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.

Dublin musician and former JJ72 bassist Hilary Woods returned to music after over a decade of hiatus in 2014 with melodic and airy keyboard-based songs inspired by the cinematic works of auteurs like Wong Kar-Wai and Chris Marker. Expanding on these ideas and incorporating more atmospheric electronic sounds, her full-length solo debut Colt arrived on Sacred Bones in 2018, followed by 2020’s Birthmarks.

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.

Vår, formerly known as War, was a lofi post-punk act from Copenhagen. The group drew influences from darkwave and goth groups of the early 80s with blown-out, lo-fi recording techniques associated with the early 2010s. Vår’s Sacred Bones, No One Dances Quite Like My Brothers, arrived in 2013 and the group disbanded the following year.

Australian Singer/Songwriter Indigo Sparke was born into a musical family and knew from a young age she wanted to perform. After teaching herself guitar, Indigo began establishing herself in the Sydney-music scene with quiet but commanding folk music, releasing her debut EP Night Bloom in 2016. Over the next few years Sparke would continue to build her profile in the contemporary folk world. Her first full-length album Echo arrived in 2021 on Sacred Bones.

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.

Luis Vasquez's industrial, post-punk solo project, the Soft Moon, marries the haunting sounds of Bauhaus and Joy Division with a stripped-down approach to production and recording. Channeling his Afro-Cuban heritage and upbringing in the Mojave Desert, Vasquez’ first full-length, a self-titled LP arrived shortly after his debut singles “Breathe the Fire” and “Parallels'' in 2010. Honing his singing and songwriting over the decade with consistent and ambitious records, the Soft Moon’s first album with Sacred Bones, Criminal, was released in 2018.

Formed by singer and guitarist Ryan Rousseau, Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout in 2000, Destruction Unit are a psychedelic punk band based out of Phoenix known for their tumultuous sound featuring distorted, fuzzy-guitars, loud vocals and aggressive drums.

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.

Jeremiah Sand was the charismatic leader of the Children of the New Dawn, a cult that descended upon a California recording studio in the 1970s to create Sand’s ultimate, psychedelic masterpiece. Not much is known of what transpired at the recording studio where these sessions took place, except that one night, Sand awoke the studio owner in the middle of the night at gunpoint and forced him to hide the master tapes in a lockbox until he returned. Decades passed and Sand was never heard from again, but in 2018 wildfires revealed a box in the ruins of the studio that contained a short film, esoteric artwork, and 50 year old album, Lift It Down.

The garage rock trio of Timmy Vulgar, Blake Hill and Jeff Fournier better known as Timmy’s Organism started as an experimental solo project for the group’s frontman that quickly twisted and morphed into a full-fledged punk band. Their first full-length, Rise of the Green Gorilla, arrived on Sacred Bones in 2010 followed by the 2012 album Raw Sewage Roq.

Longtime collaborators David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti started recording under the name Thought Gang in 1991. 25 years later, the spiritual jazz and spoken word recordings have resurfaced as a self-titled album on Sacred Bones.

Luca Yupanqui began recording music when she was literally in the womb. The child of musicians Elizabeth Hart and Iván Diaz Mathé, the pair began recording their unborn child with biosonic MIDI technology Diaz Mathé compared to a polygraph. After her parents spent 2020 mixing the album “respecting the sounds as they were produced”, Luca made her Sacred Bone’s debut in 2021 with Sounds of the Unborn, described as an “expression of life in its cosmic state.”

Exploded View’s surreal mix of post-punk and krautrock reflects the makeup of the band and it’s member’s solo projects. Founded by British-German singer-songwriter Annika Henderson and Mexico City-based musicians Martin Thulin and Hugo Quezada the group made it’s haunting self-titled debut on Sacred Bones in 2016, followed by the more focused sophomore release Obey in 2018.

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.

