Music

It turns out that Nottingham is not the historical home of Robin Hood and his Merry Men (though its residents couldn’t remember their actual origins). But what it lacks in men in tights it makes up with Selectadisc, far and away the best independent record store I visited during a recent journey to the United Kingdom.

With the release of John Vanderslice‘s sixth solo album, Emerald City, the forty-year-old, analog-obsessed San Franciscan turns to the familiar themes and images that have made all of his previous albums glisten with an inimitable blend of intimacy and humor (oceans, tall buildings, relationships in peril, etc.).

Given the European success of somber songstress Marissa Nadler, it was only a matter of time before her newest album, Songs III: Bird on the Water, was issued on the other side of the Atlantic. Naturally, a supportive tour has now been announced for select cities in the United States.

Following on the heels of this year’s new full-length release Abandoned Language, New Jersey underground doomy hip-hop masters Dalek have teamed up with Hydra Head Records to document some rare cuts.

This September, Westerners will again have the chance to witness the sonically picturesque, occasionally improvisational nu-jazz and electronica outfit fittingly named The Cinematic Orchestra.

In a perfectly timed move, Eastern Blok, Chicago-based innovators of jazzy world music with (what else?) Balkan roots, are set to release their sophomore album this October. Titled Folk Tales, the album features compositions from classical guitar dynamo Goran Ivanovic (after whom the group was initially named) and arrives on the heels of growing acclaim from around the country.

Even the most adventurous and proactively edgy music seekers eventually encounter gray days when new music appreciation skills come to a shaking, shuddering halt. Suddenly, it seems like every lyric worth singing has been sung, all the good guitar hooks in the world have been played into the ground, and there are no more dope beats to drop.

Slicing a zombie in half doesn’t usually have the results one desires. Splitting up one half of progressive soundscape artists Zombi, however, should prove to be a significantly more enjoyable experience.

Robert Pollard’s unstoppable logorrhea has always been both a gift and a curse, inevitably discovering a magic concoction of fantastic imagery and lovingly twisted melodies but also hiding those gems among dozens upon dozens of perplexing exercises that only a similarly touched person could decode.

This year’s Voodoo Music Experience will now be offering a New Orleans-style VIP area like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Beyond the typical perks of a VIP lounge — a prime view of the main stages, hassle-free parking, and a full-service bar — VMX‘s VIP lounge is also going to serve you New Orleans on a plate.

We know you’re griping about something. It’s practically the American way! So if you’re from Chicago, now is your chance to gather your beefs with life in general and have them sung by the first Complaints Choir to perform in the United States.

This Saturday, July 28, the metropolitan area of Los Angeles will be shaken with rumbling, dissonant sounds of chaos — and hopefully not from an earthquake. Instead, randomized improvisational ensembles of local experimental veterans will take the stage at The Steve Allen Theater to create mountainous walls of noise.