On The Turntable

  • Close
    Sister Irene O’Connor

    Sister Irene O’Connor :: Fire of God’s Love

    Originally issued by Phillips under the pseudonym Myriam Frances and long sought by vinyl collectors, Australian nun Sister Irene O’Connor’s 1973 album Fire of God’s Love sees official reissue this week via the always reliable Freedom to Spend label. Drenched in reverb and powered by organ and fuzzy drum machine, it sounds like a holy devotional side project by Broadcast—future music imbued with traditional faith.

    Read More
  • Close
    Nicola Alesini & Pier Luigi Andreoni

    Nicola Alesini & Pier Luigi Andreoni :: Marco Polo

    Nicola Alesini & Pier Luigi Andreoni’s 1996 ‘ambient-word record’ Marco Polo. Vine-like, lush and minimal, layered and discreet, with assists from Japan’s David Sylvian (vocals), Pierrot Lunaire’s Arturo Stalteri (bouzouki, harmonium), Roger Eno (keyboards, percussion, vocals), David Torn (guitar), and Harold Budd (percussion). Fourth world, indeed.

    Read More
  • Close
    Joropop: Psych Pop & Folk in Venezuela, 1968-1976

    Joropop: Psych Pop & Folk in Venezuela, 1968-1976 ::

    The Madrid-based Munster Records and its sister label Vampisoul have become house favorites over the last few years. The latter released one of our favorite reissues of the year in Cartao Postal, the 1971 MPB masterclass from Brazilian singer Evinha, and Munster Records is keeping that momentum strong with Joropop: Psych Pop & Folk in Venezuela, 1968-1976, a compilation that hasn’t strayed far from the speakers since its summer release.

    Read More
  • Close
    Sharp Pins

    Sharp Pins :: Balloon Balloon Balloon

    Kai Slater dons the velvet flares once again for this superlative dose of psychedelic 1960s pop, spun out on electric 12-string and recorded in a dazey cloud of lo-fi fuzz. This is the second LP this year for Sharp Pins following this spring’s Radio DDR, and Slater was also a big part of Lifeguards’ post-punk Ripped and Torn, as well.Never mind. The youth of Chicago have a lot in the tank. There’s not a bad song on the disc, and there are 21 of them in all. Impressive.

    Read More
  • Close
    Talk Talk

    Talk Talk :: Spirit of Eden

    Some records feel impossible to write about. Not because they lack substance, but because they possess too much of it: too much quiet, too much space, too much mystery. They resist language the way water resists a net.

    Read More
  • Close
    Big Bend

    Big Bend :: Last Circle In A Slowdown

    The third album from pianist/singer Nathan Phillips’ Big Bend project blends experimental methods with time-tested tradition. Working with avant-jazz master Shahzad Ismaily and a varied ensemble including Jen Powers of Rolin/Powers Duo and violinist Zosha Warpeha, Phillips transforms delicate folk songs into strange collages and elliptical ballads.

    Read More
  • Close
    Sessa

    Sessa :: Pequena Vertigem de Amor

    Like many notable Brazilian musicians before him, Sessa straddles continents and cultures, having launched his career in the U.S., but calling São Paulo home (again). We recently up with Sessa to discuss the way Pequena Vertigem de Amor sounds different from his previous albums, from the instrumentation to the vocals and may be his best album yet.

    Read More
  • Close
    Jon Hassell / Brian Eno

    Jon Hassell / Brian Eno :: Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics

    The music winds sinuously, like a river in deep, humid tropics. In six tracks which blend seamlessly into one musical entity, this pivotal collaboration from Brian Eno and Jon Hassell explores a mystical, minimalist music, tinted by Southern Hemisphere sounds but also incorporating 20th century electronics. The cuts move slowly but insistently, a sensuous wiggle in their syncopation.

    Read More

Flea :: A Plea

“I’m not being corny/this shit’s for real,” Flea intones over a bubbling jazz fusion groove on “A Plea,” a new solo single which finds the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist returning to his first instrument: the trumpet. Backed by a cadre of the West Coast’s most innovative and hip jazz players, this a musical rebirth for the Funky Monk.

Wednesday Knudsen :: Atrium

An immersive double LP of woodsy ambient from upstate New York. You may recognize Wednesday Knudsen’s name from her various collaborative projects — Pigeons, Stella Kola, Weeping Bong Band, a killer duo LP with Willy Lane, and probably many more. But Atrium is a true solo project, with Knudsen layering sax, synth, guitar, flute and autoharp to create a rich and spacious landscape worthy of such masters as Joanna Brouk, Laraaji and Iasos, alongside the Japanese environmental music tradition.

