Greg Loiacano & Stingray “Hope We Get to Dance” on their debut single.

Photography by James Joiner

Greg Loiacono & Stingray have released their debut single, “Hope We Get To Dance,” a greasy, soul-rock anthem celebrating personal freedom and expression. Fronted by Loiacono, the vocalist, guitarist, and co-founder of San Francisco rock legends The Mother Hips, Stingray features a lineup of acclaimed Bay Area musicians, including drummer Michael Urbano (Lindsey Buckingham, John Hiatt), percussionist /vocalist Vicki Randle (Mavis Staples, George Benson), Kofy Brown (bass/vocals), Danny Eisenberg (keys) and Tom Ayres (guitar).

Loiacono delivers “Hope We Get To Dance” in a Sly Stone-inspired falsetto, accentuated by rousing harmonies and a delectably funky guitar-and-percussion groove. The track was recorded at 2200 Studios (formerly The Plant) in Sausalito, CA, a storied studio where landmark albums by Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Fleetwood Mac were made. Producer Damien Lewis (Lizzo, Janelle Monáe, Larkin Poe) helmed the session.

“I was listening to Curtis Mayfield’s album Roots when the concept for ‘Hope We Get To Dance’ hit me. I thought Stingray could create an energy and spirit in the vein of that record,” says Loiacono. “Because we sometimes lean into the rock side of things, it ended up sounding like Curtis meets Led Zeppelin. I think of it as a reminder that the pure power of dancing to and feeling music is always there for us. It’s up to us when we want to let go and jump in.”

“Hope We Get To Dance,” released via RPF Records/Royal Potato Family, arrives with a joyous video directed by James Joiner. Premiered via Relix Magazineit features crowd-sourced clips of fans dancing alongside vintage footage that perfectly captures the spirit of the song. Watch it here.

Greg Loiacono & Stingray headline a handful of Northern California shows this month, with more dates and single releases to follow. Upcoming shows are:

8/14 – Chico, CA – Argus Bar
8/15 – San Francisco, CA – The Make Out Room
8/16 – Los Gatos, CA – The Treehouse (Sold Out)
8/29 – Sebastopol, CA – HopMonk Tavern

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[Thanks to Kevin at Calabro Music Media.]

LUCKYANDLOVE encourage you to get off your damn phone on their new single – “I Am Human.”

LA-based electronic duo LUCKYANDLOVE returns with their banging anti-tech angst anthem ‘I Am Human’, delicately fused together with pulsating molten kicks, abrasive fuzz-laden analog synths and confident sensual vocals. Calling out to make our own choices and take back our lives, this song underlines the need to reconnect with being Human before its too late.

Evoking a brand new art school originality, LUCKYANDLOVE is the raw sonic experiment of Loren Luck and April Love, whose live analog synth beats, Moog instrumentation and beautiful, harmonic vocals trigger an immediate download of fuzzy sunset synthgaze, blue-black neon darkwave, and tigerprint electro punk.

‘I Am Human’ previews the duo’s third album ‘Humaura’ (hu • mau • ra), which the duo define as  the atmosphere that emanates from the feelings of the human spirit void of technological control. This album was recorded, mixed and mastered for digital release by Grammy award-winning engineer Be Hussey (Modern English, Swervedriver, The Church, Alcest, Twin Tribes, Boy Harsher, Luna, Kim Deal) at Balboa Studio and Catwater for the digital music, and mastered for vinyl and lathe cut by Grammy-nominated engineer Nicholas Townsend (Cheap Trick, Weezer, Garbage, Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Grimes, Iron Maiden) at Townsend Mastering.

“To me, ‘I Am Human’ is a sci-fi track. It’s call to arms for screen zombies to disconnect. I read Martin Heidegger’s ‘The Question Concerning Technology’ in grad school and I like when he says that we shall have questions concerning technology and, in so doing, we should like to prepare a free relationship with it,” says April.

Loren adds, “I think there are a lot of people that actually hate technology, but would never have the guts to say it. Personally with this song, we are breaking the chains, going back to a simpler time of human creativity and free thinking,”.    

Transcending genres in a league of their own, LUCKYANDLOVE’s visceral, urgently-present dark electro-pop appeal continues to stretch through time and space. Their ‘Lucky + Love’ and ‘Transitions’ albums earned them a global fan following and led to US and UK tours, while their tracks ‘It’s a Mistake’, ‘Animal” and ‘Summertime Frolic’ featured in the indie hit ‘Tiger Within’, featuring Ed Asner’s final film performance.

