It seems like Thrill Jockey is putting out a great record almost every week. Glenn Jones’ “The Wanting” is a sterling example of how great the whole American Primitive movement can be. The compositions here are made up of solo acoustic steel string guitar, six-string, 10-string and bottleneck, and 5-string open-back banjo. I’d be hard-pressed [...]
We’ve been huge fans of The Black Swans for quite some time, so even though we’re a bit late writing this one up, it was always near the top of the “to-do” pile. This band has gotten some much-deserved attention lately, partially due to a split release with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. “Don’t Blame The Stars” [...]
Finally! I love how often Matador reissues out-of-print titles from their back catalog, but I have been wringing my hands for years waiting for this classic mope-core album from Yo La Tengo to get its due! I cannot wait to slip into a deep and dark wintry depression so that I can put this album [...]
When a record is hugely popular, we sometimes just assume that everyone already knows about it, often choosing to give smaller releases attention here instead. Like, for instance, the new Bon Iver album. After spinning this thing tirelessly since it dropped though, we really thought it deserved praise, just in case anyone out there hasn’t [...]
Here’s another killer LP from Chris Scofield’s Strange Attractors label. Arborea return with “Red Planet” their fourth (and best) full-length album. Their music is positively haunting, the type of ghostly folk that tons of male/female duos set out to make, usually coming up short. If you’re after a painfully beautiful record this week, buy this [...]
Minneapolis’ De Stijl Records is a force to be reckoned with. Their two newest vinyl releases are currently wearing out our needles, deservedly so. Herrta Lussu Ässa’s self-titled album is wondrous. A supergroup of sorts, this trio consists of Jonna Karanka aka Kuupuu, Laura Naukkarinen aka Lau Nau and Merja Kokkonen aka Islaja. Their sound [...]
Arbor has just posted ordering details for this new LP from Sam Goldberg (as well as a repress of an OOP Outer Space LP). Those of you who have grown accustomed to to the synthetic bliss of Radio People or Mist might be a little taken back by Sam’s newest. Having Had Forgot has him [...]
We fully believe that this record was made to be listened to during winter, but summer worked pretty well too. When Grand Hallway’s “Winter Creatures” showed up, we were first struck by the beautiful artwork (courtesy of Heisuke Kitasawa), a psychedelic splash of color that commands attention. The music is subtle and easy, a pleasing [...]
The Quadtych from Cam Deas is now complete, as the vinyl copies for Volume 2 are now shipping after a short production delay. Four compositions/improvisations spread across four sides of virgin vinyl – it is only proper to listen to this epic 12-string suite in fully glorious, analogue glory/fury. Copies are now shipping from mimaroglumusicsales.com, but [...]
Type does it again with this new vinyl edition from *Ar, a duo consisting of Richard Skelton and Autumn Richardson. Mister Skelton puts out music under a few different names (including A Broken Consort and Carousell) but there is a fairly common thread weaved into each release. His beautifully droning acoustic arrangements are undeniably distinguished [...]
