THIN LEAR A SHADOW WALTZED ITSELF METROPOLITAN GROOVE MERCHANTS New Jersey’s Matt Longo lies behind the moniker Thin Lear and his debut album Wooden Cave from 2020 grew some strong praise, yet it took him about four years to come up with [...]
SEASONAL FALLS IMPROVISED SINKING INDEPENDENT Those following Spill Magazine might already be familiar with the Swiss duo of songwriter Roman Gabriel and vocalist Andrew Pelletier that operates as Seasonal Falls, as their album Happy Days (2024) [...]
WILL STRATTON POINTS OF ORIGIN RUINATION RECORDS/BELLA UNION Will Stratton has quite a bit of an album output – eight albums so far, but he can be counted among those artists that don’t just rush to release their music but takes his [...]
TOBACCO CITY HORSES SCISSOR TAIL RECORDS The term cosmic country has been flying around since the time it was coined by late Gram Parsons. And while quite a few artists have been given that label, not that many truly deserved to hold it when [...]
DOMESTIC DRAFTS ONLY THE SINGER GLAMOUR GOWNS Andy Cush’s name is probably familiar for those listeners following Garcia Peoples, as he is the band’s bassist, co-composer, and vocalist. He also runs a Substack page with a hefty [...]
THE CHILLS SPRING BOARD: THE EARLY UNRECORDED SONGS FIRE RECORDS Has the late Martin Phillipps been given enough credit for his role in bringing something new and fresh to modern rock music with his band The Chills? The debate on that one has [...]
PUMA BLUE ANTICHAMBER BLUE FLOWERS Hard times can make one either angry or melancholic, and sentimental, and that surely reflects on the music created in such times. Jacob Allen, aka Puma Blue, Londoner who has moved to Atlanta, GA, has a few [...]
NICOLE HALE SOME KIND OF LONGING INDEPENDENT Nicole Hale has been releasing music since 2009 (four albums so far), but for some reason, seems to be one of those artists that is still (undeservedly) been flying under the radar. Maybe it has [...]
FROG 1000 VARIATIONS ON THE SAME SONG AUDIO ANTIHERO New York’s Frog is one of those musical propositions that through their not so short and winding career never stood still or bothered where the critics or audience will place and label [...]
SARA BUG INTO THE BLUE INDEPENDENT Back in 2021, when Sara Bug came up with her self-titled album, as somebody who is working within a Nashville music scene, she didn’t bother to care much about what Nashville music norms and formulas she [...]
CHRISTIAN WINTHER SCULPTURES FROM UNDER THE CITY ICE EARTHLY HABIT There just might be some strange brews they drink over in Norway, as more often than not that you would hear some intriguing sounds coming from those fjords over there, at the [...]
THE BIRD CALLS MELODY TRAIL RUINATION RECORDS As we mentioned in our review of The Bird Call’s previous offering, Old Faithful, Sam Sodomsky, who operates under this moniker, is a man of solitude, somebody who wants to be calm, cool, and [...]
SAM MOSS SWIMMING INDEPENDENT With what you could call ‘standard’ singer/songwriters there is very little middle ground. They could either convey their music and lyrics to listeners or they can’t. It is often a minimalistic [...]
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART PERFECT RIGHT NOW: A SLUMBERLAND COLLECTION 2008-2010 SLUMBERLAND RECORDS Some 15 to 16 years ago (2009 to be precise), we got to hear a band with a very long name making some very substantial music. They went [...]
MOGWAI THE BAD FIRE TEMPORARY RESIDENCE LTD After 30 years on the music scene, you can’t really call Scottish giants Mogwai really productive, as they have come up with only 11 albums, including this new one titled The Bad Fire. And while [...]
LARKIN POE BLOOM TRICKI-WOO RECORDS There was always a dilemma for the Lovell sisters – how to stay in touch with their love of blues roots and move forward with their music, without leaving blues out at any point. Or was there any dilemma [...]
MAGANA BAD NEWS AUDIO ANTIHERO RECORDS For some artists it can be a problem living a double life—playing with other artists and doing your own music. LA-based multi-instrumentalist and photographer Jeni Magaña, who is also a bassist for Mitski [...]
TOKYO TEA ROOM NO RUSH INDEPENDENT Is there a perfect match between an album title and the music it depicts within the grooves (or bites, if you will) these days? If you have a hard time finding such a combination, then look no further that the [...]
PRISM SHORES OUT FROM UNDERNEATH MERITORIO RECORDS If you would want to characterize the state of interesting indie pop/rock at the start of 2025, you probably wouldn’t have to go further than Montreal’s Prism Shores and their new [...]
BLUE LAKE WEFT TOTAL UNION With modern instrumental music that relies on more subtle, gentler sounds there was always a line (a very thin one at that) between being excellent and aural wallpaper. Even the most careful and knowledgeable artists [...]
FLORA HIBBERD SWIRL 22TWENTY RECORDS New singer-songwriters seem to crop up in a single day, and the competition (if it really exists) for the attention of an audience is even stiffer. Some of these artists can show what they are made of on a [...]
GEOWULF THE CHILD NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP Australia’s Geowulf is an intriguing dream pop project driven by the songwriting and singing of one Star Kendrick with the help of her longtime friend and collaborator, Toma Banjanin. With a series of [...]
AVI C. ENGEL NOCTURNE (SOUNDTRACK FOR AN INVISIBLE FILM) ELEPHANT SHREW EDITIONS Toronto’s Avi C. Engel is on a serious release streak. They already have a serious set of singles, EPs and albums under their belt, and after the Bestiary EP [...]
LEON RAUM BASEMENT MEDITATION SONAR KOLLEKTIV It might be that Basement Meditation is Leon Raum’s official debut EP, but this prolific German producer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist has been around for a while and has worked with several [...]
