Joseph Neff

1 week ago | thevinyldistrict.com | Joseph Neff

On May 30, Michael Gira and Swans return with Birthing, the seventeenth album from the band, a typically expansive set available on three vinyl records, two compact discs, or digitally through Mute and Young God Records. It is a set of wide stylistic range that marks a transition for Gira, who remains a source of inspiration as an artistic survivor with an uncompromising artistic vision. Birthing extends an incredible creative streak with explosiveness, abstraction, and even atmospheric drift.

1 week ago | thevinyldistrict.com | Joseph Neff

Back in 1999–2000, W. Cullen Hart, he of Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System, and Andrew Rieger, who’s noted as a founding member of Elf Power, were roommates. They also recorded together during that period, and the new 10-inch EP “Leap Through Poisoned Air” brings the collaboration to light a quarter century later. It’s a succinct batch of songs, loose but cohesive and unsurprisingly infused with psychedelia. That Hart passed away in November 2024 deepens the release’s poignancy.

1 week ago | thevinyldistrict.com | Joseph Neff

Formed by guitarist-vocalists David Roback and Matt Piucci in 1981, Rain Parade was integral in shaping the sound of the largely Los Angeles-based explosion of neo-psychedelia that was dubbed the Paisley Underground. The global impact of this movement was significant at the time, as Rain Parade’s second LP Crashing Dream was released by major label Island Records in 1985.

2 weeks ago | thevinyldistrict.com | Joseph Neff

Remembering Sun Ra, born on this day in 1914. —Ed.No musician better fits the descriptor “beyond category” than Herman Poole Blount, aka the late, great Sun Ra. Indeed, those simply assessing him as one stone mug in free jazz’s Mt. Rushmore have clearly not listened to much of the man’s stuff. The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra, originally released in 1962 on the Savoy label, is recognizably a jazz record, but it’s only tangentially freeform.

2 weeks ago | thevinyldistrict.com | Joseph Neff

New York City’s Springhouse is noted for being early US adopters of the shoegaze sound in the great alternative-indie blitz of the early 1990s. But in 2008, they returned with From Now to OK on CD from Bruce Licher’s Independent Project Records. Flashing forward to right now finds that set receiving an overdue expanded vinyl reissue from IPR that includes instrumental versions, demos, and live tracks all beautifully designed, as is Licher’s way. The set is out now.