On The Turntable

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    Yo La Tengo

    Yo La Tengo :: I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

    “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind” begins with Hubley’s drums over which a snippet of studio chatter can be heard, including a laugh as if they are saying, “Wait until they’ll get a load of this song.” Immediately, McNew commences with a perfect six-note bass riff that powers the song through to the end like the scientifically-tuned Formula 1 car engine.

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    Numün

    Numün :: Opening

    New York’s numün never quite fit into the ambient country mold associated with founder Bob Holmes’s other group SUSS. The team-up with Joel Mellin and Christopher Romero of Balinese music ensemble Gamelan Dharma Swara meant numün was always going to be about finding the common ground between big sky drift and eastern drone. Their third album Opening positions them somewhere between Bruce Langhorne and Popul Vuh. But it also shows them capable of whipping up a slow-motion psychedelic boogie whenever the mood hits.

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    Miles Davis

    Miles Davis :: Agharta

    We just did a monster roundup covering the 50th anniversary of the release of the Davis live documents Agharta and Pangea — a pair of double live LPs recorded at the Osaka Festival Hall, February 1, 1975. You can read that, here, but for the uninitiated looking for a taste, go ahead and dig into Agharta en totale.

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    Tobacco City

    Tobacco City :: Horses

    Tobacco City formed around Chris Coleslaw and Lexi Goddard, both singers, both guitarists, whose vocal interplay recalls the swirling laments of Oakley Hall. They are especially fine together in anthemic “Time,” where Coleslaw’s keening lead collides with the buzzing sweetness of close harmonies. But while they set up these songs’ structures, pedal steel guitarist Andy “Red” PK adds color in the wailing, crying, yearning tones of his pitch-shifting instrument.

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    Jantar

    Jantar :: Background Moods

    This latest album from the ambient ensemble Jantar evokes Jon Hassell’s fourth world sound, Laraaji’s ecstatic meditations, and, of course, the motherlode, the ambient soundscapes of Brian Eno.

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    Okonski

    Okonski :: Entrance Music

    Okonski return with Entrance Music, revealing the flipside of the perpetual afterhours reverie of Magnolia. For their sophomore outing, the trio gently open the curtains to find themselves in the light of a new day, unimpeded by anything that isn’t melody or mood. Entrance Music drifts along like a perfect daydream, homey and lived-in, but maintaining a sense of spontaneity that leaves no doubt pianist Steve Okonski, bassist Michael Isvara “Ish” Montgomery, and drummer Aaron Frazer are attuned to the same ephemeral frequency.

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    Phi-Psonics

    Phi-Psonics :: New Pyramid

    Phi-Psonics is a spiritual jazz collective headed by Los Angeles-based composer and acoustic bassist Seth Ford-Young, whose prolific session work can be heard on releases such as the recent stunner by Takuro Okada. The uninhibited, meditative soundscapes of previous studio offerings The Cradle and Octava quickly made waves after catching the attention of Manchester jazz label Gondwana, flashing nods to A Love Supreme and a lush framework playing off of Ford-Young’s Mingus-inspired upright bass, lifting woodwinds and the Wurlitzer piano of Mitchell Yoshida.

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    Destroyer

    Destroyer :: Dan’s Boogie

    Over the past decade, Destroyer has shifted seamlessly into middle age. Where restless, lesser artists might have manufactured reinvention narratives or settled into the indie oldies circuit (imagine the money to be made from a Kaputt 15th anniversary tour), Bejar and his muse have kept on truckin’: ken, Have We Met, LABRYNTHITIS, and now Dan’s Boogie. Not career-defining statements, but statements out of which a career is defined.

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Phi-Psonics :: New Pyramid

Phi-Psonics is a spiritual jazz collective headed by Los Angeles-based composer and acoustic bassist Seth Ford-Young, whose prolific session work can be heard on releases such as the recent stunner by Takuro Okada. The uninhibited, meditative soundscapes of previous studio offerings The Cradle and Octava quickly made waves after catching the attention of Manchester jazz label Gondwana, flashing nods to A Love Supreme and a lush framework playing off of Ford-Young’s Mingus-inspired upright bass, lifting woodwinds and the Wurlitzer piano of Mitchell Yoshida.

Babe Rainbow :: Slipper imp and shakaerator

“What is ashwaganda?” asks the first track of this reggae-jam-surf-groove opus, and fair enough, let’s look it up. Ashwaganda, it turns out, is an evergreen herb that smells a bit like wet horse, commonly prescribed for anxiety and stress. It’s a good time all the way through, and maybe that’s enough for now. We’ve had plenty of floating anxiety over the last few years, why not a dose of floating good will?

