Whose Sound Is Whose? The Collective Method of SML
The LA quintet's second album, 'How You Been', unfolds through the distillation of live improvisations into moments where individual voices dissolve into collective sound.
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The Warm Fuzz and Cold Honesty of Wormy's 'Shark River'
As Wormy, Noah Rauchwerk, the touring drummer for Samia, turns his van life into ten songs about anxiety, imposter syndrome, and "this sense of impending doom" that often shadows the good moments.
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Drinking from Tradition — Fabiano do Nascimento's Quiet Guitar
'Cavejaz' finds the Brazilian guitarist collaborating with UAKTI percussionist Paulo Santos, Japanese tabla master U-zhaan, and Los Angeles percussionist Tiki Pasillas on an album that privileges listening and space over the virtuosity his tradition demands.
Leilani Patao Bites Back — Pet Love and the Choice Against Streaming
The fiercely independent songwriter's EP 'daisy' honors their late childhood dog while exploring patterns of loyalty and mistreatment across romantic, familial, and pet relationships—all released exclusively on Bandcamp as an act of self-determination.
The Warm Fuzz and Cold Honesty of Wormy's 'Shark River'
As Wormy, Noah Rauchwerk, the touring drummer for Samia, turns his van life into ten songs about anxiety, imposter syndrome, and "this sense of impending doom" that often shadows the good moments.
3-Tier
Better Living Through Imperfection — Michael Hallsworth on the Hypocrisy Trap
Drawing on behavioral science research, Hallsworth's 'The Hypocrisy Trap' examines how false signals of consistency drive our contempt for hypocrites and what happens when accusations of hypocrisy spiral out of control.
Life Among the Vowels — Kathy Kennedy and the Sounds We Share
The Montreal electroacoustic artist spent three decades distributing sound through pirate radio and public space performances before releasing 'Vowel Jams', an album that spotlights her personal vision over public appeal.
I Advance Masked — Into the Deep With Elujay
Elujay explains how 'A Constant Charade' channels his graffiti roots, his friendship with Angus Cloud, and his belief that R&B thrives when artists keep surprising themselves and their listeners.
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John Mlynczak Brings Classroom Philosophy to NAMM's Showfloor
NAMM's president shares strategies for turning students into advocates, building passion before theory, and preparing the next generation to thrive in a world that doesn't yet exist.
Exiled in Hydra — Inside Westerman's Greek Island Sessions
Producer Marta Salogni and a rotating cast of musicians joined Westerman at an 18th-century mansion on Hydra to record 'A Jackal's Wedding,' an album where high ceilings and creative limitation were as vital as the songs themselves.
The Lightning Bolt Sound and Diamond Nature of Zu
Three decades into their existence, Italy's experimental metal/rock/jazz trio release 'Ferrum Sidereum,' a double-album that draws on meteoric iron symbolism, Tibetan philosophy, and the practice of creating inner silence amid external chaos.
The Cold Comfort of Louis Gardner's Solo Piano
The London pianist's 'Emotionally Suited To Be A Solo Pianist' began as a three-hour improvisation that captured winter's quieter truths about distance, solitude, and the strange calm that arrives when the world slows down.
Gimme Danger — Ian Brennan Among the Snake Handlers
'They Shall Take Up Serpents' marks Sublime Frequencies' first American release, with Ian Brennan documenting a West Virginia church where drumming grandmas and flatpicking guitarists enter trance states that put decades of rock posturing to shame.
Astronomy Harmonie — Patricia Brennan's Celestial Chamber Jazz
The vibraphonist's 'Of The Near And Far' superimposes constellations over the circle of fifths to generate pitch collections for a ten-piece ensemble while signaling her background in orchestral percussion, alternative rock, and the chamber works of Glass and Xenakis.
Poetry Kills — My Violence's Chapbook of Sound
Silvia Ryder discusses her album 'Monday's Child', the unconventional instruments that define her music, and how leaving Sugar Plum Fairies led her to build a new identity from Omnichords and archival film.
Jeremy Rose and the Open Sound of Australian Improvisation
The Sydney saxophonist's album 'Infinity II' emerges from fully improvised sessions with no charts, no discussion, and no overdubs—what Rose describes as humanist minimalism, where four musicians function like a living system.
Don't Fear the Reverb — A Conversation with Kramer
From producing Galaxie 500 and Low to his new ambient masterwork '...and the crimson moon whispers goodbye,' the musician and Shimmy-Disc founder reflects on spontaneous composition, the spiritual dimensions of reverb, and finally achieving his personal 'Rothko Chapel.'
Sessa Finds São Paulo's Rhythm in the Cosmic Ordinary
Three years of sessions in São Paulo yielded 'Pequena Vertigem de Amor,' an album born from the submarine days of early fatherhood and the vertigo between extraordinary love and ordinary routine.
Phil Haynes, Free Country, and the Sound of Political Urgency
Jazz drummer Phil Haynes's string band Free Country reconvened after a decade to record original compositions, but hours before the first session, trumpeter Herb Robertson died, and the 2024 election delivered its verdict—the double album 'Liberty Now!' carries both griefs.
Kirin McElwain and the Beautiful Harshness of 'Youth'
Cellist Kirin McElwain's exploratory album 'Youth' turns toward crystalline feedback, chaotic oscillators, and intentionally harsh tones to express the feelings of desire and shame occupying the same cognitive space.