This salty-sweet duo blend raw analog synth sounds with driving punctuated percussion and punchy analog bass, complemented by enchanting lyrics that emit a range of emotions from melancholy and sorrowful glom to a state of blissful trance.

LUCKYANDLOVE’s influences absorb the resonant specters of last century’s darkwave gods —Siouxsie and The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, and Bauhaus, looming large from where industrial galaxies formed as the needle hit the vinyl groove urging all Doc Martens to march to basement dance floors.

As of August 5, ‘I Am Human’ is available from fine music platforms, including SpotifyApple Music and Bandcamp. The full ‘Humaura’ album, slated for release on October 3 via SRD – Southern Record Distributors, can be pre-ordered from either Bandcamp or the LUCKYANDLOVE Store. On October 11, LUCKYANDLOVE will hold their record release party at The Slipper Clutch in Downtown Los Angeles via Deathrecordzz Presents with appearances by Warsaw Pact, Amore De Paris, No Exits, and a DJ set by Echolust. 

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Fat Dog announce North American tour dates with a new single – “Pray to That.”

Photo Credit: Frank Fieber

Today, Fat Dog unveil “Pray To That,” their second new single since the release of their brilliantly frenzied, “trippy, whiplash-inducing” (Variety) debut album, WOOF., last year. Following the “extra-dimensional pop song,” (Clash) “Peace Song,” and its accompanying remix, “Pray To That” is propelled at breakneck speed by an urgent four-to-the-floor beat and sees frontman Joe Love question the Fat Dog lifestyle with his deadpan humour: “Seven shits left to give / Yeah I’ll pray to that / I’m only 25 / Well it’s the same every night / She thought I’m 39.”

Recorded at Dan Carey’s studio, “Pray To That” was co-produced by Love and Carey. The equally unhinged video comes courtesy of Dylan Coates with Love starring as a wayward preacher.

Watch the Video for “Pray To That”
Stream “Pray To That”

Fresh off their triumphant Glastonbury set, Fat Dog continue their live assault this summer. Earlier in the summer, the band played five UK cities in just three days. The band will play a string of UK and European festivals before embarking on a September North American Tour, making stops in many cities they have yet to play in support of WOOF. A complete list of dates is available below, and tickets are now available here.

Watch Fat Dog Perform “Running” at Glastonbury 2025

Watch the visualizer for “Peace Song (A riot in Sydenham bus depot – TowerBlock1 mix)”

Purchase “Peace Song”/ “Peace Song (A riot in Sydenham bus depot – TowerBlock1 mix)”
12” single


Purchase/Stream WOOF.

Fat Dog Tour Dates
Fri. Aug. 8 – Cornwall, UK @ Boardmasters
Wed. Aug. 6 -Sun. Aug. 10 – Winchester, UK @ Boomtown
Sun. Aug. 10 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
Thu. Aug. 14 – Paredes De Coura, PT @ Vodafone Paredes de Coura
Fri. Aug. 15 – Charleville-Mézières, FR @Cabaret Vert
Sat. Aug. 16 – Crickhowell, UK @ Green Man
Fri. Aug. 22 – Northampton, UK @ Shambala
Sat. Aug. 23 – Málaga, ES @ Canela Party
Sun. Aug. 24 – Paris, FR @ Rock En Seine
Wed. Aug. 27 – Sheffield, UK @ Utilita Arena %
Sun. Aug. 31 – Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival
Tue. Sept. 2 – Sacramento, CA @ Starlet Room
Wed. Sept. 3 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Thu. Sept. 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Fri. Sept. 5 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy + Harriet’s
Sat. Sept. 6 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
Sun. Sept. 7 – Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive
Sat. Sept. 20 – Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees
Mon. Sept. 22 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings
Tue. Sept. 23 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
Wed. Sept. 24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Warehouse on Watts
Thu. Sept. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel
Fri. Sept. 26 – Somerville, MA @ Warehouse XI
Sat. Sept. 27 – Montreal, QC @ Toscadura
Mon. Sept. 29 – Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
Sat. Nov. 1 – Manchester, UK @ Day of the Dog Halloween Special @ Aviva Studios
Thu. Nov. 6 – Reykjavik, IS @ Iceland Airwaves
Sat. Nov. 8 – Kortrijk, BE @ Sonic City

% = w/ Queens of the Stone Age

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[Thanks to Matt at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Ela Minus releases new remix EP and tour dates.

