Three interviews this morning, equalling one huge show!

The first, with Amy and Freya from local guitar-drone duo Freya. Check out Freya's music here: https://freyadrone.bandcamp.com/album/yamabiko

The second, with People's Poet and occasional community radio broadcaster, Our Carlson. Check out Our Carlson's music here:  https://ourcarlson.bandcamp.com/

Finally, with Leon from local noise-rock group Leaker, who you can catch this weekend at That Sound Over The Fence.

Nick's Pick of the Week is Ceremony's Tell Me Your Dream, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://ceremonyrohnertpark.bandcamp.com/album/tell-me-your-dream and my review can be read below.

Ceremony: Tell Me Your Dream (Relapse)

Released 7th August 2026

Named after the Joy Division/New Order song of the same name, Ceremony formed in Rohnert Park, California in 2004 and have now been active for over two decades. Tell Me Your Dream is the group’s seventh album and their second for the (the primarily metal focussed) Relapse Records.

As the years have progressed, Ceremony have gradually moved away from the hardcore-punk/power violence of their first record, gradually embracing a jagged sense of melody and post-punk sensibility that belies the influences that gave the group their name. It was 2015’s L-Shaped Man that truly signalled this shift —being produced by John Reis (of Hot Snakes and Rocket From The Crypt fame) and released by Matador Records helped herald the band’s new intentions— and they haven’t looked back since. With Tell Me Your Dream, Ceremony remain firmly locked in to the post-punk genre; with just a hint of garage-rock and traditional punk thrown in for good measure.

Album opener, Prograde, is as angular as it comes, somewhat similar to the earliest eras of My Disco, whilst Other Hells unleashes all the hardcore elements from their cage before Madness resettles into a solid post-punk groove; with a furiously dancy edge. For some reason, track four on every record is almost always a standout and Dark Summer is no exception. Channelling the High period of Royal Headache, it’s a catchy track the belies a melancholy underside yet (despite its pessimism) demands a replay. Antenna, Justify and Death Destruction Mayhem all tread along a similar bass-heavy but melodic path, easing the listener into the sparseness of, album closer, Paradise.

With Tell Me Your Dream, Ceremony continue the evolution they started more than ten years ago and —despite the apprehension of some fans and critics— the band themselves have certainly never looked back. Tell Me Your Dream reinstates Reis as producer, for the first time since L-Shaped Man, and his influence can certainly be felt across the album’s ten tracks. Ever reliable, Ceremony can be depended upon to release a solid album every few years and Tell Me Your Dream is no exception. This time, however, they may have outdone themselves, by releasing their best album in more than a decade.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Wilco - Monday
• Body Type - Planet 8
• Clamm - Rats
• Crying/The Heavy Light - Over The Range
• Silver Sircus - Under Your Skin
• Interview - Amy & Casey (Freya) Pt 1
• Big|Brave - What May be The Kindest Way To Leave
• Interview - Amy & Casey (Freya) Pt 1
• Freya - Yamabiko Pt. II (Live)
• Rebel Yell (Feat. Naomi) - Burner
• Ninajirachi (Feat. Porter Robinson) - IWannaCry
• Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Be The Bridge
• The Stubbies - Living The Dream
• Mulga Bore Hard Rock - Stay
• Michael Beach - I'm Gonna Need Ya (Live)
• Ed Kuepper - Sea-Air (Live)
• Our Carlson - A Donk Don't Come For Free
• Andrew Tuttle & DC Cross - Is This Too
• John Glacier - Bond Girl
• Leaker - The Horrors
• Tropical Fuck Storm - Aneurysm
• Special Features - Poles
• Ceremony - Dark Summer
• Chelsea Wolfe - Cold
• Gilla Band - Placeholder
• Protomartyr - Sounds We Cannot Hear

Nick's Pick of the Week is Sir Richard Bishop's Hillbilly Erotica, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://sirrichardbishop.bandcamp.com/album/hillbilly-erotica and my review can be read below.

Sir Richard Bishop: Hillbilly Erotica (Drag City)

Released July 31st 2026

Sir Richard Bishop made a name for himself performing with Sun City Girls, but his first solo release was on John Fahey’s Revenant label in 1998. It seems fitting that one of the originators of the American primitive style of guitar playing would release the first record by an individual who would carry its torch into the new century — and the new millennium.

