Queens-based experimental rock duo Blues Control, composed of Russ Waterhouse on guitars and electronics and keyboardist Lea Cho, established themselves in NY with exciting live shows and a series of self released cassettes and vinyl.

Evan Shornstein, known as Photay, has a talent for melody, but rhythm is at the heart of everything he does. He’s been playing the drums since elementary school, and the name Photay actually stems from an eye- opening trip to Guinea with his drum teachers. As a producer, he combines digital and analog, blurring the lines between “real” and electronic instrumentation.

Formed in 2003, Brooklyn based indie band Crystal Stilts has cultivated a myriad of influences over the last decade and half playing and recording together. In 2011 they made their Sacred Bones debut with the EP Radiant Door, following it up with the soul and folk influenced album Nature Noir in 2013.

Purple Mountains, the last project of late Silver Jews singer David Berman, released after a decade of absence from the music industry and a month prior to his tragic passing, was a clever, occasionally somber tribute to the country-rock traditions that had guided much of Berman’s career.

Lucrecia Dalt, a former geotechnical engineer, crafts experimental compositions with contemporary electronic sounds, traditional South American rhythms and evocative lyrics. Her latest album, ¡Ay!, channels innate sensory echoes of growing up in Colombia.

Born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, Borusiade aka Miruna Boruzescu started DJing in 2002 as one of the very few female DJs in the city’s emerging alternative clubbing scene.

Dean Hurley is a sound and music supervisor who has worked with Daivd Lynch and Zola Jesus. Gloria de Oliveira is a multidisciplinary visual artist and musician who has composed for the theater and for London Fashion week. Their collaboration Oceans of Time combines impressionistic synths, shimmering guitars, and ethereal sonics in a beautiful dream-pop synthesis.

Wand is a metal-influenced psych rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2013 by Cory Hanson, the group’s early releases feature hints of sludge and heavy metal, later giving way to more melodic synths. A lineup expansion in 2016 brought an improvised, jam-style to the band’s songwriting which coincided with a transition towards a more expansive, classic rock sound.

Today we take off to Brooklyn record label Mexican Summer, with music from Photay, Sessa, and Jessica Pratt.

Xymox, later known as Clan of Xymox, was founded in the Netherlands, in 1983 by Ronny Moorings (Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizers) and Anka Wolbert (Vocals, Bass). In 2014, Dark Entries reissued the band's pre-4AD EP, Subsequent Pleasures, a unique fusion of lush psychedelia and dark, angular atmospherics.

What world, REALLY are Matt Sweeney and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy from? A place of all-music, knowing no borders, no morals other than natural tribal lines to be violated in the name of love and light, for all together.

Nebulous and with an ever-changing roster of collaborators, Palace, was an anti-folk folk rock project. As the musical debut of influential Louisville singer/songwriter Will Oldham, the “group’s” inconsistent name scheme reflects the constant ebb and flow of collaborators in Oldham’s life.

Zola Jesus is the alter ego of Nika Roza Danilova, known for her expressive and powerful voice and dark, atmospheric music. Her latest album Arkhon unleashes her “submerged, stalled pain.”

Chilean psych band Föllakzoid, known for their hypnotic rhythms and Andean folk and krautrock influences, was formed by childhood friends Diego Lorca, Domingo García-Huidobro, and Juan Pablo Rodríguez in 2008 as a trance experience, jamming on a single song for two hours in their first practice session. This free-form approach to playing and performing influenced their early output, working for years on their self-titled Sacred Bones debut EP released in 2011.

Rimarimba is the brainchild of Robert Cox, a British self-taught classical guitarist. His music is built on synth loops, interesting electronic sonorities, melodic counterpoint and humor.

Generative tools and software-based sonics from duo Visible Cloaks.

Haunting folk noise and cinematic textures from experimental producer Michael Anderson.

Patrick Cowley was an innovative American disco producer and composer originating from Buffalo, NY. Best known for his production on Sylvester’s explosive hit “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” as well as his own chart topping dance tracks.

Dope Body are a Baltimore area post-punk noise rock group. Their Drag City debut, Natural History, a reference to the venue that first hosted the group for a one-off, meshed the band’s myriad sonic influences into an intense 35 minute experience. After briefly breaking up in 2016, the band reformed in 2019, culminating in two full length releases in 2020.

Born to a family of fiddlers in Texas, film actor Caleb Landry Jones was instead drawn to the psychedelia of Syd Barrett’s solo work. Throughout his acting career he remained steadfast in his commitment to recording music, amassing hundreds of demos out of his family barn. Director, musician and Sacred Bones collaborator Jim Jarmusch heard these demos and suggested Jones approach the label, culminating in the release of his debut album The Mother Stone in 2020.