Photo Credit: Alvaro Arisó

Earlier this year, Colombian artist Ela Minus released her new album, DÍAvia Domino. The album has garnered widespread praise, landing on several mid-year best of lists, including BillboardRolling Stone, Stereogum, and SPaste, with the latter raving, “the state of electronica as we know it is fuller because Ela Minus is making music within it. DÍA is unforgettable.”

Today, she releases QQQQ (Remixes) and announces a fall North American Tour. Tickets go on sale this Friday and will be available here. The five track QQQQ (Remixes) EP reworks the “haunted techno stomper,” (PAPER) “QQQQ,” into “Apocalypto” and extended club mixes by South Florida electronic producer Nick León, who recently released his debut album, A Tropical Entropy, of which Ela featured on the lead single, “Ghost Orchid.” The EP also includes club and live edits by Ela alongside the song’s original mix. Of the EP, Ela says: “Nick’s remixes feel like a collaboration. It’s the first time I’ve had so much input on a remix of my music. We were sending versions back and forth. Two came out of the process: A straight-on extended club mix (which the original was always calling for) and then a beat-less version which we called ‘Apocalypto remix‘. I’ve also recorded a live version of the song. After playing it live, the shows ignited something new in it, or in me when I play it, so I recorded a new live version included in this EP.”

Purchase/Stream QQQQ (Remixes)

Watch the Visualizer for “QQQQ” (Nick León Apocalypto Mix)

Beginning this week, Ela will play a run of UK/EU festival dates, with today’s newly announced tour kicking off in October and wrapping in Colombia in November. A full list of dates is below. As previously announced, Synth History is launching an ongoing and in depth docu-series on Ela’s story and music. Preview the first episode here, second here, and third episode here. A short film presented by Synth History will be released digitally this year.

Ela recently launched www.forthebirds.xyz, a platform where fans can write to Ela, and she writes back, covering personal and technical topics or whatever approach grabs her interest. Purchase/Stream DÍA 

QQQQ (Remixes) Tracklist
1. QQQQ (Nick León Apocalypto Mix)
2. QQQQ (Nick León Extended Club Mix)
3. QQQQ – Club Edit
4. QQQQ – Live Edit
5. QQQQ

Ela Minus Tour Dates
(New Dates in Bold)
Wed. Aug. 6 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Deseo Club
Sat. Aug. 9 – Barcelona, ES @ Brunch Electronik Festival
Sun. Aug. 10 – Budapest, HU @ Sziget Festival
Fri. Aug. 15 – Paredes de Coura, PT @ Paredes de Coura Festival
Fri. Aug. 22 – Lincoln, UK @ Lost Village
Fri. Aug. 29 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Sat. Aug. 30 – Terni, IT @ Letz Festival
Sat. Oct. 11 – Bologna, IT @ Robot Festival
Sat. Oct. 18 – Miami, FL @ III Points Festival
Thu. Oct. 23 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere (Hall) 
Fri. Oct. 24 – Chicago, IL @ Outset 
Tue. Oct. 28 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent 
Wed. Oct. 29 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex
Thu. Nov. 6 – Caracas, VE @ TBA 
Fri. Nov. 7 – Medellín, CO @ TBA
Sat. Nov. 8 – Cali, CO @ TBA
Sun. Nov. 9 – Bogotá, CO @ TBA

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[Thanks to Matt at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Sunflowers release chaotic “Chameleon Kid” ahead of full album due this November.

Photo credit: Valeria Martins

Today, noise-punk explorers Sunflowers announce their first release through Fuzz Club Records. A jagged, blown-out descent into psychological free-fall, ‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations! will be released on November 7th and finds the band refining their chaotic signature while letting go of structure altogether. It’s a record that refuses to look away from the madness of modern existence — choosing instead to laugh, scream, and contort itself into something stranger, louder, and far more unstable.
 
Sunflowers make noise like it’s a language of survival. Their sound blends blistering punk energy with layers of distortion, experimental chaos, and existential release — always teetering between catharsis and collapse. They are not here to comfort you. They are here to rip the floor out from under you. Their music is a living organism—loud, messy, and mutating in real time. Nevermore-so on this latest outing.
 
Today they share a first look at the album with the track “Chameleon Kid”. It sets the tone with a high-voltage rejection of social camouflage: a breakneck garage punk anthem for the misfits, channelling the chaos of identity in a world that demands conformity. It’s raw, noisy, and unapologetically wired, a middle-finger to social norms.
 
The accompanying video, directed by the band’s longtime collaborator Carolina Bonzinho, brings the track’s themes of identity and adaptation to life through experimental, and surreal animated visuals. Described by Bonzinho as “a wandering of camouflages”, the video expands on the shapeshifting energy of the song.
 
