Dwellers On The Threshold
Different Noises 96
A balance of completely new artists (to me) and the current featured albums delivers a mixed bag covering a multitude of genres. The featured albums have been on previous shows so just search for those on the substack app to get more details.
AUDIO
PLAYLIST
Dwellers - Headlines - Corrupt Translation Machine
Sexfaces -Ultraviolence - Bad Vibes OST
Lorraine Feather - Another Layer Of Nuance - The Green World
Barbiana Complex - Suspended Animation - Sky View Mirror
Battle Elf - Hotel Jerome -10
Brian Eaton - Oregon Yew
Moff Skellington - Tales of Old Abstercot - Quandello Feast
Half Naked Shrunken Heads - Let’s Build A Boy - Let’s Build A Boy
Occult Character - She’s A Reptile - She’s A Reptile
Reine des Lézards - I'm Sold - I'm Sold
The Go-Betweens - Bye Bye Pride - G Stands For Go-Betweens: The Go-Betweens Anthology - Volume 3
Staraya Derevnya - Half-deceased uncle - Garden window escape
The Man from Atlantis and the Moon of Deliverance - The Forrest of Sword Blade Trees - Tainted (the lockdown years 2020 - 2022)
The Royal Dave Graney Show - A Boy Named Epic - The Brother Who Lived
YEDD - Strasha (Single Edit) - YEDD
Danny Short - Situations
Reine des Lézards - Sasha For President - I'm Sold
Dwellers - Spiral Vision - Corrupt Translation Machine
Ava Mendoza, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, Carolina Pérez - We Will Be Millions - Mama Killa
Johann Kloos - Alaska - 24-25
Subatomic Sound System & Screechy Dan - Jah Is The Light Master (808 Mix) - Jah Is The Light
Ecce Shnak - Fight Song (Live) - Fight Song (Live)
The 3 Napoleons - Naked & Nude (Lancashire Mix) - Naked & Nude
2 Lost Souls - Forces Of Darkness - Arch
NOTES
Dwellers
This Salt Lake City-based progressive blues rock trio released their Corrupt Translation Machine full-length May 23rd on Small Stone Recordings. The gripping, nine-track offering marks the band’s first new output in over a decade. Their story has always been one of diversion and redirection. Begun in Salt Lake City by guitarist/vocalist Joey Toscano – also a member of Iota – the band’s 2012 debut, Good Morning Harakiri, and its 2014 follow-up, Pagan Fruit, helped establish a distinct creative voice in psychedelia and Americana-tinged blues rock, expressive and vulnerable in ways that heavy rock ‘n’ roll is rarely willing to be. Corrupt Translation Machine, which brings bassist Oz Inglorious (Iota, ex-Bird Eater), drummer Kellii Scott (Failure), and pianist/synthesist Chase Cluff (Last) to a completely revamped four-piece lineup, is both a reinvention and continuation of their purpose. The album lays claim to the heaviest sounds they have yet produced and meets that head on with poppish fluidity and melodicism as the album sets out with “Headlines,” only to take greater risks later. Love and the potential of its loss meet with expansive, sometimes cinematic texturing, and just as Toscano led Iota into a career-defining reignition with 2024’s comeback LP, Pentasomnia, so too do Dwellers declare themselves with Corrupt Translation Machine.
Sexfaces
In the sticky-floored underbelly of Washington DC, where the amps buzz louder than the city’s bullshit, SEXFACES have been brewing something gnarly. Their debut full-length, BAD VIBES OST, is a full-noise, zero-fluff slab of punked-up nihilism, dropping May 2025 via Slovenly Records. Recorded and mixed in April 2024 under the ever-present shadow of Boner 4Ever by Dan Angel and produced by Ben Schurr, this 11-track dose of chaotic energy is the sound of a band that knows exactly what it’s doing—and doesn’t care if you like it or not. SEXFACES ain’t here to play nice. Jacky Cougar (Des Demonas, Thee Lolitas) pounds the drums like they owe him money, while Sal Go (Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb, The NVs) saws through the noise with guitar that’s equal parts bratty and brutal. Hana Racecar (Tadzio, Coven Tree) layers in viola with a sneering elegance, and FiFi Allin (TK Echo, Et At It) slings basslines that punch and swerve. Together, they churn out a sound that drags the droney madness of the Velvet Underground through the gutter, filters it through The Fall’s acerbic wit, and ties it all together with the punk attack of The Damned and the scuzzy swagger of Royal Trux.
