Sound & Gravity was as advertised: a mini-Big Ears. Words on and photos of Sam Prekop, James Elkington/Nathan Salsburg, Bill Callahan, Helen Money, Fred Moten/Brandon Lopez, and Finom. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7950428...

"I like when things are layered and ambiguous, when you’re not quite sure what you’re hearing or where one sound ends and another begins." Maria Somerville talks Luster (@4ad.com) in advance of her Sound & Gravity set tonight at Judson & Moore! sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7944988...

2025 has seen Mdou Moctar go acoustic and William Tyler and Steve Gunn go ambient. I can't wait to see all 3 of them at Sound & Gravity tonight and tomorrow. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7943110...

Happy Sound & Gravity week, Chicago! I especially can't wait to see so many @intlanthem.bsky.social artists, such as Chicago Underground Duo, who celebrate their first album in 11 years on Friday at the Beat Kitchen. Read my interview with Rob Mazurek! sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7941275...

Raspberry Moon is the second Hotline TNT album released via @thirdmanrecords.bsky.social, and their first written with a full band. Wrote about the record and the band's upcoming 24-hour livestream/telethon after they removed their music from Spotify. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7935842...

"I’ve become a member of this local Brooklyn community of struggling musicians who are struggling to keep going in the face of this very strange music industry where all music is free with a little monthly subscription." sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7925835...

"In the hands of @jamesmcmurtry.bsky.social and @bettysoo.bsky.social, the utilitarian, inanimate objects are symbols of survival and thriving." sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7924141...

Terrific singer-songwriter showcase tomorrow night at FitzGerald's in Berwyn: @jamesmcmurtry.bsky.social and @bettysoo.bsky.social! Wrote about both of their new records in advance sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7918542...

A jam band unafraid of the darkness, and a duo occupying the most experimental, formless, epic end of the "jam" spectrum: Review of @rosecityband.bsky.social and @jenpowers.bsky.social @matthewjrolin.bsky.social duo at @evanstonspace.bsky.social. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7905104...

A mixed emotions, contrast-heavy record about being stuck in the middle: Treasure Pool, the new one from NYC band Freezing Cold, out Friday via Don Giovanni. Spoke with lead vocalist/lyricist/guitarist Jeff Cunningham sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7903225...

"It’s funny that this very short-lived micro genre of freak folk has been applied to [Michael] Hurley, because he’s so much bigger than that. He was a super sophisticated musician." Spoke with Jolie Holland about her and Max Knouse's new covers EP. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7900513...

Trekked to Lincoln Square this past weekend (ok, I actually live kind of close) for Square Roots, wrote some words on and took photos of @alejandro-escovedo.bsky.social @tedleo.bsky.social Heartless Bastards and Verböten. The revolution is in your mind! sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7893254...

I've been writing about music for 13 years, and this is my first time ever premiering a song. Hard to believe! Anyway, if you missed Jamie Lidell, he's back, and reinvented sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7892326...

Tonight at @saltshedchicago.bsky.social, Primus and Ty Segall grace the stage! Wrote about the inspired pairing, the new Primus era/song, and Ty's new album Possession. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7887796...

DECK is "limitless, everything independent music can sound like." SILY contributor Keith Miller on the new one from Hallelujah the Hills (@ryanhwalsh.bsky.social) sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7880497...

Read about his latest album LOWER, and you might think Benjamin Booker’s heavy-handed. In reality, his sense of humor and unlikely optimism shines brightest on the album. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7879638...

Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) talks to SILY about the new band behind her new album Scratch It, out now via @4ad.com. Catch them Sunday night at Lincoln Hall! sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7873411...

"I write songs that mean something to me...How lucky am I to get to do that? I work hard. I’m under-slept. [But] the new record, I’m thrilled about." Read my interview with Willie Nile about his new album The Great Yellow Light. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7872378...

"If Flight b741 was about controlling from the cockpit, taking risks, and seizing adventure, Phantom Island is about what happens when you run out of fuel." SILY contributor Keith Miller reviews the new one from King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7867869...

Roger Clark Miller (ex-Mission of Burma) spoke to me about his second Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble (3 lap-steel guitars, 2 prepared and 1 tuned, Custom Stratocaster 6-string, foot pedals, Boomerang III Looper) record out now via Cuneiform sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7866021...

"It’s more than just a sonic departure; it feels like a mission statement." SILY contributor Keith Miller reviews Born Ruffians' latest album Beauty's Pride (@yeproc.bsky.social) sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7861517...

Don’t tell West Point, Mississippi soul singer Annie Caldwell you can’t have a family and a band, primarily because in her case, her family is the band. Spoke to her about Can't Lose My (Soul), the new album from Annie & The Caldwells out via Luaka Bop sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7856079...

Apple Cores (@antirecords.bsky.social) looks directly at his forebears, while Abstraction Is Deliverance plays as a collection of vignettes. Wrote about the two albums that jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis has released this year sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7853346...

Wrote about Horsegirl's sophomore record Phonetics On and On (@matadorrecords.bsky.social), an album that deconstructs and reconstructs before your very eyes, ultimately paying tribute to creativity itself. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7847033...

A couple weeks ago at @saltshedchicago.bsky.social, the Sharon Van Etten songs from her debut album credited to the Attachment Theory (out via @jagjaguwar.bsky.social) that showcased the band's chemistry were, surprisingly, the more ambient tunes sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7841585...

The Returner tour is a victory lap for Allison Russell, who had a lot to celebrate (since the last time she came to Chicago) when she played a couple weeks ago at the Vic, from continued acclaim for her sophomore album to being cast in Hadestown. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7840690...

