#avantgarde — Public Fediverse posts

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Dead Voices On Air - mothcomma

"Dead Voices on Air’s Mothcomma pushes the project’s four‑decade legacy forward with a transatlantic, genre‑defying album arriving July 17, 2026 via Re:Mission Entertainment."

https://getmusic.fm/l/Bmcseb

#experimental #noise #industrial #spacerock #postindustrial #avantgarde #music

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Dead Voices On Air - mothcomma

"Dead Voices on Air’s Mothcomma pushes the project’s four‑decade legacy forward with a transatlantic, genre‑defying album arriving July 17, 2026 via Re:Mission Entertainment."

https://getmusic.fm/l/Bmcseb

#experimental #noise #industrial #spacerock #postindustrial #avantgarde #music

Free download codes:

Dead Voices On Air - mothcomma

"Dead Voices on Air’s Mothcomma pushes the project’s four‑decade legacy forward with a transatlantic, genre‑defying album arriving July 17, 2026 via Re:Mission Entertainment."

https://getmusic.fm/l/Bmcseb

#experimental #noise #industrial #spacerock #postindustrial #avantgarde #music

Free download codes:

Dead Voices On Air - mothcomma

"Dead Voices on Air’s Mothcomma pushes the project’s four‑decade legacy forward with a transatlantic, genre‑defying album arriving July 17, 2026 via Re:Mission Entertainment."

https://getmusic.fm/l/Bmcseb

#experimental #noise #industrial #spacerock #postindustrial #avantgarde #music

My new EP is here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWhk-QaLfWA

#unfa #music #noai #noslop #fuckai #avantgarde

My new EP is premiering within 5 hours!
Meet me there in the chat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWhk-QaLfWA

#unfa #music #noai #noslop #fuckai #avantgarde

@michaelrodhamheaps.bsky.social freq.org.uk/reviews/eric-random-bone-of-contention/ An impressive set of tunes with real sonic depth, concluding with the soft plumage of .. [an] .. undulatory rhythmic with croaking robotics slowly frequency combed to silence #avantgarde #electronics #musicreview

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:evocfgfx3nkoccovotpzk6zc/post/3murn77xqizp2

Eric Random – Bone Of Contention https://freq.org.uk/reviews/eric-random-bone-of-contention/ An impressive set of tunes with real sonic depth, concluding with the soft plumage of “‘Concrete Conversation”‘s undulatory rhythmic with croaking robotics slowly frequency combed to silence #avantgarde #electronics #musicreview

Eric Random – Bone Of Contention https://freq.org.uk/reviews/eric-random-bone-of-contention/ An impressive set of tunes with real sonic depth, concluding with the soft plumage of “‘Concrete Conversation”‘s undulatory rhythmic with croaking robotics slowly frequency combed to silence #avantgarde #electronics #musicreview

Eric Random – Bone Of Contention https://freq.org.uk/reviews/eric-random-bone-of-contention/ An impressive set of tunes with real sonic depth, concluding with the soft plumage of “‘Concrete Conversation”‘s undulatory rhythmic with croaking robotics slowly frequency combed to silence #avantgarde #electronics #musicreview

Eric Random – Bone Of Contention https://freq.org.uk/reviews/eric-random-bone-of-contention/ An impressive set of tunes with real sonic depth, concluding with the soft plumage of “‘Concrete Conversation”‘s undulatory rhythmic with croaking robotics slowly frequency combed to silence #avantgarde #electronics #musicreview

Eric Random – Bone Of Contention https://freq.org.uk/reviews/eric-random-bone-of-contention/ An impressive set of tunes with real sonic depth, concluding with the soft plumage of “‘Concrete Conversation”‘s undulatory rhythmic with croaking robotics slowly frequency combed to silence #avantgarde #electronics #musicreview

🔴 LIVE NOW ON VORTEX
📻 Vortex Abyss 🕳️ (Dark ambient, neofolk, shoegaze, immersive)
──────────────
🎵 Einstürzende Neubauten - The Interimlovers

▶️ Écouter / Listen : VorteX [Radio]
https://lesonduvortex.net

💬 Join us on Discord:
https://discord.gg/d82hJZBeDE

#VortexWave #EinstürzendeNeubauten #Industrial #Avantgarde #80s

A music break for sanity's sake.
#musicbreak #music #jazz #latinjazz #avantgarde #freejazz #argentina
https://youtu.be/2sVxyPLwynA

🇺🇸 Suicide "Cheree" – 1978 / 2021

Suicide at their most hauntingly minimal. Alan Vega’s fragile, almost whispered vocal sits against Martin Rev’s primitive electronic pulse, creating a strange combination of tenderness and menace...

#suicide #alanvega #martinrev #electronicmusic #minimalwave #noiserock #protoindustrial #avantgarde #vinyl #music #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity #nowspinningonvinyl #nowspinning #nowlistening

Paul* Hermansen, Bela Pruscini, Benjamin Steinacher – Excessive Temperaments
#Alternative #EAI #Experimental #FreeJazz #abreaction #avantgarde #contemporary #creativemusic #devotional #electroacoustic #freeimprovisation #jazzmeditation #primitivism #spiritualjazz #Dortmund
CC BY-NC-SA (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike) #ccmusic
https://leoniehermansen.bandcamp.com/album/excessive-temperaments

🇩🇰 Martin Hall "Mirrorball" – 2009

With Mirrorball, Martin Hall once again demonstrates his rare ability to turn melancholy into something grand and beautiful. There is a timeless quality to these recordings that are elegant, emotional, and carefully constructed without ever becoming overly polished...

#martinhall #artpop #alternativerock #experimental #avantgarde #music #nowspinning #nowlistening

🇩🇰 Martin Hall "Introducing Roseland" – 2005

After more than six years without a solo release, Martin Hall returned with five new recordings that move effortlessly between grand pop, intimate balladry, strings, and Hall’s distinctive artistic universe.
The title track opens with an almost Phil Spector-like grandeur, while the remaining songs gradually become more restrained and introspective...

