Review: 18th & Addison – “Leeches”
New Jersey gets a bad wrap, though sometimes it’s for good reason. I was born and raised in the Garden State, and, having spent the better part of 25 or…
Profile: Scott Morgan’s Loscil gets abstract
Scott Morgan doesn’t listen to his work as Loscil after it’s been released. The Canadian avant-ambient sound-sculptor has little concrete sense of his discography. But, before the recordings are available…
Review: MELK – “Listen”
There’s not very much that’s astounding about “Listen,” the one-song debut from Reno soul quartet MELK, released Tuesday on streaming services. That is, there’s not very much that’s astounding about…
Review: Aaron Myers-Brooks – “Energetic Bursts”
Guitarist-composer Aaron Myers-Brooks constructs mathy, even obtuse, metal for listeners who appreciate the genre’s technical virtuosity but take issue with its faux-evil strutting and testosterone-jacked theatricality. There you have it.…
Profile: David Mnemo returns to his roots in Pittsburgh
At a Pennsylvania house party around 2007, Penn State students John Dubosky and Eric Goeller heard a sound that blew their minds. “There was this infectious bass line coming from…
Review: Spheruleus – “Light Through Open Blinds”
Fifteen years ago, the definition of ambient music, even the initiation to ambient music, was very different. But, even by the standards of the day, Untitled was an odd duck.…
Review: The Austerity Program – “Bible Songs 1”
I’m not sure which version of the King James Bible Thad Calabrese and Justin Foley are thumbing through, but I don’t remember the incantation “You motherfuckers!” appearing in the Book…
Review: Shellac – The End of Radio
Bootlegs of Shellac’s first BBC session with the legendary king-maker John Peel started surfacing fast on the heels of its airing, way, way back in 1994. And it remains readily…
Review: Rachael McElhiney – “Apricot Trees”
“You gotta bleed a little bit to put on the show,” Rachael McElhiney sings on a track from Apricot Trees, an EP of four, folk-soul demos she quietly self-released last…
Review: Old Game – “Lunatics” EP
Lunatics, the excellent new four-song EP from Pittsburgh-based quartet Old Game, out June 22, starts with the thump-thump-thump of bass guitar and drums in enveloping and snarling syncopation. But, it’s…
Review: The Gotobeds – “Debt Begins At 30”
The Gotobeds released its new LP, the much-anticipated Debt Begins At 30, yesterday via Sub Pop Records. That move, the introduction of a new slate of head-churning material, gives us…
Review: Curtis Eller’s American Circus – “A Poison Melody”
I’m fairly convinced at this point that, if the singer/songwriter Curtis Eller wanted to walk on water, he’d find a way to do it and do it well. His new…