Luna Honey from Philadelphia recently issued its latest work of musical alchemy with the November 22, 2024 release of the album Bound. Since its 2017 inception the group has been impossible to tag with a narrow genre designation not for lack of creative coherence but because it draws on disparate roots of influence and experiments with sound sources and organic and electronic production. But fans of the likes of late-80s and beyond Swans, Dead Can Dance and Live Skull will find a similar resonance in Luna Honey’s facility with channeling personal darkness into beautifully transcendent and cathartic pieces of music. The band’s sound is not limited to notions of post-punk, noise rock, tribal industrial, its albums span a range of tones and moods to serve a creative vision and impulse to make music that goes beyond mere entertainment and diversion from everyday life to get at something deeper. Luna Honey singer/guitarist Maura Pond collaborated long distance with former Swans guitarist Norman Westberg on the 2023 Luna Honey album Aftermath which was a meditation on and expression of loss and grief. Bound despite, or perhaps because of, its title feels like a reckoning, a coming to terms with, a struggling against arbitrary and artificial limitations and definitions that circumscribe and limit our lives. Pond’s expressive, ritualistic and at times operatic vocals and the controlled maelstrom of sounds like standard music forms stretched and twisted against standard tonality and structure make for a memorable listening experience.
Listen to our interview with Maura Pond of Luna Honey on Bandcamp and follow the band at the links below.
Chris Greene Quartet released its eleventh album Conversance on October 19, 2024 on LP, CD, digital download and streaming via respected indie rock label Pravda Records marking it as the first jazz album issued by the imprint. Greene and his band based out of Chicago is a saxophonist whose talents have contributed to recordings by Windy City luminaries such as Steve Dawson and Nora O’Connor and he has performed with the likes of Common and Andrew Bird. Greene’s post-bop style incorporates ideas from funk and hip-hop but the methods and sounds are in that jazz ensemble vein in which each member of the band contributes in synergistic ways toward dynamic and energetic arrangements that establish an immediate and flowing mood. The new album reveals not just the Quartet’s musical creativity and prowess but also its knowledge of the history and legacy of the artforms that inform its aesthetic and craft.
Listen to our interview with Chris Greene on Bandcamp and follow the band leader and his band at the links provided.
Kerry Jones of Death Doula, photo courtesy the artist
Death Doula is a band based on Portland, Oregon that released its debut Love Spells on October 11, 2024. Its music might be described as shoegaze but its tones are a little darker waxing into the territory of moodier post-punk and its textures more complex and prominent. The band’s guitar work is a little noisier and at times more angular than the typical shoegaze band and its lyrics more rooted in a kind of poetic lyricism rather than standard pop songcraft. Vocalist Kerry Jones’ vocals are versatile yet elemental in expression with words seemingly informed by a perspective that looks beyond the surface level of everyday experiences. Death Doula’s sound bridges the ethereal and the heavier end of atmospheric music and infuses it with an expansive emotional intensity that lends the music an unexpected power. The albums was recorded with Adam Lee at Jackpot Studios in Portland and its noisy and uplifting maelstrom of creative ideas and colorful soundscapes defies easy categorization but fans of brooding yet noisy post-punk, Helium and the more mystically-minded shoegaze and space rock bands like Space Team Electra and Sky Cries Mary will find great kinship across the record’s nine tracks.
Listen to our interview with Kerry Jones on Bandcamp and follow Death Doula at the links below.
Ether Diver aka Cory Casciato, photo by Tom Murphy
Ether Diver is the solo musical project of Cory Casciato who has been experimenting with making music for decades but didn’t until the pandemic era have a viable outlet for those impulses and the time to develop it. Casciato was a long time contributor to Westword, the alternative weekly paper based in Denver, as well as a city editor for the local edition of The Onion A.V. Club and lately he’s been delving back into music reviewing on his website under the “Other People’s Music” tab. The Ether Diver music is what might be described as ambient space music kosmische with clear nods of influence to 90s IDM, Hearts of Space artists and the more inspired video game soundtracking. His first release dropped on Halloween 2020 with richly atmospheric and aptly titled Haunted Space Object No. 1: Alien Music Box. Even then Casciato’s sense of tone and structure creates an almost tactile sense of space and mood. Since then he’s had a fairly prolific set of releases that have evolved his aesthetic gifts including the forthcoming album tentatively titled Mechanics of Mysticism. This interview discusses some of Casciato’s background in music and his music itself but it is also a deep dive into his experiences in music and cultural journalism with interviewer Tom Murphy who was his colleague at Westword and The Onion A.V. Club over several years.