#martinhall #avantgarde #artpop #alternative #music #nowspinning #nowlistening

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the fear of death and the end of time - together we fade away at the end of time

"dedicated to everyone who has and will die"

https://getmusic.fm/l/Fclvjt

#ambient #drone #noise #folk #avantgarde #spokenword #soundcollage #nostalgia #avantfolk #music

CHEER-ACCIDENT
Sever Roots Tree Dies
1988 U.S. pressing

A super-cool find at the end of a loooong-ass day.

I had no idea what this was. Just bought it on a whim after about 2 seconds of research.

What a wonderfully weird #80s album. I’ll try my best to explain this…

An #experimental trio that mixes #prog rock, #postpunk , #avantgarde improvisation, occasional #artpop , and CRAZY ass dynamics that duck and weave in and out of soft/quiet & roundhouses to the head.

Think latter-day King Crimson having a baby with the punkest, weirdest girl from your graduating class.

This is an exciting record, and I can tell I’m going to have to listen to it several times to have it reveal itself to me in full.

Just a killer record, and a very pleasant surprise.
Now I have something to obsess over these next few weeks.

#vinyl #vinylrecords #vinylcommunity #records #vintage #retro #physicalmedia #analog #cratedigging #vinylcollection #vinylfinds #rare #art #punk #artrock #1980s #80sMusic

The storms persist, but now it’s getting hot! Steam roils inside the filter ducts as my minions scald themselves in the pursuit of moderately valuable nuggets. Will they succeed before they cook like so many broccoli florets? Only time will tell.

Dead or alive, I’ll make sure these lazy louts deliver their semi-precious lodes. So be thankful, and BEHOLD!

Kenstrosity’s Mountainous Member

Volcandra // Beyond the Will of Mortals [April 24th, 2026 – Prosthetic Records]

Who knows why we don’t get promo sometimes? Countless times I’ve been faced with great anticipation for a new record by a band I was keeping tabs on, and countless times, for unknown reasons, promo never came. Louisville melodic black/death quartet Volcandra now enter those ranks with the unsent Beyond the Will of Mortals. Picking up where The Will of Ancients left off, Beyond the Will of Mortals expands in scope and scale, eliciting a grandeur in composition that recalls the epic yarns spun by Foretoken, Hath, and Astralborne, but with the thrashing sensibilities of Antiverse and Skeletonwitch. Leading the charge in stunning fashion, “Beyond the Will of Mortals” and “Marauders of the Cosmic Vortex” explode with a visceral burst of energy built around high-octane riffs, screaming solos, and majestic melodies. Dave Palenske in particular acquits himself admirably, expanding his vocal range far beyond the expected, foraying into scorching screams and subterranean gutturals with excellent technique and charisma (“Venom March Enchantress”). But the rest of the band easily keeps up, deftly trading blows between power metal-ready gallops, violent swings into thrash territory, and all manner of other pyrotechnics to make Beyond the Will of Mortals Volcandra’s most versatile and varied offering yet. To some, this may create a disjointed experience as rippers like “Mage of Fabled Sorcery” contrast in pacing and personality to its neighbors. However, with repeat listens that effects dissolves, making more room to appreciate how much fun this record really is. The back half capitalizes on that effect, unleashing lean and mean banger after banger to leave you salivating for another round (“Within the Webs,” “Infinite Decadence”). In sum, Beyond the Will of Mortals is a fine, invigorating inclusion into anyone’s rotation; so if you missed it, get on it now!

Creeping Ivy’s Punkyard Dogs

Dead Bob // Nothing Changes Everything [April 21st, 2026 – Wrong Records]

In The Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal, Martin Popoff describes Wrong (1989) by Nomeansno as ‘the mightiest merger between the hateful aggression of punk and the discipline of heavy metal’ (316). Essentially, Popoff affixed to Wrong AMG’s Iconic label: 10/10.1 For readers perhaps unfamiliar with Nomeansno, my best follow-up on Popoff’s portrayal is that the band—formed in 1979 by the Wright brothers (Rob on bass/vocals, John on drums/vocals)—sounds like The Minutemen hijacked a Voivod. After an incredible eleven-album run, Nomeansno officially retired in 2016. Why am I wasting my word count with this history lesson on the greatest Canadian punk band of all time? Because Dead Bob, John Wright’s solo project, released its sophomore album this April. Whereas Life Like fulfills the vision of one man, John enlisted a band for Nothing Changes Everything. Bookending the album are the last two songs John co-wrote with Rob. The techy guitar/bass interplay of lead-off “Centre of the Universe,” as well as the pounding rhythms of closer “No Fun (Alt Mix),” come closest to the punk/metal hybridity of vintage Nomeansno. Between these tracks, the album gets increasingly weird (which is to say, it gets increasingly ‘punk,’ in the word’s original connotation). “Nothing Changes Everything” deploys horns, “Hard is Hard” mixes art/surf rock, and “The Present” sprinkles psychedelic guitar leads over pulsing synths and tribal percussion. If you’re a fan of avant-garde music in a compact package, you can’t go wrong with Nothing Changes Everything.

Poison Ruïn // Hymns from the Hills [April 3rd, 2026 – Relapse Records]

Whilst reading Tyme‘s (excellent) review of Twin Serpent’s (super fun) True Norwegian Blackgrass, a member of the commentariat reminded me of how much I enjoyed Poison Ruïn’s latest offering upon a first listen. That comment got me to revisit Hymn from the Hills, and I’m glad I did. To sell these Philly post-punks to the AMG Faithful, I’ll point out a few things: they’re signed to Relapse Records, they curate a medieval aesthetic (which includes deploying dungeon synths), and the new record was mastered by Arthur Rizk. In addition to liberal metal elements, Poison Ruïn occasionally stride with rock n’ roll swagger (“Hymn from the Hills”), with primary visionary Mac Kennedy channeling Blue Öyster Cult in his role as singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter (“Lily of the Valley”). “Eidolon” perfectly exemplifies the band’s hybridity, mashing up the melody of “Layla,” the propulsive drive of Hüsker Dü, and the rhythmic punctuations of “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” This may sound like a critique, but it’s not; Poison Ruïn excels at mixing punk, rock, and metal into their own arthouse concoction. Metal purists might have to wait until the end of the album, though, to have their fancy truly tickled. But wait, they should, as “Sleeping Giant (Interlude)” offers funeral doom content in a punk-sized package, while closer “The Standoff” gets moving with a wicked blast beat. I’ll definitely be heading for these post-punk hills more and more throughout the year.