In Ichiko Aoba’s world, memories are like dreams, where a lifetime’s worth happens in five-second increments. Caught her and @giamargaret.bsky.social at @thaliahallchicago.bsky.social last week. Luminescent Creatures out via @psychic-hotline.bsky.social sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7836136...

Thanks to @future-islands.bsky.social for answering some questions on People Who Aren't There Anymore (out via @4ad.com), playing live, the history of the band, what's next, and more in advance of their set tonight at Kilby Block Party! sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7836132...

Rarely Do I Dream, the new @youthlagoon.bsky.social album out via @fatpossumrecords.bsky.social, features Trevor Powers' most poetic, all-encompassing lyrics yet, plus a more abstract, expansive instrumental palate. Previewed his show tonight at Outset. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7829019...

Watched @deadpankenna.bsky.social's Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande and kept it in mind when listening to the band's latest album Renascence, realizing an investigatory impulse has remained consistent in the universe of the British psych funk greats sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7827020...

A billion retweets of this one Happy birthday to @slangsonsports.bsky.social , the best person I know

Sometimes, it takes the person who has wallowed in darkness to help us to see the world a little bit brighter. That was Nick Cave on Wednesday in Milwaukee, giving even his back catalog the Wild God treatment, still balancing his spirituality with realism sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7824394...

The moment the current incarnation of The Ocean Blue starts playing, David Schelzel’s able to enter the headspace of his teenage years. Words and photos on them doing their self-titled debut and Cerulean front-to-back at Lincoln Hall on Sunday. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7822650...

"There’s a meditative quality, and sometimes that’s just looking at something and [asking,] 'What is it?' The very literal thing of, 'Here I am. I’m sitting on the floor.'" Interviewed Dylan Ryan about In A Room With A Cactus, his new, new age classic sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7818091...

"They let me double down on the original intention of making a dance album." Jacob Plasse speaks to us about Orquesta Akokán's latest album Caracoles, out now via @daptonerecords.bsky.social. Catch them in NYC tonight, Austin tomorrow afternoon! sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7818051...

Circuit des Yeux, FACS, and Kinsella & Pulse, LLC at @thaliahallchicago.bsky.social: all showed an openness to reinvention. My words & photos below. Nab their albums via @matadorrecords.bsky.social @troubleinmind.bsky.social @killrockstars.bsky.social sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7817108...

Was a pleasure to speak with Takiaya Reed of Divide and Dissolve about their new album Insatiable, out tomorrow via @bellaunion.bsky.social, as well as the power and physicality of non-verbal music, playing live, and what insatiability means to her. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7810783...

Slow Magic, 1977-1978 by Jeff Bridges--yes, THAT one--"captures a sound that can only be mimicked today," writes SILY contributor Keith Miller. The long lost psychedelic album came out Saturday for Record Store Day, via @lightintheattic.bsky.social sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7809869...

Chris Walz ensures that the world of folk music continues to pitch a big tent. Wrote about the @oldtownschool.bsky.social educator (including my wife's banjo teacher) and singer-songwriter's debut LP and record release show. All I Got And Gone is out now. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7808051...

"If The Hold Steady is about the wild party you had to be there to believe, [Craig] Finn's solo material is more concerned with how there weren’t enough plastic cups." SILY contributor Keith Miller writes about Finn's latest solo album, Always Been. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7808061...

My coverage of Big Ears Festival, including @vijayiyer.bsky.social and Wadada Leo Smith, @joelovano.bsky.social's Paramount Quartet, @lankumdublin.bsky.social, @clppng.bsky.social, @lonnieholley.bsky.social, and more sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7804499...

SILY contributor Keith Miller reviews Dan's Boogie, the latest album from Destroyer, which "encourages you to bop along and boogie with Bejar, even if he boogies a little differently than you do." Out now via @mergerecords.bsky.social sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7798980...

Spoke with ambient artist Jefre Cantu-Ledesma about how creativity is a borderline miracle and his terrific new album Gift Songs, out now via @mexicansummer.bsky.social sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7789927...

"Amidst mourning, Circle Breaker promotes kindness, love, and gratitude, needed more than ever in 2025." SILY contributor Keith Miller reviews the new one from @thetaxpayers.bsky.social, out now via @ejrc.bsky.social sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7789020...

Julian Lage's set Monday at @oldtownschool.bsky.social was more spontaneous than I could have imagined. He played unreleased material, Coltrane, a David Lynch/Peter Ivers cover, "Northern Shuffle" from Speak to Me (@bluenoterecords.bsky.social), and more. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7785406...

"That’s one of the things records do so well, overcome distance. There seemed to be no reason for the record to be limited to one person." Spoke with David Grubbs about his new album Whistle From Above, out now via Drag City. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7780242...

While I'm looking forward to Brad Paisley's upcoming album that will have songs about the opioid crisis and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, I'm also glad he played the hits at the Houston Rodeo. "Ticks" is a perfect set opener. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7779078...

"The beauty of ¿Qiensave? is that we’re kind of like the Wu-Tang Clan. Each member has a different style that’s really strong, which embeds itself into the cumbia we have." Spoke with @qiensave.bsky.social in advance of their shows at @sxsw.com next week. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7773676...

Another day, another @oldtownschool.bsky.social review! This time, it's SILY contributor Keith Miller on Destroyer's Dan Bejar, who performed a solo acoustic set of favorites before Dan's Boogie is released via @mergerecords.bsky.social later this month. sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7771833...

A pleasure to see Hamilton Leithauser (of The Walkmen) in a venue like @oldtownschool.bsky.social, playing his solo material, that really lets his songwriting shine (not to mention his rhythm and slide guitar playing!) sinceileftyoublog.tumblr.com/post/7770947...