Amoeba Music

Amazing middle eastern instrumental electric guitar music from the 90s and 2000 recorded by Azerbaijani guitar hero Rehman Memmedli. Master class musicianship is on display with this compilation helmed by Les Disques Bongo Joe, which is also ripe with non-western scales, distortion, and Casio backing tracks. Turn on and party. Read more

These guys really took the “guitar music is dead” argument personally, using the bygone instrument to channel electronic and minimalist music and create an album that makes a strong argument for its creative potential. Driving, repetitive songs pulse through Norther in a way that is simultaneously tight and synthetic but also naturalistic and so clearly coming from a mindset of group composition. It becomes unclear what’s a sample or being played live. All I know is that I can’t stop listening! Read more

Armed with a 4 track and a newfound level of anything goes, brothers David and Hamish Kilgour ditched the hype of their Dunedin, NZ group The Clean and started The Great Unwashed (get it?). They had already staked out the closest claim to inventing indie rock since the Velvet Underground, and this lo-fi, creative left turn cemented the trope of talented independent bands refusing to accept success. I will advocate for anything anyone in The Clean has done, and this reissued collection of freak folk and 60s rock inspired songs is no exception. Read more

The first solo album from Nate Amos of the group Water From Your Eyes, this record is varied in genre, production style, songwriting and musical feel. The singles off of it included four gripping tracks: “Perfect Hand” (a song about a ball fitting perfectly in your hand), “I’m All Fucked Up” (about drug-fueled escapades from his youth before he quit smoking weed for good), “Dancing in the Club” (a synthy, auto-tuned love ballad), and “Where’s Your Love now” (depressing lyrics over an incredibly catchy melody. The remaining tracks are far from being album filler, though. This album feels unique, even in the over-saturated field of twangy indie pop. Read more

When the track “Nausicäa (Love Will Be Revealed)” came on while I was driving, I had to pull over the car to see what song was playing. Winter has a deeply unique voice, which might sound familiar to fans of the band he fronts, Geese. This album is worth a listen for its fascinating lyric experimentation alone, but the instrumentation is also clever and compelling. Read more

Folk legend Tucker Zimmerman just put out a new album of mystical, warm-feeling tracks co-written by the immensely popular indie folk group Big Thief, and recorded in a small cabin in New England. Harmonies between 83-year-old Zimmerman’s voice and Big Thief vocalist Adrienne Lenker are gentle and stunning, a perfect mix between Lenker’s idiosyncratic higher pitch and Zimmerman’s gravelly timber. With features and musical assistance from country-folk artist Twain (Mt. “Mat” Davidson) and Iji (Zach Burba) If nothing else, give the track “Burial at Sea” a listen, and try not to be charmed by the tale of a mermaid, vikings and a message in a bottle. Read more

The second album in two years from this Texas-based band, each song still feels unique and carefully constructed. Coming in at just 40 minutes, each song is snappy and tightly produced, unsurprising considering this album shared a producer with St. Vincent and Mannequin Pussy. Their 90s rock influence is evident, the songs are part slacker-rock and part surf-feeling indie. This feels like the perfect record to have on driving with the windows down, or skating with your friends on a sunny day. Read more