To whom it may interest, In the wake of late night neighborhood demonstrations of amateur fireworks displays and cork-ejaculated ribbons of bubbly champagne, the first full calendar week of 2023 has been officially Xd out. Time to take the Christmas trees down and bundle up for the next couple months. For last week's rounds of browser tabs, I've heard the following: ____________________________ Endorphins Lost:  "Regulation Area Bombing" (from Night People  releasing 2/1/23 by  To Live A Lie  / Rotten to the Core ) This one will beat you up pretty good: A little over a minute and thirty of throat scraping crust punk/power violence replete with excessive head-knock and a writhing breakdown for its second act.   Night People by Endorphins Lost Courtesy of Earsplit PR. Atsuko Chiba:  "Link" (from  Water, It Feels Like It's Growing  releases 1/20/23 by  Mothland ) The synth ride overtop some elaborate prog-level guitar noodling is worth explorati...

"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. ...

… so try and be good to the planet and listen to Earth . The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull by Earth Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

When you read the mission statement of the record label Our Silent Canvas , an entity that prides itself on encouraging “exploration of the complete sensory experience, by developing performances featuring a collaboration of these various arts, ” it seems to outline and explain the existence of NOUS , a collaborative musical endeavor started by Ghost Against Ghost ’s Christopher Bono . With a five-member core of outsider and neoclassical artists — Bono, Greg Fox ( Guardian Alien , Zs , Ben Frost , ex- Liturgy ), Shahzad Ismaily ( Yoko Ono , Laurie Anderson , Bonnie Prince Billy ), Thor Harris ( Swans , Angels of Light , Amanda Palmer , Shearwater ), Grey McMurray ( itsnotyouitsme , So Percussion , Tyondai Braxton ) — NOUS was developed during a week of recorded sessions, the first of which will be released by Our Silent Canvas as NOUS I: A Musical Rite . Structurally varied enough to cross genres, though the album would undoubtedly qualify as a post-rock jam, NOUS I is fascinati...

As a manifesto for change, there's something interestingly similar to Charlie Haden 's Liberation Music Orchestra I hear with "Undoing A Luciferian Towers," the latest single from the seminal post-rock outfit, Godspeed You! Black Emperor.  According to the band, Luciferian Towers , GY!BE's upcoming new album, was inspired by the following "grand demands:" + an end to foreign invasions + an end to borders + the total dismantling of the prison-industrial complex + healthcare, housing, food and water acknowledged as an inalienable human right + the expert fuckers who broke this world never get to speak again It's an ambitious list.  Without getting into the politics and societal implications of these demands, the instrumental of "Undoing A Luciferian Towers" communicates aspiration.  From the light and quivering ambience of its beginning seconds to its gradual swell as layers of tone build upon its understated march, there is a missi...

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...

For twenty years, Brian John Mitchell of Silber Records has been independently releasing ambient and drone projects from numerous performers and bands while publishing zines and comic books and holding down paid gigs in the real world.  While I have written about some of Silber's releases in the past, I thought I'd take the opportunity to throw a spotlight on the label by posting about three new releases for June.  If you like what you hear, I encourage you to head over to the site and spend a couple bucks.   Yellow6 Springsun/Conrad#2 Silber Records Released: 5.30.16 See that cover?  That's exactly what Yellow6 's two-track Springsun/Conrad#2 release sounds like.  Gorgeous and vast, it's the type of lush and ambient arrangement you want to hear as dawn transitions into morning.  You can purchase the album digitally here . springsun by Yellow6    Chvad SB Phenomenalism, Cartesian Doubt and Bomb #20 Silber Records Released: 5.3...

Mayflower Madame : "Weightless" (via Big Mouth Publicity/YouTube) Tacocat : "I Hate the Weekend" (via Hardly Art/YouTube) Lake Ruth : "The Inconsolable Jean-Claude" (via Lake Ruth/ The Great Pop Supplement /Soundcloud) Yardsss : " Granfalloons II" (via Us-Them Group/ SELF Group /Soundcloud) Jerkagram : "Cloud Builder" (via Us-Them Group/ Noisey /YouTube) TOMBS : "V" (via Relapse Records/YouTube) Rangda : "The Sin Eaters" (via Rarely Unable PR/ Drag City /YouTube) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Coming up for 2016, the heavily revered post-rock act Tortoise will be releasing The Catastrophist on January 22nd via Thrill Jockey Records.  This is the band's long-awaited follow-up to their 2009 release, Beacons of Ancestorship .   "Gesceap" is the lead single and it's a worthwhile 7-and-change synth-driven instrumental, electro-fuzz pulse and textural pleasantry.  The album is currently available for pre-order.  You can check out the track below: All information has been brought to you by the great people at Thrill Jockey Records. Tortoise announce new album The Catastrophist out 22nd January Tortoise release first single Gesceap Full European tour in February announced "Tortoise enabled the cross-pollination we take for granted today, drawing on dub, post-punk, weird folk, jazz-fusion, progressive rock and dance music to open a Pandora’s box of possibilities" - The Sunday Times  "One of the most heralded names in modern Ameri...

