Tag Archives: alternative

Michael Boezi – No Love Songs, Vol. 2

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description: These songs invite progressive, collectivist, and non-confrontational reflection as an antidote to the years of programming and propaganda we all endure. Let’s help each other UNLEARN. Let’s afford each other the space to grow. //

SONG SUMMARY:
01. Knocks – Finding the energy to take positive action
02. I Gotta Go – How life goes on amid daily horrors
03. Temperature Drop – How no one’s coming to save us
04. Last Song – How AI art & music will change us
05. Read Me Out – Turning the page on the Boomer’s world
06. Nothing Left – Silence will speak on your behalf if you don’t
07. Doing Any Good – How advocating for change is depleting
08. Fever – How to develop empathy for the victims of disinformation
09. The Recidivist – How old habits and ideas imprison us
10. Graveyard of Good Intentions – We’re fighting the wrong battle
11. Cheap Seats – How to deal with the “Billionaire Problem”
12. Wipe Right Out – How you won’t listen to me anyway

We are waking up one by one. The algorithms will try to keep us apart because this is what those in power fear the most – that we learn from each other’s experiences. //

This is why art is so important. Stories and narratives are the only way to create positive change. So we come together around art. And conversation. And solidarity. And big ideas. //

Positive change is a collective effort. Individualism is our common enemy. //

PRAISE:
“My pick for this week is the just released ‘No Love Songs Volume 2.’ Singer/songwriter/guitarist Michael Boezi and a bunch of fine musicians bring us a great collection of songs about the unfortunate state of the world.

Despite the subject matter, which is presented through great lyrics and excellent instrumentation, the album is not depressing, because it’s a perfect example of how art is essential in hard times, of how we can work through chaos by using our creativity.”

— Aaron Smith (source: BlueSky)

CREDITS:
Lyrics and music by Michael Boezi

PERFORMERS:
Michael Boezi: Voice, guitars on all songs
Dave Brophy: Drums & percussion on all songs
Joe McMahon: Bass guitar on all songs
Andrew Stern: Lead guitar on 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Andrew Stern: 12-string guitar on 8, 9
Andrew Stern: Slide guitar on 12
Britt Connors: Backing vocals on 3, 6, 8
James Rohr: Wurlitzer on 3, piano on 6
Andy Santospago: Pedal steel guitar on 1, lap steel on 4
Aaron DeGraff: Backing vocals on 9
Dave Brophy: Backing vocals on 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12
Peter Fernandez: Rhodes on 1, 2, 9
Peter Fernandez: Organ on 1, 2, 5, 8, 9
Peter Fernandez: Synth & other keyboards on 1, 5
Andrew Stern: Triangle on 2
Dave Brophy: Organ on 7

PRODUCTION:
Recorded at Studio Solitaire in Somerville, MA
All songs engineered by Dave Brophy
Backing vocals engineered by Mike Connors on 3, 6, 8

Arranged by Michael Boezi and Dave Brophy
Produced by Michael Boezi and Dave Brophy
Mixed and mastered by Dave Brophy
Cover photograph by Michael Boezi
Cover design by Michael Boezi

Cover image:
Title: [Emma Gillingham Bostwick, half-length portrait of a woman, three-quarters to left, facing three-quarters to right]
Artist: Mathew B. Brady
Date: Between 1851 and 1860
Source: Library of Congress
Underlying Rights: Public Domain Worldwide

℗&© 2025 Control Mouse Media, LLC
Published by Control Mouse Media, LLC, Boston, MA. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable copyright laws. UPC: 057829394049

Publisher IPI: 1126697538 (ASCAP)
Michael Boezi IPI: 1126697636 (ASCAP)

Irata – Human (Small Stone Records)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description: Since its 2007 genesis at the hands of founding members Jon Case and Jason Ward, Irata has mutated relentlessly. Through four previous records, the band has never sat idly in any specific style, while maintaining a signature mesmerizing, grinding pulse between bass and drums that permeates an enigmatic vision of heavy rock. After releasing ‘Tower’ in 2019 as a four-piece, Irata is once again a trio, and continues to push forward into new sonic territories.