Scimitar // Scimitarium II [April 24th, 2026 – Crypt of the Wizard]

Scimitar’s first song receptacle was one of my favorite debuts of 2025. On Scimitarium I, this Danish five-piece served up a scintillating selection of ‘black occult rock,’ combining the caustic fervor of Malokarpatan with the psychedelic haze of Blue Cheer, topped off with a post-punk flavoring of Joy Division. A year later, this Copenhagen cutter returns with Scimitarium II, a follow-up that satisfyingly mirrors the album-art format of its predecessor. Whereas Scimitarium I demonstrated range marred a bit by roughshod production, volume II sounds much sharper, slashing and dashing for a lean 40 minutes. The opening title track introduces our combatants: the dexterous drumming of CCsquele; the counter-melodic bass of Olle Bergholz; the sinister guitar fury of Johan L. Ekstrand and Anders M. Jørgensen; and finally, the commanding vocals of Shaam A.2 From there, the album rips through a trio of unrelenting ragers that feel like they can fall apart at any minute but miraculously hold together. “Through Lava Lit Roads to Lavilenda, Pt. II” offers the only reprieve, spotlighting Shaam’s dynamic range and impressive timbre. Closing out the collection is “Mobula Mobular,” a 13-minute monster built around a doomy riff whose chromaticism lurches upward and downward, to hypnotizing effect. If Scimitar can marry the ambition of I with the ferocity of II next time around, they’ll have a blackened-trad killer on their hands.

Andy-War-Hall’s Dandy Score Haul

Elegant Weapons // Evolution [April 24th, 2026 – Exciter Records]

Everything about Elegant Weapons and the super group’s sophomore record Evolution is a misnomer. Evolution is a high-octane slugfest of tried-and-true heavy metal-leaning hard rock, and Elegant Weapons swing, punch, and bite through it with everything but grace. Is this a problem? When Richie Faulkener’s (Judas Priest) riffs are as groovy and burly as ever and his solos as grin-inducing, Ronnie Romero’s (ex-Rainbow, ex-Michael Schenker Group) voice is booming as it is, and when Dave Rimmer (Uriah Heep) and Christopher Williams’ (Accept) bass and drums respectively, carry as tight a pulse as they do on Evolution, not at all. When it all coalesces into uber catchy fist-pumping anthems like “Bridges Burn,” “The Devil Calls,” and “Shooting Shadows,” especially so. Evolution is easy-peasy listening, and Elegant Weapons’ chemistry and knack for hookcraft make its near hour-long runtime fly by, as well as ease the cringe of the hyper-Boomeristic lyricism on “Generation Me.” They also manage to make fairly stock power ballads in “Come Back to Me” and “Keeper of the Keys” feel affecting, driven by a viral vocal presence and emotive, timeless guitar soloing. Evolution is fun, and Elegant Weapons are sharp. ‘Nuff said.

Demon Spell // Blessed Be the Dark [April 24th, 2026 – Dying Victims Productions]

Creeping from an obscure, ancient, and sinister darkness, Sicily’s Demon Spell have conjured a shadow-cast era of heavy metal’s history back to the light of day with their debut Blessed Be the Dark. Wielding the evil auras of Mercyful Fate and Witchfinder General, Demon Spell play an early-80s melange of early thrash, occult rock, and NWoBHM riffcraft and swagger. Blessed Be the Dark is driven by excellent performances. Vocalist Federico Fano’s falsetto wails evoke King Diamond at his best on “As Lucifer Smiles” while drummer Dario Casabona drops slick, pummeling fills over “Curse of the Undead.” Sinister melodies and atmospheres abound on Blessed Be the Dark, with “The Tolling” and “Hexes and Horrors” driving home a vintage horror aesthetic while tearing it up with blistering heavy metal. Blessed Be the Dark also just sounds pleasantly old. Demon Spell’s guitars and bass sound pulled straight from 1981, complementing their retro songcraft perfectly. Blessed Be the Dark sounds like the night come alive, a fast, fun, and delightfully dark exploration of the kinds of heavy metal that gave your grandma panic attacks back in the day. Fall under the Demon Spell today!

Grin Reaper’s Grim Goodies

Nervosa // Slave Machine [April 3rd, 2026 – Napalm Records]

For a band releasing their sixth album in twelve years, Nervosa sounds remarkably vital. Staying the course with a dozen tracks of their signature death/thrash, Slave Machine burns through forty-three minutes of whammy dives, soaring leads, and all-around thrashy goodness. Writing tunes that pay homage to Sepultura (“You Are Not a Hero”), Kreator (“Ghost Notes”), and Sodom (“The Call”), Nervosa bludgeons with blunt-force drama while touting slick riffs and venomous melodies. Slave Machine opens with “Impending Doom,” a stirring salvo that Arch Enemy wishes they’d written, and from there Nervosa hints at the familiar without ever straying from their own lane. “Hate” starts with a riff that simultaneously reminds of Maiden’s “Flash of the Blade” and System of a Down’s “B.Y.O.B.” before spiraling into vaguely In Flames-tinged melodeath. Meanwhile, “Crawling for Your Pride” and “Beast of Burden” draw from the viciousness of mid-aughts Soulfly. Over and over, Nervosa pulls from known sources, yet bakes enough novelty into their songwriting to sound fresh and pummeling. Those intimate with Nervosa won’t find many surprises here, but are in for a treat. If this is your first encounter with these Brazilian badasses, gird your ears and strap in—welcome to the Slave Machine.

