The Tonearm icon The Tonearm icon
Sign In
    • Ambient
    • Authors
    • Cross-Cultural
    • Electronic
    • Experimental
    • Heavy Music
    • Indie Pop
    • Indie Rock
    • Jazz
    • Music History
    • Neoclassical
    • Reggae + Dub
    • Roots Music
  • About About
  • Contributors Contributors
  • Support Support
  • Podcast Podcast
  • Contact Contact
    • Ambient Ambient
    • Authors Authors
    • Cross-Cultural Cross-Cultural
    • Electronic Electronic
    • Experimental Experimental
    • Heavy Music Heavy Music
    • Indie Pop Indie Pop
    • Indie Rock Indie Rock
    • Jazz Jazz
    • Music History Music History
    • Neoclassical Neoclassical
    • Reggae + Dub Reggae + Dub
    • Roots Music Roots Music
  • About About
  • Contributors Contributors
  • Support Support
  • Podcast Podcast
  • Contact Contact
Sign In
The Tonearm cover image

Talk Of The Tonearm

Each week, our email newsletter defies the algorithms with recommendations and rundowns. Subscribe to get the goods:

success-filled

Success! Now Check Your Email

To complete Subscribe, click the confirmation link in your inbox. If it doesn’t arrive within 3 minutes, check your spam folder.

Rez Abbasi's Acoustic Meditation on Loss and Impermanence Post feature image
Featured post
1-Tier Rez Abbasi Guitarists Jazz Pakistan New York City
Aug 18, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer

Rez Abbasi's Acoustic Meditation on Loss and Impermanence

Three decades into his career, Abbasi returns to acoustic guitar for 'Sound Remains,' processing personal loss while questioning what it means to let go in both music and life.

Read Now Read Now
Kicking Down Fascist Art With OMD's Andy McCluskey Post feature image
Featured post
2-Tier Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Liverpool Electronic Indie Pop Electro Pop Britian
Aug 11, 2025
by Michael Donaldson

Kicking Down Fascist Art With OMD's Andy McCluskey

The Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark frontman discusses why Kraftwerk matter more than the Beatles, how political resistance sparked 'Bauhaus Staircase,' and why his band refuses to make "shit records."

Read Now Read Now
Everything Is Under Control — Matt Black of Coldcut Gets RAW Post feature image
2-Tier Coldcut Matt Black Robert Anton Wilson Music History

Everything Is Under Control — Matt Black of Coldcut Gets RAW

The pioneering audio/visual artist reflects on how Robert Anton Wilson's "think for yourself, distrust authority" philosophy shaped both Coldcut's sound and Ninja Tune's thirty-five-year mission.

Aug 15, 2025
by Gabriel Kennedy
Kicking Down Fascist Art With OMD's Andy McCluskey Post feature image
Featured post
2-Tier Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Liverpool Electronic Indie Pop Electro Pop Britian

Kicking Down Fascist Art With OMD's Andy McCluskey

The Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark frontman discusses why Kraftwerk matter more than the Beatles, how political resistance sparked 'Bauhaus Staircase,' and why his band refuses to make "shit records."

Aug 11, 2025
by Michael Donaldson
We Are Floating in Space — Jane Ira Bloom's Jazz Odyssey Post feature image
3-Tier Jane Ira Bloom Saxophonists Connecticut Jazz

We Are Floating in Space — Jane Ira Bloom's Jazz Odyssey

Saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom's album 'Songs in Space' brings together her pioneering approach to surround sound jazz, a vision of music in zero gravity, and a belief that silence gives the brain time to process music moving through dimensions.

Aug 13, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Leo Chadburn Broadcasts a Radiophonic Lullaby of Industrial Decline Post feature image
3-Tier Leo Chadburn Composer Experimental

Leo Chadburn Broadcasts a Radiophonic Lullaby of Industrial Decline

The experimental composer's album 'Sleep in the Shadow of the Alternator' transforms his childhood memories of Coalville's mines and factories into a dreamlike narrative about the East Midlands' vanished industry.

