reviews of contemporary underground psych, drone, sound art, and electronic/experimental music from the fringes
Nein Rodere, “Form & Feeling” (Horn of Plenty, 2023)
This wonderfully unique and unsettling album is the work of Berlin-based artist David Roeder, who apparently has a background in both painting and psychodynamic art therapy. The latter adds quite […]
the fun years, “baby, it’s cold inside” (Barge (2008)/Keplar (2025))
Newly remastered and reissued, this drolly titled 2008 album is generally regarded to be the jewel of the fun years’ discography, so it is quite a pleasant surprise to have […]
Cyrus Pireh, “Thank You, Guitar” (Palilalia, 2025)
I had not encountered this Detroit-based guitar visionary’s work before this debut for Bill Orcutt’s Palilalia label, but it seems like Pireh was already blowing minds with his previous album […]
Death and Vanilla, “Whistle And I’ll Come To You” (Fire, 2025)
This is Death and Vanilla’s third re-imagined soundtrack to date (the others being Vampyr & The Tenant), but it seems like a much higher profile release than the previous two […]
Biosphere, “The Way of Time” (AD93, 2025)
This latest album from Geir Jenssen’s long-running ambient/techno project admittedly blindsided me a bit, as I had not been keeping up with his recent releases on his own Biophon label. […]
Cucina Povera, “Hilja” (Night School, 2018)
This was the debut album from Glasgow-based voice artist Maria Rossi, who originally hails from Finland. The project’s name translates as “poor kitchen” and is a reference to an Italian […]
Jake Muir, “Campana Sonans” (enmossed, 2025)
Colorfully described as “a synapse-popping electro-acoustic soundwalk around Western Europe’s cathedrals,” Campana Sonans is a pair of deeply immersive and hallucinatory sound collages inspired by the daily sounds of church […]
Pye Corner Audio, “Lake Deep Memory” (Quiet Details, 2025)
This latest album from shapeshifting synth conjurer Martin Jenkins is his first for Quiet Details and captures him in one of his more “immersive soundscape” moods. Notably, I have historically […]