New releases this week: Post Rock/Experimental

Review: Pioneering Japanese psychedelic rock Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. (AMT) were formed in 1995. Their relentless output has spawned various offshoots over the years, such as Acid Mothers Temple & the Cosmic Inferno and Acid Mothers Temple SWR, synthesising and alien cosmo-grammar in sound, one that perhaps only the most acid-casualtied tongues can interpret or speak. Now present through Rolling Heads comes their latest album for 2025: Holy Black Mountain Side comprises three psychedelic pieces, reticulating a series of recording sessions held down between 2021 and 2023, at one point reinterpreting a traditional folk song, and throughout enlisting guest bass from Taigen Kawabe of Bo Ningen. Each record comes wrapped in unique artwork by lead improvisor Kashiwagi Ten, adding an extra layer of veiled mystery to each: no two records are visually alike.

Review: "Random, tense, scary and compulsively fascinating". That's how Chris Connelly describes the period in which the tracks on this album were originally written. As the main man behind some of the most iconic and influential industrial bands in history - Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Murder.Inc... - he's definitely well placed to make this kind of judgment. And it comes across even more understandable if you grasp the fact he's meaning all that in a good way. Throbbing Gristle should need no introduction, having pretty much written the blueprint for industrial musick in the nuclear age. A sound that screamed "get us out". Combine that oeuvre with this guy, then, and you have something which is uncompromisingly explosive and effective. Not to mention fitting, given half the people on the street seem convinced we're rushing headfirst into another atomic standoff, if not something much, much worse.

Review: Alan Sparhawk isn't one for large crowds or the showy side of fame, yet over the course of his career, his influence has expanded far beyond his low-key persona. As the frontman of Low, the band he founded in the early 90s in Duluth, Minnesota, Sparhawk's distinct style has permeated not just indie rock but also the broader sphere of music that prizes depth over spectacle. The hallmark of Sparhawk's songwriting is the austere, almost minimalist beauty he coaxes from the sparsest of arrangements. His approach to music is inextricable from his sense of placeiDuluth's biting winters, its isolationieverything about the environment feeds into the slow-moving intensity of Low's sound. Musically, the album moves through a variety of textures, from the folk-tinged melodies of 'Heaven' and 'Get Still' to the raw emotional power of 'Screaming Song' and 'Don't Take Your Light.' The latter is particularly stirring, with its swelling fiddles and cello lines, embodying the depth of feeling that pours out during the recording. There's a certain urgency to the musician immediacy that comes from being in a room full of people who understand what it means to create together. The track 'Stranger' is imbued with an intimate, communal spirit, while 'Torn & in Ashes' builds on layers of banjo and mandolin, giving it a rich, earthy feel. Even as the sounds shift, there's an underlying consistency in the raw honesty of Sparhawk's voice and the way the band responds to it. Overall, the record a sense of continuity, reminding us that music, when made with those closest to you, becomes a vessel for lasting memories and support.

Review: There's a crippling truth behind this expansive and musically accomplished compilation which few of us really want to acknowledge. Created to shore up funds for a City of Angeles devastated by yet another series of wildfires in January 2025, the sad fact is that we are going to see more and more records like this because more and more records like this will be needed. Still, at least we can be incinerated, drowned by flooding, or die from starvation or thirst while listening to some decent tunes. And these tunes are very decent. From space age jazz of Celia Hollander and Photay, to Julia Holta's pin-drop piano-vocal theatrical stunner, Baths & Rachika Nayer's very Bibio-sounding guitar-electronic dub, and the retro lounge style 'Making The Beat Scene' by Daedalus. We could go on.