Aug 08, 2025
by Gerry Hectic
A Tale of Two Cities — Isaac Sherman's Handcrafted Electronics Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Isaac Sherman Los Angeles Electronic Synthesis

A Tale of Two Cities — Isaac Sherman's Handcrafted Electronics

Isaac Sherman's debut 'A Pasture, Its Limits' spans years and cities, built from hardware synthesizers, gibberish vocals, and a belief that "the humanness comes through music when you strip away all the glitz."

Aug 07, 2025
by Michael Donaldson
A Monster With Three Heads — KOMARA Battles Expectations Post feature image
4-Tier KOMARA Prog-Rock Indie Rock Pat Mastelotto David Kollar Paolo Raineri Slovakia King Crimson

A Monster With Three Heads — KOMARA Battles Expectations

The progressive trio of Pat Mastelotto, David Kollar, and Paolo Raineri constructed their second album from a rejected mafia film score. The result trades their debut's density for space and accessibility.

Aug 06, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Sean Imboden Finds Community Beyond the Big Band Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Sean Imboden Indianapolis Saxophonists Composer Jazz Big Band Jazz

Sean Imboden Finds Community Beyond the Big Band

The saxophonist and composer left Broadway's steady income to lead a seventeen-piece ensemble in Indianapolis. His latest album, 'Communal Heart,' proves that creative independence can flourish outside traditional industry expectations.

Aug 04, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Kendrick Lamar in front of Cole Thomas's painting 'The Course of Empire Destruction' (1836)
4-Tier Hip Hop Kendrick Lamar Lil Darkie

The Microphone as Sword — Hip-Hop Against Fascism

Anthony David Vernon argues that hip-hop has lost its rebellious edge, but embracing anti-fascist resistance could restore the genre's defiant power and give artists something meaningful to fight against.

Aug 01, 2025
by Anthony David Vernon
James Holden and Wacław Zimpel Surrender to the Sound Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier James Holden Wacław Zimpel London Artists Britian Poland Clarinetists Ambient Electronic

James Holden and Wacław Zimpel Surrender to the Sound

The British music producer and Polish clarinet virtuoso built 'The Universe Will Take Care of You' in four spontaneous London studio days, capturing the act of playing without thinking.

Jul 31, 2025
by Michael Donaldson
Heavy Tonal — Lingyuan Yang's Harmonic Friction Post feature image
4-Tier Lingyuan Yang Microtonal Guitarists Jazz Experimental

Heavy Tonal — Lingyuan Yang's Harmonic Friction

On 'Cursed Month,' the young composer uses microtonal intervals to create intensity without relying on volume or overdrive. As Yang explains, "Heaviness comes from the playing itself, not just the sound."

Jul 30, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Clarinet Meets Circuit — Glenn Dickson and Bob Familiar's Unlikely Alliance Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Bob Familiar Glenn Dickson Ambient Electronic Clarinetists Synthesis Boston

Clarinet Meets Circuit — Glenn Dickson and Bob Familiar's Unlikely Alliance

Two musicians from different worlds found common ground in their rejection of static electronic music. The result is 'All the Light of Our Sphere,' an album that treats improvisation as narrative and loops as living things.

Jul 28, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
The Fantastic Voyage of Half Man Half Biscuit Post feature image
4-Tier Half Man Half Biscuit Liverpool Music History Indie Rock Britian

The Fantastic Voyage of Half Man Half Biscuit

Nigel Blackwell's band returns with 'All Asimov and No Fresh Air,' their sixteenth album of sharp pop punk and surrealist commentary on a world gone mad.