His fellow musicians call him “Fitzy” a term of both affection and respect. Born March 27, 1970, in the Canadian province of Manitoba, the hockey loving multi-instrumentalist is always busy. In his long, eclectic career, he has worked with Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, Theory of a Deadman, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil, Union, Gene Simmons, The Guess Who, Brad Whitford from Aerosmith, Derek St Holmes, and Ronnie Montrose just to name a few. This caffeinated conversation took place at our mutual favorite, Star Wars-themed local coffee house, Grouchy John’s, just days before he hit the road for a three-month European stint with the Dead Daisies. He is truly a prince in a land of few gentlemen.

Cursive’s core trio of Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, and Ted Stevens formed in 1995 and has since developed into one of the most consistent and ambitious bands in post-hardcore. Their latest album Devourer, the first for stalwart indie label Run for Cover, explores new territory within their iconic sound and features a suite of horror-themed music videos including the one for “Bloodbather” directed by Chelsea Stardust and starring Stranger Things’ Shannon Purser and Westworld’s Aurora Perrineau.

Red Axes are the Tel Aviv-based electronic duo of Dori Sadovnik and Niv Arzi whose sound is heavily influenced by the music of post-punk and new wave bands from the 80s.

The first thing you notice about Weyes Blood’s third record for Mexican Summer, Front Row Seat to Earth, is its closeness. The music is immediate and warm with an intimate feeling. Active in underground music since 2006, Natalie Mering [MER-RING], the being behind Weyes Blood, sings sublimely. There is a faded California beauty to Merin’s music and a gentle honesty that recalls the finest folk music made on the West Coast of the ‘70s.

The ‘intuitive gesture’ of action painting in drum form from Greg Fox.

Silver Jews was an American rock band formed in Hoboken by David Berman and Pavement members Stephen Malkmus and Bob Nastanovich. Inspired by the conceptual art at the Whitney Museum where Berman worked as a security guard, they would record their earliest tracks on the answering machines of friends.

Drab Majesty, the project of Deb DeMure, blends New Wave and early 4AD sound into a “hypnotic and futuristic originality.”

Today we’re looking at independent record label Sacred Bones, including music videos from Lust for Youth, Lathe of Heaven and Khanate.

Brooding romanticism expressed through unforgettable hooks and expansive sounds from Dais Record's Death Bells.

Zola Jesus is the decade-long solo project of Nika Roza Danilova, featuring dark, haunting lyrics and mesmerizing and ever changing electronic production. Danilova’s earliest output was characterized by noisy, lofi percussion and synths paired with her airy, ascendant vocal. She would quickly begin moving away from this sound, instead opting to create her own interpretations of pop music, progressively experimenting with cleaner production and working with artists like M83 and Prefuse 73. A longtime friend of Sacred Bones, her most recent release for the label, Okovi, arrived in 2017.

Sonically dense and inspired by art rockers like Scott Walker and Robert Wyatt, The Fresh & Only’s guitarist Wymond Miles’ solo output is decidedly somber and draped in layers of reverb. In 2012 Miles’ released his first pieces of material including his debut album Under The Pale Moon, returning the following year with the similarly psychedelic, Cut Yourself Free. After a brief hiatus, he returned to the studio with a new creative direction, recording 2016’s Call by Night, drawing influences from gospel and country.

For Iron & Wine’s seventh record, Light Verse, songwriter Sam Beam takes a more playful turn with songs borne out of joy and lightness.

A Shoegaze pedigree with smoky compulsions of post-punk and no-wave influences.

Tonight we take off to Sub Pop, one of the most legendary names in alternative music, with songs by Bully, J. Mascis, and Washed Out.

Liverpool-based artist Dialect, or Andrew PM Hunt, explores unusual source synthesis, electro-acoustic arrangements, and sound found in foreign environments.

A conversation with Genesis Breyer P-Orridge discussing he/r friendship with William S. Burroughs and the original creation of the album "Nothing Here Now but the Recordings." Dais Records reissues of William S. Burrough's experimental works are available now.

Industrial punk band Pop. 1280, named after a pulpy Jim Thompson story about a corrupt, deceptive and murderous Texas lawman, was founded by Chris Bug and Ivan Lip as a method of exploring their darker, somewhat sinister musical ideas. Their first song, “Bedbugs” would lay the groundwork for their next release, an EP called The Grid, which they followed up with the full-length The Horror, both on Sacred Bones. Their haunting, guitar heavy sound would slowly give way to more refined harmonies and clean polished keys, especially on their grim 2020 album Way Station.

Ski Patrol were a band formed in 1979 in the Brixton area in response to the darkwave and post-punk bands that were gaining popularity in England at the time.