Founding member of Cyrpress Hill, DJ Muggs, a producer synonymous with hazy, horror-tinged hip hop of the 1990s, has made a name for himself over the years with his prolific and varied output across genres including dancehall, alt rock and trip-hop. Born Lawrence Muggerud in Queens before moving to LA as a teenager, Muggs began DJing in the 1980s, producing seminal rap hits like House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and Ice Cube’s “Check Yo Self.” His debut record on Sacred Bones, Dies Occidendum was released in 2021.

Brisbane garage rock band Slug Guts exploded onto the australian punk scene with the first album Down on the Meat, recorded and released only months after they started playing together in 2009. The band returned in 2011 on Sacred Bones with the full-length Howlin’ Gang, self-described as “menacingly desperate, ugly, and malnourished” this ethos would carry the band into their final LP, Playin’ in Time With the Deadbeat. Recorded in a year in which many of the band's members experienced significant personal turmoil, the group finally called it quits in 2013.

Institute, the Austin based punk outfit founded by Moses Brown and Arak Avakian of Glue, Adam Cahoon of Wiccans, exploded onto the Texas punk scene in 2013 with lyrics of personal struggles and a dark and streamlined sound that they would continue to hone over the years. Their debut full-length, Catharsis, arrived on Sacred Bones in 2015 and featured cleaner production with broader influences, expanding on their anarchic post-punk sound.

In 2020 Kentucky-based singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle, known for her brand of dark and expressive post-rock, teamed up with Louisiana metal band Thou for one of the most interesting collaborative projects of the year. May Our Chambers Be Full, released on Sacred Bones, channelling Rundle’s brooding lyrics and Thou’s atmospheric sludge into a record that showcases the DIY versatility of both parties.

Legendary Japanese heavy rock group Boris “continue their musical creation and destruction” with 2022’s W, their first release with Sacred Bones.

Texas-born musician and actor Caleb Landry Jones makes psychedelic music that “reaches into the cosmic realm of imagination.”

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.

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

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.”

Let’s “Take Off” to Sacred Bones, an American indie label founded in 2007 in Brooklyn, New York by Caleb Braaten. Throughout much of the label's history the focus was on dark, experimental sounds, signing Braaten’s friends dark punk bands and reissuing 80s post-punk from acts like 13th Chime and The Cultural Decay. The label’s current roster represents a wide-range of international artists creating music in a variety of genres and styles, with a focus on psych, folk, punk and experimental music.

Bill Callahan's new album YTI⅃AƎЯ arrives via Drag City on October 14th, '22. Night Flight's official video profile now includes the visual for lead single Coyotes, a so-called "lyric video" with a dark twist. After years of releasing acclaimed lofi folk-rock albums under the name Smog, Bill Callahan has been recording and releasing music under his own name since 2007. This critically-acclaimed work has mixed his largely acoustic sound with elements of gospel, soul and pop.

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.

Magik Markers member Elisa Ambrogio released her pop-influenced solo debut The Immoralist on Drag City in 2014. The album paired her soft and distant vocals with pop arrangements, all imparted with the rough textures of her noise rock roots.

Cheerful West Coast punk rock trio Flat Worms are known for combining garage punk sensibilities and energy with indie rocker wit. Will Ivy recruited bassist Tim Hellman, formerly of Thee Oh Sees, and Babies drummer Justin Sullivan for their debut 7 inch “Red Hot Sand” before following it up a year later with a positively received self titled full-length.

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.

Xylouris White is the folk duo of Greek lute player George Xylouris and Australian drummer Jim White. Their 2014 album, Goats, features a fluid mix of regional folk traditions with psych and rock inspirations. They would expand on this with subsequent releases, including their punk influenced Drag City debut The Sisypheans

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.

Initially getting its start as a noisy and abrasive solo project in the basement of Philadelphia guitarist Mike Polizze, before expanding into a power trio, Purling Hiss made their name in the sceen playing alongside acts like the War on Drugs.

Axis: Sova began as the experimental psych-rock solo project of Chicago artist Brett Sova, who wrote and recorded much of the bands early output before settling on a full lineup. Since 2018 the band has consisted of Sova with Tim Kaiser on guitar and Jeremy Freeze on bass.

