"Elegant, minimalist and deeply spectral, The Conjurer is the sound of post-Takoma folk dropped into an abyss of Western frontier violence and then slowed to the speed of tectonic realignment. Put simply, this is deeply elemental music, inexorably tied to the awe and paranoia engendered by the endless American horizon, and with it Porras and Caminiti - two of the most expressive guitarists to have emerged from the US underground in recent memory - have produced nothing short of a masterpiece." - Drowned In Sound

Eternal Tapestry was formed late 2005 by guitarists Dewey Mahood and Nick Bindeman in Portland, Oregon. The band began as an experimental improvisation/noise group, but have continued to refine their sound over the past five years into the heavy, classic psych rock sound they currently play. The band has released three proper LPs: The Invisible Landscape (Not Not Fun, 2009), Palace of the Night Skies (Three Lobed Recordings, 2009), and Mystic Induction (Not Not Fun, 2008), as well as half a dozen very limited CD-Rs and cassettes on labels such as Night People, Digitalis, U-Sound, and their own imprint Solar Commune. The current line up of Nick Bindeman (guitar and vocals), Dewey Mahood (guitar), Yoni Kifle (bass), Jed Bindeman (drums), Ryan Carlile (tenor sax) has been very active this past year with two West Coast tours and nine shows at this year's SXSW. The band plans to start recording for their Thrill Jockey debut this summer. The new material will come from the band's current live set, a combination of fast punk inspired songs and epic krautrock influenced guitar improvisations. A tour of the East Coast is planned for the fall.

"The pleasure of the guitar riff has been almost exclusively hogged by Doom rockers and stoners for the last few years. Eternal Tapestry are one of an increasing number of artists reclaiming it for more innervated and colourful purposes. From the opening wah-wah soaked "Cathedral Of Radiance" to the closing "Pyramid Visions", the soundscape is pushed out and pummelled forward by riff after riff from duel guitarists Nick Bindeman and Dewey Mahood, each buoyed on a rubble roll of drum from Jed Bindeman. The austere focus of OM et al is displaced by Motor City energy and space rock colour rooted in The Stooges, Hawkwind, heavy Kraut and latterday believers like Spacemen 3 and Loop." - Wire Magazine

Daniel Higgs' desribes Say God as "a body of Gospel songs, as sung in praise, thanks, and wonder, sacrificed to the all-pervading Mystery," and with the recording help of Dave Sitek, it's even more epic than it sounds.

Pontiak give us another heaping helping of delicious sludge on Living, unpredictable, unforgiving, and utterly individual. Simply put, our favorite kind of rock. They're also on tour now with Arbouretum.

High Places' new "Can't Feel Born" 12" EP collects two exclusive tracks by the band with remixes of those tracks on some slick white vinyl.

Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh NC has been announced for September 9-11, and Thrill Jockey will be in full effect.

The lineup has just been announced, and our bands on the bill will include Tortoise, Double Dagger, Pontiak, Future Islands and Javelin.

Tickets go on sale April 1.

High Places new album High Places Vs. Mankind and Double Dagger's new EP Masks are out now and available in stores.

Both High Places and Double Dagger are touring in the US in March and April, and in Europe in April and May - check out the tour dates - including Double Dagger shows with Future Islands, and High Places shows with Future Islands and Javelin.

Pitchfork reviewed Masks and gave it an 8.1 rating and saying, "at their best, Double Dagger feel fresh and urgent," and Drowned In Sound called Masks, "an all-night drunken party in your best friend's basement that you really don't want to miss."

As for High Places, Boomkat says, "The arrival of this sophomore album is cause for no small amount of celebration... on Vs. Mankind, High Places are sounding like an increasingly impressive force."

Filmmaker Jason John Würm made a music video for Jason Urick's "The Eternal Return", from the album Husbands.

The Eternal Return by Jason Urick from jason john würm on Vimeo.

The Philadelphia Inquirer remembers Jack Rose in preview of his album release and memorial show this weekend in Philadelphia. Photo taken by Angie Evans.

2009 was our busiest year ever, and 2010 is already shaping up to bring you even more. We're kicking things off with new releases this month by The Chicago Underground Duo, Pit Er Pat and Robert AA Lowe & Rose Lazar.

The Chicago Underground Duo is Rob Mazurek and Chad Taylor, the nucleus of a collective that has now released ten albums and has been a driving force of jazz and avant-garde music in the city for more than a decade.

