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Talkhouse

Ghost Orchard, aka Sam Hall, is a Grand Rapids, MI-based artist. His album Bunny is out August 23 via Orchid Tapes.

Ghost Orchard

Foxes in Fiction is the project of the Toronto native/New York-based artist Warren Hildebrand. He is also the founder of Orchid Tapes.&nbsp;

Foxes In Fiction

Music

GChatting with Ghost Orchard and Foxes In Fiction

Led by Curt Kiser, Carriers is Cincinnati’s best-kept secret, blending heartland rock with dreamy, introspective Americana. With a devoted local following and support from indie heavyweights, Carriers is ready to take the national stage. Their latest record, Every Time I Feel Afraid, is out now on Brassland.
(Photo Credit: Liddy Hade)

Carriers

Introducing: Carriers’ “Make It Right”

New York&rsquo;s B Boys (Andrew Kerr, Brendon Avalos, Britton Walker) find inspiration in the chaos that surrounds them: the aggressive attitude and sonic lawlessness of the city they live, work, and breathe in every day. Their raw, yet meticulous style is characterized by rhythmic complexity, commanding riffs, and introspective lyrics that are as playful and self-aware as they are cutting.
Across two acclaimed releases on Captured Tracks &mdash; 2016&rsquo;s No Worry No Mind EP and 2017&rsquo;s debut full-length Dada &mdash; B Boys explore solitude and self-reflection through sharp, high-energy shouts and melodic mediations. Now, the sprightly sarcasm and acerbic commentary continues on the band&rsquo;s highly anticipated sophomore LP, Dudu. Recorded by Gabe Wax (Deerhunter, Ought, Crumb) at Outlier Inn and mixed by Andy Chugg (Pill, Pop. 1280, Bambara) to be released on July 26, 2019.

B Boys

Introducing: B Boys’ “Instant Pace”

swim good now &amp; The Techno Hall of Fame is a collaborative project a long time in the making. The project began in 2018 with no direction in mind, continuing a 10 year tradition of off-and-on collaboration between the two friends. One was experiencing a sea change in Toronto’s West End and channeling it into his songwriting; the other was settling into life as a producer in small town Ontario and expecting his first child. Both had recently turned the corner into their 30s, dealing with a tension that began to express itself in intimate, cinematic songs about uncertainty and love.
swim good now released his debut album in 2018 with Toronto’s Secret Songs collective. In the past, he has worked with members of Bon Iver, Stars, and The Avalanches.
The Techno Hall of Fame has been involved in Toronto’s DIY music scene through a collective he founded in 2014 (Bedroomer) and making his living as a graphic designer.
(Photo Credit: Daniel Reardon)

swim good now

Introducing: swim good now’s “one in a million”

History and homeland are central to Humeysha, the brainchild of Zain Alam, an American artist and musician of Indian-Pakistani origin. Described as “a unique intersection, merging the cinematic formality of Bollywood and geometric repetition of Islamic art,” Humeysha began during Alam’s travels through his ancestral India and Pakistan where he worked as an oral historian for the 1947 Partition Archive. He was the first in decades from his family to visit both sides of the militarized border by virtue of birthright American citizenship. The fourteen-track debut LP he wrote there began from a question appropriate for loud, sweaty Indian cities: What does it mean to find a unity between the mess of divergent sounds one grows up with as a first-generation immigrant living in diaspora?
Born in Queens, NYC and raised in Kennesaw, Georgia, Alam soundtracks a personal vocabulary through Humeysha that draws on Islamic art and South Asian music to expand the range of sound and experience available to his communities. Field recordings of Pakistani cities; the distinct dialect of an his ailing grandmother’s reminisces; quick rhythmic loops from favorite childhood Bollywood songs — all of these sounds find their way into Humeysha, regardless of their traditional “musicality.” Shoegazing guitars fit alongside meditation bells played underneath Urdu poetry as if they always belonged together.
Alongside expanding Humeysha into a live quartet, Alam has collaborated with visual artists and composed music at residencies including Bruce High Quality Foundation, the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), and the Science, Religion, and Culture program at Harvard University. Uniting all of his projects is a passion for sampling, borrowing, and assembling fragments from one’s own history and memory — for how a personal mosaic of sound can empower minorities and the marginalized to engage in self-creation, on their own terms.
Alam is currently an artist-in-residence at SAADA for their Revolution Remix project, composing soundtracks for neighborhoods with long immigrant histories in Philadelphia. Humeysha is preparing their next release, Nusrat on the Beach, for this summer and to embark on a regional tour thereafter.

Humeysha

Introducing: Humeysha’s “Nusrat on the Beach”

Inspired by the honest writing and timeless melodies of American greats such as Hank Williams Sr. and Joni Mitchell, Esther Rose’s songwriting has been called “The happiest saddest music.” Her 2017 debut, This Time Last Night, caught fire as her listeners tuned-in to a storied chronology of this soulful, heart-worn artist. Her latest record, Safe to Run, is out April 21, 2023 on New West Records.
(Photo Credit: Rett Rogers)

Esther Rose

Introducing: Esther Rose’s “Sex and Magic”

Slothrust is principal songwriter, guitar player, and unrepentant aesthete Leah Wellbaum, with 
drummer Will Gorin.
(Photo Credit: Lindsey Byrnes)

Slothrust

Introducing: Slothrust and Sons of an Illustrious Father Cover Each Other

Oh, Rose, based in Olympia, Washington, is fronted by Olivia Rose. Formed in 2014, the band built its foundations by playing DIY house shows and contributing to Olympia’s long-standing punk and art scene. A play on Rose’s own name, Oh, Rose recorded and self-released their first EP, That Do Now See in 2014 followed by a mini album the following year titled Seven. Sticking with the tradition of their previous release, their new album While My Father Sleeps was recorded and mixed by band member Kevin Christopher in Olympia. Today, the live lineup includes Rose on vocals and guitar, Liam Hindahl on drums, Sarah Redden on synthesizer, and Christopher on bass.
While My Father Sleeps is set for release August 23 via Park The Van Records.

Oh, Rose

Introducing: Oh, Rose’s “25, Alive”

The Rocket Summer is the project of multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and performer Bryce Avary. His latest album, Sweet Shivers, is out August 2.
(Photo Credit: Braverijah Gregg)

The Rocket Summer

Introducing: The Rocket Summer’s “Morning Light”

Mega Ran and MC Lars both host respective podcasts, Mega Ran is a 2019 Guinness World Record holder, and has found success playing huge festivals, conventions, professional wrestling events and has toured the world alongside Lars, across the UK, Europe and Japan (where Mega Ran has built a dedicated following in the “chip-hop” community, merging 8-bit beats with unparalleled lyricism). MC Lars has hosted two TEDx Talks, premiered a song at Carnegie Hall, survived three complete Warped Tours, opened for Snoop Dogg, and collaborated with “Weird Al” Yankovic and KRS-One.

MC Lars and Mega Ran

Introducing: MC Lars and Mega Ran’s “Walden”

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Led by songwriter Hamilton Ulmer, Makeunder wrestles diverse tastes — from Renaissance motet, to art rock, to &#8217;90s R&amp;B, synth pop, soul, and modern orchestral music — into powerful songs about death, survival, migration, and loss.
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Makeunder

Introducing: Makeunder’s “Promethean Heat”

Richie James Follin plays and sings in Guards, and he also spent time in Willowz and Cults, the latter of which features his sister. The second Guards album — and first in six years — is Modern Hymns, and it features Money Mark, Patrick Keeler, and many more special guests.

track premiere