LA-based noise pop duo No Age brought the ethos of early punk and hardcore music into the 21st-century with their stripped down DIY style that taped together their spare drum and guitar riffs with passionate vocals and a few playful samples. Their origins playing energetic live shows at all-ages venues around Los Angeles would lay the groundwork for the band’s future output for the next 15 years.

Jackie Lynn, the fictional, long-haul trucking, drug dealing stage persona of Circuit des Yeux’sHaley Fohr, developed as a way to compartmentalize Fohr’s introspective, avant-folk sound from the more playful fusion of country and synth pop on releases like Jackie Lynn and Jacqueline.

Folk artist Meg Baird comes from a long family tradition of Appalachian folk roots, her great-great uncle was folk-singer and regional historian Isaac Garfield Greer. Her solo work features soft, airy vocals that float above otherworldly folk arrangements and her band Espers draws upon the baroque pop/chamber folk sound of the late 1960s, creating an intoxicating psychedelic sound.

Sic Alps was a San Francisco-based lofi garage rock band started by Matt Hartman and Mike Donnovan, who met on tour with their previous bands in the 90s. The group drew as equally from noise pop as they did from art rock luminaries the Velvet Underground.

The current band of the Stereolab frontwoman, Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble incorporates some of Sadier’s longest and closest collaborators, Emmanuel Mario, Nina Savary and Xavi Munoz.

French artist Laetitia Sadier, best known as a founder and lead vocalist of indie pop groups Stereolab and Monade , began releasing music as a solo artist with 2010’s The Trip, a tragic dream pop odyssey that drew upon experiences of grief. She followed this effort up with the intimate, yet politically charged albums Silencio in 2012 and Something Shines in 2014.

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.

Greg Turkington’s fictional persona Neil Hamburger, a misanthropic, anti-comedian was introduced to the world in 1992 on the album Great Phone Calls Featuring Neil Hamburger, a self-deprecating assault on the expectations that had developed in stand-up.

After releasing a variety of offerings with friends under the nebulous Palace moniker and his own name, Will Oldham began his prolific streak of recording and performing his brand of Americana under the pseudonym Bonnie “Prince” Billy in the late 90s. His songs feature haunting lyrics over instrumentals that draw from numerous American musical traditions.

Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish folk musician based in Glasgow who has released a number of albums under his name as well as the stage moniker, Appendix Out. Roberts is also noted for his frequent collaborations with other musicians, writers and filmmakers.

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.

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.

Prolific artist Ty Segall rose to prominence with his own brand of psych-influenced garage rock in the late 2000s. His near nonstop output over the last decade spans multiple bands, collaborations and solo records, weaving a variety of sonic influences into each of his projects.

Chicago-based psychedelic Krautrock group Cave began seriously recording music together in 2008. Cave is known for their hypnotic and droning instrumentals which have invited comparisons to bands like Can and Funkadelic.

Drawing inspiration from the fingerplucking, East-meets-West guitar solos of the 60s and 70s psychedelic folk scene, Six Organs of Admittance was the primary project of NorCal guitarist Ben Chansy. Combining new folk and drone music with Eastern bells and chimes, Six Organs of Admittance began releasing music on Drag City in 2006.

Masaki Batoh, founding member of Japanese experimental rock band Ghost, struck out on his own after closing the door on Ghost’s 30 year tenure in the psychedelic and progressive scenes. His more recent projects include his psychedelic 5-piece the Silence and his more spiritual solo output, such as Nowhere, and Smile Jesus Loves You!, released on Drag City.

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.