Lorraine Feather
The Green World is lyricist/vocalist Lorraine Feather’s 14th independently produced album since the year 2000, and is the most ambitious and eclectic creation yet, incorporating jazz, rock, theatre, classical, and spoken word. Over the quarter-century during which Feather has been releasing her work, she has transitioned from electro-acoustic music (The Body Remembers) to reimaginations of classic instrumentals by Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and Billy Strayhorn (New York City Drag, Such Sweet Thunder), to more multi-genre projects written with her close composer/musician friends. It was an album in the last category, Ages, which brought Feather her first Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, followed by two more for Attachments and Flirting With Disaster. As a lyricist, she is also a seven-time Emmy nominee and a Critics’ Choice Award nominee. Feather has been compared to Tom Waits, Kurt Weill, Jon Hendricks, and Laurie Anderson. Her co-writers have called her lyrics fearless, fierce, eccentric, inspiring, and mystical.
Barbiana Complex
Current featured album
Battle Elf
Three sonic wanderers make up the band Battle Elf: guitarists Gretchen Gonzales & Chris Peters and drummer David Hurley. Their unified electric sound creates universes from ancient dust, telling tales of battles and redemption. Hailing from Detroit, a hub of industry and culture, each member of Battle Elf absorbed the sounds of the world as they grew. They draw from dark memories, pulling energy from CAN, Lee Ranaldo, Sun Ra, Fred Frith, Eddie Hazel, Cosmic Jokers and Ash Ra Tempel... channeling through Krautrock and deep psychedelia. Battle Elf defies the heavy jam, and their debut record is the first earthly gift of their musical journeys.
Brian Eaton
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer Brian Eaton with his most personal and sonically adventurous work to date with the upcoming album, Like a Root out of Dry Ground, slated for release on June 27 via his own Eatin’ Records imprint. Known for his fearless approach to musical boundaries, Eaton’s latest offering dives deep into the fertile territory where jazz fusion meets the dusty plains of Americana. Like a Root out of Dry Ground isn’t easily pigeonholed; instead, it’s a rich tapestry woven from threads of folk introspection, country twang, rock energy, blues grit, and the vibrant rhythms of Latin jazz. In fact, a significant portion of the seven original compositions leans into a captivating sound that could only be described as “western” or “cowboy jazz” — a sonic landscape ripe for exploration.
Moff Skellington
Current Featured album
Half Naked Shrunken Heads
That fertile ground of rock ‘n’ roll madness York is back, More A Goz creation and development, another band, another vibe - fascinating
Occult Character
Goz is associated with Matt who continues to expand his universe - check out his radio shows, they are rather excellent.
Reine des Lézards
More from York. Keeping track of the expansive (and impressive) workload of A Goz is impossible - this is a Neon Kittens off shoot, or is it?
The Go-Betweens
Another Robert and Grant performance from the Nachtmix album - originally on Tallulah - this stripped down version brings out the nuances and emotion of the song . Several “Grant McLennan Moments”1 on this one.
Staraya Derevnya
Garden Window Escape', the third release on Ramble from International kraut-folk collective Staraya Derevnya contains elements of avant-garde industrial noise, freak folk, krautrock, free jazz and a healthy dose of tasteful improvisation and experimentation. Following Boulder Blues’ and 'Forgot what was Important’, 'Garden Window Escape’ is the collective’s most realised work to date.
The Man from Atlantis and the Moon of Deliverance
Melbourne psych folk troubadour the Man from Atlantis trades the acoustic for electric guitar on new double CD release ‘Tainted’ and lets the freak flag fly. Tainted - the third and possibly final installment in the Man from Atlantis and the Moon of Deliverance ‘heavy experimental psych' series follows 2021’s 'Morning is Broken / Bad Trip at Burning Ghat' and the suitably warped 'Kali Ma Rama Lama Fi Fo Fi Fum' released on the UK label Misophonia. Tainted is chocked full of lengthy experimental psych jams - all are over ten minutes bar one and three tracks are over 15 minutes and draw on krautrock-spacerock, free improv, punk, heavy psych / noise, doom and free-funk. Also featuring the sticky talents of drum maestros Larry de Zoeta (Aus) and Simo Laihonen (Finland).
The Royal Dave Graney Show
Featured album - Dave says “uses a lot of maj7 chords that are also suspended. Basically E to Ato G to A. The chorus is D7sus to Dmaj7sus to D9sus to Dmaj7sus. And then further variations on D that you can figure out if you want. Lyrically its a song that revolves around an old friend called Epic Soundtracks who was a musician in the UK and beyond. He practically invented lo fi indie rock with the Swell Maps and played in Crime and the City Solution and These Immortal Souls. An amazing collector and enthusiast of music. I don't think he would've really liked it as its a bit too R&B for his tastes”.