Jul 25, 2025
by Chaim O’Brien-Blumenthal
Subtraction in Action — Fred Thomas's Sonic Erosion Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Fred Thomas Michigan Ypsilanti Electronic Ambient Synthesis

Subtraction in Action — Fred Thomas's Sonic Erosion

Fred Thomas's latest release, 'Critical Violets, Dream Erosion Pt. VII,' continues his "drumless" series by embracing musical reduction as a creative philosophy, proving that stripping away familiar elements can lead to his most compelling music yet.

Jul 24, 2025
by Garrett Schumann
Aho Ssan and Resina Learn to Disappear Completely Post feature image
4-Tier Aho Ssan Resina Warsaw Paris France Cellists Experimental Electronic

Aho Ssan and Resina Learn to Disappear Completely

The electronic composer and cellist discuss their album 'Ego Death,' the art of surrender, and how their partnership is centered on creative dissolution rather than individual expression.

Jul 23, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Bangs of Convenience — Gustavo Cortiñas Drums For Climate Action Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Gustavo Cortiñas Drummers Chicago Artists Jazz Mexico

Bangs of Convenience — Gustavo Cortiñas Drums For Climate Action

The Mexican-born, Chicago-based drummer discusses his album 'The Crisis Knows No Borders,' his philosophy on small daily sacrifices, and why convenience keeps getting in the way of saving the world.

Jul 21, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Lost in the Hum — 'Versionland' and the Edge of Perception Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Jamie Hamilton Neoclassical Experimental London Artists Britian Phaedra Ensemble

Lost in the Hum — 'Versionland' and the Edge of Perception

Composer Jamie Hamilton collaborates with Phaedra Ensemble to turn internet-age mythology about an unexplained global drone into a "darkly humorous fever-dream" about collective hallucination.

Jul 18, 2025
by Michael Donaldson
Stephan Thelen Warms Up to Musical Mathematics Post feature image
4-Tier Switzerland Stephan Thelen Guitarists Jazz + Electronics Jazz Electronic

Stephan Thelen Warms Up to Musical Mathematics

On the album Worlds in Collision, the mathematician-turned-musician fragments voices and field recordings according to the same geometric principles that govern his guitar compositions.

Jul 16, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Principle of Moments — Kim Perlak's Intuitive Guitar Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Kim Perlak Guitarists Neoclassical Boston

Principle of Moments — Kim Perlak's Intuitive Guitar

From solo classical performances to improvisational duets with Francisco Mela, the guitarist explains how 'Spaces' became a study in musical presence and why being in the moment has become both her greatest challenge and her greatest gift.

Jul 14, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Synths & Echoes — Catching Up with A.M. Boys Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier A.M. Boys Electronic Indie Pop

Synths & Echoes — Catching Up with A.M. Boys

Chris Moore and John Blonde discuss their new album 'Present Phase,' the creative power of treating every instrument as a noise generator, and why they'd rather enjoy the moment than chase what's next.

Jul 10, 2025
by Sara Jayne Crow
Joane Hétu's Enduring Vision for Québécois Experimental Music Post feature image
4-Tier Joane Hétu Montreal Canada Experimental Neoclassical

Joane Hétu's Enduring Vision for Québécois Experimental Music

At sixty-six, the founder of SuperMusique and DAME Records continues championing the collaborative spirit that has defined her artistic practice since the 1980s.

Jul 09, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World' Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Locrian Terence Hannum Baltimore Heavy Music Noise

The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World'

As Locrian reissues their landmark album, Terence Hannum discusses the band's evolution from experimental duo to post-metal trio, his separation of visual art from music, and why heavy metal "rewards playing it safe."

Jul 07, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Web Web - Photo by Florian Seidel
4-Tier Web Web Munich German Artists Jazz + Electronics Krautrock Roberto Di Gioia Jazz Electronic

Web Web's Blueprint for Spontaneous Kosmische Jazz

Roberto Di Gioia of the German jazz collective Web Web explains his philosophy of treating music "like a newborn baby," and why, when recording their sixth album, 'Plexus Plexus,' less preparation led to deeper focus.