Hillbilly Erotica serves as a companion piece —or, perhaps, a continuation?— of Bishop’s previous album, Hillbilly Ragas, released in 2025 by Drag City. In the words of the man himself, Hillbilly Erotica is, “…still exploring the areas around these parts with a similar type of aggression [as Hillbilly Ragas], but as morning light approaches, a clearing or two present themselves, with hills and valleys viewable in the distance inspiring a slightly different sonic landscape. One could be forgiven for feeling a sense of relief from finally arriving from out of the night-time woods to a place which may seem less threatening in the daylight, but it’s a trap - the darkness of night is always right around the corner. Enjoy the postcoital smoke but tread carefully!”

Lick Spittle open the record. Fast-paced and frantic, it borrows a touch from the flamenco and mariachi styles, while it’s follow up, Finger, Tennessee, is a far more mellow affair that wouldn’t feel out of place around a campfire. Back Forty Lashes is a heavily strummed highlight that takes a little while to get moving, but doesn’t let up once it does. Finger Revisited slows things down, once again, before the album comes to a close with one final, beautiful track, Postcoital Serenade.

Comprising eight tracks across (almost) forty minutes, Hillbilly Erotica is an intense and impassioned collection of instrumental, acoustic compositions that are deeply rooted in the annals of American guitar music, whilst also bearing influence from various eastern musical traditions. Bishop is an adept player, but he never sacrifices passion for virtuosity, always ensuring that —at its core— each and every song is not only soulful, but (equally) has a soul.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Clamm - Monday
• The Scornful Four - Hymn For The Light
• Suncuts - Cut Through The Silence Pt. 2
• J.WLSN & Liam Keenan - Suburban Dopamine
• The Durutti Column - Liars
• Spike Fuck - All By Myself
• Dinosaur Jr. - Blowin' Up
• Semantron - Krummholz Heart
• Hotchkiss - Ghosts
• Leaker - Spit
• Silver Jews - I Remember Me
• Vic Simms - Anybody's Nobody
• Dirty Harry - You
• Smallest Horse - Fishing
• Flangipanis - Down At The Bottom
• Sweeping Promises - Cocoon
• Ed Kuepper - Electrical Storm (Live)
• Primitive Calculators - Shout
• United Axis Of Filth - Making Queensland Safer C
• Dominance - Love Is The Minimal Form
• Richard & Linda Thompson - The Calvary Cross
• Michael Beach - Societal Breakdown (Live)
• Sir Richard Bishop - Back Forty Lashes
• Boris - Akuma No Uta
• Freya - A Smaller World (Live)

Nick's Pick of the Week is Earth Trax's Everlasting Flame, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://earthtraxonline.bandcamp.com/album/everlasting-flame and my review can be read below.

Earth Trax: Everlasting Flame (Lapsus Records)

Released 12th June 2026

Earth Trax is the project of Warsaw, Poland based electronic artist Bartosz Kruczyński. Active since 2016, Kruczyński has released numerous albums, EPs and singles under various monikers, but most prominently under his own name, The Phantom and Earth Trax. Everlasting Flame’s style fluctuates between the deconstructed side of techno and the more experimental side of dub, it’s an oddly fluid album and one that is adaptable for both early morning and late night listens. 

Everlasting Flame borrows far more from Dreams And Whispers, released in 2024 under Kruczyński’s own name, than anything recently released as Earth Trax — with the possible exception of 2023’s Closer Now, but even that was a far more danceable affair. 

A double album that spans fourteen tracks, Everlasting Flame features over an hour of ambient, industrial, dub-techno, think some of the more recent solo releases by The Bug on Kevin Richard Martin’s Pressure label: ghostly, broken, glitchy —but beautiful— electronic soundscapes. In The Zone, Wait And See and Towboat really amplify the industrial elements, whilst Out In The Cold allows a brief, dance-like reprieve, whereas the title-track expertly combines the album’s two main elements for fitting finale.

