It was 2007 when I became aware of Sic Alps, a San Fran psych-garage act that were somewhat of an obsession following my purchase of and connection to the album Pleasures and Treasures . Pleasures and Treasures was the band's proper full-length debut, but they'd produced some 7" singles and 12" and cassette EPs, all of which were issued by labels like City, Animal Disguise, Awesome Vistas, Skulltones, and Folding Cassettes. Folding Cassettes was a cassette label owned by former Sic Alps member Mike Donovan, the sort of SF-area enterprise meant to keep the oddball creatives and fringe artists documented and available to any against-the-grain listenership willing to dig into the catalogue. I was very drawn to the Folding Cassettes website, not only because of the tunes that were made available, (some of which I remember being experimental noise projects), but because of its aesthetic. From memory, I recall the entire interface being built from a single image of a rugge...

Sonic Youth In/OUT/In Three Lobed Recordings Released: 3/18/22 It was late in the life of Sonic Youth to release an album as excellent as Murray Street .  Following my first listen of In/OUT/In , the recently issued compilation of material recorded during the band's Jim O'Rourke era, my ears could discern the time and place of these recordings (2000-2010) and I felt the need to revisit  Murray Street (2002),  Sonic Nurse (2004), and  Rather Ripped (2006). This trio of releases would be the last of SY's major-label output prior to joining Matador for their final album, The Eternal (2009), and were met with almost-uniform positivity. With their Y2K-emergent NYC Ghosts and Flowers , reactive ambition clouded some of their decisions (plus, the theft of their instruments the prior year forced them to pick-up old instruments and start from scratch) and the band committed the sin of hyper-indulgence.  Personally, I liked NYC Ghosts and Flowers , but the three-album...

Good afternoon, As a resident of the Philadelphia region, and a music enthusiast to boot, I'm happy to promote any organization that helps grant children of underserved communities the gift of music education. Rock To The Future , founded by Executive Director  Jessica Craft , has partnered with Relapse Records in curating and making available a new 2019 sampler, for which any money spent will help fund Craft's cause.  Great music, worthwhile effort. If you want to check out some selections from the Relapse sampler, you can hit up the embedded Bandcamp link . All info on Rock To The Future and Relapse Records can also be found below. Links and info were provided by Relapse Records. Relapse Sampler 2019 by Relapse Sampler Relapse Records is proud to offer our annual FREE label sampler highlighting another year of incredible music from our eclectic roster, featuring the best dark and heavy music from around the world. With genres ranging from death metal, black metal,...

A selection of Italian artists' electro-centric ditties have been amassed into a four-sided new compilation from Stroboscopic Artefacts entitled, Flowers From The Ashes: Contemporary Italian Electronic Music.   While I'm not familiar with the label's roster, it was based on the strength of this Caterina Barbieri composition, "Virgo Rebellion," that I entered this collection onto my wishlist.    You can listen to this track here: All of the info on this compilation was provided by Modern Matters.  You can preorder the album here .  Flowers From The Ashes: Contemporary Italian Electronic Music Flowers From The Ashes is the latest multi-artist project to bear the acclaimed Stroboscopic Artefacts imprimatur. There is a sensibility of decadence and corroded grandeur etched within its four album sides, reminding us that historically “decadent” times have nonetheless resulted in some of the boldest acts of individual and collective creativity. Lik...

I guess it's not uncommon to begin a new year by taking a good, hard look back. Introspection can be a positive thing, especially if, upon assessing the current musical climate, one believes there to be a need to reintroduce what's been unfortunately forgotten. Super Secret Records saw fit to start off 2018 by putting out a compilation of long sought after material from the Austin, Texas punk act, Terminal Mind , whose art-infused interpretation of the punk medium found permanence, albeit obscure and rare, as a 4-song 7." These tracks now appear alongside previously unreleased live and studio tracks, so there's no longer any need to go online, scanning through the wares of virtual merchants seeking to rob you of every hard-earned dollar. Having given the album a listen, which is simply titled Recordings , I thought there were aspects of Terminal Mind's sound that shared some commonalities with the Boston area hardcore and indie rock scenes of the early to m...

Some recent purchases from... Thrill Jockey Records : Uniform Wake In Fright Thrill Jockey Records Released: 1.20.17 Uniform 's Wake In Fright was issued as an "art edition" limited to 200, white vinyl housed in a screen-printed homage to Mad Max that's sealed with a wax stamp.  Needless to say, these are gone.  I won't say that the screen printed cover does much to enhance the actual album, but it's still pretty cool. I reviewed Wake In Fright at No Ripcord .  I recommend picking up a copy .  Castle Face Records : Damaged Bug Bunker Funk Castle Face Records Released: 3.10.17 As with any specialty Castle Face vinyl release, you jump on it as quickly as possible.  For the latest Damaged Bug release, the excellent Bunker Funk , I was able to pick up the Half-Candy/Half-Poison version.  It's a three-sided double-LP with an etched side that comes in a gatefold sleeve.  There were three other specialized editions of Bunker F...