Jul 03, 2025
by Sam Bradley
Amina Hocine - Photo by Ekaterina Lukoshkova
4-Tier Amina Hocine Experimental Stockholm Sweden

Enlightenment is Easy — Constructing Amina Hocine's Breathing Machine

Using hardware store materials and spiritual guidance, Hocine built an organ that breathes, complains, and refuses to be controlled. Her album 'ātamōn' captures each pipe's distinct personality in the reverberant depths of an abandoned iron mine.

Jul 02, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
From Soundribbons to Shoreline Symphonies — Knox Chandler's Creative Transformation Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Knox Chandler Connecticut Guitarists Ambient Electronic

From Soundribbons to Shoreline Symphonies — Knox Chandler's Creative Transformation

After four decades as a collaborator for artists like R.E.M. and Cyndi Lauper, the guitarist has retreated to rural Connecticut to create his first solo work and discover what he calls "my truth."

Jun 30, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
The Whimbrels playing live at St Vitus.
4-Tier The Whimbrels Indie Rock Brooklyn

Banging and Jangling with The Whimbrels

The Whimbrels' debut album features a triple-guitar assault that turns volume into art. Arad Evans and Norman Westberg discuss their new band's obsession with alternate tunings, cheap guitars, and making audiences feel the floor bounce.

Jun 27, 2025
by Michael Centrone
Soul and Landscape — Raz Olsher Reimagines the Spaghetti Western Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Raz Olsher London Artists Music Producer Ennio Morricone Indie Rock

Soul and Landscape — Raz Olsher Reimagines the Spaghetti Western

The London producer discusses how island isolation and a borrowed Gretsch guitar led to 'Craters of the Lost Souls,' his haunting soundtrack to an imaginary Western film that doubles as a tribute to Ennio Morricone's cinematic legacy.

Jun 26, 2025
by Michael Donaldson
Buzzing with Zen — Steve Holtje's Improvisational Honeymoon Post feature image
4-Tier Steve Holtje ESP-Disk Brooklyn Noise Phantom Honeymoon Experimental

Buzzing with Zen — Steve Holtje's Improvisational Honeymoon

The ESP-Disk label manager found liberation from classical composition anxiety through distorted trombone and Phantom Honeymoon, his noise duo with theremin player Alexandra Beneski.

Jun 25, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
The Black Watch's Twenty-Fifth Album Asks the World of You Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier The Black Watch Santa Barbara Indie Rock

The Black Watch's Twenty-Fifth Album Asks the World of You

John Andrew Fredrick discusses The Black Watch's album 'For All The World,' how broken bones shaped his solitude, and why making demands of listeners remains essential to meaningful art.

Jun 23, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
The Yōkai in the Yard — Brain Damage's Post-Dub Pivot Post feature image
4-Tier Brain Damage France Emiko Ota Japan Mad Professor Reggae + Dub Post-Punk Electronic

The Yōkai in the Yard — Brain Damage's Post-Dub Pivot

Martin Nathan's 'Oide Oide' pairs Japanese supernatural creatures with experimental compositions, featuring collaborator Emiko Ota and dub legend Mad Professor in a project that redefines what dub music can become.

Jun 20, 2025
by Michael Donaldson
Brittany Davis performs with bassist Evan Flory-Barnes and drummer D'Vonne Lewis. Photo by Lance Mercer.
Featured post
4-Tier Brittany Davis Stone Gossard Jazz Spritual Jazz Seattle

Speaking from the Soul — Brittany Davis on 'Black Thunder'

How the Seattle-based poet and keyboardist found her true voice through improvisation, plus Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard explains why Davis's talent helped revive his independent label after twenty years.

Jun 19, 2025
by Peter Thomas Webb
Fragments of Revelation — A Lost Conversation with Matthew Shipp & Ivo Perelman Post feature image
4-Tier Matthew Shipp Ivo Perelman Jazz Saxophonists Pianists

Fragments of Revelation — A Lost Conversation with Matthew Shipp & Ivo Perelman

A technical failure erased the interview, but the spiritual dimensions of 'Armageddon Flower,' Shipp and Perelman's forty-sixth collaboration together, prove more durable than digital memory.