Eerily beautiful and sonically soothing, Everlasting Flame is an album that slowly works it magic, but before you know you are completely under its spell. Kruczyński’s move into even more experimental, ambient territory is a welcome shift indeed and a potential herald of even more exciting things to come.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Tape/OFF - Monday
• Arab Strap - Glamour Magick
• Ed Kuepper - Not A Soul Around (Live)
• Dinosaur Jr. - Several Got Away
• Attention Shoppers - Wormhole Explained
• Jashka & Fatshaudi - Sitting On Your Shoulders
• Chaneze - Bodybuilder
• SCRAPS - Love That With One Stroke Cuts Time In Two
• J.WLSN & Liam Keenan - The Power Of Emptiness
• Kassel Jaeger - A Shell, A Bell, A Spell (From Sub Re)
• Chris Corsano & Tashi Dorji - Finite Volumes
• Interview - Robin Wattie & Mat Ball (Big|Brave) Part 1
• My Disco - Irreversible
• Interview - Robin Wattie & Mat Ball (Big|Brave) Part 2
• Big|Brave - What May Be The Kindest Way To Leave
• Freya - Prelude (Live)
• Spike Fuck - Tomorrow We Get Healthy (Live)
• Body Type - Sick Bag
• Keanu Nelson - Lonely Man
• 100% - Belonging
• Chat Pile - Sifting
• Tad - Dementia
• Earth Trax - Everlasting Flame
• Vanishing Twin - Bring Me The Axe
• Michael Beach - Calvary Cross (Live)

Nick's Pick of the Week is Freya's Yamabiko, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://freyadrone.bandcamp.com/album/yamabiko and my review can be read below.

Freya: Yamabiko (Self-Released)

Released July 3rd 2026

Freya is comprised of Casey Johnson and Amy Sargeant and they describe themselves as, “… a drone metal / experimental sound art duo which translates the climate of violence faced by trans women in Australia into vibrations, textures and layers of feedback through improvised performance.” Yamabiko is their debut release, a live recording of a performance at Black Bear Lodge in Meanjin/Brisbane in May 2026.

Yamabiko contains five tracks, but really, the record is a continuous, improvised piece that has been divided up for ease of reference. Comparisons to the work of Sunn0))) are indicative of what listeners can expect from Yamabiko, however, despite the similarities, this no rip-off or mere amplifier worship, Freya are their own beast and what they do, they do well. This an album for fans of long, drawn out guitar drones, walls of sound and screeching feedback —noise heads, in particular, will feel right at home with Yamabiko.

Guitar drones may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but those with a taste for it could do far worse than check out Freya. Live, they are surely a force to be reckoned with, so, if volume is your thing, keep an eye out and mark your calendars for their next gig!

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• David McCormack & The Polaroids - Monday Morning
• Dirty Harry - Love & Piss
• Team Dresch - One Song
• Butthole Surfers - Jet Fighter
• Gnod - Catholic FM
• Camping - Cleaners
• Mr. Finn - To Be In It!
• Arab Strap - Fighting For You
• Hand To Earth - Star Song
• Anton Pearson - Teeth Cut To The Grass
• Keanu Nelson - Kungkaku Wangkapayi
• Interview - Claire Rousay Part 1
• Peter Knight - Leaf And Shadows
• Interview - Claire Rousay Part 2
• Claire Rousay - Doubt
• Helen Franzmann & Nick Huggins - Pulse Free Scene
• Papa M - Purple Eyelid
• Blue Diner - A Broken Window
• Jawbreaker - Accident Prone
• Ancient Channels - Hex Beat
• Mick Harvey (Feat. Anita Lane & Nick Cave) - I Love You, Nor Do I
• Prison - Sunrise Highway (Single Edit)
• Freya - Who Has Passed Into Spirit Life (Live)
• Sunn0))) - Does Anyone Hear Like Venom?
• Big|Brave - Holding Tongue

Nick's Pick of the Week is The Bug/Dis Fig's Ladybug 1, you can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here: https://thebugdisfig.bandcamp.com/album/ladybug-1 and my review can be read below.

The Bug & Dis Fig: Ladybug 1 (Pressure Records)

Released July 3rd 2026

Kevin Richard Martin (aka The Bug) and Felicia Chen (aka Dis Fig) team up again (having worked together previously on 2020s In Blue) for the first in —what will be— an ongoing series of collaborative singles with female artists and vocalists. Ladybug 1 features one track, Vanishing, with the music being composed and produced by Martin and the lyrics provided by Chen. In addition, Vanishing appears not only in it’s original form, but also as four different remixes that alternately deconstruct and reconstruct the source material of the original.

