Exposé Online

A Light Sleeper - Equaeverpoise

I’d never heard of this Chicago band before I saw the announcement of this release from Cuneiform. There are just so many bands around the world, even in uncommon areas like chamber rock,...

Madlen Keys - Event Horizon

Are progressive rock and accessible pop mutually exclusive? Madlen Keys is a relatively new band from Paris — a five song EP With You I’m Lost came out in 2021, and Event...

DarWin Steps Inside the Zoo

Wang Wen - Painful Clown & Ninja Tiger

I last encountered the Chinese post-rock band Wang Wen with their 2016 album Sweet Home, Go! where...

Steve MacLean - Universal

It was a long time ago, but I’ve only heard one previous by Steve MacLean titled The Opposite of War (1997), and that couldn’t be more different from the album at hand. It was...

From Backwards Brubeck to Stage Diving —
The Medicine Hat Interview

During the time period from 1989 to 1994, Seattle had an outsize impact on the music world. Bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam garnered international attention, and journalists flocked to the city to see what was going on. There was even a movie called Hype made to document both the scene and the frenzy that was generated in (or by) the press. There were dozens of music venues active almost every night of the week, and dozens of bands played all around the Northwest. One of those bands was Medicine Hat, which got its start a bit after some of the big name bands, but flourished in the still-vibrant scene. Their music was a stylistic outlyer, with complex rhythms and unusual structures, incorporating elements of the then-nascent genre of math-rock with the emotional impact of the Seattle sound labeled "grunge."

The group broke up shortly after releasing their only album in 1994, but 2023 saw the surprise announcement that they were getting back together for a reunion show. I was able to catch part of a rehearsal and speak to the band at length about their past, present, and future. I'm very grateful to all of them for devoting so much time late on a Monday night to tell their story.

Edredon Sensible - Montagne Explosion

Following on from Vloute Panthère (2021), Edredon Sensible is back with another...

Jarguna - Retrospective of Deep Days 2006-2023

The prolific Italian sound sculptor Marco Billi (a.k.a. Jarguna) began recording his soundtracks back in 2006, and with Retrospective of Deep Days he celebrates 50 releases by offering...

The Gray Field Recordings - She Sleeps to the Sound of Knives

Here is some music that you do not encounter every day. And you can tell from the title She Sleeps to the Sound of Knives, that this album is going to be unusual at best. Given the...

Madlen Keys Dives into the Stream