The Red Krayola - Red Gold EP There was something electric swirling through the Gulf of Mexico in the ’60s and ’70s that bred a twisted psychedelia with some serious stamina; it burrowed in the sticky corners of Houston, Texas and bled inland. Three and four decades after their emergence, Jandek is touring, Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators) is out of the mental hospital, and The Red Krayola have carte blanche on Chicago’s incomparable Drag City. Read more

Viva Voce - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out Reminiscent of Blur’s 13, Viva Voce open their third LP, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out, with a subtle groove, exploding first with a resonant bass drum, only to add a semi-audible chant layered upon the slow emergence of a swirling psychedelic guitar riff. Infectious to say the least, it has you hooked after a mere three minutes, nine seconds. Read more

William Elliott Whitmore - Song of the Blackbird With the name of a poet and the voice of a mountain, William Elliott Whitmore seemed to be bred for folk music. Growing up on a horse farm on the banks of the Mississippi River, it would seem as though the life of this man has culminated itself into a collection of stories that are told over simple banjo or guitar pickings that harkens back to the days of American folk music being played on front porches all across the South. Read more

Wooden Wand and the Sky High Band - Second Attention Few bands excel at toeing the line of an obscure cult institution as well the many incarnations of Wooden Wand. With dozens of unofficial self-released records and a handful of beautifully packaged vinyl, CD, and cassette releases under their belt, this lo-fi folk outfit has found a niche for themselves in a scene that seems to be similar to the underground trading of hand-made packaged noise recordings. Read more

Young Widows - Settle Down City From the ashes of the now-defunct Breather Resist comes Young Widows, and with them, a decidedly less hardcore sound. Though the album was originally intended to be the next Breather Resist release (minus singer Steve Sindoni), the three remaining members felt that the entirely different sound of Settle Down City warranted an entirely different name. Read more



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