Vanishing is all industrial edge, with a simple beat and a generous heaping of bass. Chen’s breathy vocals intertwine seamlessly with Martin’s rumbling, thumping electronics. Desolate, nightmarish, but oh so compelling, this is another stellar collaboration from two notable sonic trailblazers.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Wilco - Monday
• Sunnyboys - Alone With You
• Dinosaur Jr. - Several Got Away
• Dirty Harry - They Already Know
• Merzbow & Pedro Vian - Badro Thodol Phase 1
• Waak Waak Djungi - Gandi Bawong
• PJ Harvey - Voyager
• Keanu Nelson - Kapi Ngalayananni
• Sick Gazelle - Ocean Always Wins
• Helen Franzmann & Nick Huggins - Sleaping Musick
• Interview - Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) Part 1
• Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme
• Interview - Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) Part 2
• Xiu Xiu - In Heaven
• Lawrence English - Sodium Vapour Halo (Alone)
• Silver Jews - The Wild Kindness
• Dave McCormack's TRS-80 - Your Friends Will Try To Kill You
• Relay Tapes - Avalon
• Thalia Zedek - You're A Big Girl Now
• Blue Diner - End The Day
• Electric Prawns 2 - City Streets
• The Bug/Dis-Fig - Vanishing
• Missing - Hong Kong Blonde
• Freya - A Smaller World (Live)
• Claire Rousay - Somewhat Burdensome

Nick's Pick of the Week is Sick Gazelle's Veld, released Friday June 26th. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://sickgazellechicago.bandcamp.com/album/veld and my review can be read below.

Sick Gazelle: Veld (Vampire Blues)

Released June 26th 2026

Sick Gazelle’s first album, Odum, was released back in 2019 and featured Eric Block (Veloce) on guitar and bass, Bruce Lamont (Yakuza) on horns and vocals and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) on drums.They make their return in 2026, with their latest record, Veld, and a new bassist in tow, Tortoise’s Doug McCombs. Veld’s sound is rooted in improvisation and runs a whole gamut of styles, touching on everything from free-jazz, post-rock, krautrock, noise and more.

At thirty-seven minutes, Veld is relatively quick listen, despite this, its songs are expansive, with only one song —the jazzy, lead-in single Hippies— coming in under seven minutes. February, a somewhat mellow, mildly dissonant number opens the record and, much like most of the other tracks on Veld, it doesn’t rush to reach its destination. This spacious approach to songwriting means that each of the album’s other songs —I’ll Come Running, Ocean Always Wins and Maybe You Were Right— all have ample time to breathe, stretch their wings and shift direction; often multiple times within the one song!

With such an esteemed cast of characters at the helm of Sick Gazelle, it is no surprise that Veld is such a delightful listen. Each member has served a considerable amount of time in any number of incredible bands. Everyone of them is well known within the Chicago music scene and —unsurprisingly—  Veld has that unmistakable, but indescribable, Chicago sound. Don’t let the name fool you, there is nothing unwell about Sick Gazelle, on the contrary, many experimental fans will find it to be just what the doctor ordered.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Tape/Off - Monday
• Diät - Youth Of Neukölln (Live)
• Alien Nosejob - Stupid Smiles
• No Allegiance - Use Your Mind
• Ancient Channels - Hex Beat
• Craning - Clings
• Martha Skye Murphy and Roy Montgomery - Cloudburst
• Michael Beach - No One Knows Any Better
• Crow - Skyline
• Interview - George Brennan & Ian Lynch (One Leg One Eye) Interview Part 1
• Lankum - Go Dig My Grave
• Interview - George Brennan & Ian Lynch (One Leg One Eye) Interview Part 2
• One Leg One Eye - Neither Fell Nor Flesh
• Helen Franzmann & Nick Huggins - What You've Got, I've Got
• Lawrence English - One Line Sky (Alone)
• The Triffids - Stolen Property
• Amy Rose Mills - Idumea
• Lingua Ignota - Katie Cruel
• Shanghai Qiutian - Urs
• Sick Gazelle - Hippies
• Big|Brave - Verdure
• Xiu Xiu - In Heaven

Nick's Pick of the Week is Voivod's Symphonique, released Friday June 5th. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/symphonique-live-24-bit-hd-audio and my review can be read below.

