In the last five years or so, I’ve been way into instrumental beat collections. This is nothing particularly unique or new – the ubiquity of “lo-fi hip hop beats” is well-known to anyone even casually into the newer distillations of music in the internet age. That […]
What is this music? Is it jazz? There’s a saxophone player. prog rock? What is prog rock? I read the Wikipedia article. It cited Yes and Genesis. This band does not sound like Yes or Genesis, except that there are clearly guitar parts and clearly drums, […]
Earth Flower is a new psychedelic and experimental pop project from blog favorites Ruth Garbus and Sam Gendel with prolific side man Phil Melanson on drums. It’s another significantly underrated project from some of the most consistent and interesting contemporary musicians. Ruth’s songwriting and singing is […]
These are the first three albums of the deeply underrated psych/jam band The Third Mind. The group is built around legendary lead guitarist Dave Alvin, better known for The Blasters, who was 65 years old at the time of the self titled debut. The Third Mind […]
This album is another beautiful gift from the ever evolving relationship between traditional Irish and American music. The title says it all: traditional Irish music lovingly performed on pedal steel guitar. Sometimes ambient, sometimes engaging, there are moments of just pedal steel and passages with a […]
An intense and pointed debut from Shearling, a project by Alex Kent and Sylvie Simmons following the dissolution of the band Sprain. There’s a lot of depth to this work and the radical sincerity that clearly went into this album is something the world needs more […]
Light-Space Modulator is a new duo of psychedelic producer/DJ/legend Shackleton and singer/instrumentalist Marlene Ribeiro of GNOD, whose ’23 debut was probably my favorite release of that year. The instrumentation is delicate and balanced perfectly to Marlene’s intensely layered voice. It’s rhythmically intricate with a strong ritualistic […]
Sarah Louise is an extremely accomplished folk musician, recognized as a prodigious finger style acoustic guitarist and known for her delicate work with electronics and tape loops that recalls Pan American as much as Fahey. A lot of her work is very traditional but I find […]
After a decade as a band that’s been mostly spent backing the legendary Pat Thomas, elder statesman of Ghanaian high life music, Kwashibu Area Band steps out with this amazing “solo” debut. The classic high life sound is there but there’s a maturity in the afro-jazz […]
The 6th album by the late great Malian guitar legend, one of my all time favorite guitar players. This record most accurately reflects the high energy live performances which him and his band were known for. Essential music that any fans of North/West African guitar music […]