares Inspirations With Indie Thursdays
In an interview with Indie Thursdays, Alison Clancy explains the story behind her new single “The Valley,” which is at radio now via Independent Project Records. “I dance at The Metropolitan Opera and on breaks I mess around on the pianos in the basement rehearsal studios,” she says. “It’s sort of a joke that I am the Phantom of […]
Kaela Announces LA Shows
Kaela, the longtime M83 member, is at radio now with an album of lush synths and ambient soundscapes — Supraliminal. Out via M83’s label Other Suns, the album transports listeners into vivid, otherworldly realms and has been praised by outlets including Bandcamp, Uproxxx, and Vehlinggo. Get the album on your airwaves now. Kaela has two Los Angeles-area shows this month. See […]
Alon Aboutboul Dies At Age 60
Rest In Peace to Alon Aboutboul – best known for his roles as an actor in films including The Dark Knight Rises, Body of Lies, and Snowfall – who died unexpectedly last month in Israel. A musician as well as an actor, Aboutboul released a single last year and had plans to release more music via Raw Tapes. The song, “Potion of […]
The Arts Desk Compares Mary Halvorson – Number One At NACC Jazz – To Charles Mingus and Sonny Sharrock
The Arts Desk writes that Mary Halvorson‘s new LP About Ghosts “feels very live. Produced by regular associate John Dieterich (of Deerhoof), it is sinuous. Even when the tempo is dialled back – as on the reflective title track with its New Orléans lament feel – an undulating character renders off-balance what initially seems linear. An oscillation. When the tempo picks […]
The Bandcamp Diaries Writes About The “Deeply Resonant” Jeffrey Runnings LP
“Piqued is a deeply resonant farewell from post‑punk great Jeffrey Runnings,” writes The Bandcamp Diaries about the new Independent Project Records set. The site says, “Released posthumously, the album distills his life’s work into haunting, minimalist soundscapes. The album works through themes of loss, memory, and liberation with sparse instrumentation. Voice and atmosphere carry more weight than anything flashy. There […]
Van Lupo Shares “Time And Tide” Video
Van Lupo has an animated video for “Time And Tide,” from the duo’s new album Devices For Profit and Escape. Stoic and meditative, the gorgeously contemplative track weaves together seemingly ambivalent feelings of acceptance and regret. “We had raised ourselves an altar; now we offer each other as sacrifice,” sings Dan Sheinman over the sound of a contorted, finger-picked guitar. Offir […]
The Big Takeover Features Jeffrey Runnings
The Big Takeover writes that Jeffrey Runnings‘ posthumous release Piqued “rolls out like a catalog of the Nebraskan’s influences: the Chameleons, Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, Gary Numan, Talk Talk, the Smiths, the Sound. That’s not to say Runnings simply displays his record collection in song, however – outside of his skill at writing beautifully melodic tunes and acerbically romantic lyrics, his […]
AllMusic Calls Mary Halvorson’s Ensemble “Among The Most Inventive” In Modern Jazz
Mary Halvorson is at radio now with About Ghosts, and AllMusic says the LP “offers more proof that Halvorson’s Amaryllis are among the most inventive, articulate, and creatively forward-thinking ensembles playing jazz right now.” Elsewhere, the review writes that Halvorson’s sextet Amaryllis conjures comparisons to the likes of Frank Zappa and Kenny Wheeler. Check out the full review here. Halvorson’s About Ghosts is at radio now via Nonesuch and […]