YEDD
Hard Rock / Heavy Psych foursome YEDD came to life several years ago, born from the enduring shadows among the ancient forests of Kitsap County in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 2022, their music is characterized by substantial riffs, burly rhythms, and intense lyrics delivered in a formidable voice. With members from beloved regional acts such as Devilbilt and Kitsa, the YEDD lineup consists of Sharon Hoffman (vocals), Chris Apple (guitar), Jeremy Deede (bass), and Randy Fort (drums). YEDD completed the recording of their debut album in 2024 at APL Recording and Heavy Head Recording Co. in Port Orchard, Washington, with the incomparable Tony Reed at the helm for final mastering.
Danny Short
Featured album
Ava Mendoza, Gabby Fluke-Mogul, Carolina Pérez
The trio of guitarist Ava Mendoza, violinist gabby fluke-mogul, and drummer Carolina Pérez will release their debut album Mama Killa on Burning Ambulance Music July 11, 2025. Mama Killa, named for the Inca goddess of the moon, offers eight tracks of high-volume, riff-based guitar-violin improvisation bolstered by thunderous drumming. Working together for the first time, these three musicians have created a record that blends country, blues, and psychedelic rock with blast beats and the heaviness of black, death and doom metal, wrapping it all in feedback, distortion and pure whomping power. The sounds range from the black metal assault of “We Will Be Millions” to the Earth-like rumble of “Mama Coca” and the keening harmonies of “Amazing Graces,” from the Fushitsusha-esque washes of guitar noise on “Mama Huaco” to the avalanche of drums that opens “Trichocereus Pachanoi.” Mama Killa will be released on July 11, 2025 digitally and as a limited edition of 500 CDs in heavy-duty gatefold mini-LP sleeves printed on textured paper, with artwork by Burning Ambulance Music co-founder I.A. Freeman. It is available for pre-order now on Bandcamp:
Johann Kloos
Johann back after a bit of a hiatus due to a broken arm with a fascinating exploratory collection.
Subatomic Sound System & Screechy Dan
NYC live dub specialists Subatomic Sound System + Screechy Dan finally release their longtime live improvisation "Jah Is The Light" after thrilling audiences on tour for over a decade with the meditative horn intro, high energy drops, and Jah Shaka style sirens woven into the composition. The title track is based on heavy bass and 808 drums with live instrumentation (percussion, drums, horns, melodica, and vocals) rooted in the long, deep history of Nyabinghi drumming, Jamaican 1970s reggae riddims and Ethiopian jazz melodies. The other songs on the release explore similar elements with varying degrees, vocally and instrumentally, but leaning more into the analog side of the equation
Ecce Shnak
From NYC's experimental alt-rockers ECCE SHNAK - a hard-hitting track with a potent message, presenting an ironic take on violence and addressing today's rampant spread of hate-filled vitriol. Hot on the heels of their debut EP 'Shadows Grow Fangs', this is the second taste of their 'Backroom Sessions' EP, released May 22 via Records Man Records. Frontman David Roush says this is "a djent-forward ramble on the ubiquity of violence in human life, be it literal or metaphorical. It was originally an ironic joke when it was released on our first EP, 'Letters to German Vasquez Rubio' in 2012. "We decided to change the lyrics and release a new version in reaction to the rancid bigotries that so plague the human spirit nowadays, in America and elsewhere. The final line is a call to defend our basic human freedoms while we still have them: “Fight for your right to fight!”"
The 3 Napoleons
Late December 2024 and an arduous journey from the southern shores of this island up to a suburb of Oldham on the edge of wild moorland via some poor examples of navigation had brought Napoleon Barnsbury to the dwelling of Napoleon Moss the Younger. Here an exchange of sweet meats and a discussion at the drawbridge of his castle was the catalyst for the creation of some music together. the bribery of Napoleon Moss the senior with a variety of sugary treats in exchange for vocal performances to add to the Mix
The resulting noise has precipitated the inception of the 3 Napoleons.
2 Lost Souls
Featured EP
I’ve always maintained that a perfect pop song should have a Grant McLennan moment - what I mean is that Grant had an uncanny knack of dropping a “wow” moment (sometimes more than one) into a song that gives you a shiver, makes you smile, brings a tear to your eye. If there is a song-writing course at a college/university somewhere there ought to be McLennan module, as well as a Forster one of course.