Totem Pocket :: Chump

The latest offering from Denver’s Totem Pocket begins with its wooziest, weirdest song, a bad trip translated into thick, sludgy sound. Stick with it though! You’ll be rewarded with a truly awesome slab of fuzzy and fierce dream pop. One crucial ingredient in the band’s very tasty recipe is pure volume — an element that many worshipers at the altar of shoegaze somehow forget about.

Bandcamping :: Winter 2025

Hark, the snow is falling! At least in some places of the world it is. As winter descends, we’ve got some recent/recommended records to soundtrack the chillier months. Fill up your cart for the latest Bandcamp Friday on Dec. 5.

Videodrome :: Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) is an affecting meditation on the theatrical experience, exploring the nuances of film exhibition and the paradoxical loneliness of experiencing cinema in a darkened room amongst strangers — all together, yet still alone. It’s a bittersweet love letter to the vagabond souls who seek solace in theaters, who relish in the ceremonial comforts of getting popcorn, settling into their seats, and waiting for the house lights to dim. This is a movie that not only loves movies, but also postulates that such love comes from going to see a movie in a theater, the experiential factor as significant on one’s own thoughts, feelings, or understanding of a film as the film itself.

The Quiet Revolution: Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock

Some records feel impossible to write about. Not because they lack substance, but because they possess too much of it: too much quiet, too much space, too much mystery. They resist language the way water resists a net. Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden (1988) and Laughing Stock (1991) feel like works designed to escape description altogether. And perhaps the paradox is this: the quieter the music becomes, the more words people spend trying to grasp it. Silence invites interpretation; these albums invite entire libraries. Approaching them feels like stepping barefoot into a dark, vast hall – your perception sharpened, your breath suddenly audible.

Zachary Cale :: Love’s Work

A year ago, Brooklyn songwriter Zachary Cale took a break from routine and made an album entirely on piano. Now Cale is back to his primary instrument, the guitar, in a new collection of songs that bridge the difference between Glenn Jones-style finger-picking and expansive, nearly new age-y instrumental music a la Yasmin Williams.

Transmissions :: Steve Von Till

Welcome back to Transmissions. This week: Steve Von Till, of sludge legends Neurosis, the tribal ambient spin-off Tribes of Neurot, solo albums under this own name, and the psych folk project Harvestman. He runs the independent label, Neurot Recordings. And as if all that isn’t enough, he’s also a poet, and an educator—when he’s not playing music, he’s bringing knowledge to the next generation, working as a fourth grade teacher in North Idaho.

Snocaps :: S/T

There’s a real pleasure in hearing genetically linked voices singing together, as the individual ticks and characteristics meld in a single, dizzying tone, and especially these two with their burred Americana grace. Add to that the multifarious contributions of MJ Lenderman, playing drums, bass, electric guitar and 12-string, and Megafaun’s Brad Cook (bass, drums, recording and engineering), and you get an extraordinary debut record, wry and self-lacerating in parts and kick-down-the-amps rowdy in others.

Wouter Dewit :: Still

Via Hasselt, Belgium. These fleeting weeks between Halloween and Christmas, when the polyester cobwebs on the front porch are swapped out for tinsel garland, have no time to stake out their own identity. They’re forever lost in transit from one holiday to the next. But during these ephemeral days between “The Monster Mash” and “Silver Bells,” an album like Wouter Dewit’s Still (2017) finds its place, mirroring the shift in seasons —and in ourselves—with bittersweet introspection.

Dollar Diamonds :: Volume Three

There’s a lot of great records out there that can still be had for very little money. You just have to crouch down and give them a chance. How is it possible that these 2-sided slices of the human spirit can exist among us, in some cases, for over 50 years and still only be $1?

Welcome to Dollar Diamonds, Volume 3. This month: Jesse Winchester, Eric Andersen, Neil Diamond, Doug Kershaw, Graham Parker, Tom T. Hall, and Robert Palmer…

Paul McCartney & Wings :: Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)

With a new oral history providing fascinating context on the self-proclaimed “madcap” formation and career of Wings (a good chunk of which comes from Paul McCartney himself), spacey instrumental “Loup (1st Indian On The Moon)” has proven worthy of a closer listen. The deep cut oddity from 1973’s oft-maligned Red Rose Speedway is an experimental studio piece featuring Minimoog synthesizer and plays out like a mini-prog opus, a little reminiscent of a Pink Floyd soundtrack cut. “Hard to explain”, in the musician’s own assessment.