Kõdu // Kirjad Sõgedate Külast [April 20th, 2026 – Antiq Records]

Five years after delivering debut Unusta Kõik, Estonian outfit Kõdu graces us with their sophomore album. Translated as ‘Letters from the Village of the Blind,’3 Kirjad Sõgedate Külast details the sordid ruination of a backwoods village, relating its narrative aspects through a series of letters where each song chronicles a different villager’s perspective.4 Kõdu grounds the lyrics in their native language, drawing from nineteenth and twentieth-century Estonian poets for inspiration. Despite the depth of the macabre backdrop, I never would have taken the time to learn more if Kõdu’s music hadn’t entranced me from the outset. Slow-burn black metal abounds on Kirjad Sõgedate Külast, recalling Dødheimsgard’s shifting moods (“II”) and eclectic instrumentation (“III”) muddled with Wayfarer’s rustic arrangements (“VI”) and Emperor’s dramatic flair (“V”). Musically, Kirjad Sõgedate Külast conjures lush soundscapes (“VII”) through considered songwriting, expertly balancing black metal discharges with melancholic passages that give moments just the right amount of time to bludgeon or breathe before pivoting. I regret not getting the chance to review Kõdu’s latest in full, because the folk magic they weave on Kirjad Sõgedate Külast deserves fanfare and kudõs aplenty.

ClarkKent’s Epic Elegy

Bloody Valkyria // Requiem – Reveries Of The Dying [April 3rd, 2026 – Northern Silence Productions]

Bloody Valkyria, the product of Finland’s Jere Kervinen, peddles in the same sort of epic symphonic/folk black metal that the likes of Ancient Mastery, Stormkeep, and Moonlight Sorcery dish out. Kervinen’s emotionally charged project appears inspired by a personal loss, and you can feel his passion in the emotional outpouring of his music and lyrics. On the epic opener, “Symphony of Silence,” Bloody Valkyria reveal their capability with the patient slow burn. There’s the natural, serene ambience of animal sounds, strings, folky flutes, and then a sudden explosion of riffs and blast beats. And boy does Kervinen write some extraordinary leads, which makes his slow-burn approach all the more rewarding. Each song contains a well-earned hooky riff/trem that holds its sway over you even as the song grows into more thoughtful serenity. Reading along with Kervinen’s poetic, touching lyrics makes the experience all the more poignant as he ruminates on death and the meaning of life. The grief by the end, as he sings about his “beloved north” and a desire for its/her embrace, is palpable. This is a beautiful record that may be too good for these dirty filters, but I just couldn’t risk it getting lost in the shuffle of the chaos that is the end of year.

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Clelia - ₐₙcₑₛₜᵣₐₗ

"An experimental avant-garde spoken word sound collage by Clelia, originally recorded in Fall 2023 under the side project San Beulah and later consolidated for release via Treefrog Productions on Feb. 13, 2026."

https://getmusic.fm/l/0G2qWX

#ambient #experimental #avantgarde #spokenword #soundcollage #music

Camofoliage

Some experimentation I did with the idea of combining different pixel sizes in pixel art. I used a lot of overcompression and re-indexing of colors as well.

EDIT: Forgot I already posted this. Oh well. 😐

#Pixel #PixelArt #Glitch #GlitchArt #Glitchcore #Retro #RetroAesthetic #Experimental #AvantGarde #GIMP #Digital #DigitalArt #Art #Artwork #MastoArt #ArtistOnMastodon

Ice Rain

Glitch art style I created that I call "edgecore" - a combination of overcompression and pixel sorting effects.

#Glitch #GlitchArt #Glitchcore #Pixel #PixelArt #Retro #RetroArt #RetroAesthetic #8Bit #8BitArt #16Bit #16BitArt #Compression #Portrait #Woman #Human #Distorted #Distortion #AvantGarde #Experimental #Digital #DigitalArt #Enacore #Webcore #Surreal #Surrealist #Surrealism #GIMP #Art #MastoArt #ArtistOnMastodon

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the fear of death and the end of time - together we fade away at the end of time

"dedicated to everyone who has and will die"

https://getmusic.fm/l/0nKuWy

#ambient #drone #noise #folk #avantgarde #spokenword #soundcollage #nostalgia #avantfolk #music

What pre-1985 science fiction are you reading? + Update No. XXVIII

First update post of 2026! What pre-1985 science fiction adventures have you started this year? Any great reads? Disappointing ones? Intriguing discoveries? Here’s the November 2025 installment of this column.

• A selection of read volumes from my shelf

Exciting news! Rachel S. Cordasco, who occasionally joins me to review older SF short stories in translation, will soon launch Small Planet: The SF in Translation Magazine. As the announcement on File 770 states, “the magazine will come out 4 times per year (February, May, August, and November) and include columns on such topics as: interesting upcoming books and notable reviews, interviews with authors, translators, editors, translators talking about books they’d like to see in English, essays on Anglophone awards, databases, and publishers that should recognize translators/SFT, essays on Anglophone awards, databases, and publishers that should recognize translators/SFT, pieces on interesting translation conundrums, notes on what’s happening in other countries in SF. It will be available for free on Cordasco’s Speculative Fiction in Translation website.”

Missing from the list will be my reviews of vintage SF in translation! The plan is to have one review in each issue for at least the next year or for as long as I can keep up a schedule (schedules and I do not mesh). I’ve already tracked down some lesser known gems from German, Norway, and Italy.

The Photograph (with links to reviews and brief thoughts)

1. Robert Silverberg’s Thorns (1967). Generally considered one of his first great novels — I thoroughly his rumination on two psychologically devastated characters who are set up to fall in love for the entertainment of the world. Harrowing stuff. Recommended.
2. J. G. Ballard’s The Terminal Beach (1964). Never managed to review this top-notch Ballard collection. I should just reread it… Coincidentally, I wrote a short story as a college student with a very similar premise to Ballard’s “The Drowned Giant” (1964).
3. Judith Merril’s Survival Ship and Other Stories (1974). Notably contains the three short stories that Merril planned to transform into a generation ship novel — “Survival Ship” (1951), “Wish Upon a Star” (1958), and “The Lonely” (1963). If she had, it would have been the first gen ship novel by a woman. According to my index, the first solo-written generation ship novel by a woman is Pamela Sargent’s YA novel Earthseed (1983).
4. Robert Sheckley’s The Status Civilization (1960). I found his short novel an interesting intersection of pulp narrative and “artfully constructed satire.”

What am I writing about?