Boca Negra is the first Chicago Underground album to be recorded outside of Chicago, and captures broader palettes of sound and ranges of nuance, all reminders of the value of a change of scenery to keep things fresh. The New York Times calls it, "the rare jazz album that gets deep into the possibilities," and All About Jazz says "Boca Negra is a delight to get lost in."

Pit Er Pat have re-configured themselves as a duo, relocated themselves to Los Angeles and reimagined their sound to match. The result on The Flexible Entertainer is the band's most dance oriented, beat driven record to date, a completely new and distinct Pit Er Pat style perfect to warm your winter spirits.

"It's the most instantly rewarding Pit Er Pat album yet, and deserves to take the duo to a new level of recognition."- BBC

Robert AA Lowe & Rose Lazar's new album Eclipses picks up where their artbook and CD release Gyromancy left off, along the synth driven soundscapes very similar to those found on Lowe's recent solo release Fazo IV… LP (Rainbow Body), accompanied by a 12"x36" art print match.

The music on Eclipses was recorded at home by Lowe utilizing semi-modular and polyphonic analogue synthesizers hearkening back to the Kraut rock days of Cluster or NEU! Lowe and Lazar create cosmic layers of music and mind-altering landscapes, blessed out travels in sound and vision. 

We are very pleased to announce that Future Islands has joined our happy little family. Thrill Jockey will be releasing their forthcoming full-length, In Evening Air, in the spring of 2010!

Future Islands will resume the recording of In Evening Air after this month's short tour with fellow-Baltimoreans Thank You in the eastern US. The tour dates are here. They're also gearing up for the release of "Post Office Wave Chapel", a collaboration between the band and NYC art collective Free Danger that will be released on 12" vinyl and limited to 500 copies. Little Dreamer from this 12" can be heard right here.

Even if you've not heard Future Islands yet, you've likely heard singer Sam Herring's guest contribution to the Double Dagger song "The Lie/The Truth" from the new album More. You can see Sam on stage with Double Dagger in this clip from the most recent Whartscape Festival.

Take Me 'Round Again collects Matt and Eleanor's "cover versions" of songs from their I'm Going Away LP. The Fiery Furnaces are also in the midst of a US tour - see the dates!

The Fiery Furnaces have been reworking, rearranging, and rewriting their songs live since they first started touring in 2003. Now they have taken this a step further, as Matt and Eleanor has each re-recorded six songs to make a whole new album.

Take Me 'Round Again was recorded separately by Matt and Eleanor this past July in Michigan and New York. All that remains the same on these 12 "covers" are the words. Available exclusively as a digital download.

Here's what the Furnaces had to say about Take Me 'Round Again:

Matthew: “After asking people to send us their re-write of I’m Going Away before having heard it, I thought we owed it to them to make an actual alternate version of the record. And not just leave all the new arranging for live shows.”

Eleanor: “I’ve gotten into the habit of rewriting songs Matt has written, just as a way of practicing and singing at home. Originally, I had wanted to record a folk-style record called Eleanor Friedberger sings the songs of the Fiery Furnaces. I thought it would make a nice greatest hits record, but reworking I’m Going Away before it even came out seemed a lot more exciting.”

The Quietus interviewed Tortoise's Doug McCombs and Colin Newman about the session, and how they came to work together. You can read that interview and see more photos from the session here.

Colin Newman also spoke to MOJO about the session, which you can read here

"Late Junction" with Fiona Talkington airs at 11:15pm on BBC Radio 3, and you can get more info here.

Check out photos from the session over at the KEXP Blog, and here's some video of their performance of "Keep Me In The Dark".

^{recorded at The Cutting Room Studios NYC
video by Louis Sparre/Electric Tweed}

The Fiery Furnaces are currently on tour in Europe, and will tour the US in November. Check out all the tour dates over at the Tours page.

Along with Tortoise’s Millions Now Living Will Never Die and The Sea And Cake’s The Fawn, Trans Am's second LP, 1997’s Surrender To The Night, is one of post-rock’s crowning glories and a testament to the potential of the form. Over eleven tracks, the trio -- Nathan Means (bass, keyboards), Philip Manley (guitar, keyboards), and Sebastian Thomson (drums) -- fuse arena rock, Jan Hammer-esque '80s TV chase themes, shoegaze, krautrock, dub, and who knows what else into a mind-blowing mélange of instrumental magic. It's an album bursting with eureka moments, startlingly smart and awesomely rocking.

You can read the full story here, and of course you can listen to Surrender to the Night or buy it on CD or MP3 here.

Check out the brand new video, recently featured on Pitchfork TV. Vivre Sans Temp Mort from their most recent album More