Veneno :: Veneno

As the Amadors (notably unaccompanied by the rhythm section) run through a subtle blend of stroke tremolos, arpeggios, and golpes, they remind their elders that they have the utmost respect for their history, clarifying that, actually, there’s so much to get excited about—all of us—and remain so, even decades after the release of this astonishing, idiosyncratic treasure of Spanish rock culture, which surely deserves to be devoured by international listeners, with the same fervor that it is in Spain, at this point in history. Do yourselves a favor.

Aux Meadows :: Draw Near

“Still no reverb (mostly)” — a brief recording note found in the liners for Aux Meadows’ latest, Draw Near. And yet! These 11 gorgeously dusty instrumentals conjure up as many wide-open spaces as any echo-laden cosmic Americana group you might mention. This is the sound of musicians listening to one another, dreaming in real time.

Transmissions :: The Weather Station (2025)

Call it “brain fog,” call it “attention economy burnout,” call it the dregs of late capitalism: however you label it, Tamara Lindeman has been feeling it. With “Neon Signs,” our favorite song from her 2025 album as The Weather Station, Humanhood—out now on Fat Possum Records—she gives names and shapes to the sense of dread so many of us feel permeating our daily existence. This week on Transmissions, she joins host Jason Woodbury to discuss Humanhood—the album, sure, but also the concept of what makes us human.

Jim Putnam :: S/T

California-based indie veteran Jim Putnam has worn just about every hat imaginable in the music industry. This eponymous solo record on French label We Are Unique! recalls the assiduous songwriting from his previous Radar Brothers venture and beyond: a trusty slice of sunbaked comfort. Coming as no surprise, the stark and layered orchestration comes courtesy of the journeyman playing all of the instruments himself.

Mick Turner :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

Mick Turner’s guitar playing is instantly recognizable. From his role as the binding agent in the seminal band Dirty Three to his numerous solo albums and now his latest group, the dreamy duo Mess Esque, there’s no other guitar player with Turner’s distinctive sense of rhythm and tone. His sound can be hesitant, composed, jagged, and ragged, yet consistently in command and always compelling. AD caught up with Turner about the artistic blind date that started Mess Esque, how he collaborates with lyricists, his approach for painting versus music, and more.

Keith Jarrett: No End, Newness and the Power of the Low-Key Jam

Keith Jarrett didn’t have to make a rock album filled with noodly guitar and muted boogie. But he did, and in its unusually obvious imperfections, eccentric choices and rambling longueurs, it shows the famously demanding pianist at his most mercurial and relaxed. In his perpetual hunt for wells of inspiration and rivers of feeling, Jarrett’s curious detour still leads to some fascinating backwaters and rewarding reservoirs.

Basic :: Dream City

Hot on the heels of their thrilling debut, Basic is back with Dream City. The Basic formula remains in place, with percussionist Mikel Patrick Avery’s hypnotic electro-acoustic rhythms providing the sturdy foundation for Chris Forsyth to weave fantastical six-string tapestries. It’s far more than just “shredding over the top,” however — in fact, Dream City features some of Forsyth’s most lyrical and imaginative playing, forgoing flash for melody, fireworks for pure texture. This stuff has a pleasingly neverendless feel, like we’re only hearing choice snippets of an eternal jam. Basically beautiful.

Destroyer :: Dan’s Boogie

Over the past decade, Destroyer has shifted seamlessly into middle age. Where restless, lesser artists might have manufactured reinvention narratives or settled into the indie oldies circuit (imagine the money to be made from a Kaputt 15th anniversary tour), Bejar and his muse have kept on truckin’: ken, Have We Met, LABRYNTHITIS, and now Dan’s Boogie. Not career-defining statements, but statements out of which a career is defined.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma :: Gift Songs

For over 20 years across countless releases and contexts Jefre Cantu-Ledesma has been honing in on the liminal space between sound and silence. His new album Gift Songs feels like the most realized version of this concern. In a time when information overload and short attention spans are at an all time high, Gift Songs feels like a transmission from another place inviting the listener to slow down, take a breath, look around. You’ll be glad you did.

Estelle Levitt :: All I Dream

Bronx-born songwriter Estelle Levitt struck gold in 1968 with “All I Dream,” a slice of psychedelic soul and rustic-tinged funk that grooves with the incantatory cadence of a Lee Hazlewood tune. A stormy platter of unrequited love, Levitt’s silky, kaleidoscopic vocals float over a gritty, stalking guitar, swooning strings, and bright, undulating keys. “All I dream is to be in your dream someday,” she sings to a parting lover, “see my face on your clock as the hands chase you on your way.”