Disco Inferno In Debt Rocket Girl Originally released: 1992 via Che Records Reissued: 5.5.17 Finding some common ground between The Bomb Squad 's peerless and innovative approach to sampling and the ethereal charge of My Bloody Valentine , Disco Inferno 's 1992 debut LP, In Debt , sounds out of place from when it was originally conceived.  In some ways akin to what Slint had achieved with its 1991 milestone release, Spiderland , the Essex trio's sound is stark and textural, repetitious guitar strokes bordering on pensive while their rhythmic intensity carries most of the band's emotional weight.  Post-punk in the Alt-rock era.   Underappreciated at the time, Disco Inferno has gained some notoriety since dissolving in 1995, prompting the necessity to reissue In Debt .  As this was certainly something I'd missed in 1992, I feel like I'm listening to the proper heirs to Wire 's creative legacy, an experimental rock trio whose capacity for creative gr...

David Bowie ChangesOneBowie Rhino/Parlophone Released: 5.20.16 Originally released: 5.76 Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Sludge metal beasts and sons of Baton Rouge, Thou , have, with the aid of Thrill Jockey Records, pulled together a compilation release to help benefit the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank following the floods that devastated the area in 2016 .  Featured are, of course, Thou along with The Body & Full of Hell , SUMAC , Yob 's Mike Scheidt and Old Man Gloom to name a few.  You can find a compilation trailer, some sample tracks, and information on the compilation below, all courtesy of Thrill Jockey Records.  Many Waters : Baton Rouge Flood Relief 2017 by Various Artists Thrill Jockey & Thou present: Many Waters: Baton Rouge Flood Relief 2017 - Out now Featuring exclusive singles and live tracks from: The Body & Full of Hell, Thou, SUMAC, Aseethe, Old Man Gloom, Mike Scheidt of Yob and many more All proceeds to benefit the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank Watch trailer by Chariot of Black Moth here: https://youtu.be/frnmB4WynrY Many Waters: Ba...

'Twas the season...  Wire Nocturnal Koreans Pinkflag Released: Caught Wire 's Nocturnal Koreans mini-LP just before 2016 elapsed thanks to my wife who has, interestingly, managed to gift me one Wire album over the last (now) three Christmases.  I think I got the Document & Eyewitnesses compilation in 2014 and Wire's s/t LP last year.  I wouldn't call this a bad tradition. While I really liked the title track when the album came out, I'll admit this isn't my favorite of the band's recent output.  I may need to give it a few more listens.  I would never accuse the band of phoning it in so to speak, but maybe plateauing a bit.  Either way, I'm always happy to be expanding my collection of Wire LPs. Flying Lotus You're Dead Warp Released: 10.6.14 You're Dead by Flying Lotus slipped by me in 2014 and has been on the "I'll get to it someday" wishlist for the past couple of years.  I should've jumped on ...

E : "Great Light"  (via Thrill Jockey Records /YouTube) Uniform : "The Killing Of America" (via Rarely Unable/ Sacred Bones /Soundcloud) Droughts : "Welcome Back" ( Skeletal Lightning / Invisible Oranges /YouTube) Dan Deacon : "Opal Toad Segement" from the upcoming compilation, I Said No Doctors! (via Us-Them Group/ Dymaxion Groove / Stereogum /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

For today, I have an avant/ambient treat directly from Constellation Records . In anticipation of three new debut releases from Jason Sharpe , Off World , and Automatisme , the good people at Constellation saw fit to compile and share two tracks from each release.  I gave the tracks a listen earlier today and very much enjoyed the lengthy, dystopian chill of Automatisme's "Simultanéité 1," and the infestation of plucked strings that carry Jason Sharpe's "A Boat Upon Its Blood (Part 1)."  I was also taken by the very loose "Wonder Farm" from Off World, its frontier-ist twang strange against the seesaw tumble of artificial swats of percussion.   You can sample the tracks below: Release information and links were provided by Rarely Unable.  If you like what you hear, please head over to Constellation and spend a couple bucks. CONSTELLATION SHARE NEW MUSIC FROM THREE DEBUT ALBUMS; INCLUDING NEW RELEASES FROM OFF WORLD, AUTOMATISME & JASO...

Boris Pink (Deluxe Edition) Sargent House Released: 7.8.16 Originally released: 2005 via Diwphalanx Records (Japan); 2006 via Southern Lord Recordings (U.S.) I Heart Noise review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

At the end of September, Blonde Redhead will be releasing Masculin Féminin , a 37-track compilation featuring the band's first two releases ( s/t and La Mia Via Violenta ) along with singles, demos, essays, and unseen photographs.   Masculin Féminin is being released as part of the 200 Line series , a faction of Numero Group's archival endeavors that specializes in the forgotten recorded artifacts from the DIY era.  You can listen to the track below or check out the Black Book article. There's also a trailer announcing the release. Information and links were provided by Force Field PR. Blonde Redhead shares rare early demo via Black Book ahead of Numero Group box set release STREAM: "This is the number of times I said I will but didn't" (4 track demo) - Soundcloud / Black Book VIDEO: Trailer Video - YouTube Teeming with the energy and grit of pre-Giuliani Manhattan, Blonde Redhead's long out-of-print early recordings have finally cr...