Woodwind maestro Ned Rothenberg discusses his first solo album in over a decade, 'Looms & Legends,' which alternates between pieces that create sonic fabrics through extended techniques and those that tell linear stories through melodic narrative. Ned Rothenberg and the Indigenous Sound of Nowhere:

"Before last month, I would’ve been hard-pressed to tell you about a single Chicago concert I’d seen with an aquarium in the venue. But then I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in Uptown to see Cincinnati rappers Pink Siifu and Turich Benjy wrap up their summer headlining tour …"

"Mexico City’s underground is in full bloom, with a supportive network of home-grown talent, intimate venues, and an expanding queer scene contributing to a landscape that celebrates collaboration and individuality. As clubs, parties, collectives, and artists continue to emerge, Anna Wall dives in…"

RIP James ‘Blood’ Ulmer - “Jazz is the Teacher (Funk Is the Preacher)” blew my mind when I heard it on C81, the NME / Rough Trade cassette compilation. Scorching guitarist + I like his Jimi-ish vocals too. Still don’t really know what “harmolodics” is though youtu.be/L_2gFCZ3Kb8

Johnathon Ford discusses his band's latest release, 'High Remembrance,' the one-album-a-year discipline that has defined Unwed Sailor's second act, and why the bass guitar is the closest thing he has to a singing voice. Memory, Melody, and the Post-Rock Vision of Unwed Sailor:

"Fearlessness was fundamental in Ulmer's music, which came firmly rooted in the blues but could often sound heat-warped, hallucinatory, and feral." James Blood Ulmer, avant-garde electric guitarist and singer, has died at 86: www.npr.org/2026/06/08/n...

"I wasn't thinking that in the jazz lineage, there are a dozen great clarinet players that you can look at as examples on their instrument. I was just thinking, Wow, I really love this instrument." Virginia MacDonald — In Search Of A New Clarinet Renaissance:

“I think that once I accepted the fact that I might not live, the walls sort of came down. I mean, I’ve never really made regular music anyway, but I feel I’ve found a home in my head now, in a way.” Ibrahim Alfa Jr, British techno’s great survivor:

"From the metropolitan cityscape of South London to the caves and coastlines of Cornwall, Laura Misch is channeling her environment into adventurously experimental music with saxophone, electronics, and field recordings as her tools." Laura Misch on turning the natural world into music:

"What Steve learned and then applied about music is that although it could be enjoyed without any context, for any understanding to be achieved, context was required, certainly for a genre like reggae, as much as the more seriously studied jazz …" Steve Barrow (29 September 1945–30 May 2026):

"Perhaps no moment from the Vietnam War has stirred the emotions of songwriters more than the My Lai Massacre … Brummer’s research has tracked almost 100 songs that specifically reference the incident." Terry Nelson and C Company’s Military March to the My Lai Massacre:

Farewell James Blood Ulmer.

Drawing on Nordic folk lineage and the acoustic personality of grand marble rooms, Zosha Warpeha's 'I grow accustomed to the dark' is less an album about darkness than a slow revelation of what lives inside it. The Tonearm's Meredith Hobbs Coons shines a light. Zosha Warpeha's Resonant Rooms:

"The channel wasn’t actually new. It was VH1. And it had been around for close to a decade. But something was different. It was cool. It was innovative. It was, for a time, sophisticated." An Oral History of VH1’s Golden Years:

Peep yesterday's edition of our weekly email newsletter, Talk Of The Tonearm — artist discoveries and recommendations galore, and a newsletter-only interview with Mike Baggetta of mssv, the amazing band he formed with Mike Watt and Stephen Hodges. And while you're there, be sure to subscribe ✨ :

Waiting eagerly for the one with Bruce Haacke and Esther Nelson where they listen to electronic music, do interpretive dance and then Mr. Rogers goes off and just chills with a cat for a while. Hard to find clips where someone hasn't replaced the actual music with some dubsteppy thing.

"Queercore books and films to date have omitted London, one of the most vibrant queer punk scenes … 'They’ve focused on North American city scenes but missed out on its international nature.'" Queercore in Britain:

"[Bassist Ron Carter has] recontextualized the double bass’s role in jazz music, positioning it as a key driver of the music, rather than a supplemental accompaniment. And Carter never stopped to look back; to this day, he’s constantly searching for new means to evolve the craft."

Dutch composer Stephen Emmer joins Lawrence Peryer for a fascinating conversation that spans four decades of Emmer's career — from early work for Dutch broadcasters to his recent introspective trilogy of albums. The latest in that trilogy is the sublime and multi-layered album 'Asymmetrical Dot' …

This album slaps.

"[Ayra Starr's band delivers] Afro-fusion grooves, dreamy soundscapes, and high-energy rhythms in a collection of songs, highlighting the versatility that has made her one of the most exciting young voices in global pop." Ayra Starr — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2026/06/08/g...