Voivoid: Symphonique (21st Century Media)

Released June 5th 2026

Heavy Metal has been accused of many things, there are some who think it takes itself too seriously, some who say it doesn’t take itself seriously enough and then there are those “satanic panic” folks who blame it for all of the evils of the world —including a spate of teen suicides in the 1980s. Canadian progressive-thrash band Voivod somehow manage to (rather masterfully) combine all three of those complaints and use them as building blocks to create their idiosyncratic and highly technical brand of metal.

Formed in 1982, Voivod’s earlier music shared much in common with their speed/thrash-metal contemporaries such as Metallica and Exodus. As their career advanced and their lineup changed, they began to incorporate even more technical and progressive themes into their sound. This —coupled with an interest in Cold War era politics and science-fiction that informed their lyrics— led to some of the band’s greatest triumphs, such as Dimension Hatröss and Nothingface.

On Symphonique, Voivod team up with the Orchestre Symphonique De Québec to blast through an expertly curated set of some of their most memorable songs and throw in a Pink Floyd cover (Astronomy Domine) for good measure. Metal bands teaming up with symphony orchestras is nothing new, with numerous bands (dating as far back as Celtic Frost’s To Mega Therion album) adding orchestral flourishes to their recordings through to Metallica’s legendary 1999 concert album, S&M.

Half of the performance is culled from (the aforementioned) Dimension Hatröss and Nothingface: Cosmic Drama, Experiment and Tribal Convictions from the former and Into My Hypercube, Pre-Ignition and The Unknown Knows from the latter. Aside from Forgotten In Space, from Killing Technology (1987) and Nuclear War, from War And Pain (1984) the rest of the show contains tracks from some of the bands more recent albums, such as the excellent Synchro Anarchy from 2022. Across the whole of the seventy-three minute set, Voivod’s songs, regardless of the era, fuse seamlessly with the musicianship of the Orchestre Symphonique De Québec to create something equally epic and enjoyable.

Symphonique, despite the formality of its setting and Voivod’s reputation for technicality, is a thoroughly gratifying listen. Transformative at times, it takes the listener on a journey through outer space, apocalyptic visions and nuclear war, without ever losing its sense of fun. This is an album made to be enjoyed loud, so, suspend your beliefs for an hour, slip off your shoes, kick back and enjoy the ride.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Lankum - On A Monday Morning
• Antenna - Rolling By
• Adorned - Tears Of Pride
• No Allegiance - Take Control
• Ed Kuepper - Also Sprach The King Of Euro-Disco
• Fancy Weapon - I'm Not Done
• Kitchen's Floor - Northern Fort
• Bleak Squad - Ghost Of The Bad Humour Man
• Crow - You Can't Turn Away
• Big|Brave - Skin Ripper
• J.WLSN & Liam Keenan - Planned Obsolescence
• Wire Worms - The Faithful Bird
• Interview - Zoh Amba - Part 1
• Beings - God Dances In Your Eyes
• Interview - Zoh Amba - Part 2
• Zoh Amba - Southern Soil
• Camping - Dicky Bird
• Super Hotel - Rory Calhouns
• Dirty Harry - Give It Back
• Magnolia Electric Co. - North Star (Live)
• Greg Charles & The Ex Catholics - The Boy With The Golden Heart
• Xiu Xiu - Breakdown And Then
• These Immortal Souls - So The Story Goes
• Voivod - Forgotten In Space (Live)
• Sleep - Have Spacesuit Will Travel (4:20 Flexi Edit)
• One Leg One Eye - Many Are My Names Besides

Nick's Pick of the Week is Big|Brave's In Grief Or In Hope, which was released on Friday June 12th. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://bigbrave.bandcamp.com/album/in-grief-or-in-hope and my review can be read below.

Big|Brave: In Grief Or In Hope (Thrill Jockey)

Released June 12th 2026

Big|Brave’s tenth album may be their best yet. Never content to take the easy road, In Grief Or In Hope documents a band that is unafraid to risk it all for the sake of the song. A devastating and dense wall of sound that is (at times) both brutal and beautiful.

Formed in Montreal in 2012 by guitarists (and sole constant members) Robin Wattie —also on vocals— and Mathieu Ball, Big|Brave’s lineup has also previously featured Louis-Alexandre Beauregard and Tasy Hudson on drums. On In Grief Or In Hope, Australian bassist Liam Andrews recorded with the band for the first time, after serving as their live bassist for several years prior.