While I have not had the most productive 2026, here are few notable reviews I’ve written recently in case you missed them: two interesting 50s short stories on race in America, Alan E. Nourse’s “Marley’s Chain” (1952) and Edward W. Ludwig’s “The Rocket Man” (1951); Fritz Leiber, Jr.’s Gather, Darkness! (1943, novelized 1950) and Gillian Freeman’s The Leader (1965); William Tenn’s collection Time in Advance (1958); and another installment on my survey of all pre-1985 generation ship stories available in English, Mari Wolf’s “The First Day of Spring” (1954) and Francis G. Rayer’s “Continuity Man” (1959).

As I mentioned earlier, I am writing reviews for Rachel’s online magazine on SF in translation. When they go live I’ll double-post them on the site and link the other goodies that are sure to grace the pages.

What am I reading?

I recently finished Matthew I. Thompson’s fascinating monograph On Life Support: Eco-Dystopian Cinema in the Long 1970s (2026). He explores the intersection of popular science works by Rachel Carson and Paul R. Ehrlich and dystopia SF film with ecological themes. If you missed my interview with Thompson, I highly recommend you check it out. The interview surveys the main theoretical premises of the work and the main films he covers. I should rewatch Soylent Green (1972), David Cronenberg’s Shivers (1975), and Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running (1972).

• Matthew I. Thompson’s On Life Support: Eco-Dystopian Cinema in the Long 1970s (2026). Photographed by me on a hike in Pembroke, VA.
  

A Curated List of SF Birthdays from the Last Two Weeks [names link to The Internet Speculative Fiction Database for bibliographical info]

March 22nd: Raymond Z. Gallun (1911-1994).

• Johnny Bruck’s canvas for Perry Rhodan, #270: Ultimatum an Unbekannt (1966)

March 22nd: German cover artist Johnny Bruck (1921-1995). He’s easily one of the most prolific German cover artists.

March 22nd: Rudy Rucker (1946-).

March 23nd: H. Beam Piper (1904-1964). I recently (sort of) covered my first Piper story on the site: H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire’s “Hunter Patrol” (1959). I have another one planned this year.

March 23nd: Sheila MacLeod (1939-).

March 23nd: Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (1947-). I enjoyed her Acorna sequence books (written with Anne McCaffrey) was a child. Most of her published solo work is outside my area of focus. I placed her novel The Healer’s War (1988-) on my Vietnam War-inspired SFF list.

March 23rd: Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-). I recently reviewed Icehenge (1984). I really enjoyed it. Perhaps more than his Mars Trilogy, albeit, they are very different books…

• David K. Stone’s cover for the 1978 edition of The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (1978)

March 24th: Cover artist David K. Stone (1922-2001).

March 24th: Peter George (1924-1966).

March 25th: Jacqueline Lichtenberg (1942-)

March 26th: Edward Bellamy (1850-1898). Author of Looking Backward: 2000–1887 (1888), the highly influential utopian SF novel that inspired countless sequels and prequels and rebuttals by other authors.

March 26th: David J. Lake (1929-2016)

March 26th: K. W. Jeter (1950-)

March 27th: Artist Stanley Meltzoff (1917-2006)

• Still from René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet (1973)

March 27th: Stefan Wul (1922-2003). A French SF author best known for writing Oms en série (1957), the source material for Fantastic Planet (1973).

March 27th: Helmut Wenske (1940-).

March 28th: A. Bertram Chandler (1912-1984)

March 28th: Cover artist George Ziel (1914-1982)

March 29th: Lino Aldani (1926-2009). I adored Aldani’s “Good Night, Sophie” (1963, trans. 1973). He represents one of the many reasons why Rachel’s magazine to promote SF in translation is such a great idea. Despite his ability to craft a masterpiece, only ONE additional short story exists in English translation.

• Walt Miller’s cover for the July 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction

March 29th: Artist Walt Miller (1928-2015).

March 29th: Artist Johann Peter Reuter (1949-).

March 29th: Mary Gentle (1956-).

March 30th: Artist Curt Caesar (1906-1974).

March 30th: Alice Eleanor Jones (1916-1981). While she only published five science fiction short stories, “Created He Them” (1955) is a 50s masterpiece.

• Art Sussman’s cover for the 1957 edition of Murray Leinster’s The Planet Explorer (variant title: Colonial Survey) (1956)

March 30th: Artist Art Sussman (1927-2008). Another underrated SF artist with a beguiling surrealist streat– I put together a post on his work in 2017.

March 30th: Chad Oliver (1928-1993). Most recently I covered his two generation ship stories: “Stardust” (1952) and “The Wind Blows Free” (1957).

March 31st: Marge Piercy (1936-). Dance the Eagle To Sleep (1970) is not to be missed!

April 1st: Anne McCaffrey (1926-2011).  I adored her work as a kid. I read everything I could get my hands on–even from the lowest points in her career i.e. the Acorna Universe sequence and co-written Dragonriders of Pern novels with her son.

April 1st: Samuel R. Delany (1942-).

April 2nd: Artist Mitchell Hooks (1923-2013).  One of the underrated SF artists of the 50s-70s in my view. For a lovely example, check out my recent review of William Tenn’s Time in Advance (1958).

• Murray Tinkelman’s cover for the 1978 edition of John Brunner’s The Squares of the City (1965)

April 2nd: Artist Murray Tinkelman (1933-2016). Another underrated SF artist… How can your forget his iconic cover for Brunner’s The Sheep Look Up?

April 2nd: Joan D. Vinge (1948-)

April 3nd: Noel Loomis (1905-1969).

April 3rd: Colin Kapp (1928-2007). As I’ve said before, “want to push my buttons? Recommend stories for me to read like Kapp’s “Hunger Over Sweet Waters” (1965). You’ll have to read my review (an exercise in snark) to find out why.”

• Jack Faragasso’s cover for the 1972 edition of The Thinking Seat (1969)

April 3rd: Peter Tate (1940-). One of those British New Wave authors I should read more of… Tate’s The Thinking Seat (1969) is on the burner for later this year.

April 4th: Stanley G. Weinbaum (1902-1935). Best known for his early classic “A Martian Odyssey” (1934).

April 4th: Artist Tim White (1952-2020).

For book reviews consult the INDEX

For cover art posts consult the INDEX

For TV and film reviews consult the INDEX

Anime Pussy Posse

Made some animecore with a microtexture consisting of alternating light/dark horizontal scan lines like you'd see on a TV display.

