The Tonearm
@thetonearm.com
celebrating music journalism
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putting a needle on the cultural wax
an online journal of unexpected music + culture → thetonearm.com
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putting a needle on the cultural wax
an online journal of unexpected music + culture → thetonearm.com
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The Tonearm
@thetonearm.com
· Mar 20
The Tonearm is an online journal of unexpected music and culture, a shared exploration of what it's like to create cool + meaningful things.
Check out our latest articles + podcasts: www.thetonearm.com/linkinbio/
and don't forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Talk Of The Tonearm ✨
Check out our latest articles + podcasts: www.thetonearm.com/linkinbio/
and don't forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Talk Of The Tonearm ✨
The Bristol composer Bethany Ley constructs immersive sound worlds where processed harps and Gamelan echoes interweave with field recordings from the Ganges, creating musical spaces that feel both precisely engineered and naturally alive.
Bethany Ley Shapes Digital Gardens with 'Sundial':
Bethany Ley Shapes Digital Gardens with 'Sundial':
Bethany Ley Shapes Digital Gardens with 'Sundial'
On her latest EP, the Bristol composer constructs immersive sound worlds where processed harps and Gamelan echoes interweave with field recordings from the Ganges, creating musical spaces that feel both precisely engineered and naturally alive.
www.thetonearm.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:45 AM
The Bristol composer Bethany Ley constructs immersive sound worlds where processed harps and Gamelan echoes interweave with field recordings from the Ganges, creating musical spaces that feel both precisely engineered and naturally alive.
Bethany Ley Shapes Digital Gardens with 'Sundial':
Bethany Ley Shapes Digital Gardens with 'Sundial':
"With visual images, whether they be petroglyphs carved into stone or cave paintings, the proof that they were produced is there to be seen with our eyes, but with sound the only evidence is circumstantial."
Music Stones — The Rediscovery Of Ringing Rock:
Music Stones — The Rediscovery Of Ringing Rock:
Read an extract from Music Stones: The Rediscovery Of Ringing Rock - The Wire
In an extract from his new book, Mike Adcock explores the aural properties of stone and introduces some notable figures in the development of lithophones
www.thewire.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 12:05 AM
"With visual images, whether they be petroglyphs carved into stone or cave paintings, the proof that they were produced is there to be seen with our eyes, but with sound the only evidence is circumstantial."
Music Stones — The Rediscovery Of Ringing Rock:
Music Stones — The Rediscovery Of Ringing Rock:
Reposted by The Tonearm
For The Tonearm, I wrote about loops, entropy, and the cosmological future: From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and the Physics of Entropy www.thetonearm.com/from-signal-...
From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and Entropy
Examining Tim Harrison's 'A Strange Loop' alongside William Basinski's 'The Disintegration Loops,' George Grella finds complementary visions of how loop music engages the universe's inexorable movemen...
www.thetonearm.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:35 PM
For The Tonearm, I wrote about loops, entropy, and the cosmological future: From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and the Physics of Entropy www.thetonearm.com/from-signal-...
"With a new generation of writers weighing in, there’s a new audience who can’t know the context of the controversy. It got me thinking: Maybe it was time to tell the true story of what happened in 1993, the greatest goddamn year in Chicago rock history. If you care, here’s how it all went down."
Liz Phair, Steve Albini & Me: The True Story of 1993, the Greatest Goddamn Year in Chicago Rock History | Newcity Music
By Bill Wyman Every few years, it comes back. Back in 1994, I had a weekly music column called “Hitsville” in The Chicago Reader. In early January of that year, I put together a top-ten list of albums from 1993 with an accompanying essay. It was all maybe 700 words. Strikingly, two entries by Chicago
music.newcity.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:45 PM
"With a new generation of writers weighing in, there’s a new audience who can’t know the context of the controversy. It got me thinking: Maybe it was time to tell the true story of what happened in 1993, the greatest goddamn year in Chicago rock history. If you care, here’s how it all went down."
Serpentine (The Field Remix), by Disiniblud
from the album Disiniblud (Remixes)
rachika.bandcamp.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by The Tonearm
Happy 45th Birthday Gyrate!
Released on this day by DB Recs in the US and Armageddon in the UK.
The release party was held on 11/18/1980 at The Channel Club in Boston, MA — where Pylon opened for Gang of Four along with Mission of Burma.
1/2 🧵
Released on this day by DB Recs in the US and Armageddon in the UK.
The release party was held on 11/18/1980 at The Channel Club in Boston, MA — where Pylon opened for Gang of Four along with Mission of Burma.
1/2 🧵
November 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Happy 45th Birthday Gyrate!
Released on this day by DB Recs in the US and Armageddon in the UK.
The release party was held on 11/18/1980 at The Channel Club in Boston, MA — where Pylon opened for Gang of Four along with Mission of Burma.