Dommengang : "Everybody's Boogie" (via Thrill Jockey Records/YouTube) Mondo Drag : "The Dawn" (via Us-Them Group/ Brooklyn Vegan / RidingEasy Records /Soundcloud) Ariel Pink : "Jell-o" (via Force Field PR/YouTube) Skinless : "Serpenticide" (via Relapse Records/YouTube) The Milk Carton Kids : "Monterey" (via Big Mouth Publicity/ Rolling Stone /Anti-/Soundcloud) A Troop of Echoes : "Masnifest and Legion" (via Us-Them Group/ Exclaim! /Soundcloud) Qui : "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" (via Us-Them Group/Soundcloud) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Disappears Irreal kranky Released: 1.20.15 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Naomi Punk : "Television Man" (via Captured Tracks/Soundcloud) Signor Benedick The Moor : "h8 everybody [Enter the Black Prince]" (via Charlemagne Kinsman/YouTube) Mogwai : "Simon Ferocious" (via Sub Pop/YouTube) Nader Sadek : "Re:Mechanic" (via Earsplit PR/ Decibel /YouTube) clipping. :"Work Work (feat. Cocc Pistol Cree )" (via Sub Pop/ Complex /YouTube) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Slint Spiderland Box Set Touch and Go Released: 4.15.14 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

So, I'm still in need of a copy of Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything from Thee Silver Mt. Zion , but I'm hoping to remedy that very soon.  In the meantime, Constellation Records is issuing a new EP of remixes of SMZ material called Hang On To Each Other .  So far, the very dance-friendly "Birds Toss Precious Flowers" is all that's surfaced.  You can sample that track below and then check out the released information brought to you courtesy of Rarely Unable.  NEW RELEASE: THEE SILVER MT ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA, HANG ON TO EACH OTHER EP Constellation are an unstoppable force, as today they announce the last of their new releases for Spring 2014, and what a way to round up with the announcement of Hang On To Each Other , a vinyl and digital-only EP of “remixes” from Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Following their acclaimed Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything released in January, SMZ dusted off an old chestnut from their 20...

Mogwai Rave Tapes Sub Pop Released: 1.21.14 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The Vocoder will be the new Auto Tune and it will be blessed by retro charm, which will make it hipster-appropriate, indie-credible and fully supported by PBR-scented neck beards everywhere.  Ah, I'm just talking shit. The typically awesome Mogwai released a new video for the single, "The Lord is Out of Control."  Expect to hear this within the confines of the band's upcoming new album, Rave Tapes , which will be out in late January via Sub Pop.  In addition to your normal formats (i.e. LP, CD, MP3, SUV, STD...etc. ), there's a special edition box set of Rave Tapes being released that's limited to 500 copies.  They're up for pre-order, so you may want to get yours now before some enterprising yung'un with daddy's credit card picks up a copy and tries to pimp it online for your firstborn or a handjob.  Here's the video: Now, look at the info, which was handed to me via email by the good people at Sub Pop. Watch Mogwai’s new vide...

Mogwai : "Remurdered" (via Sub Pop) Vaadat Charigim : "Odisea" (via Force Field PR/ Pitchfork ) Tara Jane O'Neil : "Wordless in Woods" (via Rarely Unable) Philip Perkins : "The Onion" (via Body Double Ltd.) Vex Ruffin : "Prime of My Life" (via Force Field PR/ KCRW ) Be Forest : "Captured Heart" (via Force Field PR/ Impose Magazine ) Girls Names : "The New Life (David Holmes remix)" (via Force Field PR/ Self-Titled ) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Drugs of Faith : "Insanity" (via Invisible Oranges /Earsplit PR) Melvins : "City Dump" (via The Quietus /Rarely Unable) Kurt Vile & Sore Eros : "Serum" (via Pitchfork /Force Field PR) Russian Circles : "1777" (via Pitchfork /Sargent House) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

dBridge : "Death of a Drum Machine" (via R&S Records /Force Field PR) Esmerine : "Barn Board Fire" (via The Quietus ) Gaytheist: "Stomach Pains" (via Good to Die Records/ Whitey McConnaughy ) Big French: "In the Morning of the World" (via Enabler PR) Sleepmakeswaves: "In Limbs and Joints" (via Us/Them Group) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehaed

Mogwai 's soundtrack for the French television show, Les Revenants , will be released by Sub Pop on February 26th.  Their new single "Wizard Motor" surfaced today, pushing the band's signature drama and expansive guitar sound into the televised realm with decent enough results.  Considering the supernatural tone of the show, "Wizard Motor," at the very least, sounds appropriate to the subject matter. Sample the tune and review the info below.  All info, links and music were provided by Sub Pop. Sub Pop to release Mogwai’s Les Revenants soundtrack in North America on February 26  Available on CD, LP and digitally; Europe on February 25 via Rock Action Stream “Wizard Motor” here . Watch Les Revenants TV spot here . Sub Pop will release Mogwai’s soundtrack for Les Revenants , the French supernatural thriller and most popular TV series in Canal + history, on February 26 in North America on LP, CD, and digitally. As previously announced, Les Re...