#Anime #Animecore #AnimeGirls #Girls #Glitch #GlitchArt #Glitchcore #Texture #Iridescent #Iridescence #Digital #DigitalArt #Experimental #AvantGarde #Microtexture #Sexy #SexyGirls #Hot #HotGirls #Cute #Retro #RetroArt #RetroAesthetic #Retrowave #Vaporwave #AnimeArt #GIMP #Art #Artwork #MastoArt #ArtistOnMastodon

Frog Kitty

Glitch art I made from a cat meme template by playing with the exposure and inverting highlights/shadows, among other tricks. I called it "Frog Kitty" because the cat looks kinda like a frog.

#Glitch #GlitchArt #Glitchcore #Psychedelia #Psychedelic #Trippy #GIMP #Cat #Cats #Pixel #Pixels #PixelArt #Retro #RetroAesthetic #RetroArt #Photomanipulation #Colorful #Colourful #AvantGarde #Experimental #Digital #DigitalArt #Art #Artwork #Artist #Enacore #Webcore #MastoArt #ArtistOnMastodon

Into the Light

Some random glitch art I made using databending techniques, postprocessed in GIMP.

#Glitch #GlitchArt #Glitchcore #Pixel #PixelArt #Databending #Psychedelia #Psychedelic #Trippy #Surreal #Surrealism #Surrealist #Abstract #AbstractArt #AvantGarde #Experimental #Retro #RetroAesthetic #RetroArt #Digital #DigitalArt #GIMP #Art #Artwork #Artist #MastoArt #ArtistOnMastodon

New #review today: "The last two releases by #BrandonSeabrook featured a fairly large ensemble and Seabrook completely on his own. Hellbent Daydream falls in between, with the leader joined by #HenryFraser (bass), #EricaDicker (violin), and #EliasStemeseder (piano and synthesizers). The absence of drums and percussion lends the album a feeling of being #ChamberMusic—really weird chamber music." #ExposeOnline #AvantGarde #AvantJazz http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/brandon-seabrook-hellbent-daydream-2.html

New #review today: "#Taupe is a trio based in Glasgow that is exploring the area between #jazz and #AvantGarde electronics, tossing in #MathRock as a bonus. The result on Waxing / Waning is a joyful mess of wild saxophone, freaky guitar, and drums that are spastic and stuttery one moment and rocking heavily the next." #ExposeOnline #AvantJazz #ExperimentalMusic http://expose.org/index.php/articles/display/taupe-waxing-waning-2.html

Petyaev-Petyaev – Incomparable Greatness
#Jazz #avantgardejazz #avantgarde #avantgardejazz #experimental #experimentaljazz #freeimpro #freeimprov #freeimprovisation #freejazz #freejazz #improv #improvisedjazz #improvisedmusic #imrpovisation #jazzandimprovisedmusic #Moscow
CC BY (#CreativeCommons Attribution) #ccmusic
https://petyaev-petyaev.bandcamp.com/album/incomparable-greatness

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

As something of a tribute to our dearly missed resident artist, Norn Cutson, our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller. This wonderful experimental/art rock album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon, who here leads the reincarnated group.

Norn loved Yoko Ono and did multiple Ono art pieces as part of their Record Collection art series, even including one as the cover of one of their published artbooks. We inexplicably did not have Ono on The List while Norn was still with us, but I'm grateful to Avi for remedying that now, and to Norn for guiding me towards Ono's music in general.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!” – Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2026/02/11/yoko-ono-plastic-ono-band-between-my-head-and-the-sky-2009-japan-us/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's a Songlink: https://album.link/i/917377987

💜

#YokoOno #PlasticOnoBand #SeanLennon #KeigoOyamada #Cornelius #YukaHonda #experimental #avantgarde #ArtRock #music #1001OtherAlbums

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

As something of a tribute to our dearly missed resident artist, Norn Cutson, our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller. This wonderful experimental/art rock album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon, who here leads the reincarnated group.

Norn loved Yoko Ono and did multiple Ono art pieces as part of their Record Collection art series, even including one as the cover of one of their published artbooks. We inexplicably did not have Ono on The List while Norn was still with us, but I'm grateful to Avi for remedying that now, and to Norn for guiding me towards Ono's music in general.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!” – Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2026/02/11/yoko-ono-plastic-ono-band-between-my-head-and-the-sky-2009-japan-us/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's a Songlink: https://album.link/i/917377987

💜

#YokoOno #PlasticOnoBand #SeanLennon #KeigoOyamada #Cornelius #YukaHonda #experimental #avantgarde #ArtRock #music #1001OtherAlbums

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

As something of a tribute to our dearly missed resident artist, Norn Cutson, our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller. This wonderful experimental/art rock album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon, who here leads the reincarnated group.

Norn loved Yoko Ono and did multiple Ono art pieces as part of their Record Collection art series, even including one as the cover of one of their published artbooks. We inexplicably did not have Ono on The List while Norn was still with us, but I'm grateful to Avi for remedying that now, and to Norn for guiding me towards Ono's music in general.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!” – Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2026/02/11/yoko-ono-plastic-ono-band-between-my-head-and-the-sky-2009-japan-us/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's a Songlink: https://album.link/i/917377987

💜

#YokoOno #PlasticOnoBand #SeanLennon #KeigoOyamada #Cornelius #YukaHonda #experimental #avantgarde #ArtRock #music #1001OtherAlbums

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

As something of a tribute to our dearly missed resident artist, Norn Cutson, our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller. This wonderful experimental/art rock album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon, who here leads the reincarnated group.

Norn loved Yoko Ono and did multiple Ono art pieces as part of their Record Collection art series, even including one as the cover of one of their published artbooks. We inexplicably did not have Ono on The List while Norn was still with us, but I'm grateful to Avi for remedying that now, and to Norn for guiding me towards Ono's music in general.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!” – Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2026/02/11/yoko-ono-plastic-ono-band-between-my-head-and-the-sky-2009-japan-us/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's a Songlink: https://album.link/i/917377987

💜

#YokoOno #PlasticOnoBand #SeanLennon #KeigoOyamada #Cornelius #YukaHonda #experimental #avantgarde #ArtRock #music #1001OtherAlbums

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller.

