Those that recognize the name of cellist Alison Chesley — the woman behind the designation Helen Money — may do so because she was a founding member of Sony Records power poppers Verbow. And though she remains busy as a collaborator and studio musician, Chesley has used the name to debut solo material that is rooted in much of her rock past. (more…)

Verso Books will soon release a compilation of artwork by artist Stanley Donwood and singer Thom Yorke (aka Dr. Tchock), most famous for collaborating on the cover art to all of Radiohead’s albums since The Bends. (more…)

History of DJ Krush, a three-disc retrospective on the career of said artist, packages together two documentaries and a disc of videos spanning fifteen years of the ambient/trip-hop turntablist’s career. (more…)

Can it really be six years since the last proper Les Savy Fav LP? They’ve kept us so satiated with the brilliant singles that eventually became Inches and their spasms of ferocious touring, we hardly noticed. Let’s Stay Friends was worth the wait, and the art-punk quartet has created perhaps their most mature music to date. (more…)

Paul Motian, born in 1931, has been a professional jazz drummer for over fifty years. Beginning his career with a stint in the Bill Evans Trio from ‘59-’64, Motian has played with a veritable who’s who of jazz, including Thelonious Monk, Charlie Haden, Don Cherry, Paul Bley, and Keith Jarrett. (more…)

Brooklyn’s Akron/Family have been releasing albums steadily and frequently since their debut in 2005, with their last full-length being the diverse, polarized art rock album Meek Warrior. On that release, they partially abandoned their tribal folk rock sound for a head-spinning trip through Krautrock, psych rock, and pure noise over the course of only seven tracks. (more…)

Chicago’s Mannequin Men have been spitting out snarling rock ‘n’ roll since 2003. The guitar-driven quartet has followed-up its self-released debut album, Showbiz Witch, with a more focused release. (more…)

Halfway through writing his new record, Matthew Houck, the mastermind behind the indie folk project Phosphorescent, left his hometown of Athens, Georgia to see what New York had to offer. As it turns out, the move offered the musician isolation, and Pride, out October 23 on Dead Oceans, is the first Phosphorescent album with Houck on every instrument. (more…)

For the last few years, pop experimentalists Animal Collective have straddled the line between the cerebral and the base. At a mostly successful performance at Chicago’s Vic Theatre earlier this week, Animal Collective veered towards the former. (more…)

Joe Henry has collaborated with or produced some of the most significant songwriters of our time (Louden Wainwright III, Elvis Costello, Aimee Mann, and Ani DiFranco). His own profound songwriting skills are splayed out across the tracks of Civilians, which get some assistance from guitarist Bill Frisell, organist Patrick Warren, and drummer Jay Bellerose. (more…)