Jun 18, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Words That Float — Ingrid Laubrock Discovers Music Inside Koans Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Ingrid Laubrock Saxophonists Brooklyn German Artists Poetry Neoclassical

Words That Float — Ingrid Laubrock Discovers Music Inside Koans

The saxophonist and composer transforms Erica Hunt's enigmatic fragments into 'Purposing the Air,' a double album that pairs poetry with four carefully chosen vocal-instrumental duos.

Jun 16, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Breaking Free from the Death Cult — Kory Reeder on Creative Liberation Post feature image
4-Tier Kory Reeder Neoclassical Texas

Breaking Free from the Death Cult — Kory Reeder on Creative Liberation

The prolific composer discusses his new string quartet 'Homestead,' recorded with Apartment House, and why he refuses to let centuries of classical tradition dictate his creative process.

Jun 13, 2025
by Chaz Underriner
A Tidal Wave of Love — Our Tribute to Brian Wilson Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Music History Brian Wilson Beach Boys Los Angeles

A Tidal Wave of Love — Our Tribute to Brian Wilson

Behind the California sunshine, harmonies, and groundbreaking production techniques lies a complex artist battling inner demons. Three takes on why Brian Wilson's music remains a refuge for so many.

Jun 12, 2025
by Sara Jayne Crow
Going Gonzo — The Complicated Work of Hunter S. Thompson Post feature image
4-Tier Counterculture Authors Hunter S. Thompson Kevin J. Hayes

Going Gonzo — The Complicated Work of Hunter S. Thompson

Kevin J. Hayes's 'Understanding Hunter S. Thompson' challenges the romantic narrative surrounding the Gonzo pioneer, revealing uncomfortable truths about talent squandered and assignments abandoned.

Jun 11, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer
Kinan Azmeh Takes the Sound of Syria's Streets on a World Tour Post feature image
Featured post
4-Tier Kinan Azmeh Brooklyn Syria Middle East Clarinetists Cross-Cultural Jazz

Kinan Azmeh Takes the Sound of Syria's Streets on a World Tour

The Damascus-born clarinetist discusses his philosophy of musical freedom, the power of long-term collaboration, and how his latest release, 'Live in Berlin,' captures nearly two decades of creative partnership with his CityBand quartet.

Jun 09, 2025
by Lawrence Peryer

Talk Of The Tonearm

Each week, our email newsletter defies the algorithms with recommendations and rundowns. Subscribe to get the goods:

success-filled

Success! Now Check Your Email

To complete Subscribe, click the confirmation link in your inbox. If it doesn’t arrive within 3 minutes, check your spam folder.

Latest Posts

Rez Abbasi's Acoustic Meditation on Loss and Impermanence feature image
Featured post
1-Tier
Rez Abbasi's Acoustic Meditation on Loss and Impermanence
Everything Is Under Control — Matt Black of Coldcut Gets RAW feature image
2-Tier
Everything Is Under Control — Matt Black of Coldcut Gets RAW
We Are Floating in Space — Jane Ira Bloom's Jazz Odyssey feature image
3-Tier
We Are Floating in Space — Jane Ira Bloom's Jazz Odyssey
The Tonearm icon The Tonearm icon

putting a needle on the cultural wax.

  • Explore
    • Ambient
    • Authors
    • Cross-Cultural
    • Electronic
    • Experimental
    • Heavy Music
    • Indie Pop
    • Indie Rock
    • Jazz
    • Music History
    • Neoclassical
    • Reggae + Dub
    • Roots Music
    • About
    • Contributors
    • Support
    • Podcast
    • Contact
  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign up

Copyright © 2025 The Tonearm. Published with Ghost and The Tonearm.