This album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon. The reincarnated band on this wonderful slab of experimental/art rock is lead by Sean, and includes some of the best musicians NYC and Japan have to offer: Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius (previously of influential Shibuya-kei group Flipper’s Guitar), Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto), Yuko Araki, Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu, Shahzad Ismaily (who pops up everywhere once you know his name), Michael Leonhart, Erik Friendlander, Daniel Carter, and Indigo Street.

The album goes a lot of wonderful places and often recalls Ono’s earliest work, but sounds so fresh that, if you didn’t notice the release date, you’d understandably have no idea that the artist was already 76 years old at this point. The Plastic Ono Band would have one last hurrah a few years later with almost the same lineup plus a long list of additional guests (including Questlove, Ad-Rock, and Mike D), Take Me to the Land of Hell released in 2013 to celebrate Ono’s 80th birthday.

I should perhaps admit I sort of tipped the scales on this one, though for good (albeit sad) reasons. Thanks to our resident artist Norn Cutson‘s love of Yoko Ono, I finally gave Ono’s work a chance last year, and quickly realized that I had written her off simply based on the biases of others, not my own opinions. Turns out, I totally dig Ono’s music, to the point where her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe – which Norn had done a lovely tribute piece of for their Record Collection art series – ended up on my personal 2025 AOTY list. So, in planning ahead for this month’s blog spotlights, I really wanted to feature an Ono album as a tribute to Norn, as today it’s somehow already been an entire year since they tragically left us. Since we inexplicably didn’t already have an Ono album on The List, I thought about adding Approximately myself and uploading Norn’s art since the image is still available in their Mastodon post, but I wasn’t sure that was appropriate. Also, I still have a lot of Ono to catch up on, so I wasn’t confident that Approximately would be the best album in her discography to choose. So, many thanks to Avi for stepping in and picking this one. I might’ve lost it when I heard the last track (on the digital version of the album, “I’m Going Away Smiling”), but Avi chose very well.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!”
– Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

• Songlink: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky
• Discogs: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller.

This album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon. The reincarnated band on this wonderful slab of experimental/art rock is lead by Sean, and includes some of the best musicians NYC and Japan have to offer: Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius (previously of influential Shibuya-kei group Flipper’s Guitar), Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto), Yuko Araki, Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu, Shahzad Ismaily (who pops up everywhere once you know his name), Michael Leonhart, Erik Friendlander, Daniel Carter, and Indigo Street.

The album goes a lot of wonderful places and often recalls Ono’s earliest work, but sounds so fresh that, if you didn’t notice the release date, you’d understandably have no idea that the artist was already 76 years old at this point. The Plastic Ono Band would have one last hurrah a few years later with almost the same lineup plus a long list of additional guests (including Questlove, Ad-Rock, and Mike D), Take Me to the Land of Hell released in 2013 to celebrate Ono’s 80th birthday.

I should perhaps admit I sort of tipped the scales on this one, though for good (albeit sad) reasons. Thanks to our resident artist Norn Cutson‘s love of Yoko Ono, I finally gave Ono’s work a chance last year, and quickly realized that I had written her off simply based on the biases of others, not my own opinions. Turns out, I totally dig Ono’s music, to the point where her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe – which Norn had done a lovely tribute piece of for their Record Collection art series – ended up on my personal 2025 AOTY list. So, in planning ahead for this month’s blog spotlights, I really wanted to feature an Ono album as a tribute to Norn, as today it’s somehow already been an entire year since they tragically left us. Since we inexplicably didn’t already have an Ono album on The List, I thought about adding Approximately myself and uploading Norn’s art since the image is still available in their Mastodon post, but I wasn’t sure that was appropriate. Also, I still have a lot of Ono to catch up on, so I wasn’t confident that Approximately would be the best album in her discography to choose. So, many thanks to Avi for stepping in and picking this one. I might’ve lost it when I heard the last track (on the digital version of the album, “I’m Going Away Smiling”), but Avi chose very well.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!”
– Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

• Songlink: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky
• Discogs: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller.

This album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon. The reincarnated band on this wonderful slab of experimental/art rock is lead by Sean, and includes some of the best musicians NYC and Japan have to offer: Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius (previously of influential Shibuya-kei group Flipper’s Guitar), Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto), Yuko Araki, Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu, Shahzad Ismaily (who pops up everywhere once you know his name), Michael Leonhart, Erik Friendlander, Daniel Carter, and Indigo Street.

The album goes a lot of wonderful places and often recalls Ono’s earliest work, but sounds so fresh that, if you didn’t notice the release date, you’d understandably have no idea that the artist was already 76 years old at this point. The Plastic Ono Band would have one last hurrah a few years later with almost the same lineup plus a long list of additional guests (including Questlove, Ad-Rock, and Mike D), Take Me to the Land of Hell released in 2013 to celebrate Ono’s 80th birthday.

I should perhaps admit I sort of tipped the scales on this one, though for good (albeit sad) reasons. Thanks to our resident artist Norn Cutson‘s love of Yoko Ono, I finally gave Ono’s work a chance last year, and quickly realized that I had written her off simply based on the biases of others, not my own opinions. Turns out, I totally dig Ono’s music, to the point where her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe – which Norn had done a lovely tribute piece of for their Record Collection art series – ended up on my personal 2025 AOTY list. So, in planning ahead for this month’s blog spotlights, I really wanted to feature an Ono album as a tribute to Norn, as today it’s somehow already been an entire year since they tragically left us. Since we inexplicably didn’t already have an Ono album on The List, I thought about adding Approximately myself and uploading Norn’s art since the image is still available in their Mastodon post, but I wasn’t sure that was appropriate. Also, I still have a lot of Ono to catch up on, so I wasn’t confident that Approximately would be the best album in her discography to choose. So, many thanks to Avi for stepping in and picking this one. I might’ve lost it when I heard the last track (on the digital version of the album, “I’m Going Away Smiling”), but Avi chose very well.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!”
– Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

• Songlink: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky
• Discogs: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller.

