“Skwee” is one of those little bitty “genres” that keep popping up nowadays. I hate to say genre, because a lot of them are more like trends than anything else, and I don’t exclude skweee from that group. Maybe it’s just a personal thing—I don’t like...

It’s a real shortcoming of Hallmark as a company, that they don’t offer a “Post-Rock brings families together” greeting card. New York’s Phone Home is the second duo of brothers (the awesome Lymbyc Systym is the other) to channel  potential angsty rivalry into...

To be truthful, I rely on the RIYL picks to do a lot of the work for me. I could go on and on about a band, but if you know your shit like most of you do — and know the bands I use as similar recommendations — than really there’s no reason to read this. And today’s post...

Contemporary Instrumental Rock has always been on the outside looking in, indifferent to trends, deferential to personal connection and probably, by its own admission, a little bit nerdy (in the best possible way.)

Totally hot new spot from Nike. As soon as I saw this for the first time — rather, as soon as I heard it (I was away from the TV) — I knew this was a new Nike spot. They consistently utilize top notch music supervision. I’m lucky enough to be one of a select few to have...

So imagine my surprise -- thinking Red Snapper had gone the way of so many bands before them -- when a brand new record shows up in my mailbox from Red Snapper. The original Red Snapper.

“How did I not know about this group?!” It’s one of the most satisfying questions music fans can ask themselves. You work hard to follow an artist, group, or label, constantly staying on top of releases yet still an entire project can exist under your astute radar. Such is...

Michigan-based ensemble Nomo are back with their newest, Ghost Rock, just in time for the summer heatwaves that will undoubtedly settle upon us. I know I have today’s post categorized under “afrobeat” but the truth is that Nomo’s sound is much broader, fusing...

Introspective track today I guess. Just heard word that our friends Adam and Amy had a baby a few days ago and my old friends Pete and Tracy should be bringing their first into the world any minute now. All this new life, these literal positive changes in the fortunes of parents and their...

I’m glad that advanced album PR seems to have shifted almost entirely to the digital realm. Sure, I still get the occasional CD or 7″ sent over, but the majority of correspondence has clearly moved toward email. It makes discovery that much easier, when all a prospective writer or...

Here’s a nerd fantasy for you: Tortoise covering Boards of Canada’s “Roygbiv” with Quincy Jones producing. Yeah, it’s totally unrealistic, perhaps even a slight bit musically incongruous, but I don’t give a fuck. I think that would be sick. It is just a...

Happy to report that longtime SK favorite and fellow Brooklyn resident Eliot Lipp has a new album slated for release on March 4th on Mush records, home of Bibio, Lymbyc Systym, Caural, et al. His last LP, Tacoma Mockingbird was one of last year’s gems, a brilliant collection of...

The d_rradio guys (pronounced D-R-radio) are definitely from the SK oldschool and we are happy to announce their next full-length, self-titled opus will be on its way to your ears in March via UK imprint Distraction Records. We’ve been online friends for sometime (check this old post...

Tommy Guerrero, Gadget and Monte Vallier are Jet Black Crayon. The story goes that Guerrero was asked to open for Isotope 217 way back when and instead of playing solo, he tapped his boys to play as Jet Black Crayon. And years later, the trio — with the occasional helping hand from a...

Stumbled across these guys after recently watching the fantastic documentary Helvetica. You’d expect a full length feature about a font to drag, but the combination of compelling interviews and beautiful photography with a standout soundtrack made it one of my favorite documentaries of...

You may remember that a while back I was given a number of demo tracks from Ben Mullins, former member of Midwest Product and currently in PostPrior (both essential Ghostly International artists) to post. That was one of the more commented upon recent posts and I received quite a few emails...

More familiar perhaps as the A/V wizards behind the Ninja Clan’s more memorable live performances, Robin Brunson and Stuart Warren-Hill return with their first full-length LP since 2004′s tragically underrated Master View. Even casual electronic music fans know that much has...

The prolific Guillermo Scott Heren, man of many pseudonyms, is back with yet another release under his most noteworthy guise, Prefuse 73. One of the forefathers of the glitch-hop sound — an abstract, mostly instrumental and regularly angular take on hip-hop’s standard 4/4 —...

Scissorkick loves it some instrumental goodness — especially of the punk-prog-metal variety — and that’s just what was delivered when the newest LP from Temporary Residence’s Sleeping People showed up in the mailbox. Growing is the second record from the San...

I know I tend to wax poetic about Brooklyn’s Studio BPM, but in New York City, where people obsess over finding the next, best thing, it’s always important to value what’s happening right now. Not to be confused with Studio B in Greenpoint, Studio BPM is a lesser known...