Listen to our interview with Cory Casciato on Bandcamp and follow Ether Diver at the links below.
Berlin-based duo hackedepicciotto released its first live album on November 1, 2024. Titled The Best of hackedepicciotto (Live in Napoli) the album reflects two decades of collaboration and sound experimentation and the evolution of compositions as they have been performed live. The record, available as a limited double vinyl (which includes an exclusive signed print) and on digital, includes selections from across the project’s five albums. Each is an inspired reinterpretation of the original studio version as channeled through the lens of live performance over the last several years. The music combines electronic sounds, throat singing, spoken word, industrial beats, drone and psychedelic folk for a style the duo have called “symphonic drone.” Alexander Hacke experimented with tape loops in his early teens before joining foundational industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten. Danielle de Picciotto was one of the founders of Berlin Love Parade in 1989 as well as the singer of The Space Cowboys. She is also an acclaimed multimedia artist, writer and graphic novel artist who has documented pivotal cultural moments in the Berlin and international music and art world. Together Hacke and de Picciotto have established a consistently fascinating body of work that transcends standard musical categorization with a cinematic and dramatic sensibility that fuses concepts of performance art, music theater and film. The new live album performed entirely by the duo at Auditorium Novecento in Naples, Italy is a rich culmination of the project’s music practice as organically developed.
Listen to our interview with hackedepicciotto on Bandcamp and follow the band at the links below.
The Old Ceremony formed in 2004 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina fronted by Django Haskins. From the outset the band was conceived of as a group that could realize more orchestral pop arrangements. The latter style served well the literary leanings of the songwriting and pop noir sound lending the music a great range of dramatic and dynamic expression. Borrowing its name from the 1975 Leonard Cohen album New Skin for the Old Ceremony the band has released seven full-length albums including its latest Earthbound (available October 17, 2024 on streaming, for digital download and limited edition CD and vinyl). The story is that Haskins wrote some 115 songs during the pandemic and eleven of those made it onto the album. But each of those songs is a rich story in itself and worth exploring on their own with sly cultural references including name checking would-be Andy Warhol assassin Valerie Solanas. Its a sonically diverse set of cinematic pop songs that it’s clear underwent a good degree of development and set together with other songs that as a whole create a sense of a world that’s gone and missed and coming to terms with the world in which we currently find ourselves and moving through the next set of life challenges reminiscent of what we’ve seen before.
Listen to our interview with Django Haskins on Bandcamp and follow The Old Ceremony at the links below.
In These Trees (Binnie Klein), photo courtesy the artist
The Quiver is the debut album of In These Trees & Tartie. A collaborative effort between two women who live in nearly opposite ends of the world (Hamden, Connecticut, USA and Melbourne, Australia respectively) the album is the product of a chance encounter between Binnie Klein and Tartie when the former chose the latter’s song “Winter’s Girl” to play on her WPKN radio show from the bevy of submissions she received each week. Something about the song struck Klein, its passion and authenticity, and Klein asked Tartie about putting a melody to one of her poems. Klein had been writing poetry for years and had been told they might make good song lyrics and something seemed to make sense resulting in exchanging ideas and Tartie lending her vocals to the project with contributions from Jeff Pevar, John Andrews and Jerry Marotta with production by David Baron. The Quiver, which released March 19, 2024 for digital download and streaming, became available on CD in September has a spacious, orchestral quality like one of those great late 80s and early 90s college radio artists like Kate Bush, 10,000 Maniacs and Tori Amos with more than a little musical sophistication and grace but lacking none of the vibrant emotional resonance.
Listen to our interview with Binnie Klein on Bandcamp and follow In These Trees at the links below.
