Earlier this fall, the self-titled LP from Seattle’s somesurprises hit record stores and digital services around the country. somesurprises began as the solo project of Natasha El-Sergany and has gradually begun involving other musicians; the result is a group that creates textured, haunting music that clicks on multiple levels. Following a fall tour, I talked with El-Sergany about the creation of the band’s new album, their time on the road, and more.
Sometimes happy accidents are very real. A few years ago, I was at Basilica Soundscape when I happened upon a performance in a smaller space away from the main building. I had absolutely no idea what I was witnessing: something chaotic yet rhythmic, something that felt deeply new in a way I wasn’t expecting. The name of the band was Gold Dime; its founder, Andrya Ambro, had previously played in Talk Normal. Now, Gold Dime’s second album, My House, is out in the world. I talked with Ambro about how it came together, their recent tour, and her approach to songwriting.
Chloe is working on the watercolor—the same one, she tells me, she’d been meaning to finish for something like two years and is almost done working on, on the day before she heads out on tour for two weeks, though she tells me she’ll be done soon, working on the circular living room table with its set of chairs that looks like they could be from the sixties, like chartreuse seashells, while the CDs of The Low & Low, like their own sorts of shells, are all in their cases in the living room, having arrived in the mail not too long ago, to start shipping to everyone who preordered them—while I’m remembering the last time I had heard about someone who could turn water into something more than water.
The great Polish postpunk band Trupa Trupa begin their tour of the United States this week, and will be playing at Union Pool on Tuesday. We interviewed them earlier this year about their new album Of the Sun, and we’re thrilled to be premiering the video for the title song today.
What happens when two supremely talented musicians collaborate on a new recording, and then throw some poetry into the mix? That’s the case with Broken Fall, the new album from Kid Millions and Sarah Bernstein. Millions demonstrates his fondness for frenetic rhythms, while Bernstein summons up fantastically atmospheric sounds with her violin and voice, creating a haunting and unpredictable sound from beginning to end. I talked with both musicians about the process of making this one, how it relates to their prior work, and how they got some of the album’s most distinctive sounds to emerge.
The music made by Polish post-punks Trupa Trupa finds a haunting balance between intensity and off-beat melodies, even as the group’s lyrics juxtapose the absurd with the harrowing. Their next album, Of the Sun, is due out next month on Lovitt Records, and they’ll be touring the US in October — including a stop at Union Pool on October 8. I talked with singer-guitarist Grzegorz Kwiatkowski about the group’s music, his poetry, and the place where they all converge.
Given the current state of the world, it comes as little surprise that 2019 has brought with it an abundance of great music that could be described as “politically charged.” Perhaps a bit more surprising? That so much of this music that wrestles with politics and the condition of modern society blends heady concepts with music that neatly soundtracks frenetic dance moves. Such is the case with Washington, DC’s Gauche, whose long-awaited debut album was released this month on Merge Records. I talked with Gauche’s Daniele Yandel about the band’s new album, A People’s History of Gauche, science fiction, and songs about conspiracy theories.
Moments of Resonance, the debut album from Munich-based saxophonist and composer Ralph Heidel and his band Homo Ludens, is the sort of work that eludes easy categorization. At times, Heidel’s work finds a fine middle ground between minimalist composition and post-rock; at others, there’s a more lush and sweeping element to the music. I talked with Heidel about the album’s genesis, the role of improvisation in his music, and more.