On ‘Human,’ the band is building on the structures that have created some of its enduring favorites — namely, thundering bass riffs, hypnotic drums, and grandiose choruses. They do not sacrifice expression for refinement, but manage to have it both ways. Their progression is evident in the patience with which “Altar” leads off, a melodic confidence that overarches the eight included songs, and the atmospheres in pieces like “Slipped” (see “pulse…” above) and the expansive finale “Daystar,” but none of ‘Human’ is so overblown as to give up its organically dynamic nature.

And perhaps in an era marked by the advent of machine-made art, ‘Human’ can be as much a statement of purpose as a declaration of self. In any case, with this collection of songs, Irata’s focus on vocal melody and intricate riffing distinguish them from a crowded underground sphere. The record moves as two sides of one image, opening with reflections of a final chapter, and closing with reflections of a new beginning through transformation; a story being told as it’s lived. What could be more human than that?

‘Human’ was recorded with longtime friends Hunter Allen and Adam Joyce of The Bronzed Chorus at Amplified Acres in Liberty, NC, and mixed by J. Robbins at The Magpie Cage in Baltimore, MD.

RIYL: Jane’s Addiction, The Smashing Pumpkins, King Buffalo, Helmet, Shiner, SHUN, All Them Witches 

Irata is:
Jason Ward: drums, keys, vox
Jon Case: bass, vox
Owen Burd: vox, guitar, keys

Recording engineered by Hunter Allen with assistance from Adam Joyce at Amplified Acres in Liberty, NC.
Additional production at The 68 Sound in Greensboro, NC.
Mixed by J. Robbins at the Magpie Cage in Baltimore, MD.
Mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio in New Windsor, NY.
All music written by Irata.
Lyrics by Owen Burd except “Seeds” by Jon Case.
Produced by Irata with Hunter Allen and Adam Joyce.
Artwork by Will Hackley.
Layout by Stacie Shands.

Published by Small Stone Records (ASCAP) / SH Small Stone Music (BMI)

Anna von Hausswolff – ICONOCLASTS (Year0001)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

1st Issue CD available via shop.year0001.com

credits

released October 31, 2025

Released by YEAR0001
A&R Oskar Ekman

‘ICONOCLASTS’
Written by Anna von Hausswolff
Produced by Anna von Hausswolff & Filip Leyman
Tracks 1, 5, 8-9 Written with Otis Sandsjö
Tracks 5, 8-9 Written with Filip Leyman
Tracks 5, 9 Written with David Sabel
Track 10 Written with Abul Mogard

Vocals on Tracks 2-7, 9-11 by Anna von Hausswolff
Vocals on Track 4 by Iggy Pop
Vocals on Track 7 by Ethel Cain
Vocals on Track 11 by Maria Von Hausswolff

Church Organ on Tracks 1-9, 11-12 by Anna von Hausswolff

Guitar on Tracks 6, 9 by Anna von Hausswolff
Guitar on Tracks 3-4, 9 by Filip Leyman
Guitar on Tracks 2-3, 5-6, 9 by Joel Fabiansson
Acoustic Guitar on Track 4 by Karl Vento
Bass Guitar on Tracks 2-3, 5-6, 9 by David Sabel

Drums & Percussion on Tracks 2-5, 7, 9, 11 by Filip Leyman
Drums on Tracks 3, 6 by Love Meyerson

Synthesizer on Tracks 1-9, 11-12 by Filip Leyman

Saxophone on Tracks 1-3, 5-9, 11 by Otis Sandsjö
Clarinet on Tracks 3,5,7,9,11 by Otis Sandsjö

Strings on Track 4 Performed & Arranged by Samuel Runsteen

String Ensemble on Tracks 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
Violins by Jenny Jonsson, Alexander Chojecki, Annie Svedund, Charlotta Grahn-Wetter
Viola by Märta Eriksson
Cello by Lisa Reuter
Double Bass by Viktor Reuter
With String Arrangements by Martin Schaub
Track 9 Arranged with Anna von Hausswolff

Woodwinds on Tracks 1, 3, 5, 8 Arranged by Anna von Hausswolff & Otis Sandsjö
Woodwinds on Tracks 7, 11 Arranged by Anna von Hausswolff