“Chameleon Kid” official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8_tn_wQg7E
Other streaming links: http://sunflowers.lnk.to/chameleonkid
 
Sunflowers is a band from Porto, Portugal, that’s never afraid to evolve. Formed in 2014 by the duo of Carlos de Jesus and Carolina Brandão, the lineup expanded when Frederico Ferreira joined in 2018, further solidifying the unique chemistry that has become a hallmark of their sound. Just ask anyone who’s seen them live.
 
Their electrifying stage presence and primal intensity quickly caught the attention of the Portuguese underground, and before long, they were on a relentless tour, spreading their chaos across Europe like the plague in 1346. Their blend of punk, noise, and experimental rock has always pushed the boundaries of conventional genres—combining ferocious energy with introspective, often existential themes. “There’s always something to evolve within our sound,” says Carlos. “We’ve never been the kind of band to cosplay ourselves. We’re always reaching for what’s next.”
 
Their fifth full-length album, You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’ began as a collection of demos — raw, impulsive recordings laid down without any pressure or overthinking. But when the band listened back, they realized something was already there: something vivid, imperfect, and very much alive. “There was a tension and looseness in those early takes that we couldn’t — and didn’t want to — recreate in a ‘proper’ session,” says guitarist and vocalist Carlos de Jesus. “So we followed it, rather than trying to control it.”
 
That instinct led to a process that was both intuitive and relentless. There was no roadmap, no template — only a commitment to capturing the noise and nerve of the moment. Drummer and vocalist Carolina Brandão adds: “We were just reacting to life — to stress, to joy, to absurdity. All of that made it in.”
 
Across eight tracks, ‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’ pinballs between noise rock, punk, warped psych, and a sort of mangled pop sensibility. It’s loud and sharp-edged, but with moments of eerie restraint — like falling through a trapdoor into calm, then being hurled back into chaos. Feedback wails like sirens, drums slam, and the bass throbs like a pulse trying to keep steady. It’s a sound that’s constantly falling apart and reassembling in real time.
 
The title isn’t just tongue-in-cheek — it’s an existential shrug with teeth. A sarcastic trophy for surviving the disintegration. It’s the voice in your head that says, “Congrats, you made it… now what?” And while the album drips with anxiety and tension, it never gives in to despair. There’s a sardonic, almost playful undercurrent running through the whole thing — like dancing in the wreckage just to prove you’re still alive.
 
Lyrically, the record leans into the absurdity of trying to function in a collapsing world. It’s about burnout and performance, about identity and dissociation, about watching your reflection glitch in real time. But it’s also about the ecstatic joy that sometimes erupts through the cracks — the unfiltered scream, the moment of surrender that becomes its own liberation. “Sometimes the only sane reaction is to scream,” says Carolina. “But screaming can be joyful too. It’s a release.”
 
‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations! ‘is both a culmination and a reset: the sound of a band doing what they do best while completely reimagining what that even means. It’s raw, it’s restless, and it doesn’t sit still for a second. Sunflowers have never played it safe — and on this album, they don’t even pretend to. It’s music for the overwhelmed, the overcooked, and the perpetually undone. It’s a celebration of the fall. And if you’re going down, you might as well go down loud.
 
‘You Have Fallen… Congratulations!’, will be out on Fuzz Club Records on November 7th, 2025. Pre-order HERE.

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pôt-pot release a “Sextape” from their upcoming debut album, “Warsaw 480km,” out September 19th.

Photo credit: Celeste Burdon

oday Lisbon-based Irish quintet pôt-pot share a second look at their forthcoming debut album ‘Warsaw 480km’, set for release on September 19th via Felte.

The band infuse the propulsive grooves of krautrock with a phosphorescent psych-rock radiance, all underscored by harmonium drones, hypnotic vocal harmonies, and deep layers of rough-hewn texture.

Following first single WRSW, today they share a second glimpse at the record with an understated track about trust, entitled Sextape. The track highlights several of pôt-pot’s many strengths: melodious bass and laid-back drums create the framework for controlled feedback and honeyed vocals that are massive in their presence, yet still buoyant as a cloud above the steady pulse and swirls of vibrant, harmonic grace.

Commenting on the track, lead vocalist Mark Waldron-Hyden comments: “This song came from a spontaneous jam between all of us, not written by myself like the other tracks. Elaine named it half as a joke when we first saved the phone recording and despite efforts to rename, nothing else stuck. 