1/2 🧵
Released on this day by DB Recs in the US and Armageddon in the UK.
The release party was held on 11/18/1980 at The Channel Club in Boston, MA — where Pylon opened for Gang of Four along with Mission of Burma.
1/2 🧵
"So, besides the Portastudio early on, William bought a Gretsch from a friend who sold it behind his dad’s back for £20 and then a Shin-ei fuzz pedal for a tenner from another friend, and here we all are still talking about this debut album 40 years later."
40 Years of Psychocandy:
40 Years of Psychocandy:
The Wind is Screaming Around the Trees: 40 Years of Psychocandy | The Quietus
Ned Raggett considers the geographical, cultural and political pressures that helped form Psychocandy, J&MC debut album.
thequietus.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
"So, besides the Portastudio early on, William bought a Gretsch from a friend who sold it behind his dad’s back for £20 and then a Shin-ei fuzz pedal for a tenner from another friend, and here we all are still talking about this debut album 40 years later."
40 Years of Psychocandy:
40 Years of Psychocandy:
Examining Tim Harrison's 'A Strange Loop' alongside William Basinski's 'The Disintegration Loops,' George Grella finds complementary visions of how loop music engages the universe's inexorable movement from order to chaos.
From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and the Physics of Entropy:
From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and the Physics of Entropy:
From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and Entropy
Examining Tim Harrison's 'A Strange Loop' alongside William Basinski's 'The Disintegration Loops,' George Grella finds complementary visions of how loop music engages the universe's inexorable movement from order to chaos.
www.thetonearm.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Examining Tim Harrison's 'A Strange Loop' alongside William Basinski's 'The Disintegration Loops,' George Grella finds complementary visions of how loop music engages the universe's inexorable movement from order to chaos.
From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and the Physics of Entropy:
From Signal to Noise — Loop Music and the Physics of Entropy:
In the new episode of The Tonearm podcast, jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh reflects on 'familiar hells' versus 'strange heavens,' and connects the idea to her music, especially her work with her chordless trio. #jazzsky
Listen in to the full conversation: podcast.thetonearm.com/linda-may-ha...
Listen in to the full conversation: podcast.thetonearm.com/linda-may-ha...
November 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
In the new episode of The Tonearm podcast, jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh reflects on 'familiar hells' versus 'strange heavens,' and connects the idea to her music, especially her work with her chordless trio. #jazzsky
Listen in to the full conversation: podcast.thetonearm.com/linda-may-ha...
Listen in to the full conversation: podcast.thetonearm.com/linda-may-ha...
"… about an Austrian family fleeing the Nazis on their way to America, played by an African American genius in a vernacular American style, produced by one Turkish American for a record label owned by another Turkish American. The recording is not in or of the melting pot. It is the melting pot."
How John Coltrane's 'My Favorite Things' Changed American Music
Looking back at the moment when one of our greatest jazzmen raised the stakes for everyone who came after
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:30 AM
"… about an Austrian family fleeing the Nazis on their way to America, played by an African American genius in a vernacular American style, produced by one Turkish American for a record label owned by another Turkish American. The recording is not in or of the melting pot. It is the melting pot."
"These practices have always coexisted in my musical universe, in a constant state of interaction."
At sixty-six, Joane Hétu, founder of SuperMusique and DAME, continues championing the collaborative spirit of Québécois experimental music that has defined her artistic practice since the 1980s:
At sixty-six, Joane Hétu, founder of SuperMusique and DAME, continues championing the collaborative spirit of Québécois experimental music that has defined her artistic practice since the 1980s:
Joane Hétu: Four Decades of Québécois Experimental Music
At sixty-six, the founder of SuperMusique and DAME Records continues championing the collaborative spirit that has defined her artistic practice since the 1980s.
www.thetonearm.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:45 AM
"These practices have always coexisted in my musical universe, in a constant state of interaction."
At sixty-six, Joane Hétu, founder of SuperMusique and DAME, continues championing the collaborative spirit of Québécois experimental music that has defined her artistic practice since the 1980s:
At sixty-six, Joane Hétu, founder of SuperMusique and DAME, continues championing the collaborative spirit of Québécois experimental music that has defined her artistic practice since the 1980s:
"Now I don't think I'm a particularly talented guitar virtuoso. My talent if it's anything is my approach to the guitar by the use of effects, by non-acceptance of the usual approaches to the guitar."
The Edge on Brian Eno and how he influenced his own "limited" guitar style:
The Edge on Brian Eno and how he influenced his own "limited" guitar style:
"He's not a great keyboard player, he doesn't write great songs. His engineering and technical abilities are limited too. In fact, he knows very little about an awful lot": The Edge on Brian Eno and how he influenced his own "limited" guitar style
Classic interview: U2 guitarist reflects on the making of The Unforgettable Fire in 1985 interview
www.musicradar.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:45 AM
"Now I don't think I'm a particularly talented guitar virtuoso. My talent if it's anything is my approach to the guitar by the use of effects, by non-acceptance of the usual approaches to the guitar."