Pulsars is a band from Chicago that released one album, the 1997 self-titled LP, but which has a bit of a cult following. Though the band was around from 1994-2000 with a 2009 reunion and despite playing with some of the more well known alternative bands of its era Pulsars never entered the mainstream. But its embrace of New Wave synth sounds and power pop melodies was slightly ahead of the curve of a similar fusion of early synth pop and experimental electronic music with other popular music forms that informed the music of the likes of The Faint, !!! and later MGMT. chillwave and darkwave. But Pulsars’ music is a little grittier and in moments sounds like it has more sonically in common with The Jesus and Mary Chain and Dinosaur Jr at their most poppy and upbeat. In 2024 the group’s record was released for digital download, streaming, compact disc and vinyl.
Listen to our interview with Dave Trumfio of Pulsars on Bandcamp and follow Pulsars at the links below. Trumfio some may know for the band but many more may be familiar with his production work with Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Grandaddy and American Music Club among many others at his Kingsize Soundlabs also linked below.
Since 1992 Tokyo’s Melt Banana has freely fused noise, hardcore, pop, grindcore and experimental electronic music in a uniquely frenetic and ever evolving mode of expression that has translated into furious live shows and a body of uniquely compelling recorded output. If you get to see the now duo of Yako and Agata live there is a raw, visceral power paired with an intense playfulness that creates a riveting energy that brings the audience along for a wild ride of sounds, ideas and rhythms. Year after year Melt Banana is consistently one of the most memorable live bands going from anywhere in the world. The band released its latest album 3+5 in 2024 marking it’s ninth in its long career and its first in eleven years. The new record finds Melt Banana offering what might be its most accessible songs to date but also some of its most exploratory material seeming to soundtrack and combination of video game and manga-based anime because of its gloriously frantic switches of pace, tonal richness and the musical equivalent of jagged jump cuts. We had the opportunity to pose some questions to Onuki and Agata via email. 3+5 is available now digitally, on CD and LP. Find links to connect with the band after the interview. Introduction and interview by Tom Murphy.
Tom Murphy: 3+5 is your first album in 11 years. Do you feel like you had to take some time off from Melt Banana to develop new ideas or methods of performing the music before making a new album?
Yako: We didn’t feel like it took 11 years. After we released “Fetch,” we kept doing our usual live shows and tours, then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and we were busy with various things like starting our Patreon page and writing songs available only there. Time just flew by.
Agata: We never took a break from Melt-Banana during these 11 years. It’s not like we spent 11 years making “3+5,” but it feels like the album was made possible because of those 11 years. During that time, I started using new effect pedals like the Ricochet and the SY-300, which I used a lot on “3+5.”
TM: The title of the new album as well as songs titles like “Code,” “Puzzle,” “Case D,” “Stopgap” and “Hex” in particular point to mysteries or problems to solve or temporary solutions to complex challenges. Did you find yourselves faced with similar challenges to inspire songs like those?
Yako: For this album, I kept the song titles simple. Each of the nine tracks on the album feels like an independent piece, and using simple titles allows listeners more room to imagine their own interpretation of the songs.
Agata: Nowadays, everything is explained in detail and answers are easily found, so I think some ambiguity is needed.
TM: When adding 3+5 you get 8 which is a significant number in Chinese culture and numerology, a number of perfect balance and such. In splitting it into prime numbers was that maybe a commentary on the illusion of perfection and equilibrium through unconventional rhythms?
Agata: Yako came up with the album title. We had never used numbers or symbols before, and I thought it was a very good idea.
Yako: I don’t know much about Chinese culture and numerology, but in general, the number 3 is considered significant in this world. Since this is our 8th album, we needed to add 5 to make it 8.
TM: The album cover looks like a black and white collage art and ragged edged origami. Who designed the artwork and what is its significance for you and the album?
Agata: We always create our own album artwork. We make what we think looks good at the time, so we don’t usually decide on a specific theme beforehand.
Yako: As you pointed out, the initial idea was to create something by tearing and layering paper. When we create songs, sometimes they come together quickly, but often we go through many revisions, examining them carefully, cutting, pasting, and experimenting. The feeling of completion finally comes when we reach the end of that process. The artwork for this album wasn’t specifically designed with that image in mind, but it might represent that kind of process.
TM: What role did samples and field recordings play, if any, in the songwriting on the new album and how you are able to perform the music live?
Yako: For this album, we didn’t use field recordings or natural sounds. Instead, we used more digital samples.