Wand’s Cory Hanson rides into the high desert on a glossy melody through lustrous mists of instrumentation: acoustic, wah-electric and steel guitars, acoustic and electric drums. bass and piano. Pale Horse Rider explores myths and truths of a country on the way down, viewed through a deep-focus lens trained on the city from the deserts on the east; a terminus of unoccupied residential parks and streets fading into craggy footpaths to nowhere, where our passage is seen as diligent, ephemeral and grotesque by turns, forgiven and made beautiful again by the sound. Directed by The Coconut Brothers Liquid Light Projections by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show Music & Sound FX by Dr. Coconut Filmed by Casey Hanson, Asal Shahindoust, Dr. Coconut and Keith Ballard Live Sound Engineered by Zac Hernandez

Wand’s Cory Hanson rides into the high desert on a glossy melody through lustrous mists of instrumentation: acoustic, wah-electric and steel guitars, acoustic and electric drums. Pale Horse Rider explores myths and truths of a country on the way down, viewed through a deep-focus lens trained on the city from the deserts on the east; a terminus of unoccupied residential parks and streets fading into craggy footpaths to nowhere, where our passage is seen as diligent, ephemeral and grotesque by turns, forgiven and made beautiful again by the sound. Directed by The Coconut Brothers Liquid Light Projections by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show Music & Sound FX by Dr. Coconut Filmed by Casey Hanson, Asal Shahindoust, Dr. Coconut and Keith Ballard Live Sound Engineered by Zac Hernandez

Wand’s Cory Hanson rides into the high desert on a glossy melody through lustrous mists of instrumentation: acoustic, wah-electric and steel guitars, acoustic and electric drums. Pale Horse Rider explores myths and truths of a country on the way down, viewed through a deep-focus lens trained on the city from the deserts on the east; a terminus of unoccupied residential parks and streets fading into craggy footpaths to nowhere, where our passage is seen as diligent, ephemeral and grotesque by turns, forgiven and made beautiful again by the sound. Directed by The Coconut Brothers Liquid Light Projections by The Mad Alchemist Liquid Light Show Music & Sound FX by Dr. Coconut Filmed by Casey Hanson, Asal Shahindoust, Dr. Coconut and Keith Ballard Live Sound Engineered by Zac Hernandez

Drag City releases veteran noisemakers Dean Spunt and John Wiese's (No Age) debut EP, The Echoing Shell. The label aptly describes the experimental noise release as a "conception in contemporary musique concrète," and you can stream two surrealist, cut-up technique music videos now in their new Night Flight Video Profile.

Singer Cory Hanson returns with 2023’s Western Cum, which combines conventional country with an eclectic mix of prog, balladry and nu-hardcore.

Legendary singer-songwriter Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s new album Keeping Secrets will Destroy You is for keeping people together, and for listening together.

Ty Segall has made filthy, distorted rock n roll for much of his prolific career. His 2024 album Three Bells takes us into “a land nearly beyond song,” pushing his songwriting and sound further than ever before.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Bill Callahan, Ty and Denée Segall, Circuit des Yeux and Smog.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Bill Callahan, Ty and Denée Segall, Circuit des Yeux and Smog.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Eiko Ishibashi, Rangda, Ty Segall and Bill MacKay.

“Take Off” to Chicago-based independent label Drag City featuring music videos from Joanna Newsom, Palace, Silver Jews and White Fence.

Eiko Ishibashi’s blend of jazz, funk and even noise gives her work a singular voice

Up-and-coming duo Sharpie Smile brings sugary synth pop!

Australian superduo Mess Esque create warm, open-hearted indie soundscapes, combining abstract vocals and looping guitars.

Tonight we take off to indie label Drag City, home of artists such as Cory Hanson, Prison, Edith Frost and Dean Spun.

Welcome back to our profile of indie label Drag City, featuring Ty Segall, Whitney Johnston & Lia Kohl, Geologist & Doug Shaw and Prison. Here’s “Buildings,” from prolific psych-rock legend Ty Segall.

Let’s return to Drag City, whose roster includes Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas, Geologist & Doug Shaw, Faun Fables and Jim White.

Tonight we profile indie label Drag City, with artists like Glyders, Sir Richard Bishop, Bill MacKay & Ryley Walker, Jim White, and Jill Fraser.

