Killed by The Architects doesn’t try to reinvent indie rock or post-punk, but it will easily charm and melt the frozen hearts of even the pickiest of gatekeeping fans.

One look at the personnel on the debut album by East Axis makes it hard to resist: pianist Matthew Shipp, drummer Gerald Cleaver, saxophonist Allen Lowe and bassist Kevin Ray make up a free improvisation dream team.

The debut solo single by Swagger frontman Lee Michael Stevens is the first step in a promising journey.

Dame Shirley Collins returns with the power of nature in and all it’s beauty

A Los Angeles institution crafts affectionate covers of hometown faves.

Rather than fill nooks and crannies with ear candy, Harrison lets the songs breathe, the air around each lick and vocal framing the tunes as much as backwards guitars and tape splices did in the Kontiki days.

Rather than padded with filler, the immense album is proving to be made with meticulous care and attention.

A joint effort from two musicians equally comfortable with organic and synthetic sources of sound, Aufbruch feels like the perfect soundtrack for the Pandemic Years.

For Coda – Orchestral Suites, the Austrian musician reworks pieces from past works via a horn-and-string laden chamber orchestra, vibraphone, electric guitar and his own probing horn.

Shun leader Matt Whitehead used to lead South Carolina’s Throttlerod, and while his new group Shun fields some of the former band’s ragged-but-right stoner metal, there’s a lot more going on here.

Cover albums are normally predictable and unimaginative affairs, but not in the hands of Renee Stahl and Jeremy Toback. “Whole Lotta Love” is a gorgeous reimagining of some of the best known songs of the modern age and clever renders them into whispering, ambient folk songs whilst still retaining that special quality which made them so popular in the first place.

With jazz’s long history of saxophone/drums duo albums, it was only a matter of time before some musicians decided to double up.

Night Shadows isn’t above referencing pop culture or the long history of popular music, and by beautifully and effortlessly synthesizing both the high and the low the band is elevated to a living individual work of art.

Documenting a 1970 performance recorded by the Left Bank Jazz Society at Baltimore’s Famous Ballroom, the two-disk Understanding resurrects a magnificent Brooks gig from the vaults.

Beth Rettig and Where We Sleep release their debut long-player, and it is explosive and enchanting

Besides his piano, Evans wields the band as his instruments, knowing when to keep them in support and when to let them loose.

Inspired by and dedicated to nineteenth century American artist Robert Henri, The Art Spirit is clearly committed to Art For Art’s Sake.

Rock music’s premier all-female band get a long overdue retrospective.

A worthy follow-up to last year’s self-titled introductory EP, the Idolizers rip it up again on new EP ConCretins.

There’s a lot of L.A. rock history in this band’s DNA.

CCR legend Doug ‘Cosmo’ Clifford releases an extraordinary piece of work on August 27th, a collaboration with the late Steve Wright from the Greg Kihn Band

Forever trumpeted within these virtual and physical pages as one of the greatest bands not enough people know about, The Black Watch celebrates the tenth anniversary of one of its best: Led Zeppelin Five.

Led by acclaimed saxophonist Dayna Stephens and drummer Anthony Fung, Pluto Juice explores two concepts on its self-titled debut: space travel and the EWI, or electronic wind instrument.

Led by singer and bassist Che Beret, Arizona’s French Girls dig their guitars loud, their melodies sweet, and their rhythms pumpin’.

In which our intrepid co-leaders of the dB’s revisit their back catalog in more stripped-down and intimate takes than the louder versions on record by the band.

As time and aging are common themes throughout the album, it is fascinating to listen to an artist with a new perspective sing these songs written by his younger self.

Metamorphosis will appeal most of all to fans of the genre looking for something more intellectual than the standard fare.

At a mere twenty-five minutes, Disturbios may seem short on the surface, but the band makes the most of its timeframe and never misses a step.

Francie Conway continues on his divine path of excellence with “Staycation”

He’s created something well worth hearing and not just for obsessive Smoking Popes fans.

The son of a master sitar player and grandson of a Bollywood composer, drummer Keshav Batish brings worlds of experience to his music.

The aesthetic is exactly what you’d expect – three chord romps that drag fifties rock & roll through a Nuggets filter, with some C&W and R&B seasoning – but this music depends more on personality and energy than originality.

For Soné Ka-La 2: Odyssey, a sequel to his 2006 LP Soné Ka-La, Schwarz-Bart takes inspiration for the Gwoka traditions from his youth growing up in Guadeloupe.

Like the primeval thunderstorms of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the music of Echo Us scratches an ancient itch deep in the back of the listener’s subconscious.

Like a lot of members of the early nineties alternarock nation, Wanderlust was and is a power pop band at heart.

Confabulations collects duo and trio recordings made over the course of twenty-three years, and features players from the more adventurous side of the jazz spectrum for an album of uneasy listening.

The legandary Boston guitarist returns with his Engine Room outfit, and stylishly follows up 2017’s Full Steam Ahead album

“Glasgow singer-songwriter Daniel Wylie and his regular musical cohorts (Neil Sturgeon, Johnny Smillie, Stu Kidd) have once again graced the ears of listeners with a beautiful new record, one released at the trailing end of a deadly pandemic.”

For all of the seriousness behind the inspiration, Wise John handles it with a deft touch; sometimes with humor, sometimes with anger, and sometimes with a hint of naivety.

A journey through the past stirs up heavy memories.

Over nearly five decades of service, bassist and composer William Parker has earned the title legend.

Inspired by the last several years of national crisis and political turmoil, Freedom Over Everything finds him using the Czech National Symphony Orchestra as the main vehicle for his compositions, with guests drawn from other musical worlds.

The Virtualistics is undoubtedly a product of the COVID age, but it is also a light at the end of the tunnel.

While it’s no surprise, given the nearly forty years of experience these guys have making music, the consistent level of craft and attention to detail never fail to impress.

Drummer Jason Nazary has a resumé that glides all over the map, from the indie rock of Bear in Heaven to the avant-jazz of Anteloper to side person work with the likes of jazz musicians Darius Jones and Noah Kaplan.

Included are 4 studio tracks and 9 live tracks, all among the best American no wave/post-punk material of the era.

J.P. Shilo has been around the block a few times, as leader of atmospheric instrumentalists Hungry Ghosts, member of the Black-Eyed Susans, associate of Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard, the Triffids and more. Jubjoté, however, may be his most unusual project yet.

Release is one the truest, most mature accounts in contemporary folk of what it means to struggle, to persevere, or to just get by.

Ellen Foley returns, and she means buisness on her latest album ‘Fighting Words’

The Music Therapy Experiment is a place where mental health, music therapy, and great sonic vibes co-exist and their latest release is a gorgeous affair that goes by the name of Art and Science. Not just great songs but technically brilliant playing and some exceptional wordplay and punning too.