#experimental-indie

#experimental-indie

On May 2, 2025, arts and cultural organizations across the country received notifications that grants and funding promised by the National Endowment for the Arts were being rescinded. This was part of a larger initiative by the Trump Administration to dismantle not just the NEA, but also other arts advocacy programs including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

The xx opened with 'Crystalised,' closed with 'Infinity,' and included the first-ever live performance of 'Season's Run' in their setlist.

When the person you're pretending to be gets too heavy to carry, you realize that the mask you've worn for so long has become your actual face.

I see you, and it makes me so happy to see you. There is such a disconnect between what we say America is about and what it is right now. True freedom is the freedom to be who we are, and it hurts my heart so much that in some parts of this country, it is unsafe for trans people to do that right now.

Los Thuthanaka sounds like nothing else. It's joyous, jagged, and sounds like it's being blasted out of a broken Bluetooth speaker in your neighbor's backyard - it's glorious.

Knumears is releasing their debut album Directions on April 3, showcasing their unique sound within the Los Angeles screamo scene. The album is available through Run for Cover and Summer Shade.

Jesca Hoop has announced a tour in support of her upcoming album Long Wave Home. Dates are with Faun Fables and include NYC's Le Poisson Rouge on June 29.

Earl has spent the past decade or so immersing himself in New York's underground rap scene, resulting in one of the most unique and unpredictable discographies of his generation.

I'm excited to announce something that's never been done before. Better Than Ezra is teaming up with Soundbreak AI to do a songwriting contest. Go on soundbreak.ai, write with me, or write with [bass guitarist] Tom Drummond. Come up with your best idea, your best song.

The Sound It Made opens Two Wheels Move the Soul like the blaze is roaring to life before your eyes. Zack James' shifty drumming hammers out a drum 'n' bass redux like a panicked heartbeat while Carney Hemler's bass lurches in slow motion, replicating the gut drop of a horrible realization.

ElevenMusic allows users to generate up to seven songs per day using natural language prompts, with options to adjust song length, lyrics, and writing style.

You could go anywhere in America and argue with some success for the cultural impact wrought by most of the once-subcultural stars of Lizzy Goodman's oral history of New York's post-9/11 rock scene, 'Meet Me In The Bathroom.' Or, for God's sake, Jeff Chang's history of hip-hop, 'Can't Stop Won't Stop.' But to explain this era to someone who hasn't devoted their psyche or youth to 'indie rock,' you'd need to spend a whole dinner, and maybe a few drinks afterwards, justifying why the tentpole events that 'Us v. Them' returns to multiple times in its 300-page run mean anything.

Tone Freq Studios captures pristine acoustics and emphasizes analog warmth, creating a tactile space that values collective experiences over the convenience of digital recording methods.

Galen Buckwalter, a 69-year-old research psychologist and quadriplegic, participated in a brain implant study to contribute to science that aids those with paralysis. The six chips in his brain decode movement intention, allowing him to operate a computer and feel sensations in his fingers again.

R&B in the 21st century has been in a constant state of flux, tugged between safe traditionalism and blurry attempts at progression. For the last decade-plus that "progression" has seen R&B music become more indebted to trap records and the moody atmospherics of alternative bands like Radiohead, Coldplay, or My Bloody Valentine.

Take the title of The Spiritual Sound as a kind of syllabus, and you'll find a heady list of musical reference points that Agriculture aim to exalt. The jarring intros of black metal songs that make you feel like a portal to Hell has opened inside your headphones. The sound design on later Scott Walker arrangements meant to conjure a Biblical plague. The slow, majestic build of post-rock epics that hold back their climax for maximum transcendence.