Side A — Assembled 1/3-1/7 Following the turbulence of the Holidays and the excessive work schedules leading up to them, music continues to be my long sought-after balm for stress and the monotony of corporate drone'dom. Side A for the first week of January is light and loud, meditative or necessarily aggro. I'm happily excited about some of the records and singles I've had the opportunity to sample so far. Is it naive to assume this trend will continue well into 2023? Probably, but I'm content for now.  Enjoy…  ______________________________________________________________________ Tomato Flower : "Red Machine" (via Ramp Local) Bandcamp — https://tomatoflower.bandcamp.com/album/gold-arc Ramp Local — https://ramplocal.com Gold Arc releases 2/11/22 ______________________________________________________________________ Sea Change : "Is There Anybody There" (via Stereo Sanctity) Twitter — https://twitter.com/SeaChangeartist Shapes Recordings — https...

Long overdue track selections for February... The Besnard Lakes : "The Divine Wind" (via Jagjaguwar /YouTube) Strange Lot : "Have It Your Way" (via Tell All Your Friends PR/Soundcloud) anjou : "glamr" (via Rarely Unable/ kranky /Soundcloud) Pissed Jeans : "The Bar is Low" (via Sub Pop /YouTube) Mons VI : "Away" (Mons VI/Bandcamp) Away/Tangerine (Eternity Redux) by Mons Vi Jessica Moss : "Glaciers I (Part I)" (via Rarely Unable/ Constellation Records /Soundcloud) Sam Rae : "It's Alright, It's Okay" (via Terrorbird Media/Soundcloud) You'll Never Get to Heaven : "Images" (via Force Field PR/ Yellow K Records /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Helen Money : "Become Zero" (via Thrill Jockey Records /Spotify) Saafron : "Mtulazaji - Spirit Bomb" (via Julian T. Schoen/ Stones Throw /Soundcloud) Stann Smith : "Gone" (via Obscure PR/Soundcloud) NAG : "Ancient Wisdom" (via Viral Propaganda/YouTube) Magic Trick : "More" (via Force Field PR/Soundcloud) Sincerely Letters From A Tapehead

SeaWitches : "Tempest" (via Girlfish PR/ Emerald Eye Recording s/YouTube) Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas : "Chevron" (via Earsplit PR/ Indie Recordings / Decibel /YouTube) Tim Presley : "Clue" (via Mutante Inc./Drag City/Soundcloud) Richard Yot : "Kings of Nothing" (via Soundcloud) Still Corners : "Lost Boys" (via YouTube) GHOUL : "Ghoulunatics" (via Earsplit PR/ Tankcrimes /YouTube) Frankie Reyes : "Flor De Azalea" (via Stones Throw /Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Dieterich & Barnes : "People Person" (via Kinsman & Meng/ Living Music Duplication /YouTube) Gemma Ray : "The Original One" (via Gemma Ray/ Bronze Rat Records /YouTube) Seiho : "The Vase" (via Julian T. Schoen/ Leavin g Records-Stones Throw /YouTube) Pale Dian : "Evan Evan" (via Force Field PR/ Manifesto Records / The FADER /Soundcloud) Mercury Girls : "All That Heaven Allows" (via Slumberland Records /Soundcloud) Weval : "You're Mine" (via Julian T. Schoen/ Kompakt /YouTube) Papertwin : "The Pool" (via Force Field PR/ Stereogum /Soundcloud) Shabazz Palaces : "Dawn in Luxor" (via Sub Pop/YouTube) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Sunflower Bean : "Tame Impala" (via Dark Matter Media/ Interview Magazine /Soundcloud) Itasca : "Nature's Gift" (via Force Field PR/ Vogue /Soundcloud) Trans Am : "Insufficiently Breathless" (via Thrill Jockey Records/Vimeo) Trans Am - Insufficiently Breathless from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo . Run The Jewels : "Blockbuster Night Part 1" (via Stereogum /Soundcloud) Mega Bog : "Cologne in the Night" (via Couple Skate/Soundcloud) Deaf Wish : "St. Vincent's" (via Sub Pop/Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Nick Oliveri's Uncontrollable : "Human Cannonball Explodes" (via Howlin' Wuelf Media / Schnitzel Records /Soundcloud) Alma Construct : "On The Edge, Surrounded With The Shores of Assudrey" (Force Field PR/ R&S Records /Soundcloud) Literature : "New Jacket" (via Force Field PR/ A.V. Club /Soundcloud) Medicine : "Turning" (via Captured Tracks/YouTube) Oscillator Bug : "Giimmi Goe" (via Us-Them Group/ Tiny Mix Tapes /Soundcloud Bowl Ethereal : "The Last Minute" (via Earsplit PR/ Noisey /YouTube)   Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Pontiak : "Wildfires" (via Thrill Jockey Records/Soundcloud) New Bums : "The Killers and Me" (via Rarely Unable/ Drag City /YouTube) Mt. Royal : "Missing Reward" (via PIAS/ Brooklyn Vegan /YouTube) Doomsquad : "Disremember/Dismemberment" (via Force Field PR/ Noisey /Soundcloud) C O L L E C T R E S S : "Spell" (via Rarely Unable/Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Agarttha A Water Which Does Not Wet Hands King of the Monsters Records Released: 6.25.13 A meditation based in the premonitions of death detailed in a text from a Polish alchemist, A Water Which Does Not Wet Hands , the exploratory endeavor of which belongs to Agarttha ( Architeuthis Rex ’s Francesca Marongiu with the assistance of bandmate Antonio Gallucci and Reto Mäder of Ural Umbo and Sum of R ), is supplemented by vastness and slow swells of droning instrumentation while ritualistic thuds confirm the music’s depth of space. From the opening “Lambsprinck,” distortion acts as a sonic tapestry from which to adorn each track vocal melodies that drape and flow as endless streams of sound. This characteristic is carried out for the duration of the album, Marongiu angelic against its otherwise ominous persuasion. Tonal droplets color the steady field of wavering fuzz that remarks as dread throughout “Visions of Alina,” a gentle skip of percussion establishing its path. Tho...

Lorelei : "Hole Punch" (video provided by Force Field PR) Lorelei - Hole Punch from Slumberland Records on Vimeo . Tricky : "Nothing's Changed" (via Life Or Death PR & Management) Melody's Echo Chamber : "Crystallized" (video provided by Noisey) David Bowie : "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" (Unsuitable for the cubicle!) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Here's some ethereal grace for your Wednesday afternoon.  "Vital" is a single from a compilation of unreleased material from Grouper (a.k.a, Liz Harris ) that was recorded during the sessions that produced the proper release, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill .  The collection is being released via Kranky as an album entitled, The Man Who Died in His Boat , which will be out February 4th. All info comes courtesy of Rarely Unable. 2013 marks the 20th anniversary for record label Kranky, and having already kicked off the year with a brand new album from Ethernet and reissuing the long out of print album The Ballasted Orchestra by Stars Of The Lid , there are some very intriguing things in the pipeline including a brand new Benoit Pioulard album in March, and before that, an unearthed album by Grouper . The Man Who Died in His Boat is an album of unreleased songs by Grouper, recorded alongside the Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill album. It will be released on 4 Febru...