Princess Music is comprised of five musicians that play with chamber orchestras of varying size. The group is fronted by Tyler Ludwick, who orchestrates playful complexities and rich harmonies with a mixture of expertise and mirth. He applies his classical finger-style to an electric guitar, composition skills to string and woodwind textures, and passion for percussion to the polyrhythmic and irregular meters of the music. Princess Music displays high emotional and intellectual IQ and expresses poignant narratives found within the arrangements, which embody subtle pop sensibilities that create a sanctuary for even the most casual listener.

Odobenidae, the band’s new album (available from Hot Congress),  is fashioned as a song-cycle of eight pieces, undulating between the dungeonesque depths of classic rock grime, and the playful heights of bantering woodwinds and strings. It is sonically sewn together to form the chimerical world of the walrus. Never lacking in drama or caprice, Princess Music has crafted an album intent on mirroring the nature of our lives.

Hailing from Northern California, John Davis is a sound artist, composer and filmmaker who has released music on labels such as Root Strata and Digitalis. With Ask the Dust, he offers up a moving suite of compositions made using a plethora of instrumentation including guitar, piano, tape loops, Max/MSP, field recordings and the newest addition to his arsenal, a complex assortment of Blacet synthesizer modules. Davis uses the synth not as the crux of his recordings but as a tool among many in his kit, weaving oscillations and mangled or rhythmic tones through pastoral webs of processed guitar and field recordings. To this end, the richness of his palette cannot be denied, nor can his prowess as a masterful arranger of abstract sound. “Superpartner” opens the record, a jittery array of pure sound that refuses to sit still, developing slowly and accruing detail and a sparring partner in the form of delicately treated acoustic guitar. Perhaps the record’s defining movement, “Synecdoche,” begins with a contemplative, and even romantic, piano arrangement, sparse and beautiful – a moving miniature that is abruptly broken apart and replaced by a bed of layered sine waves and guitar haze which somehow matches the radiance of what preceded it. Striking in its attention to detail and compositional deftness, “Ask the Dust” is easily Davis’ most refined set of recordings to date, a deep album that rewards focused and repeated listening.

Charlie Hunter/Scott Amendola Duo on the road! PLUS! PUCKER! This is the new Scott Amendola record that shipped from our plant this week — depending upon which show you hit up, you just might be able to grab a copy.  Stay tuned to www.scottamendola.com for updates!

Packy Lundholm is self-releasing his new self-titled EP.  You may know him as the guy who plays lead guitar in Nintendo-rock band I Fight Dragons, or as the guy who plays other things in other bands around Chicago, or you might not know him at all.

Packy has been playing music his entire life, and writing/recording his own music since he was about 15. Despite having toured/performed with many bands and contributing to lots of artists’ records over the years, he never brought his own songs into a proper studio.

If you are not already getting a copy of this record because you helped crowdfund it, be sure to watch for how to buy it — hitting the streets very soon!

Coming soon from the Holodeck Records Store is Ssleeperhold’s Ruleth.  October tour stops include Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco, Yucca Valley, Los Angeles, more coming>>>

Heatwarmer is a band from Seattle, consisting of Luke Bergman, Kristian Garrard, Aaron Otheim, Andrew J.S., & Evan Woodle.  They launched their U.S. tour on September 11, and starting with their Denton, TX show on 9/24, you can grab a copy of their brand new self-titled album at any of their U.S. shows, or online now!

Secret Audio Club proudly presents the release of Marathon Self Titled on wax!  The pre-order starts Friday September 20 at NOON eastern.

Quote from Secret Audio Club founder/owner Kyle Chapman: “When I was 16 my friend Greg took me to my first punk show in a lodge to see a band called Marathon.  If I had never attended that show, we wouldn’t be releasing records today.  End of story.”

Nonagon is a raucous, three-piece, music concern from Chicago that’s been playing together since the early-to-mid aughts. We play a collection of loud, short songs with varied time signatures and unconventional hooks.  They combined forces with The Austerity Program in 2013 to co-launch a new artist-run label – Controlled Burn Records.  Nonagon’s new record – The Last Hydronaut will be released on October 18, 2013 — the release show is at Township in Chicago.