Bruce Licher is an icon in the art-punk/post-punk/post-Industrial music scene. He was a member if the seminal band Savage Republic, runs Independent Projects Records and Independent Projects Press for his graphic design work. Though we’re a bit early to the party, so to speak, Bruce will be reissuing an album called Tape Excavation, which has been supplemented with bonus material and will feature the gorgeous letterpress artwork he and the projects he works with are known for. I am sure that this will sell out very quickly, so you’ve been warned – now is a good time to pre-order this…
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Za! were introduced to me by a friend in Spain, and I have to say, both the band and their label, Galleta Records, are putting out fine minimal post-punk.
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Greek-Mongolian Berlin-based cellist Dalai Cellai offers a simply gorgeous track with blends a modern take on classical music with elements of hard rock, progressive rock, waltz and tango. I’m hoping to hear what she can do in with a full album. Stunning.
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We have two releases today to share with you. Both come from New Zealand’s greatest indie rock band, The Chills, and at least to my ears, should be seen as one cohesive session. The first, Scatterbrain, came out in September of 2021 is a rather lush affair, quite different from the early, stripped-down lo-fi albums. Great production, choruses, an almost proggy feel to some tracks dot the album, yet the songs still have that hallmark Kiwi indie sound. Scatterbrain-Storms: Outtakes is quite different, however. Three tracks, more stripped down and raw (well, they’re outtakes for a reason, right?), and I…
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As we near the year’s end, I wish to thank my friend who goes by the name of Corvus who turned my on this group from the Czech Republic called Kalle. They sound like a mashup of post-rock, Celtic or even folk-rock and alternative music, but still managing to sound fresh. The female vocals are solid and inviting, and the music sounds crisp and well-recorded. Quite nice!
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If you’re going to spend the winter holidays listening to Gothic Christmas music, you could do much worse than hearing Thanatos doings warm and rather respectable Christmas tunes. May you, my friends who are either Orthodox, Catholic or those who participate in one way or another in Advent, enjoy a pleasant time.
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I can’t seem to find much info on Los Malinches, an incredible psychedelic rock band out of Brazil, save their Facebook and Instagram accounts, but their latest album, Planeta Náhuatl, is phenomenal! Fans of a Beatlesque style of garage rock, fuzz, and wild Latin American 60s music will be in heaven listening to this.
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Brooklyn-based band Akudama don’t remind me of Bryan Ferry (or Roxy Music, for that matter), but they have a sound that does sterling work combining art-rock with shoegaze. This is an elegant single.
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The Dirty Three are Mick Turner, Jm White and Warren Ellis, and between them, they have worked with a who’s who of alternative music like P.J. Harvey, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and Nick Cave among others. What’s most impressive about their sound, however, is that they can sew together angular post-rock with a charming, nearly folkish sound. This is the band’s best album in my estimation, and that’s saying a lot considering the quality of their work, but please do give it a listen and enjoy one of Australia’s finest instrumental bands.
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A decade or two ago, there were only four bands who I would bother to make the trek out from the suburbs to the ‘great’ metropolis that is Los Angeles: Farflung, Tunnelmental, The Flash Express and The Secret Society of the Sonic Six. Each were brilliant in their way, and in the end, The SSotSS won out for me because no one was able to weld together 50’s horror movie soundtracks, cold wave à la Americana, avant-funk, weirdo pop in the vein of Yello or other Ralph Records bands, and a stage show that kept you far away from gawking…