• Music

    Harae – Kagura

    February 7, 2024 - By 

    Words fail to describe the beauty of this release, even if it is an acidic beauty.  Harae are a band run by beloved friends, and both innovative musicians in their own right.  Combined, however, they have made magic, especially if you like a harsh wall of noise cascading over you like molten steel in an industrial factory.  The vocals are frightening, which works seamlessly with the music.  It’s a harsh but rewarding listen.  I cannot wait to hear more from them! For those of you who prefer a hard copy of the release, you can order a mini-CDR edition from…

  • Music

    Shūko No Omit – 秘密の回顧録 (Secret Memoir)

    December 4, 2023 - By 

    Ramble Records out of Australia have published a unique album here – one that should be seen as a modern psychedelic rock masterpiece.  From their Bandcamp site: “Shūko No Omit, the name of the band, featuring Yonju Miyaoka on guitar and Vocals, his older brother Taiju Sugimori on bass and chorus,and his cousin Yuya Yamazaki on drums and chorus, is a mix of Japanese and english. Yonju told me he came across the word omit while reading an old English dictionary. Shuko (終古) is old Japanese. A word no longer used. One lost to time. The characters 終 + 古mean…

  • Music

    Gold – A Higher Purpose

    October 22, 2023 - By 

    You may wish to lower the volume a bit for this one.  Gold is a magnificently harsh noise-rock band out of Leeds, U.K., whose brutal take at experimental music is both ear-blasting, yet strangely soothing at the same time.  A full album is coming in November.

  • Music

    Arrowounds – Therianthrope Series

    June 30, 2023 - By 

    A post-punk/ethereal gem has been bestowed upon us by our friends at Lost Tribe Sounds.  Arrowounds tie together influences from bands like, “Can, Bark Psychosis, Young Gods, Slowdive, Durutti Column, Seefeel and much of early 4AD,” according to the band bio, but there is an element that makes this band something apart.  Noise-rock, post-rock, and a more eerie feeling than their influences betray sets the band apart.

  • Music

    Mark Stewart – VS

    April 25, 2023 - By 

    The indie world lost a giant on April 21st with the passing of Mark Stewart.  In his honor, I share a compilation album featuring the crème de la crème of alternative, industrial, reggae and dub music coming out in full force to remix and cut up Stewart’s works.  Featured on this compilation are Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, K.K. Null, Stephen Mallinder and Eric Random among others.  From the release’s Bandcamp site: “VS. is a unique collaborative project helmed by Mark Stewart, a vocalist, producer and songwriter who’s been an anarchic, pioneering figure on the frontiers of Post-Punk, Industrial, Avant-Dub and Electronic…

  • Music

    Dolphy Kick Bebop – Smoke a Haiku Cigarette

    April 9, 2023 - By 

    As I will be back in Beijing in a few weeks from now, I thought I’d spend Western Easter introducing my friends here to Dolphy Kick Bebop, a band out of Hangzhou, China. The label, Space Fruity Records, is connected with Beijing’s coolest record shop, Fruity Space, and the music is heavy-duty psychedelic rock. Brilliant, and I’m looking forward to catching up with the local scene on my return.