Geez, it sure feels like it's been 1000 Days since we last heard from Wand! Thankfully that's all about to change, as a large portion of the population has the opportunity to immerse themselves in Wand's live sonic density beginning next month, in Europe! With all the noise (er, strings) surrounding Wand front-man Cory Hanson's new solo LP, the timing may seem a bit odd - but in the world of Wand, everything is odd! This won't be your parent's Wand,... (read more)

With Nine Suns, One Morning,The Silence are freakin' back, with their third album in 21 months! Talk about prolific - well, you have to be when you're not sure exactly when the world is ending. Head Silencemaster Masaki Batoh (formerly of the commune-based Ghost, 1984-2014), creates his own world music, with lyrics reflecting the mysterious indigenous spirit world of his hometown in Japan's Wakayama province and forging a international heritage through western rock and roll, blues, British traditional folk music, jazz and improvisation,... (read more)

CHILDREN OF TOMORROW

“…woke up this morning, feeling ‘round for my shoes. Said FUCK today – I got the fuck today blues.” Is that how your sad song goes? Cause of too many struggles etcetera? Then let’s flash forward instead, say to the 50th or so anniversary of our here and now. We roll down to the park, us seniors, with flags waving gently in our hands, in honor of an independence day that for us, came and went a long... (read more)

Crisis of Conformity. Ian Rubbish. Blue Jean Committee. Test Pattern. What do all of these legendary, forgotten groups of yester year have in common? Fred Armisen! His record collection runs deep; from lost, essential hardcore punk of the 80's to breezy yacht rock; from art school-inflected new wave to regional, softsational piano rock-Fred's brought us the best crate digging finds this side of the Atlantic! The problem with reissues, though, is you always find yourself thinking "man, this is great, but... (read more)

Wake up! 2017 is coming - and you're behind already. The New Year promises great awake-dreams right out the gate; witness The Tim and Cate Show, in 19 cities spread across our brave new country! Yes. Following their respective 2016 solo records (The WiNK and Crab Day - respectively!), Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley announce a co-headlining tour to bring their many great solo songs to life in a social eye. And speaking of to life (and to eye):
 
The... (read more)

October's crop rises in the face of summer's fallen dusk, and here we are: it's fall! Out of the corn stalks come children, scythes bared, ready to hunt, and Pumpkinheads everywhere light candles within themselves to haunt - and along with them, the Faun family make their rounds! Faun Fables released Born Of The Sun in July, alongside a midsummer night's tour of America in their family RV - an idyllic vessel and voyage for the song telling folkisms for which Dawn McCarthy and Nils... (read more)

There's no place like the American landscape today; the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free - shouting fervently over the droning, never-ending voices of the establishment! Growing up in the fabled idyllic 1980s led Mike Polizze to evolve into a reasonably disenfranchised adult, rife with Notion Sickness and a permanently broken heart. These are the stakes he's driving  for the new Purling Hisstent High Bias, their third full length for Drag City, an estranged and disillusioned vision for here... (read more)

Be it discordant, melodious, or harmonic, the artists in the show all have some connection to sound, through composer fathers, musician spouses, studying dance, creating music videos, or incorporating musical lyrics in their work.

Mari Eastman uses images from personal photographs and popular culture to make figurative paintings based on autobiography, creating an image memoir that mixes fact and fiction.

Rebecca Morris makes large abstract oil paintings in a distinctly personal visual language which incorporates brilliant color, clashing patterns, awkward shapes, symmetry, use of layering... (read more)

Bitchin' Bajas and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy have just finished up another little nug of a tour, this time scraping the bottoms of the American Midwest and the tops of the South, and all were fortunate to experience the performances. Shit, their Cropped Out Festival performance in Louisville alone was powerful enough to move a mountain - we're surprised its gravitational pull didn't realign the banks of the Ohio River! And now, as the Epic Jammers & Fortunate Little Ditties campaign continues rolling into the future,... (read more)

If it seems brighter and a bit more deafening in the world today, congratulations! You're not dead (yet) and some of your senses are still working. In fact, you might just be perceiving that there's a new Major Star in the sky - one so formidable it's already been named, and you haven't even heard of it until now! 

Motion Set is the 9th Major Stars LP and their first on Drag City since 2010's Return to Form, with Decibels of Gratitude appearing in 2012. This has left Starsheads around the... (read more)