Agata: We used synths more this time. On our previous album, “Fetch,” we incorporated field recordings, which resulted in an organic feel despite using computers. With this album, we focused on what can be achieved using computers, so we didn’t use field recordings. It’s more about how the synth sounds can coexist with Yako’s vocals and my guitar. When we play live, these sounds are handled similarly to how we treat drum sounds.
TM: Have you adapted any of your music to the pace of gaming? Are there games you find resonate well with your music?
Yako: We haven’t tried adapting our music into games. I can’t think of any specific examples, but I think fast-paced games would probably suit our music well.
Agata: We often hear that our music fits well with games like Splatoon, though I’ve never played Splatoon myself.
Yako: When I played Rez, the music synced very well with the game, and it was a lot of fun. I think music is a very important element in games.
TM: Are there Twitch streamers whose content you find especially engaging and why?
Yako: I don’t watch Twitch much, so I’m not familiar with it, but I occasionally watch game streams on YouTube. Since I use a Mac, I check out PC games that I’m interested in, as it’s very convenient for keeping up with new game releases.
Agata: I also watch more Japanese game streams on YouTube rather than Twitch. Sometimes, watching these streams makes me want to play certain games, but if I already plan to play a game from the start, I avoid watching those streams. However, recently, I haven’t had much time, so I haven’t been watching streams much.
TM: With services like Crunchyroll anime and gaming can be enjoyed by people around the world. Are there any anime series and films that have particularly captured your imagination of late?
Yako: Unfortunately, I haven’t come across any anime that has really captured my interest recently. Over the past few years, I found “Made in Abyss” and “Ousama Ranking” to be interesting. So, I’m looking forward to the next season of “Made in Abyss.”
Agata: I watch anime more randomly than Yako. I tend to watch whatever catches my eye or what Yako or friends recommend. So, I usually only watch something once, and I tend to forget the story quickly. Recently, I watched an anime called “Sing a Bit of Harmony”. Initially, I thought it probably wasn’t for me and even considered stopping halfway, but by the end, I found it really interesting.
TM: Are there any manga adaptations to anime you feel have been especially well executed like maybe Banana Fish, One Piece, Attack on Titan or Blue Lock? Others?
Agata: It’s an old example, but I think both the manga and the anime of AKIRA were great.
Yako: Manga adaptations to anime can turn out really well or be quite disappointing. It often depends on the production company and director. It’s sad to see interesting manga fail as anime. I think “Attack on Titan,” “Demon Slayer,” and more recently “Oblivion Battery” are examples of manga that have been successfully adapted into anime. When I first read these manga comics, the art was a bit hard to understand, and there were many aspects that didn’t come across well, but the anime made things clearer and was very well done. Sometimes anime adaptations include unique elements of their own, but recently, I think the anime adaptation of “Bocchi the Rock!” was done very well.
Evan Taylor is the former bandleader of the Bernie Worrell Orchestra as well as a producer and musician of note. He has worked and collaborated with the likes of Mike Watt, King Tuff, members of Talking Heads, members of Black Flag on country-influenced records, Marc Ribot, The Chapin Sisters and Sean Ono Lennon. Worrell is of course the keyboard/synth player who helped put some of the cosmic weirdness into the music of Paliament-Funkadelic as well as a much broader swath of music across decades than may seem obvious and worth exploring. When Worrell passed away in 2016 he left behind a rich legacy of great music including a plethora of unfinished and unreleased projects. Some of those were entrusted to Taylor to complete and bring into the world in a form that one hopes would have made Worrell proud. The first of those is Bernie Worrell: Wave From The WOOniverse which released on vinyl on Bernie’s birthday April 19 on Record Store Day 2024 via Org Music and became available for streaming on June 28. It includes contributions from some of the aforementioned as well as Bootsy Collins and members of TV on the Radio, Fishbone, Living Colour and Cibo Matto and B-52s. The compilation additionally features an unreleased Funkadelic song “Confusion.” Altogether the album is a rich tour through the career of one of popular music’s most beloved and influential figures.
Listen to our interview with Taylor on Bandcamp and follow his musical endeavors at the links below for his own website and that of his record label Loantaka Records.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
You must be logged in to post a comment.