Japanese producer Ryu Yoshizawa has a rich career that includes making music for business conglomerates Square Enix and Lotte, spending 17 years and counting in sound artists’ group Office Intenzio, and providing live support for synth-pop pioneers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi. His output as Koeosaeme has been varied too. His 2017 debut under that […]
Tag: synth
Georgia Anne Muldrow makes timeless synth-driven experiments on Vweto III
Stevie Wonder’s personal archives are reputedly filled with decades of homemade demos and jam sessions that have never been released. If I had to guess what they sound like, I’d say some of them probably have a lot in common with the new album from Georgia Anne Muldrow. The Los Angeles singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist […]
Casper McFadden’s breakcore fuels optimistic dreams
In a recent video interview with New York City arts and culture site Lumka, Chicago producer Casper McFadden explained that he made his new second album, Stasis (Log), while his landlord renovated his bedroom over the summer. The construction took longer than anticipated, and McFadden spent months stuck on his couch, unable to access the […]
Tatiana Hazel knows she was meant to shine
Chicago native Tatiana Hazel has been on a journey that merges fashion, visual design, and music since she was 13 years old, when she began posting videos of herself singing and playing acoustic guitar on YouTube. Now in her early 20s, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has developed a solid following while deepening her talent for […]
Sonic Boom uses retro-futuristic psychedelia to explore today on his first album in three decades
This might go down in history as the year everything got completely fucked forever, but some people will also fondly recall it as the year when Sonic Boom finally released his glorious second LP, All Things Being Equal—three decades after his solo debut. Peter Kember, the multi-instrumentalist better known as Sonic Boom, made Spectrum way […]
Kris Esfandiari of King Woman and producer Darcy Baylis combine forces in Sugar High
Kris Esfandiari is no stranger to side projects. Since cofounding doom-metal band King Woman in 2009, she’s released solo material under the names Miserable, Kris, Dalmatian, and Nghtcrwler. Her latest project, Sugar High, is a collaboration with Berlin-based songwriter and producer Darcy Baylis, whose credits include recordings by Wicca Phase Springs Eternal and Camp Cope […]
Chicago’s weirdest cook-off signs off on the gig poster of the week
This week’s featured gig poster was created by local artist and animator Samuel Nigrosh.
Italian composer Caterina Barbieri casts a retrofuturistic aura on Ecstatic Computation
The cover of Caterina Barbieri’s 2019 album Ecstatic Computation (Editions Mego) is composed of two eyes digitally layered over a photo of grayish fog. Its retrofuturistic aura is an apt representation of the Italian composer’s music and what she strives to accomplish through it. Drawing largely upon the works of German musicians such as Klaus […]
Moog is relaunching three classic modular synths, so here’s a Moog mass from 1970
The Stabat Mater feels even more stylized in its grief when it’s played on otherworldly-sounding analog synths.
12 O’Clock Track: The sparse synth sound of Total Control’s “Flesh War”
Today’s 12 O’Clock Track is “Flesh War” from the upcoming Total Control album Typical System.
Brett Naucke continues his busy month with two shows tonight
Local synth artist Brett Naucke plays his 12th and 13th shows of the month tonight.
12 O’Clock Track: John Dwyer is back already with “Eggs at Night” by Damaged Bug
Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer is back with a new project, just a few weeks after they called it a day.
Alex Barnett plays tonight, gets ready to drop brand-new LP
Local synth composer Alex Barnett gets ready to release his new collaborative LP.
12 O’Clock Track: “Elevator” is dramatic, airy neo-goth from Indiana
TV Ghost’s brand-new elevator is beautiful, airy, and dark.
12 O’Clock Track: “Narrative synth prog” from Michigan’s Mounds
“New Bridge” by Michigan synth-prog band Mounds, who open for Black Pus tonight at the Empty Bottle