Matt Evans Creates “Zone Poems” on This Inventive LP
Matt Evans takes listeners on a journey that includes light, darkness, quiet, and loudness. It’s a holistic experience, deserving of deep contemplation.
The Sound on ‘Bill Evans at the BBC’ Is Badly Distorted
Much of the material on Bill Evans at the BBC, as played by this lineup, is available on better-sounding releases, including a couple of producer Zev Feldman’s own.
Meme Culture’s Corrosive Effect on the American Heart
Over time, particularly since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, meme culture has shifted into a series of thought-terminating clichés that eat through our democratic identity like battery acid.
‘Recomposed’ Performs a Fundamental Interpretation of the Music Industry
Recomposed explores how musicians and entrepreneurs of the “great recomposition” attempt to reconcile ecological responsibility with financial self-preservation, revealing the difficulty of pursuing climate action within market logic itself.
Lip Critic’s ‘Theft World’ Is Beautifully Structured Chaos
In Lip Critic’s Theft World genres are unceremoniously smashed together, with hardcore punk, club rhythms and hyper-pop all vying for attention.
Instant Alter Conjure a Golden Dawn at SFJAZZ
“Future Fusion” group Instant Alter occupy a rare category of artist with the spiritual ambitions to match their musical prowess.
Metric Look Back and Learn to ‘Romanticize the Dive’
Metric look at ups and downs, always seeking an accessible romanticism. Underground dives may be dingy or dirty, but they can lead somewhere transcendent.
Vampires and the Ecstasy of Consumer Submission
Vampires once symbolized aristocratic tyranny, but now mirror decadent late-capitalist enthrallment. Our ecstasy of submission – to the vampire, the corporation, the franchise reboot, the Kickstarter campaign – offers relief from the heavy burden of autonomy.
Kevin Morby’s ‘Little Wide Open’ Is His Masterpiece
Kevin Morby’s eighth LP, Little Wide Open, is a masterpiece of simple and, at times, epic proportions that will linger deep within one’s soul.
Telehealth Disrupt Dystopia with ‘Green World Image’
Telehealth create angular grooves and twitchy rhythms and look askance at our modern-day neoliberal nightmare as we doomscroll ourselves to oblivion.
Cocanha Set the Bar for Minority-Language Rock
That Cocanha can conjure sound paintings with little more than their mouths and a minority language shows they are in complete command of their journey.
Staging Cultural Erasure in Ukraine’s Borderland
Journalist James Verini resurfaces the stories of those who sheltered from Putin’s war in the iconic Ukrainian theater, peeling back layers on a microcosm of the country’s struggle for cultural survival.