-
2 weeks ago | 
tonemadison.com | Scott Gordon |Christina Lieffring |Grant Phipps |Steven Spoerl
Tone Madison will be making some major changes this year. But we’re not going away, nor is our commitment to fiercely independent coverage of culture and politics in Madison. Co-founder Scott Gordon will step down from his role as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief on May 1. After taking some time off, Gordon will continue to contribute to the publication as a writer and reporter.
-
2 weeks ago | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl
Alex Driver has been around the block. As a producer and MC, he’s a vital piece of the long-running Madison hip-hop crew Supa Friends. He’s also a standalone force in his own right. It doesn’t matter if Driver’s operating under his Supa Friends moniker (Al D), Ruwa Alien School, Dro Cup, or his new alias, Fred Really, in which he’s the sole producer and rapper. Everything Driver gets his hands on is imbued with a sense of unmistakable curiosity and a level of urgency.
-
1 month ago | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl
This is our newsletter-first column, Microtones. It runs on the site on Fridays, but you can get it in your inbox on Thursdays by signing up for our email newsletter.
Media is impermanent. Every writer or documentarian learns this over the course of their career. Often, that development is harsh, unforgiving, or unexpected. Sometimes all three.
-
1 month ago | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl
On “Wall Koy,” the opening track from Andrew Fitzpatrick‘s new album, Forest Calendar, a remorseless cascade of dread acts as a weighted blanket. Before that blanket becomes too suffocating or too restrictive, a lush synth figure pokes through the knitting to offer proof of lightness as a reprieve. There is a pattern. A structure. Over the course of Forest Calendar, Fitzpatrick meticulously expands upon this dynamic.
-
1 month ago | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl
Only two months into 2025, Madison musicians have already produced an outpouring of fascinating work. While some of this work is laced with the type of familiarity that accompanies updates of previously-released material, others have the gravitational pull of the unfamiliar.
-
2 months ago | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl
This is our newsletter-first column, Microtones. It runs on the site on Fridays, but you can get it in your inbox on Thursdays by signing up for our email newsletter.
Every year I make it a point to seek out and document local performances. As Tone Madison‘s music editor, I have an obligation to keep my eyes and ears on how our music landscape is developing on a year-to-year basis.
-
2 months ago | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl |Dan Fitch |Grant Phipps |LakeFront Row
All throughout 2024, Madison musicians’ resilience and artistry were on display. In a city where the deck seems to be constantly stacked against meaningful support for its local musicians, that’s no small feat. Even when a new setback appears, our music community retains its clear and irrepressible appetite for creation. Defiance is, by extension, inherent to so much of the excellent music that Madison musicians release every year, giving listeners art to rally around, uplift, and celebrate.
-
Jan 17, 2025 | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl
This is our newsletter-first column, Microtones. It runs on the site on Fridays, but you can get it in your inbox on Thursdays by signing up for our email newsletter.
Not every musical release in a given year will fall under a category as broad or neatly-defined as “song” or “record.” There are releases that adjust the settings of traditional expectation, but still deserve some nods of recognition and a few rounds of applause.
-
Jan 15, 2025 | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl |Scott Gordon |Grant Phipps |Dan Fitch
Each and every year, Madison musicians manage to churn out a handful of surprises. Whether that’s in a live setting, through the music they release, or by way of unexpected collaboration (or innumerable other routes), there’s always a bevy of moments to celebrate by year’s end. Given the scale of Madison and how the music landscape functions in general, it’s also patently impossible to keep up with it all. Which makes it all the more notable when something incredible catches our collective ear.
-
Jan 14, 2025 | 
tonemadison.com | Steven Spoerl |Dan Fitch |Grant Phipps |LakeFront Row
All throughout 2024, Madison musicians’ resilience and artistry were on display. In a city where the deck seems to be constantly stacked against meaningful support for its local musicians, that’s no small feat. Even when a new setback appears, our music community retains its clear and irrepressible appetite for creation. Defiance is, by extension, inherent to so much of the excellent music that Madison musicians release every year, giving listeners art to rally around, uplift, and celebrate.
