Category: ESSENTIAL NEW MUSIC

Essential New Music: Jeffrey Alexander’s “Reyes”
If you don’t immediately recognize the name Jeffrey Alexander, you might still have crossed his path. Currently based in Philadelphia

Essential New Music: Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble’s “Now”
“Pretty soon, the whole world is gonna go crazy.” Judging from the sample’s sound quality, those words, which usher in

Essential New Music: Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s “G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!”
Perhaps the most common running line about Godspeed You! Black Emperor is that its mighty, caustic brand of rock music

Essential New Music: New Bums’ “Last Time I Saw Grace”
The New Bums aren’t that new. Singer/guitarists Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards) and Ben Chasny (Six Organs Of Admittance, Comets On

Essential New Music: Nightshift’s “Zöe”
One moment, Zöe sounds like it’s beaming in from a time when you could still buy rotary phones in stores.

Essential New Music: Thumbscrew’s “Never Is Enough”
The second law of thermodynamics is invaluable when you want to understand why things keep coming apart. But if you

Essential New Music: Plankton Wat’s “Future Times”
Future Times was born of a dire present. Plankton Wat is the solo project of guitarist Dewey Mahood (ex-Eternal Tapestry, Galaxy

Essential New Music: Fred Neil’s “38 MacDougal”
Not many people have yearned less for success than Fred Neil. Plenty of beatniks, folkies and hippies from the 1950s

Essential New Music: Don Cherry’s “Cherry Jam”
The COVID virus may have owned 2020, but 2021 is the year of Don Cherry. The Oklahoma-born trumpeter, whose curious

Essential New Music: No Friends Band’s “To All My Friends”
People make records for a lot of reasons, and who are we to judge? Music lovers, that’s who we are,

Essential New Music: Roy Montgomery’s “Island Of Lost Souls”
Forty years ago, Flying Nun Records released its first single. The Pin Group’s “Coat” imagined a world of sound and

Essential New Music: Loren Connors & Oren Ambarchi’s “Leone”
Loren Connors has dueted with many guitarists over the years, but he always presents them with the same challenge. The

Essential New Music: Richard Hell And The Voidoids’ “Destiny Street Complete”
How much does an album really matter? That all depends on who you ask. If you’re Neil Young, you have

Essential New Music: Spiral Wave Nomads’ “First Encounters”
Photo by David Zukauskas This album may be a first encounter, but it’s by no means a first impression. Guitarist