All photos by Noel Woodford
Preorder Juan Wauters’ upcoming album La Onda de Juan Pablo out 1/25 via Captured Tracks. Find Juan Wauters’ upcoming tour dates here.
Juan Wauters // Knitting Factory // NYC
Molchat Doma- Etazhi
The Stalinist architecture depicted on the sleeve of Molchat Doma’s latest LP Etazhi is as brutal and imposing as the Belarus based outfit’s lofi coldwave and Slavic lyricism. Crunchy drum machines, shadowy synths, and distant, echoed Russian vocals make this recording share the skewed beauty of the Slovakian Hotel Panorama.
Purchase Molchat Doma’s latest release Etazhi out now via Detriti Records.
Ornament- "Better Saturday"
Stream the premiere of the new video from Nashville based trio Ornament for their single “Better Saturday.” Shot on Super 8 film, the video’s soft, retro textures capture the track’s leisurely charm.
Ornament’s new single is available now via Official Memorabilia. Find Ornament on a string of dates across the Midwest and East Coast.
Khana Bierbood- Strangers From The Far East
The Guruguru Brain seal of approval is a consumer guarantee for psychedelic excellence verified by numerous releases from Kikagaku Moyo, Minami Deutsch, or Sundays & Cybele that siphon traditional elements of musical styles from all corners of the globe into spirited and renewed arrangements crafted for deep listening. Extracted from the Far East is Khana Bierbood, the latest group on the Guruguru Brain label whose debut record Strangers From The Far East borrows from the sounds of 60s Thailand surf, garage beat, and wild go-go and was produced by Kikagaku Moyo’s Go Kurosawa.
Purchase Khana Bierbood’s debut record Strangers From The Far East out now via Guruguru Brain.
The Mattson 2 // The Chapel // San Francisco
All photos by Ruchita Lalmalani
Purchase The Mattson 2’s latest release Mattson 2 Play “A Love Supreme” out now via Spiritual Pajamas.
Jaye Bartell- 8 Covers
Using his beloved stoic delivery, Jaye Bartell creates his own wistful renditions of songs by Will Oldham, Yoko Ono, Carly Simon, and other celebrated songwriters. Breathing through slow guitar strums and gentle piano splashes, Bartell restores the magnetism of the eight influential songs he’s borrowed.
Purchase Jaye Bartell’s latest album 8 Covers out now via Sinderlyn.
Hand Habits- placeholder
The inimitable guitar virtuoso and deeply tender songwriter Meg Duffy returns with her second full length as Hand Habits and her first on Saddle Creek titled Placeholder. The announcement arrives with a video for the title track directed by Madeline Kenney.
Preorder Hand Habits’ upcoming record Placeholder out March 1st via Saddle Creek.
Yellow Magic Orchestra- Live At Hurrah (1983)
U-Bahn- Right Swipe
Melbourne’s technicolor pop operators, U-Bahn, create tight arthouse music hinged on the low fidelity imagination of the genre’s early prodigies like Gary Wilson, R. Stevie Moore, and Ariel Pink. The group’s space-age oddity earned them a spot on the stage at last year’s Gizzfest organized by King Gizzard. As they prep for their debut album on Weirdo Mazic, U-Bahn has shared a retrospectively delivered video for their first single “Right Swipe.”
Alternative Funk- Volume 1 & 2
A new label out of Berlin, Platform 23, enters the reissue arena with a rebirth of the 1985 French compilation series Alternative Funk, a culmination of all things that came to represent coldwave, proto-dub, and industrial punk music of mid-80s Europe.
Purchase Alternative Funk Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 available now via Platform 23.
Nick Shoulders- Lonely Like Me
With a high-octave yodel and normal feller sing-song, Nick Shoulders’ Arkansas honkabilly brings back Slim Whitman style quivering cornball country ballads. By taking his songbook and twangy guitar playing to Mashed Potato Records in New Orleans where famed hard-travellin’ Americana songwriters Duff Thompson & Sam Doores of The Deslondes operate their tape recorders, Lonely Like Me was destined to sound like a lost Mississippi River rock and roll relic.
Purchase Nick Shoulders’ newest release Lonely Like Me out now and self-released.
John Carroll Kirby- Meditations In Music
Ambient composer John Carroll Kirby’s Meditations In Music sits on a deeply impressive roster of 2018 releases from Leaving Records. On the Los Angeles artist’s latest tape, Mini Moog flute sounds and shimmering synthesized bells join in a somatic healing harmony.
Purchase John Carroll Kirby’s latest release Meditations In Music out now via Leaving Records.
O Come, All Ye Faithless // A "Holiday" Playlist
Shop Regulars- Spirited Regulars
Shop Regulars is the new project from members of Honey Bucket, Woolen Men and Mope Grooves. The Portland group’s debut cassette Spirited Regulars is filled with tracks of impressive wit and agility recorded with the grain and reverb expected based on the associative members’ tangential projects.
Purchase Shop Regulars’ debut tape Spirited Regulars out now via See My Friends Records.
Etienne Jaumet- 8 Regards Obliques
From Miles Davis’ “Shhh / Peaceful,” Ornette Coleman’s “Theme From A Symphony,” to Sun Ra’s “Nuclear War,” French producer Etienne Jaumet switches on his analog machinery for an electronic interpretation of seven jazz monstrosities (and one original piece) on 8 Regards Obliques.
Purchase Etienne Jaumet’s 8 Regards Obliques out now via Versatile Records.
Good Morning Tapes
A supreme source for subsurface experimental, ambient, and outsider music and art is Good Morning Tapes. The French label, infamous for their head-spinningly quick sell-outs of their cassette releases and merch, maintain an elite status within the nebulae of underground culture. There are slow moving ambient, deep-groove dub, and terrestrial electronic entries on the label’s catalog each emblazoned with emblematic low fidelity graphic oddities.
Stay on the front line at Good Morning Tapes to grip physical copies and merch before they sell out. North American friends can keep their ear to the ground locally at Commend (NYC) and Gym Standard (San Diego). Stream some of our favorites below.
DRINKS // Market Hotel // NYC
All photos by Kevin Brown
Purchase DRINKS’ latest record Hippo Lite out now via Drag City.
Foxwarren- Foxwarren
What started as a group of siblings and childhood friends setting up recording equipment in a vacant house in the Canadian prairie while their parents were away eventually, after a decade of on-again-off-again work periods, became the debut release from Foxwarren. Fronted by the exquisite Andy Shauf, the songs are constructed with precision, indicative of anything Shauf lays his hand on.
Purchase Foxwarren’s self-titled debut out now via ANTI.
Michael Nau // Recover // Charlotte, NC
All photos by Mason McGlamery
Purchase Michael Nau’s latest record Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread out now via Full Time Hobby and Light In The Attic.
Dog Date- Little Cowboy
Providing a dose of inextinguishable youthful energy for the close of the year, Dog Date supply maximum fuzz with minimal apprehension letting their playfully disjointed punk roam on Little Cowboy.
Purchase Dog Date’s latest release Little Cowboy via cassette available only at their shows.