The Edge on Brian Eno and how he influenced his own "limited" guitar style:
The Edge on Brian Eno and how he influenced his own "limited" guitar style:
"His songs – funny, wry, potent, vivid, storytelling to its core – were the perfect perspective to chronicle how American life so often meant learning to live with grave injustice, gentrification and constant change, even before the town he loved became ground zero for it."
Farewell, Todd Snider:
Farewell, Todd Snider:
Something good comes along, then it’s gone: Farewell, Todd Snider.
When I moved to East Nashville in 2012, legend had it that if you wanted to find Todd Snider, all you had to do was go to Drifter’s BBQ in Five Points, and he’d be there at the bar. Nashville always had rumblings like this: that John Prine
www.dontrocktheinbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:00 AM
"His songs – funny, wry, potent, vivid, storytelling to its core – were the perfect perspective to chronicle how American life so often meant learning to live with grave injustice, gentrification and constant change, even before the town he loved became ground zero for it."
Farewell, Todd Snider:
Farewell, Todd Snider:
A composer who's also a biochemist, Stefan Smulovitz discusses his latest album—a collaboration that turns paintings into musical time signatures—and why constraints often lead to the most interesting art.
The Beautiful Mysteries of Stefan Smulovitz's 'Bow and Brush':
The Beautiful Mysteries of Stefan Smulovitz's 'Bow and Brush':
The Beautiful Mysteries of Stefan Smulovitz's 'Bow and Brush'
A composer who's also a biochemist, Stefan Smulovitz discusses his latest album—a collaboration that turns paintings into musical time signatures—and why constraints often lead to the most interesting art.
www.thetonearm.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:45 AM
A composer who's also a biochemist, Stefan Smulovitz discusses his latest album—a collaboration that turns paintings into musical time signatures—and why constraints often lead to the most interesting art.
The Beautiful Mysteries of Stefan Smulovitz's 'Bow and Brush':
The Beautiful Mysteries of Stefan Smulovitz's 'Bow and Brush':
"Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, no-one ever used the term 'Sound System Culture', it was 'Roots and Culture' – the music was the sound of freedom. Reggae music was the sound of culture and heritage dipped in the roots of our ancestral blood."
Voices from the sound systems of Chapeltown:
Voices from the sound systems of Chapeltown:
Roots and Culture: voices from the sound systems of Chapeltown
Home for three-quarters of a century to a thriving African-Caribbean musical, cultural and arts scene, Leeds celebrates its reggae pioneers
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 11:45 PM
"Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, no-one ever used the term 'Sound System Culture', it was 'Roots and Culture' – the music was the sound of freedom. Reggae music was the sound of culture and heritage dipped in the roots of our ancestral blood."
Voices from the sound systems of Chapeltown:
Voices from the sound systems of Chapeltown:
Reposted by The Tonearm
R.I.P. Brian Garrity, Minneapolis rock photographer. His photo book is full of instantly iconic work for Alternative Press, SPIN, and much more. I had the pleasure of talking with him two years ago for @thecurrent.org.
www.thecurrent.org/feature/2023...
www.thecurrent.org/feature/2023...
Minneapolis rock photographer Brian D. Garrity on his new book and gallery show
“I wanted this to look like a documentary, documenting our ’90s,” says Garrity, on ‘Pushed Beyond All Reasonable Limits: The Music Photography of Brian D. Garrity’ out now.
www.thecurrent.org
November 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM
R.I.P. Brian Garrity, Minneapolis rock photographer. His photo book is full of instantly iconic work for Alternative Press, SPIN, and much more. I had the pleasure of talking with him two years ago for @thecurrent.org.
www.thecurrent.org/feature/2023...
www.thecurrent.org/feature/2023...
"Ghost-Note kicks off with 'JB's Out' and 'Move with a Purpose,' funk-soul songs that channel two of their biggest influences, James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone …"
Ghost-Note — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2025/11/17/g...
Ghost-Note — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2025/11/17/g...
November 17, 2025 at 8:45 PM
"Ghost-Note kicks off with 'JB's Out' and 'Move with a Purpose,' funk-soul songs that channel two of their biggest influences, James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone …"
Ghost-Note — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2025/11/17/g...
Ghost-Note — Tiny Desk Concert: www.npr.org/2025/11/17/g...
Portal, by Linda May Han Oh
from the album Strange Heavens
lindamayhanoh.bandcamp.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:45 PM
"After delivering this icebreaker, [Moe] Tucker revealed that she was living in the area with her spouse. 'At some point on that first visit, Jesse just came out and asked if she wanted to jam, and she said ‘Yes!’ It was that simple,' Bishop says."