Beyond Fairy Doom — Faetooth Emerges from the Labyrinth
Faetooth's Ari May, Jenna Garcia, and Rah Kanan reflect on the three-year writing process behind 'Labyrinthine', a bold album that pushes doom metal toward greater abstraction without sacrificing ethereality.
Achieving Sonic Sympathy — Horse Lords Meet Arnold Dreyblatt
Just intonation brought together two generations of experimental musicians for 'Extended Field,' an album that nimbly negotiates Horse Lords' mathematical expansiveness and Arnold Dreyblatt's tightly controlled harmonic universe.
Set Adrift on a Sea of Strings — Bryan Senti's Immigrant Symphonies
The BAFTA-winning composer traces his parents' displacement from Colombia and Cuba across two albums, 'Manu' and 'La Marea', blending string orchestras with techno's rhythmic complexity and the "magical realism" of Latin American folk traditions.
Paying Attention is Wonderful — Listening Along With Lia Kohl
The cellist and composer discusses her album 'Various Small Whistles and a Song,' a collection of field recordings that transform voting lines, train stations, and strangers' whistles into intimate sonic portraits of daily life.
Against the Flattening — Weston Olencki's Southern Reckonings
The innovative composer discusses 'Broadsides,' an electroacoustic project set in the American South that treats traditional instruments as loaded cultural objects while pushing back against regional homogenization.
The Accidental Psychopomp — Terence McKenna's Hallucinatory Afterlife
Cultural historian Graham St. John's 'Strange Attractor' chronicles McKenna's role as rogue scholar and stand-up philosopher, tracing his journey from a 1966 DMT conversion experience to becoming a disembodied voice whispering into the ears of dancers worldwide.
Prewn Weathers a World Riddled with Systems
On 'System', Izzy Hagerup aka Prewn builds maximalist songs alone in her home studio, using 'self-indulgent' cello and multitracked vocals to process the gravity of being trapped inside something much bigger than herself.
Beyond the Label — What 'DIG!' Reveals About Building Music Communities
Ondi Timoner's rockumentary follows the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols through the '90s music industry, but its most vital lesson has nothing to do with record labels—it's about the communities and collaborations that sustain bands.
Distortion, Disruption, and Dundalk — Just Mustard in 3D
Katie Ball and David Noonan explain how Just Mustard's third album, 'We Were Just Here,' pushes guitars past recognition and why growing up in Ireland's DIY scene infuses their musical ethos with attitude.
Ben Jones and the Patient Bloom of Constant Smiles
The Constant Smiles frontman discusses how 'Moonflowers' represents his return to fingerpicked folk after years of pushing against the Martha's Vineyard sounds that shaped him, and why he finally has the patience and skill to honor influences like Nick Drake.
OK Bloomers — Nels Cline Finds His Happy Place
The prolific guitarist talks about 'Trio of Bloom' with Craig Taborn and Marcus Gilmore, maintaining experimental outlets alongside two decades in Wilco, and the productive anxiety of working with wizard-level musicians.
Jordan McLean's JMMR Turns Intentional Chaos into Avant-Rave
The Antibalas trumpeter discusses how he built the album 'Resistance is Fertile' from beatbox demos, synchronized click tracks, and improvised layers, resulting in sounds that sit somewhere between Ornette Coleman and Death Grips.
The World-Breakers and Myth-Makers of Greil Marcus's 'Mystery Train'
Fifty years after its first publication, Marcus reflects on his landmark examination of American mythology through rock and roll, discussing Little Richard blowing away a Dick Cavett debate panel, Robert Johnson's inescapable netherworld, and why Elvis still leaves him dumbfounded.
Firing On — Eschewing the Studio with Yves Jarvis
Montreal's Yves Jarvis discusses his fifth album, 'All Cylinders'—sixteen self-performed, DIY-recorded tracks that won the 2025 Polaris Music Prize and taught him that embracing traditional songcraft opens new frontiers rather than closing them.
Highbrow Meets Lowbrow in Alta Vista's Musical Blender
On their second album 'Won't Believe In Dust', the instrumental trio moves beyond the vintage country songbook that sparked their formation, embracing everything from calypso bounce to free-flowing post-bop while sharing a belief that laughter belongs in the creative process.
Marcus Roberts on Amplifying Accessibility in a Jazz Context
The acclaimed pianist reflects on a lifetime of adapting tools never designed for blind musicians, how his mother taught him that communicating feeling matters more than technical perfection, and why he believes technology's moral compass must always stay ahead of its capabilities.
From Jazz Roots to Hip-Hop Freedom — Ben Marc's Genre of One
The multi-instrumentalist and producer discusses his album 'Who Cares Wins,' realized during his time volunteering for the NHS, and how working with everyone from Sun Ra Arkestra to Σtella requires leaving ego at the door.
Friction Into Diamonds — Eugene Holley Jr. on the Bill Evans Trio
From his first encounter with 'Explorations' to writing liner notes for 'Haunted Heart: The Legendary Riverside Studio Recordings,' the jazz historian discusses how Evans, LaFaro, and Motian transformed friction into a circular, evolutionary approach to the jazz trio format.
Living Hour and the Perimeter of Yearning
Sam Sarty and Gilad Carroll discuss their Winnipeg roots, the making of 'Internal Drone Infinity', and how the band transforms isolation and distance into thoughtful dream pop that leaves space for memory and the quiet work of getting better.
Burnin' Up in Nova Scotia — The Boojums Bring the Fire
Recording their debut album live off the floor in just seven days, the trio channels garage rock fury and Maritime folk traditions into songs that capture a regional scene experiencing its own creative renaissance.