Sun 13

Post-rock from Chicago is immune from failure. All killer, no filler, and Sick Gazelle are the latest at making every post a winner. Formed by Bruce Lamont (Bloodiest, Yakuza), Eric Block (Veloce) and regular gun for hire, Steve Shelley (Winged Wheel, Sonic Youth, Disappears), following their 2019 debut, Odum, Sick Gazelle draft in bassist and Chicago post-rock legend, Douglas McCombs, for their follow-up, Veld.

Gayle Brogan, Nick Jonah Davis and Elizabeth Still have spent years carving out their own sonic niches across the U.K.’s DIY experimental landscape. Brogan’s endeavours, through the lens of Pefkin and Burd Ellen, where she has paired drone with mediative field recordings to great effect. The peak, via the former’s Unfurling (Morc Records), released earlier this year. Meanwhile, Jonah Davis and Still have evoked similar feelings through their art, albeit via different paths.

Emmaleen Tangleweed’s songs creep up on you like a spectre from the deepest parts of the night. First coming to attention via Cruel Nature Records’ re-issues of her first two albums, The Sun will Still Shine when you Die and Songs from the Unseen, the Unsaid and the Unborn last year, the Western Cape, South Africa based songwriter spins the kind of yarns that leave permanent marks.

In 2022 at the Porto edition of Primavera, on the hilltop watching Karate cherry-pick from their esteemed body of work confirmed just how blues-laden slowcore was tailor-made for sunsets. It was a beautiful moment, and one that I instantly thought of when hearing The Pines of Rome’s excellent new LP, When You Are as Full as the Moon.

The Black Drumset, the project of multi-instrumentalist Brian Willey, has announced details of their third full-length release. Following the project’s self-titled debut (2009) and Charged (2019), Friends In Dark Places will be released on July 17. Exclusive to Sun 13, be the first to listen to From a Difference Place. It follows the hypnotic lead single, The Ice Melted, We Had to Swim. A collision of synths and guitar that make their way through the briars that lead to psychedelia.

BIG|BRAVE are one the most potent experimental acts on the planet. The Montréal band’s collision of metal, post-hardcore and folk, one-of-kind, reaching the apex on their excellent 2024 release, A Chaos of Flowers. For all its inventiveness and eternal power, at the time it felt like one of those generational underground releases that would be a key reference point in decades to come. And two years on, that consensus remains. It felt like a moment where BIG|BRAVE’s hard work had paid off.

Some things just come into your life at the right moment. In this case, it’s the music of Wade Easy. Through a hazy concoction of nicotine and liquor providing a subtle catharsis, the Morgantown, West Virginia-based songwriter is the architect of music for solitude. Each note, sinking deep into the bones. Easy’s music frames less complicated times, when the distraction of smart phones and social media didn’t existent. When art meant more.

Through the lens of Daughn Gibson, Josh Martin doesn’t break the rules. He just never knew they existed. The rogue outlier has spent the last two decades taking the scenic route. (And that’s not a reference to his well-documented almost-phantom vocation as a truck driver.) It’s one of the many aspects of Daughn Gibson’s murky world that many have dined out on.

Dan Guidance once again demonstrates his prolific work ethic with the release of two EPs, showcasing his differing takes on Drum & Bass. In these days where taking years between releases is not uncommon, this reassures me that creativity is alive and well and is not always chained to making as much money as possible out of each new release. It is also a sign of someone who feels compelled to be creative, always a good sign for any credible artist.

Following last year’s The Right Hand Is Doomed to Blacken, Australian perennial drifter, Michael Plater, returns with another new project, The Taps of the Holy Trinity. Also featuring Arthur Karanikas (electric guitar, tzoura, zurna, djembe), Dee Hannan (vocals, organs, lauto) and David Bullock (percussion), The Taps of the Holy Trinity will release their debut LP, Customs & Rituals of The Taps of the Holy Trinity on June 20 via Fenny Compton.