Oz Fox, born Richard Alfonso Martinez on June 18, 1961, is a founding member and lead guitarist of the Christian metal band Stryper. He was recruited by childhood pals, Robert and Michael Sweet, in 1983. He has recorded and toured with the band – through breakups and brain surgery – for forty years. Our friendship has grown since the pandemic when we began meeting monthly for brunch at his beloved Cracker Barrel. Oz is partial to pancakes with sliced apples. He brings his own special Canadian maple syrup.

The uncompromisingly heavy Seattle pioneers Mudhoney return with a sharp and funny new album about “the connection we make with other living things.”

The Texas-born, L.A.-based singer and songwriter Jess Williamson makes deeply felt songs that orbit around her powerful voice. In her most recent album for Mexican Summer, 2020's Sorceress, that voice is surrounded by a deep-hued kaleidoscope of dusty ‘70s cinema, ‘90s country music, and breezy West Coast psychedelia. Here's the video for "Wild Rain," directed by Williamson herself.

Black Marble, Chris Stewart’s 80s influenced synth-pop group, began releasing music in 2012 with the EP The Weight Against the Door and later the gloomy full length A Different Arrangement. This moody atmosphere, created by an arsenal of analog synths, would later give way to lighter and warmer sounds on Stewart’s successive releases, including 2019’s Bigger Than Life and 2021’s Fast Idol, both on Sacred Bones.

Margaret Chardiet’s industrial noise project Pharmakon blends slow rhythmic beats with guttural synth blasts and wailing vocals that are as disquieting as they are hypnotizing. Her live shows have been described as confrontational, interrogating the division between performer and audience, an emotional trance-like experience she has attempted to recreate on her more recent albums, 2017’s Contact and 2019’s Devour, released on Sacred Bones.

Alan Vega, visual artist and frontman of punk pioneer duo Suicide, passed away in 2016 after a 50 year career in art and music. In addition to his musical output, Vega’s sculpture work gave him a notorious reputation in the New York art world, later opening a 24-hour gallery space that would go on to serve as an early venue for bands like the New York Dolls, Television and Blondie.

Horse Lords is Owen Gardner, Andrew Bernstein, Max Eilbacher, and Sam Haberman, an instrumental quartet formed in 2010. Its music is defined by repetition and complexity, “humanized with exploration and passion.”

Flore Laurentienne is the vessel of Quebec-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Mathieu David Gagnon. The classically trained musician incorporates elements of post-minimalism, early progressive rock, and the compositional art of fugue into his work.

Executive Slacks was spawned in Philadelphia by three restless art students in the early 1980s. Starting out with performance art in subways, they soon took their angst-ridden act to galleries and nightclubs. Dripping in nihilism, Executive Slacks' unique brew of primitive electronics, harsh guitars and aggressive vocals inspired many bands like Ministry, Front 242 and Skinny Puppy.

“Take Off” to Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop featuring music videos from Orville Peck, Shannon Lay, Father John Misty and Lael Neale.

Lust For Youth is a synth pop duo currently composed of Swedish and Danish producers Hannes Norrvide and Malthe Fischer. As a solo act Norrvide’s Lust For Youth was largely dark and lonely minimalist synth that verged on harsh noise, but with the expansion of the lineup the group’s releases on Sacred Bones are more associated with the catchy songs about heartbreak, most notably channeling elements of New Order and Pet Shop Boys.

Tempers is a New York based synth-pop duo whose rigorous electronic production is paired with instinctual, unleashed vocals. The pair released their debut album Services on the cult German imprint Aufnahme + Wiedergabe and quickly became staples in both European and American synth-pop scenes.

The Soft Moon is the project by American singer-songwriter Luis Vasquez. 2022’s Exister is a powerful, vulnerably therapeutic post-punk masterpiece.

Enigmatic cowboy crooner Orville Peck. Featuring songs from his 2019 Sub Pop debut "Pony."

Death Bells is the longtime musical collaboration of Will Canning and Remy Veselis, two Australians who moved to Los Angeles in 2018. Their music blurs the lines between post-punk and grunge, and their latest EP “Take My Spirit Now” explores “love, paranoia and destiny.”

Formed in New Brunswick, NJ in 2005, Screaming Females is Marissa Paternoster, Mike Abbate, and Jarrett Dougherty, known for a hearty mix of indie, alt, punk and stoner-rock. Their latest album, Desire Pathway, is bright and full, capturing the band at a time when nothing was certain other than their abiding desire to make music together.

Man Man’s charismatic frontman Honus Honus felt a renewed sense of creative purpose on 2024’s Carrot on Strings, with clever and sharp new songs.