Across its eight tracks, In Grief Or In Hope crackles, buzzes and hums with an industrial energy that has been merely hinted at on previous records. What May Be The Kindest Way To Leave opens the album, with seven and a half minutes of grinding, droning guitar tones under Wattie’s pitch-shifted vocals. A Shape Of Shame begins in ambient territory, before building slowly into a cacophony of catharsis, whereas A Holding Tongue —with its ebbs and flows of feedback— maintains an (almost) peaceful vibe that is both soothing and disquieting. Skin Ripper (near the end of the record) is an absolute behemoth of noise that lives up to its name, whilst the final and title track is nothing short of apocalyptic.

With each new release, Big|Brave do their best to adhere to Forrest Gump’s analogy for life, “… like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” That said, the arrival of any new music from Big|Brave heralds far more excitement than what can be provided by a piece of confectionary. Their only constant is continual evolution and their only certainty is the drive to never, ever rehash old ideas. In Grief Or In Hope showcases the group at the absolute height of their powers —at least until their next record arrives.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Tape/Off - Monday
• Electric Prawns 2 - City Streets
• The Fall - 30 Degrees
• Kristin Hersh - Dark Eyed Junco
• Thurston Moore - Thurston Moore
• Loren Connors & David Grubbs - Somewhere In The Wind (Excerpt)
• Mono - Statice
• Black Duck With Elena Setién - Land Of The Many Eyes
• You-On - End-Side
• Helen Franzmann & Nick Huggins - Slow Moving Waters
• William Barton & Veronique Serret - Petrichor
• J.WLSN & Liam Keenan - Teflon Blues (Edit)
• The Valery Trails - Waiting
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - People Ain't No Good
• Mood Board - Maybe I'm Dead
• Dirty Harry - Give It Back
• Granddaughter - Teeth (Demo)
• Leaker - Wrong
• Raw Impact - Time's Up
• Antenna - Rolling By
• The Birthday Party - Funhouse (Live)
• Emma Ruth Rundle - Powerless
• Big|Brave - A Shape Of Shame
• Plainer - Port
• Zoh Amba - Weed Eating

Nick's Pick of the Week is Zoh Amba's Eye's Full, which was released on Friday June 5th. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://zohamba.bandcamp.com/album/eyes-full and my review can be read below.

Zoh Amba: Eyes Full (Matador)

Released June 5th 2026

Zoh Amba has built a reputation as one of the most exciting saxophonists to emerge from New York’s avant-garde scene. Amba has worked with experimental luminaries like John Zorn and Shazad Ismaily and has frequently collaborated with (legendary) Australian drummer Jim White. Her latest release —which is being billed as her debut solo record— Eyes Full, is a stylistic about turn for Amba, an album of stripped back, confessional folk/country that is as astounding as it is surprising.

Eyes Full contains a cast of characters that includes —the aforementioned— White on drums as well as bassist Landon George, guitarists Kevin Hyland and Adam Brisbin, violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul and Colin Miller, also on drums. Recording took place in Asheville, North Carolina, which (potentially) accounts for the album’s rustic feel, with additional sessions, for the tracks Blueberry Thorn and Emahoy, taking place in Brooklyn, New York City. Released through the iconic indie label Matador, Eyes Full contains elements of bands like Big Thief and is poised to introduce Amba to an audience less acquainted with her experimental output.

Across thirteen songs, Amba bears her soul, describing the highs and lows of various personal friendships and relationships. OCD and Another Time are country inflected ballads, with a twist of Daniel Johnston, whereas Dead End Street, Thousand Years, Odd Jobs and PG Tips add a touch of slacker rock to keep things interesting and stomping in a little grit for good measure. Whether owing to the cast of characters involved, or Amba’s generally eclectic nature, there is more than enough variety across the album’s forty minute run time to keep the shortest attention spans entertained.