Paris 1942, Short-Lived Experimental Rock Royalty:
Paris 1942, Short-Lived Experimental Rock Royalty:
Paris 1942, Short-Lived Experimental Rock Royalty
How a chance encounter with Moe Tucker led to an experimental rock pioneer supergroup of sorts.
daily.bandcamp.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:46 PM
"After delivering this icebreaker, [Moe] Tucker revealed that she was living in the area with her spouse. 'At some point on that first visit, Jesse just came out and asked if she wanted to jam, and she said ‘Yes!’ It was that simple,' Bishop says."
Paris 1942, Short-Lived Experimental Rock Royalty:
Paris 1942, Short-Lived Experimental Rock Royalty:
Jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh discusses her album 'Strange Heavens,' a chordless trio recording with Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey that explores anxiety, release, and the human tendency to choose comfort over unknown possibility.
Surfin' Bass — Linda May Han Oh Rides an Uncertain Wave:
Surfin' Bass — Linda May Han Oh Rides an Uncertain Wave:
Linda May Han Oh's 'Strange Heavens' | The Tonearm
The bassist discusses her album 'Strange Heavens,' a chordless trio recording with Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey that explores anxiety, release, and the human tendency to choose familiar comfort over unknown possibility.
www.thetonearm.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Jazz bassist Linda May Han Oh discusses her album 'Strange Heavens,' a chordless trio recording with Ambrose Akinmusire and Tyshawn Sorey that explores anxiety, release, and the human tendency to choose comfort over unknown possibility.
Surfin' Bass — Linda May Han Oh Rides an Uncertain Wave:
Surfin' Bass — Linda May Han Oh Rides an Uncertain Wave:
"At age 83, Wadada Leo Smith plays trumpet with the wise restraint of a Zen master, though he’s still capable of the fiery blasts from his early AACM years, back in the late 1960s."
Wadada Leo Smith — Once In A Lifetime:
Wadada Leo Smith — Once In A Lifetime:
Wadada Leo Smith: Once In A Lifetime
Venerable free jazz icon joined by Jakob Bro and Marcus Gilmore on new recording, adding Thomas Morgan for last European live dates
www.zensounds.de
November 17, 2025 at 3:00 PM
"At age 83, Wadada Leo Smith plays trumpet with the wise restraint of a Zen master, though he’s still capable of the fiery blasts from his early AACM years, back in the late 1960s."
Wadada Leo Smith — Once In A Lifetime:
Wadada Leo Smith — Once In A Lifetime:
"The Mirrors began life as a theatre company, described by Gabrielle as 'a lab - a place to research my obsession with what it really means to be a human being, a whole one. We turned our lives into art, into dances, into songs, into poems, into theatre — and this was the healing.'"
The Mirrors reflected Gabrielle: The Sound of the Infinite Dance
A look into the hypnotic drum-driven universe of Gabrielle Roth & The Mirrors, a meeting point of spirituality, psychology, and sound. The original liner notes written by Anton Spice
timecapsulesound.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:47 PM
"The Mirrors began life as a theatre company, described by Gabrielle as 'a lab - a place to research my obsession with what it really means to be a human being, a whole one. We turned our lives into art, into dances, into songs, into poems, into theatre — and this was the healing.'"
let's get this party started
November 17, 2025 at 10:30 AM
let's get this party started
As Locrian reissues their landmark 2010 album, Terence Hannum discusses the band's evolution from experimental duo to post-metal trio, his separation of visual art from music, and why heavy metal "rewards playing it safe."
The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World':
The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World':
The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World'
As Locrian reissues their landmark album, Terence Hannum discusses the band's evolution from experimental duo to post-metal trio, his separation of visual art from music, and why heavy metal "rewards playing it safe."
www.thetonearm.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:45 AM
As Locrian reissues their landmark 2010 album, Terence Hannum discusses the band's evolution from experimental duo to post-metal trio, his separation of visual art from music, and why heavy metal "rewards playing it safe."
The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World':
The Going Gets Weird — Locrian Revisits 'The Crystal World':
"Musicians from the worlds of folk, pop, rock and jazz talk losing their instruments, getting them back and preventing such gut-wrenching thefts in the first place."
How to Not Get Your Gear Stolen: tidal.com/magazine/art...
How to Not Get Your Gear Stolen: tidal.com/magazine/art...
November 17, 2025 at 6:45 AM
"Musicians from the worlds of folk, pop, rock and jazz talk losing their instruments, getting them back and preventing such gut-wrenching thefts in the first place."
How to Not Get Your Gear Stolen: tidal.com/magazine/art...
How to Not Get Your Gear Stolen: tidal.com/magazine/art...