Category: ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Essential New Music: Cleared’s “Hexa”
Cleared is a Chicago duo with fixed personnel but a morphing modus operandi. When Michael Vallera and Steven Hess started

Essential New Music: Bardo Pond’s “Melt Away”
Double-LP compilation Melt Away has been released in tandem with Matador’s 25th anniversary reissue of Bardo Pond’s Set And Setting. It comprises one

Essential New Music: Brandon Seabrook’s “Object Of Unknown Function”
Brandon Seabrook is not a reluctant solo performer. Besides his various ensembles and appearances with other musicians, he keeps up

Essential New Music: Lina Allemano’s Ohrenschmaus’ “Flip Side”
Ohrenschmaus is a German word that signifies a feast for the ears, and the title of the latest album by

Essential New Music: The Hard Quartet’s “The Hard Quartet”
The Hard Quartet would like you to know that this is not a project, it’s a band. But what kind

Essential New Music: Stefan Christensen’s “In Time”
It’s time, quite literally, for Stefan Christensen to come clean. Previous recordings by the denizen of New Haven, Conn., have

Essential New Music: BASIC’s This Is BASIC
BASIC began when Philadelphians Chris Forsyth and Nick Millevoi spent some of their COVID downtime talking about records. Among their

Essential New Music: Theoxenia’s “(Adventures In) Stasis”
While the name of this album implies immobility, the record itself will not be confined. It first appeared in 2022

Essential New Music: Amy Rigby’s “Hang In There With Me”
From connection comes meaning, but also pain. This album’s title words “Hang in there with me” come from third track

Essential New Music: Bilders’ “Dustbin Of Empathy”
Wandering poet. Novelist whose work has been translated into Serbian. Gladiator opposing the efforts of New Zealand’s national library to

Essential New Music: Dave Rempis / Tashi Dorji Duo’s “Gnash”
Poly-saxophonist (he’s up to four now) Dave Rempis and electric guitarist Tashi Dorji are hardly strangers. With their trio Kuzu

Essential New Music: Nightshift’s “Homosapien”
Changes come fast and hard in the 21st century, and they don’t let up. Nightshift’s last album, 2021’s Zöe, caught that queasy

Essential New Music: Savage Republic’s “Live In Wroclaw January 7 2023”
All good things come to an end, sometimes more than once. Originally founded in Los Angeles in 1981, Savage Republic

Essential New Music: Jake Xerxes Fussell’s “When I’m Called”
Jake Xerxes Fussell was raised and mentored by folklorists, but he also grew up in the age of MTV. He