Amba is a unique voice among singer/songwriters, likely due to her background in avant-garde and experimental music. Eyes Full, as previously mentioned, is likely to raise her profile amongst an audience with indie sensibilities, without abandoning her roots. There is enough weirdness across the record to skew it into less traditional territory, without deviating too far or losing focus. Amba seems to be most comfortable when she is out of her comfort zone and one can only hope that this unexpectedly poignant offering is a sign of more surprises to come.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Clamm - Monday
• Waak Waak Djungi - White Cockatoo
• Neptune - Furies
• Shogurei - Boku
• Xiu Xiu - In Heaven
• Zkarv - INTER
• Blood Incantation - Dawn
• Wire Worms - True Thomas
• Big|Brave - The Ineptitude For Mutual Discernment
• Interview - Greg Anderson [Sunn0)))] Part 1
• Engine Kid - Jumper Cables
• Khanate - Wings From Spine
• Interview - Greg Anderson [Sunn0)))] Part 2
• Sunn0))) - Glory Black
• Roberts Dinters - Yes?
• Keanu Nelson - Wati Kutju
• Baby Cool - Sacred
• The Replacements - Unsatisfied
• Tara Clerkin Trio - Slow Island
• Mood Board - Footsteps
• Bloodletter - Doom Town
• Ancient Channels - Black Metals
• Relay Tapes - Avalon
• Zoh Amba - Dead End Street
• Camping - New Language
• Antenna - Rolling By

Nick's Pick of the Week is One Leg One Eye's Crone, which was released on Friday May 22nd. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://onelegoneeye.bandcamp.com/album/crone and my review can be read below.

One Leg One Eye: Crone (AD 93)

Released May 22nd 2026

One Leg One Eye is the (rather terrifying) side project of Ian Lynch from Lankum. Crone is their second LP, following 2022’s And Take The Black Worm With Me, and —as with their debut— also features co-conspirator George Brennan. 

Lankum’s music —for those who may be unfamiliar— dwells in the darker regions of the Irish folk canon, One Leg One Eye on the other hand, is completely consumed by darkness. Crone is occupied with the occult aspects of early Irish folklore: legends filled with ghosts, premonitions and an unquiet afterlife. This is midnight music, rich with atmosphere and with no shortage of dread.

Containing only four songs, two of which are in excess of ten minutes, Crone gasps and wheezes malevolently across its thirty-seven minutes, taking the listener on a journey that some will relish and few will want to repeat. Album opener, Many Are My Names Besides, begins with nothing but voice, before rapidly expanding into a cacophony of organ drones and electronic noise. Neither Fell Nor Flesh does much the same, commencing with a low, sustained note and then exploding in burst of wheezing static. What I Shall Follow, I Shall Hunt bears all the crepuscular charm of being stranded in the woods after dark, whilst Save What Birds Will Bear Away In Their Claws feels like an epic incantation for the end of days.

Crone is an exploratory piece of experimental music that is about as atmospheric as it comes. One Leg One Eye are without parallel when it comes to creating art that so willingly revels in the depths of darkness and the mists of the unknown. Some may find it beautiful, others will be horrified, but few will be unmoved.

Nick Stephan

• Songs played
• Radio Birdman - Monday Morning Gunk
• Rebel Yell - Theme
• Ear - Will
• Penelope Trappes - Red Dove (Smote Rework)
• J.WLSN & Liam Keenan - Planned Obsolescence
• Swans - Cathedrals Of Heaven (Live)
• Amby Downs - Terraformed Land
• Loose Fit - Diminishing Returns
• Scraps - Hot Sauce
• Sa Pa - Modular System
• Blue Communications - Ghosts Of The 17th Century
• Body Type - Mulberry
• Grace Cummings - My God
• Interview - Tara, Sunny & Patrick (Tara Clerkin Trio) Part 1
• Nobokazu Takemura - FallsLake
• Interview - Tara, Sunny & Patrick (Tara Clerkin Trio) Part 2
• Tara Clerkin Trio - Somewhere Good
• Tortoise - Oganesson
• Blue Diner. - Sea Anemone
• Mr. Finn - To Be In It!
• Babycool - Sacred
• Come - Shoot Me First
• Craning - Clings
• Tropical Fuck Storm (Feat. Amy Taylor) - This Perfect Day
• Mulga Bore Hard Rock - Young Men
• Ed Kuepper - Electrical Storm
• One Leg One Eye - What I Shall Follow, I Shall Hunt
• Browning Mummery - Pixelated Dub
• Sunn0))) - Does Anyone Hear Like Venom?