Banned in 20 countries! This outrageous “midnight show” film follows a cult of devil worshiping killers as they go on their rampage of hair raising terror through Chicago. 1985, Directed by John Henry Timmis IV

It’s the year 1990. America is on the verge of another Great Depression. A Hitler-like President puts into action his mad scheme to wipe out the federal deficit by dispatching extermination squads. Can the terribly violent genocide be stopped before all non-conformists are destroyed? 1984, Directed by John Henry Timmis IV

A compilation of J.T.’s films, “live” performance footage and home movies which was included in Drag City’s 2008 reissue of the J.T. IV album Cosmic Lightning, originally released in 1987. Directed by John Henry Timmis IV

Classic Night Flight profile of avant-garde experimentalist Laurie Anderson. Featuring an incredibly candid interview with Anderson about her background and work.

Check out segments from our interview with the always classy Lemmy. Lemmy sat down with Night Flight host Al Bandiero in 1984 to talk about Motörhead's upcoming US tour, how he maintains his no-sleep, hard-drinking lifestyle and much more. Members only for this absolute gem from the archive!

The segment is guided by a candid Radio 1990 interview with Robert Smith about the inspiration for the "Close To Me" video, fame and more. In true Night Flight fashion, the British band's "ever-evolving visual image" is explored through director Tim Pope's videos throughout the piece.

Tonight, we return to 1994 for a Night Flight syndication episode covering the rise of iconic synth band Depeche Mode. "Of all the synthesizer bands that rose in the 1980s, one band has enjoyed repeated success in both their music and popularity while still retaining their unique sound and style." Syndication Host Tom Juarez tells us. This is another wonderful entry into the Night Flight episodes that feature commercials. Check it out!

“It’s a quiet storm…” Nigerian-born fashion designer turned singer Sade is the subject of tonight’s Video Profile. Pat Prescott starts us off with an introduction to the “smooth and sexy high priestess of soul,” before jumping into a Sade mega-mix cut with exclusive interviews with the artist from the Night Flight studio (originally filmed in 1985). In her interview segment, Sade talks about her record Diamond Life and finally provides instructions to the American audience on how to pronounce her name.

In 1965, as leader of the NY Band: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed became Rock's first leather-clad social outcast. At the age of 20, Reed took violence, drugs, sadomasochism, and sang about them in a rock context creating music as painful as it was compelling. He set the stage for the punk revolution. Night Flight tells the story of Reed with music videos, live footage and amazingly candid interviews discussing his love for performance, writing and his unique approach to recording.

"Viewer discretion is advised" Pat Prescott tells us at the start of tonight's 1988 Take Off episode to Controversial Videos. "Sex, Drugs, Religion, Politics..." what more can you want from Night Flight's curated collection of controversial music videos. Everyone knows that while other fledgling music networks from the era avoided controversy, Night Flight actively courted it. Just ask creator Stuart Shapiro about what happened the first time we aired The Clash's "Rude Boy" completely uncut :). This episode brings you music from Billy Idol, Motley Crue, Slovenian avant-gardists Laibach, Sheena Easton's fantastic "Sugar Walls", the always classy George Michael and maybe one of the best sequencing decisions ever: a transition from the "Ballad of Jim and Tammy Bakker" to a Raucous Dead Kennedy's performance with Jello Biafra compelling the audience to "Shoot Up With God." Then, stayed tuned for two films from the Glasshouse Production Team, Tom Stern & Alex Winter: "Aisles of Doom" and "Squeal of Death." CLASSIC NIGHT FLIGHT.

Night Flight profiles rock’s 'rude boy' Billy Idol in this classic segment from 1985. “I don’t want to see the no flabby, boring old Billy Idol trying to be what he was when he was 21… I’m young, I need to move about.” he tells Night Flight in an excellent, candid interview, in which he talks about the role of New York City on his art, how he views his critics, and what inspired his name change. Classic and essential Night Flight right here folks.