This album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon. The reincarnated band on this wonderful slab of experimental/art rock is lead by Sean, and includes some of the best musicians NYC and Japan have to offer: Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius (previously of influential Shibuya-kei group Flipper’s Guitar), Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto), Yuko Araki, Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu, Shahzad Ismaily (who pops up everywhere once you know his name), Michael Leonhart, Erik Friendlander, Daniel Carter, and Indigo Street.

The album goes a lot of wonderful places and often recalls Ono’s earliest work, but sounds so fresh that, if you didn’t notice the release date, you’d understandably have no idea that the artist was already 76 years old at this point. The Plastic Ono Band would have one last hurrah a few years later with almost the same lineup plus a long list of additional guests (including Questlove, Ad-Rock, and Mike D), Take Me to the Land of Hell released in 2013 to celebrate Ono’s 80th birthday.

I should perhaps admit I sort of tipped the scales on this one, though for good (albeit sad) reasons. Thanks to our resident artist Norn Cutson‘s love of Yoko Ono, I finally gave Ono’s work a chance last year, and quickly realized that I had written her off simply based on the biases of others, not my own opinions. Turns out, I totally dig Ono’s music, to the point where her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe – which Norn had done a lovely tribute piece of for their Record Collection art series – ended up on my personal 2025 AOTY list. So, in planning ahead for this month’s blog spotlights, I really wanted to feature an Ono album as a tribute to Norn, as today it’s somehow already been an entire year since they tragically left us. Since we inexplicably didn’t already have an Ono album on The List, I thought about adding Approximately myself and uploading Norn’s art since the image is still available in their Mastodon post, but I wasn’t sure that was appropriate. Also, I still have a lot of Ono to catch up on, so I wasn’t confident that Approximately would be the best album in her discography to choose. So, many thanks to Avi for stepping in and picking this one. I might’ve lost it when I heard the last track (on the digital version of the album, “I’m Going Away Smiling”), but Avi chose very well.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!”
– Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

• Songlink: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky
• Discogs: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky (2009, Japan/US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1080 on The List, submitted by avi_miller.

This album from the indomitable Yoko Ono brings back the band/collective, Plastic Ono Band, originally formed by Ono and John Lennon in the 1960s and last seen around the birth of their son, Sean Lennon. The reincarnated band on this wonderful slab of experimental/art rock is lead by Sean, and includes some of the best musicians NYC and Japan have to offer: Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius (previously of influential Shibuya-kei group Flipper’s Guitar), Yuka Honda (of Cibo Matto), Yuko Araki, Hirotaka “Shimmy” Shimizu, Shahzad Ismaily (who pops up everywhere once you know his name), Michael Leonhart, Erik Friendlander, Daniel Carter, and Indigo Street.

The album goes a lot of wonderful places and often recalls Ono’s earliest work, but sounds so fresh that, if you didn’t notice the release date, you’d understandably have no idea that the artist was already 76 years old at this point. The Plastic Ono Band would have one last hurrah a few years later with almost the same lineup plus a long list of additional guests (including Questlove, Ad-Rock, and Mike D), Take Me to the Land of Hell released in 2013 to celebrate Ono’s 80th birthday.

I should perhaps admit I sort of tipped the scales on this one, though for good (albeit sad) reasons. Thanks to our resident artist Norn Cutson‘s love of Yoko Ono, I finally gave Ono’s work a chance last year, and quickly realized that I had written her off simply based on the biases of others, not my own opinions. Turns out, I totally dig Ono’s music, to the point where her 1973 album Approximately Infinite Universe – which Norn had done a lovely tribute piece of for their Record Collection art series – ended up on my personal 2025 AOTY list. So, in planning ahead for this month’s blog spotlights, I really wanted to feature an Ono album as a tribute to Norn, as today it’s somehow already been an entire year since they tragically left us. Since we inexplicably didn’t already have an Ono album on The List, I thought about adding Approximately myself and uploading Norn’s art since the image is still available in their Mastodon post, but I wasn’t sure that was appropriate. Also, I still have a lot of Ono to catch up on, so I wasn’t confident that Approximately would be the best album in her discography to choose. So, many thanks to Avi for stepping in and picking this one. I might’ve lost it when I heard the last track (on the digital version of the album, “I’m Going Away Smiling”), but Avi chose very well.

“The Multiversal DJ may not be playing what you want to hear, but She’s spinnin’ what you NEED to hear!”
– Norn Cutson

You are greatly missed, my friend.

• Songlink: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky
• Discogs: Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band – Between My Head and the Sky

Raviglia Orefice Santimone Dallaporta Paoli – Divine Songs
#Avantjazz #Contemporaryjazz #Experimental #ExperimentalElectronicMusic #Improvisation #Jazz #avantgarde #creativemusic #improvisation #spiritualjazz #Berlin
CC BY-NC-SA (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike) #ccmusic
https://autrecords.bandcamp.com/album/divine-songs

Wow, I haven't been on here since November. Where did time go?

Anyway, here's my latest musical experiment. I've been playing around with some microsound effects, specifically FM synthesis.

#Music #MusicProduction #Musician #Musicians #Indie #IndieMusic #IndieArtist #IndieMusician #Electronic #ElectronicMusic #Electronica #Experimental #ExperimentalMusic #ExperimentalElectronic #MIDI #MIDIMusic #Audacity #Microsound #FMSynthesis #AvantGarde #AvantGardeMusic #Weirdcore #Musodon #Audio

Brainquake + Grosso Gadgetto – Dehumanize the World
#Electronic #Experimental #ambient #ambientelectronic #avantgarde #electroacoustic #electronic #electronica #experimental #experimentalambient #idm #techno #Bulgaria
CC BY-NC (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial) #ccmusic
https://mahorka.bandcamp.com/album/dehumanize-the-world

Free download codes:

Evilartform - Leaving my Body

"“A ghostly synth hymn where EVILARTFORM blurs The Knife’s icy minimalism with Björk’s otherworldly fragility, questioning gender, body, and what it means to be free.”"

https://getmusic.fm/l/G0LBw4

#electronic #experimental #industrial #synthwave #avantgarde #healing #darkpop #ethereal #cathartic #queer #trauma #genderfluid #transhumanism #protestmusic #liberation #music