The Black Angels Testify with Mesmerizing Psychedelia
The West Coast tour finds the Black Angels on a path to return home to Austin to headline this year’s Levitation on Halloween, which makes it feel like a treat.
neo-psychedelia
Elephant9 and Terje Rypdal Blaze on ‘Catching Fire’
Elephant9’s new LP is a showpiece for what can happen when masterful instrumentalists follow the muse, fueled by an audience that locks into every twist.
Spirit of the Beehive Balance Experimentation and Songcraft
Spirit of the Beehive offer their most rangy yet integrated album, each track striking a notable balance between sonic exploration and hook-leaning songcraft.
Tame Impala: The Champion of Introverts
Despite society’s antagonism toward introverts, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker steadfastly offers himself as a vulnerable, somewhat blushing symbol of the gifted loner.
Dua Lipa Sets a Major Breakthrough for Indie and Pop Music
With the help of Kevin Parker and Danny L. Harle, Dua Lipa’s new album Radical Optimism sounds like Tame Impala meets PC Music and goes to headline Glastonbury.
The String Cheese Incident Ring in 2024 in Oakland
It’s an Aquatic Soiree celebrating String Cheese Incident’s 30th anniversary, with each set representing a succeeding decade in their illustrious career.
The Fragmented Quality of Boards of Canada’s ‘Music Has the Right to Children’
Boards of Canada’s Music Has the Right to Children is murky, burned, and melted. It sounds like 1980s synth, disco, new age, and new wave heard through a wall.
Vanishing Twin Balance Grooves, Ambience, and Psychedelia
Vanishing Twin’s Afternoon X is a worthwhile musical journey through a wealth of different ambient, psychedelic, and groove-based sounds.
Grails Balance Their Scales: The Reckoning of ‘Anches En Maat’
Portland’s experimental post-rock kingpins Grails mark two decades since their debut with a new full-length retrospective LP and chat with PopMatters.
Weval Quantum Leap Down Memory Lane in the Cerebral Dance of ‘Remember’
Weval pore beats and static all over the melodies on their dense textural new album, Remember, which only highlights how melodic it really is.
The Church’s ‘The Hypnogogue’ Is Stunning
Whether calming you with lush songs like “Aerodrome” and “The Coming Days” or tickling the edges of your mind with “Thorn”, the Church’s The Hypnogogue is stunning.
Guy Chadwick Ponders the Past, Present, and Future of The House of Love
With a new album, tour, and eight-CD retrospective of his ’90s work, the House of Love’s Guy Chadwick seems remarkably laid back about it all.