Golden Melody Awards
A strange correspondence of quasi-monody with timbral and spectral improbability. Banjo and analogue synth. Also notice how the resonant frequencies of...
Now listening to...
Bass piano sounds like wind chimes of dreams
Andrew Wedman has invented a new instrument: the bass piano. It’s a regular piano but it’s tuned down. The detuning though,...
Guayaveras are sweet…and Rat-drifting relaunches on Bandcamp!
Serious as philosophy, loose as sleep, sweet as raspberries blown in a bubble bath. It’s Eric Chenaux on guitalele and toe-synth...
Strange sound colours: April Aliermo
Artemis of Colour by April Aliermo puts recordings of breath and the voice into dialogue with gorgeously rich oscillators. Some wild...
Karen Ng’s “Day 3 i”
It’s difficult to know what analogy works to describe Karen Ng’s stunning solo saxophone recordings: a thought process, a dialogue with...
Punk Kong’s “Pull Ninja”
Unusual soundscapish jazz takes noisy turns, distorted climbs, and opens to beautiful spaces. Pull Ninja by Punk Kong
Geir Sundstøl’s “Warszawa-Alabama”
Very unexpected coupling of Coltrane and Bowie. Brødløs by Geir Sundstøl
Luke Stewart / Patrick Shiroishi, “Staying Human”
Long tones, voluminous room sound (parking garage!), spare and grand, maybe scary, maybe consoling. Luke Stewart / Patrick Shiroishi by Luke...
O.S. Arun & Meeta Pandit duet
My goodness, this carnatic / Hindustani collaboration is full of life. These singers are fried and sweet. Not sure who the...
“Sin Guia, No” by Juana Molina
Juana Molina makes some of the strangest and most beautiful pop music we have heard. The layered subtly de-tuned harmony here...
Kim Myhr’s “You|Me”
Ambient becomes prominent, background to the fore, patterns and unexpected disruptions, in Kim Myhr’s You | Me. You | me by Kim...
Alcorn, Bordreuil, and Laubrock: “Indigo Blue (Wayfarin Stranger)”
Susan Alcorn, Leila Bordreuil, and Ingrid Laubrock – pedal steel, cello, and saxophone – create an otherworldly sense of summer. Bird Meets...
Scott Clark’s “Quiet Friend”
From a solo album by percussionist/composer Scott Clark: “Quiet Friend” begins and continues with long, warm waves of harmonica. Companion drums...
Number Seven by Dos
Mike Watt and Kira Roessler’s project Dos scratches an itch I didn’t know I had. Two bass guitars with weird riffs...
Bloop’s “Enchantments”
Lina Allemano plays trumpet and Mike Smith does live processing of the sound. The effects are magical: multiplication, sound shadows, parallel...
Jonas Cambien Trio “Creationism”
Jonas Cambien Trio’s “Creationism” is like residue from “Pump up the Jam” discovered on a log or beside a pond. Sounds...
Thorpe’s art rock Love & Weather
Our editor Josh Thorpe has a band and it’s unusual songs with dissonance, consonance, and some pretty neat sounds. Love &...
Colin Clark’s “Grasslands”
Clark’s strangely tuned synthetic harmony might make you giddy. Colin Clark · Grasslands View this post on Instagram A post shared...
Unusual tuning in Ariana Grande’s “Make Up”
It’s unusual to hear deviations from standard tuning in popular music. Ariana Grande and her group do it so sweetly here....
Goat Girl
“Dance of Dirty Leftovers” by Goat Girl lays easygoing dissonant chords over a psychedelic swirl. Goat Girl by Goat Girl