For July's TLR I wrote about two fascinating tape labels--Orb Tapes out of central Pennsylvania and Tymbal Tapes out of Lincoln, Nebraska--both of which are extremely thoughtful and well-curated labels run by people who are passionate listeners and devoted workers in DIY music culture. Definitely check it out if you are down for some truly… Continue reading Tape Label Report, July 2022
I think I broke my brain writing about this band, but the good news is that my brain only broke in order to reform as a bigger, better brain and I may even be able to do fractional math now. Please get acquainted with my favorite band in Chicago, je'raf, who are in my opinion… Continue reading The Sonic Family Tree of Chicago’s je’raf
It was my honor to finally profile one of the most important labels and event promoters in contemporary music culture: Interdimensional Transmissions. Please check out all of the work they have done to keep proper underground dance music thriving in its home territories and to bring many sides of genre together for immersive events which… Continue reading Interdimensional Transmissions Explores Electronic Music’s Outer Limits
Following my article on Dog Faced Hermans for Bandcamp, Modern Soul Records asked me to make a playlist for their site. For this mix, I could have just selected tracks from genres and artists I knew were influential to the Hermans, but I remembered guitarist Andy Moor saying that the band was inspired more by… Continue reading Dog Faced Hermans Mixtape for Modern Soul Records
I was grateful for the opportunity to shed some light on the debut album from Rocio Zavala and to sit down with her in this suburban Chicago pizzeria she loves to talk about the process leading up to its creation before she took off for LA. It's absolutely one of the best drone albums I… Continue reading Rocio Zavala Creates Music From Light
When Matt Helgeson invited me on his CrossFade podcast, I realized in studying and discussing Erase Errata's Nightlife for the show that this was a really dense and fascinating album that really commanded more time and attention than we could give it. I got the Bandcamp editors to let me write about it and had… Continue reading Erase Errata’s Nightlife Gave Entertainment an Agenda
My guide to the revolutionary Dog Faced Hermans finally arrived and made a good splash. I had a great time researching and writing this and just finished work on a Dog Faced Hermans-inspired playlist for Modern Soul Records in collaboration with Andy Moor and Wilf Plum from DFH, so that will be available soon. It's… Continue reading The Uncompromising Creative Politics of Dog Faced Hermans
Me, right now, in the laundromat parking lot, where I am writing this. At the beginning of this Mercury retrograde, the person I had been pretty seriously dating for a month bailed on the Juana Molina show we were supposed to go to at the Old Town School of Folk Music and said he needed… Continue reading One Day: A Mercury Retrograde Sanity Mixtape Series
This feature is focused on the relationship between the mixtape maker and the mixtape's recipient. Here is my old friend Sevan holding the tape I made for them last fall. My Seasonal Mixtape Series was featured on the Made You a Tape blog run by Sarah Grady in DC. I am the most proud of making a… Continue reading Seasonal Mixtape Series Featured on Made You a Tape
Like every seasonal mixtape, Lucy Parsons II has listened to it all the way through many times, been patient while I re-recorded it probably more than any other tape I have made so far (sputtering being a key word for this season), and it has at long last received the lick of approval. It feels… Continue reading Spring 2022//the sputtering chariot of the vernal equinox
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