Electronics on Track 10 by Abul Mogard

Recorded at Leyman Studio, Svenska Grammofonstudion, Candy Bomber, Annedal Church, Örgryte New Church & Vinberg Church
Engineered by Filip Leyman, Oskar Lindberg, Ingo Krauss
Mixed by Sven Johansson (Tracks 1-9, 11), Filip Leyman (Tracks 1, 12) & Abul Mogard (Track 10)
Mastered by Magnus Lindberg

Creative Direction by André Jofré
Art Direction by Victor Svedberg
Photography by Evalena von Hausswolff
Artwork by Lotta Antonsson

Cate Le Bon – Michelangelo Dying (Mexican Summer)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description: Its creation led by pure emotion, Cate Le Bon’s seventh record Michelangelo Dying usurped the album she thought she was making. The product of all- consuming heartache, her feelings overrode her reluctance to write an album about love, and in the process became a kind of exorcism. What emerges is a wonderfully iridescent attempt to photograph a wound before it closes up but which in doing so, picks at it too.

Musically, there is a continuation and expansion of a sound a machine with a heart that has taken shape over her last two records (2019s Reward and 2022s Pompeii) as Le Bon has increasingly taken control of the playing and producing herself. As guitars and saxophones are pushed through pedals and percussion and voices are fed through filters, an iridescent, green and silky sound emerges, with flashes of the artistic singularities of David Bowie, Nico, John McGeoch and Laurie Anderson surfacing and disappearing below the waterline throughout.

What were left with is an ever-changing, continuous entity, a kind of song cycle. Each iteration reflects and progresses the last, each one a shard of the same broken mirror shifting, glinting, concealing and revealing, depending on how it is turned in the light. There are ultimately, Cate asserts, No revelations. No conclusions. There is no reason. There is repetition and chaos. I eventually allowed myself a vacant mind to experience it without resistance and without searching for a revelation or order to any of it.

An exercise in the viscerality(sic) of life, of love, of humanity for both listener and artist, Michelangelo Dying knows what it is to hold, to be held, and to be exquisitely, profoundly alone. “The characters are interchangeable” concludes Cate, “but at the end of it all, its me meeting myself.” 

Bardo Pond – Volumes 4 & 5 (Fire Records)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description: A double LP package from Bardo Pond, combining two of their super rare jam volumes on vinyl for the first time. A further edition in this celebrated series, ‘Volume 4’ and ‘Volume 5’ feature more freeform improvisational pieces from the hypnotic Philadelphia outfit.
Capturing the raw essence of the band, whose fearless exploration blurs the lines between structure, chaos, melody and noise. Bardo Pond’s music traverses space rock, acid rock, post-rock, shoegaze, noise, Krautrock and psychedelia.
‘Volume 4’ hails from self-released sessions recorded in January 2002, its five tracks include the supremely tripped out heaviness of ‘K2’ and the balance-shifting ‘New Drunks (Revisited)’ with Isobel Sollenberger’s exquisite and, frankly, quite disturbing vocal. They’re shorter interrogations of sound by Bardo terms, almost succinct in their mesmerising riffage and off-kilter arrangements.
By contrast, ‘Volume 5’ consists of two lengthy mantras recorded between 2000 and 2004 and released as the tape spool spiralled out. ‘FUFO’ sounds like Cluster unravelling with Merzbow mixing, a post-industrial slew of hypnotic proportions, while ‘Monarch’ begins as a Current 93-like neo-folk mood piece before evolving into a wailing slice of drone-drenched Americana by way of a Velvets’ jam.
“We were pushing improvisations as far as we could. It was glorious having the studio. The more that our heads were spinning after a session, the better we knew that session would sound when we listened back. We were getting together two nights a week, usually three or four hours working on material and songs and the other half the time letting loose. Volumes 4 and 5 gather together some of these improvisations, and one early song that we felt like doing.” Adds Michael Gibbons of Bardo Pond.

“One of underground rock’s most extraordinary enigmas, a majestic command of sound.” The Quietus 

Sir Richard Bishop – Hillbilly Ragas (Drag City)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description: Our favorite six-string shaman is waving that axe around again! Sir Richard Bishop wrenches forth fresh damnable truth and beauty from a musical kamikaze run through histories both known and unknown. Turning a gimlet eye to the American Primitive guitar style, Sir Rick applies his own bloodthirsty interpretive methods on a self-described “excursion into the dark woods,” to locate – and play along with – the Primitive’s moonshine-fed inner savage.