Danz CM's album 'LÄRM!' abandons pop structures for tape-saturated jams inspired by the kosmische music of '70s Germany, while her Synth History project documents the pioneers and gear that made electronic music possible. Cosmic Historian — The Analog Imperative of Danz CM:

On his sophomore album 'Silêncio,' the São Paulo producer Zé Nigro decodes nature's symphonies through vintage gear + collaborates with Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai, creating a psychedelic meditation on what happens when we finally stop to listen. Enjoy the Silence—The Natural World of Zé Nigro:

"In the 1960s, John Coltrane led a musical movement that saw artists striking out beyond jazz’s constraints and striving toward spiritual transcendence amidst great cultural change. Andy Beta offers a playlist of highlights from the era." Astral Traveling — The Ecstasy of Spiritual Jazz:

this week's Talk Of The Tonearm newsletter is now blazing across the sky in a fiery glory, about to land + fragrantly smolder in your email inbox featuring all the artist discoveries + shocking recommendations you've come to expect, as well as a newsletter exclusive spiel from mssv's Mike Baggetta

Some words of mine on the joys of Metal Machine Music over at @thetonearm.com

In conversation about her solo album 'Fallows,' Caroline Davis reflects on the ancestral figures who accompanied her during the residency, the saxophone techniques she invented in solitude, and an advocacy practice devoted to carceral justice and gender equity in jazz. Ghost Notes from Wyoming:

"As creative couplings go, it wasn’t the most obvious alliance: a folk-based singer-songwriter from laidback Laurel Canyon and a mercurial bassist style rooted in jazz fusion and funk. But Mitchell and Pastorius created a unique shared language."

" I have been worried that the brothers’ new effort has not received the amount of attention it deserves. So to boost its profile a bit, here is a little something I prepared earlier (actually for their label, local indie imprint Warp Records)." Simon Reynolds on Boards of Canada's 'Inferno':

Damn, this is everyone from Sgt Pepper cover still alive

HBD Alan Pearlman, NASA sound engineer, inventor and founder of ARP Instruments, Inc, one of the early leading American synthesizer manufacturers.

"I was kind of scared that being sober would take away from all of this stuff, and that's just not true at all. If anything, I have more time on my hands to actually focus on being a better musician, honing my craft …" Don't miss Damien Joyce's interview with zzzahara in The Tonaerm:

Dutch composer Stephen Emmer joins Lawrence Peryer for a fascinating conversation that spans four decades of Emmer's career — from early work for Dutch broadcasters to his recent introspective trilogy of albums. The latest in that trilogy is the sublime and multi-layered album 'Asymmetrical Dot' …

"Goldman points to the album from Norway’s Satanic Panic Attack, 'Handgemeng', in which the five band members have stripped naked to mournfully cuddle up on a rug. 'They just look comical,' said Goldman, laughing." Hilarious or a nightmare? Exhibition displays the worst album covers ever:

"Actually, it’s not 'Who is gay?' It’s 'What is the gayness of the music that gay people are listening to?' Some interviewers are fascinated with the idea that something can be gay music and not be made by a gay artist." Interview — Barry Walters (Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969-2000):

Two greats of the german electronics scene Esp. Conrad!

Berlin-based composer + sound engineer Bridget Ferrill's album 'Domschatzkammer' refracts instruments through each other, slows a Bach chorale beyond recognition, and transforms the harp into an emotional outlet bent by catastrophe. The Flesh of Sound — Bridget Ferrill Finds Beauty in the Tension:

"Rather than intensity all the time, there's so much opportunity to utilize the extremities." Guitarist Dave Brown and percussionist Adam Gołębiewski reveal how their obsession with minimal sources + maximum sound led to 'Dog's Light,' an album erasing the lines between composition + improvisation:

"Renewed interest in the work of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane has brought the jazz harp back into the spotlight, with contemporary artists like Brandee Younger and Alina Bzhezhinska paying tribute to their work while developing their own sound."

Drawing on Adorno, Satie, and a German headphone company's unusual take on ear-cup geometry, The Tonearm's Kallie Marie argues that the rituals we build around listening are a form of cultural self-determination. The Act of Reverent Listening:

"Though Shipp quickly found his own musical voice, developing, refining, and sharpening the language to ensure that voice is heard has been his life’s task. 'I’m in awe of language, and I stand before it, asking its secrets,' he says." Three Decades In, Matthew Shipp is Still Asking Questions:

Low key one of the most important Miles albums in existence because of Sam Rivers, all about catching the flame of transition before it blows another way

"What my ear was always telling me is that Glass and Reich are doing this thing, and Riley is sort of on the edge of it, and La Monte Young is not doing this thing at all. The experience of their music is so radically different." Don't miss our interview with author George Grella in The Tonearm:

"Hear work with the wind as its inspiration in music by Brooklyn-based composer Christopher Cerrone, sound designer Ryan Rumery, and vocalist, composer, and choreographer Meredith Monk …" Songs of the Wind:

"If few periods in British pop history have been more regularly mythologised than punk, the details of the musical world it entered into have mostly been forgotten. But what was that world really like? What did punk actually spring out of?" The bands who got left behind when punk exploded:

"Peter Watts talks to tour insiders and hears tall tales involving doppelgangers, Beat poets, and mysterious shamen. 'It was extraordinary,' recalls Joan Baez. 'You just wanted to be there.'" All aboard Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue:

“Vinyl is not like a single-use plastic; we don’t throw it away after one listen. We treasure it, we pass it on through generations, and people have a real connection with it. But like any other product, there are ways of making it more sustainable.”

"The 4 June edition of The Wire’s weekly radio show on Resonance FM and Resonance Extra featured music by Iztok Koren & Raphael Rogiński, Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins, Mamer and more …" Chris Bohn presents Adventures In Sound And Music:

One of my favorite musicians who transcended genre and proved pedal steel went beyond country music.