Category: ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Sometimes you just have to narrow your options a bit to get things done. Cambridge, Mass., multi-instrumentalist Lloyd Thayer has

It’s tempting to say that any combo of musicians who first played together 40 years ago has been around for

If you want your art to change the world, you have to think big. Sun Ra proposed extra-terrestrial solutions to

No one planned for a year like this. Even the survivalists muffed it; they might've stocked up on guns and

Stirrup has always had a thing for addition. The instrumental trio—bassist Nick Macri, drummer Charles Rumback and cello/electronics/tenor-guitar player Fred

Dan Melchior has been a resident of the United States for 22 years. But before that, he was part of

When Jim O’Rourke first visited the French institution known as the Groupe de Recherches Musicales 30 years ago, it was

Smart bandleaders know that if you want you band to sound good, nothing’s more important than a good drummer. You’ll

The Mekons have been through their share of changes since they first convened in Leeds, England, in the late 1970s.

The Powers/Rolin Duo messes with expectations in most delightful ways. Their instrumentation—hammered dulcimer and 12-string acoustic guitar—looks like something you’d

A tower can be an advantageous observation post or a monument to the past. Lithics’ Tower Of Age is both.

To misquote Bob Dylan, the times they are putting us through some changes. 2020 should've been a good year for

Anyone who's served a tour of duty under the waves will tell you that the sound of inrushing water is

The title of the second recording by Tatsuya Nakatani and Shane Parish goes right to the heart of their shared

Numerology has never seemed that important to the Necks. But the title of the Australian instrumental combo’s latest album is

Have you tried to reach a doctor lately? Not so easy, is it? There are good reasons why this is

Maybe you first heard Jon Hassell on Talking Heads’ Remain In Light, Peter Gabriel’s Passion or the two records that

Mystery is inherent in Robbie Basho’s music. His vocal performances extolled the wonders of both the natural and supernatural worlds.