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Noise, Nails, and Neubauten: A Love Letter to Sonic Collapse

Let’s talk about the sound of scaffolding kissing the ground at high speed. The groan of steel as it remembers it used to be something else. The whisper of wire under tension. Yes, friend, I’m talking about Einstürzende Neubauten—Germany’s most elegantly destructive export since Nietzsche’s mustache. In a world where bands cling to guitars like emotional support animals, Neubauten looked around and said, “Screw that—hand me the jackhammer.” Formed in […]

May 21, 2025 9 2

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Avant-Garde Jazz

Ava Mendoza: Redefining the Boundaries of Guitar and Sound

In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary music, few artists have demonstrated the fearless innovation and versatility of Ava Mendoza. Born in 1983 in Miami, Florida, and now based in Brooklyn, Mendoza has carved a unique niche as a guitarist, composer, and bandleader, seamlessly blending genres and pushing the boundaries of sonic expression. A Journey Through Sound Mendoza's musical journey began with classical training, but her insatiable curiosity led her to […]

May 19, 2025 18 2

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General

NOFX: Punk’s Irreverent Jesters and Accidental Revolutionaries

In the pantheon of punk rock, few bands have managed to maintain both relevance and irreverence quite like NOFX. For over four decades, this quartet of musical misfits has carved out a unique space where technical proficiency meets juvenile humor, political commentary meshes with self-deprecation, and DIY ethics coexist with commercial success. Founded in 1983 in Los Angeles by vocalist/bassist Fat Mike (Mike Burkett), guitarist Eric Melvin, and drummer Erik […]

May 15, 2025 8 2

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Avant-Garde Jazz

The Sonic Alchemy of Patricia Brennan

If Salvador Dalí played jazz, he might’ve sounded a bit like Patricia Brennan. In the wobbly, woozy dreamscape of modern improvised music, Patricia Brennan is less a player and more a conjurer—bending metal bars and wooden blocks into whispers, howls, and glimmering labyrinths of sound. Her weapon of choice? The vibraphone—a percussive instrument often thought of as jazz’s background shimmer. But in Brennan’s hands, it becomes a sentient creature, spitting […]

May 13, 2025 10 2

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Avant-Garde Jazz

Flying Lotus Is Probably an Interdimensional Jazz Wizard

Let’s get this out of the way: Flying Lotus is not from here. “Here” being Earth. Or the solar system. Or possibly even linear time. I mean, just listen to Los Angeles. It’s like someone spliced the DNA of J Dilla, Aphex Twin, Sun Ra, and that weird dream you had where a toaster was DJing in a velvet-walled spaceship. The result? A genre-melting, neuron-frying sound casserole that makes you […]

May 12, 2025 11 2

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Ambient

Listening to Jon Hassell in a Disjointed Age

Some music slides into your life politely. Other sounds arrive like mysterious artifacts—half-remembered dreams, or transmissions from a place you’ve never been but somehow recognize. Jon Hassell’s work belongs squarely in the latter camp: uncanny, enveloping, and oddly intimate, like the voice of a friend whispering in a language you don’t know. Hassell wasn’t just a trumpeter, or even merely a composer. He was a cartographer of phantom geographies. His […]

May 10, 2025 10 2

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Ambient

Edgar Froese: The Sonic Visionary Who Dreamed in Tangerine

When speaking of trailblazers in electronic music, the name Edgar Froese rings with a resonant, otherworldly clarity. As the founder of Tangerine Dream, Froese didn't just contribute to the genre—he helped invent a new language of sound. His work pushed the boundaries of what music could be, treating synthesizers not just as instruments, but as vessels for cosmic storytelling. Born in 1944 in Tilsit, East Prussia, Froese studied painting and […]

May 9, 2025 7 2

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Jazz

Cool, Crooked, and Full of Ghosts: Chet Baker Still Haunts Us

Let’s get this out of the way first:Giovanni doesn’t like Chet Baker. He says Chet’s trumpet playing sounds like it’s apologizing for existing, and that his singing is “what a ghost would croon after breaking up with another ghost.” And you know what? He’s not wrong—but that’s exactly why we love him. Beautiful Wreckage in a Tuxedo Chet Baker wasn’t just a jazz musician—he was the human version of a […]

May 8, 2025 57 2 2

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General

Cosmic Feedback Loops and Inner Astronauts: A Love Letter to Ash Ra Tempel

There are bands you put on while doing the dishes.There are bands you put on while driving at night.And then there’s Ash Ra Tempel—the band you put on when you want your soul to detach from your body, cruise past Saturn, and politely ignore time as a concept. Founded in 1970 by guitarist Manuel Göttsching, drummer Klaus Schulze, and bassist Hartmut Enke, Ash Ra Tempel was Germany’s answer to the […]

May 8, 2025 16 2 2

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Avant-Garde Jazz

The Curious Case of Ethan Iverson: Jazz’s Bookish Trickster

Let’s talk about Ethan Iverson—a pianist who looks like he might shush you in a library but actually wants to blow your mind with a Monk tune, a snarky tweet, and a five-paragraph essay on Stravinsky’s posture. He’s not your average jazz cat. He’s not even your average jazz dog, if that’s a thing. Iverson is the kind of guy who can play like a bebop demon, write like a […]

May 7, 2025 14 2