Wee wee and rock 'n' roll… Chelsea Wolfe and Jess Gowrie 's provocatively titled project Mrs. Piss  exudes the level of melancholic depth-rock that one would normally associate with Wolfe, though this reductive version of her presentation captivates as a shared entity. Two lyric videos have emerged as incentive to check out the upcoming new album from the band, Self-Surgery . The grinding and emotive "Downer Surrounded by Uppers," (which is a great song title), finds some commonality with yore-rockers like 7-Year Bitch and Babes In Toyland , slop-addled distortion and energy. It's a solid track.  By contrast, the weighted crawl of "Knelt," Wolfe's ethereal vocal melting into the track's seismic density, is patient and stern. I love the bridge. Disrupting a crowd-flattening stomp akin to early Swans , Wolfe/Gowrie break for a moment to inject some melody into the mire.  Right now, it looks like this project is solely digital. S

Joyful Noise Recordings has selected the one and only KRAMER as 2020's Artist In Residence.  For those who don't know, KRAMER is synonymous with Shimmy-Disc, a label that cultivated a veritable wellspring of odd flavors and creative abnormalities from about 1987 until operations ceased in the late 90s, releasing albums from the likes of Naked City (John Zorn) , Daniel Johnston , Galaxie 500 , Butthole Surfers , Urge Overkill , Ween , King Missile , and GWAR to name a few. KRAMER also released albums from his own projects: Bongwater and Shockabilly . It was recently announced that KRAMER would be reactivating Shimmy-Disc and releasing some new music after years in absentia via Joyful Noise. "Monday" is a new track from a current project called Let It Come Down, which exhibits the vocal talents of Xan Tyler . Let It Come Down's debut LP, Songs We Sang In Our Dreams, is the first of five LPs that Kramer is releasing as part of his JNR Residency. We Sang In

Mouths by Psychic Graveyard was released for Bandcamp Friday on May 1st via Deathbomb Arc . A quick 5-song listen built purely from the time and frustration that extensive periods of quarantine have made available, Mouths is an electro-jolt of urgent, and mostly negative, energy. With commentary informed by the pandemic and the subsequent behaviors manifested by the American public, every track is a "mouth" and every mouth has a lot to say. "He gets drunk / He attends the protest / His American heart is rotting … inside his chest." — "American Mouth" The album is available digitally for purchase: https://deathbombarc.bandcamp.com/album/mouths Mouths by Psychic Graveyard Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Florian Schneider  (4/7/47 – 5/6/20) In 2009, I wrote a piece about Kraftwerk 's reissued discography, The Catalogue: Four Decades of Masterworks . Without delving into each album individually and distilling every seminal and necessary fiber, the goal at the time was to articulate the group's impact on modernity, which, in my mind, put them in the daunting position of having to constantly evolve alongside technology. Citing the group's 1991 LP The Mix , I wrote the following: "I look at 1991’s The Mix , their re-imagined or updated selection of songs that had, up to that point, been their best known. As both a response to the availability of new technology, and as an alternative to putting out some staid 'best of' compilation, The Mix was Kraftwerk appealing to a new era when guitars were back in vogue and hip-hop had reached its golden age. The Mix comes off as attempt to harness the present, confessing that, even in as primitive a digital era as 199

For me, the prospect of new music from Wire is always thrilling. Having released Mind Hive earlier this year, a compilation of unreleased or "evolved" material called 10:20 is scheduled to release June 19th after having been originally planned as a Record Store Day release. The nature of the 10:20 LP seems to loosely reflect that of 2013's Change Becomes Us , (also a Record Store Day release), which was a collection of material from 1979-1980 that had been revisited and revised.  As a taste of what to expect, you can check out the new video for "The Art Of Persistence."  A complete list of each track and its origins was provided by Stereo Sanctity. It doesn't look like a pre-order link has been activated. Via Stereo Sanctity: WIRE- Reschedule album '10:20’ A collection of “stray” tracks - To be released on June 19th via pinkflag - Hear “ The Art of Persistence " now WIRE have announced new release details for forthcoming album

Adam “MCA” Yauch (8/5/64 — 5/4/12) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

"Music is a gift. And, it's a gift to be shared."  "Rest In Power" is a track by a band called Household Gods , a foursome comprised of musicians David Pajo ( Slint , Papa M ), Vern Rumsey ( Unwound ), Lauren K. Newman ( LKN Band , Palo Verde ) and Conan Neutron ( Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends , Replicator ). This track is a tribute to Newman who'd passed away in 2019, and features her thoughts and musically-based recall over the band's muck-addled and ethereally-charged crawl, all of which had been culled from interviews.  The fact that this track was recorded by Dave Catching is not a shock. There's a distinct sonic quality consistent with any recording managed at Rancho De La Luna, and guitar-oriented rock typically sounds unencumbered, aiming to travel endlessly within the aurally limitless expanses of Joshua Tree. Household Gods' upcoming album, Palace Intrigue , is up for pre-order and will be released June 5th. 

Finishing up April with some more additions to the  2020 Playlist . We're heading into another month under lockdown, so I hope that you're all putting aside some time for necessary respite from the... well, from everything. The influx of media is barely navigable or cohesive at this point, an unstoppable barrage of sound bites, news briefs and articles. Please stay safe. Please stay sane. And please be sure to thank anyone who works to keep our essential businesses and health services open and running despite the risks, making those of us lucky enough to function well at home comfortable, fed, and safe. _________________________________________ No Age:  "War Dance" (via mutante /  Drag City / Bandcamp) Album Preorder https://www.dragcity.com/products/goons-be-gone Goons Be Gone by No Age Via mutante/Drag City: With the digital release date for Goons Be Gone quickly approaching (June 5 for all you noobs), it's definitely time to share anot

Due to the current pandemic, and following a successful campaign in March, Bandcamp is again waiving its fee to help fund the artists that utilize its platform in an effort to minimize the loss of revenue many of them are experiencing thanks to tour cancellations . Starting May 1st, Bandcamp will be repeating this fundraising effort for the first Friday of every month, the next two being June 5th and July 3rd. So, here are some Bandcamp links you should check out: 20 Buck Spin —  https://listen.20buckspin.com/ 577 Records —  https://577records.bandcamp.com/ Brave Mysteries —  https://bravemysteries.bandcamp.com/ Castle Face Records —  https://castlefacerecords.bandcamp.com/ Dark Operative —  https://darkoperative.bandcamp.com/ Deathbomb Arc —  https://deathbombarc.bandcamp.com/ DFA Records —  https://dfarecords.bandcamp.com/ Drag City —  https://dragcity.bandcamp.com/ Erased Tapes —  https://erasedtapes.bandcamp.com/ Exploding In Sound Records —  https://exploding