What was lovely about this track was that the lads wrote their parts but gave me full control to orchestrate the song as I wished, and trusted me with the bits they wrote to make a full track, which really meant a lot to me. I guess the song title stayed as it’s essentially a song that came from an intimate trust between us, which lines up with what should be involved in making a sextape I suppose — intimate trust between parties that whatever each person brings to the scenario will be treated with respect, but that’s me taking a retrospective look on things. 

The lyrics also stem from themes of trust between people — a quiet, unspoken understanding of each other’s idiosyncrasies “You don’t have to say what you are, I already know” repeated over and over.”

“Sextape” lyric video:https://youtu.be/-dmeCKTVjzc
‘Warsaw 480km’ album pre-save links:https://felte.lnk.to/pot-pot

Evolved primarily from demos by multi-instrumentalist and lead vocalist Mark Waldron-Hyden during a period of grief and personal upheaval, the album came to life through a series of live, full-band studio sessions that document an exceptional array of talents, unified in an embrace of raw catharsis with a sweetly sinister edge.

A defining element of ‘Warsaw 480km’ is its impressive range of influences and atmospheric topographies.  As Waldron-Hyden describes, “I wrote the first batch of songs while not really living in one place, so I think they have a kind of transient feel to them – developing them with the band helped me process an era in which I was emotionally freewheeling, so they remind me equally of the beautiful experience we shared as a creative unit and the difficult times that inspired them.”  Lead single, WRSW, exemplifies this complexity, as its rugged rhythmic backbone carries tremolo guitars, woozy harmonium, and a half-spoken, Lou Reed-indebted vocal line in which the verse and chorus beautifully blur together.

Above all, Warsaw 480km is an album that achieves its richness and aura from deliberate economy, as Waldron-Hyden explains, “Ollie [Oliver Smith] and Sara [Sara Leslie] are experts at getting the most out of one pedal, a shitty amp, and a guitar they borrowed, a result of innate talent and years of experience; they use some modulation for dronier passages, but it’s their playing styles and understanding of ‘the vibe’ that are the secret ingredients.”  This kind of intuitive connection and collaboration is incredibly rare, and with these ten pieces, pôt-pot accomplish something truly rapturous as they alchemize deep pain into a luminous reverie.

pôt-pot are Elaine Malone (she/her), Sara Leslie (she/her),  Mykle “Ollie” Oliver Smith (he/him), Joe Armitage (he/him) and Mark Waldron-Hyden (he/him).

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Ganser share “Stripe” from their upcoming “Animal Hospital” album.

credit: Miles Kalchik

Next month, Chicago’s Ganser will release their third LP Animal Hospital (due out August 29th on felte). Produced by Liars’ Angus Angrew, the album has been previewed with two singles, “Black Sand” and “Discount Diamonds,” which have earned an enthusiastic critical response, earning praise from outlets like Rolling StonePitchforkFADERStereogum, Alternative Press, and BrooklynVegan.

Today, the band are sharing a third single from the LP, a track entitled “stripe,” along with a video created by band member Alicia Gaines.  

Recorded at Jamdek Studios by Doug Malone (with additional recording by Nick Broste at Electrical Audio) and producer Andrew (Liars) between January and March of 2025, Animal Hospital is a masterwork of Ganser’s long-honed craft. Songs from the album began life as notes scratched as far back as 2020, though “stripe” dates back even further, having first been demoed in 2001), as Gaines explains. 

This one dates back to October 2001, one of my earliest experiences recording with a computer after years of suffering through noisy cassette recorders and 4-track machines. It’s a testament to the durability of digital recording that much of the instrumentation that made it onto the album is from the original demo session. The lyrics and melody, added this year, describe everyone living in their own narrative– where what can be perceived as wrong or right can vary from individual to individual, and how in reality the truth is sometimes more of an evolving idea than a fixed concept, for better or worse. A compass points true until you follow it far enough to get lost.

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No Joy announces new album out August 08, 2025 – “Bugland.”

No Joy is the project of Jasamine White-Gluz. First coming to wide attention as a three piece band around the release of their 2011 debut LP Ghost Blonde, the project has morphed into Jasamine’s solo project, and she has consistently evolved in unexpected ways over 4 LPs and a handful of EPs. Her most recent LP, 2020’s Motherhood, which featured Tara McLeod of the prominent early ‘oughts nu metal band Kittie, was perhaps the most critically-acclaimed of No Joy’s career, receiving an 8.0 from Pitchfork who described it as “a shoegaze album with a rare scope and an even rarer sense of fun and imagination.

Today, No Joy is back with another re-invention and another unexpected collaborator, as she announces her follow up to her 2020 LP. Produced with the much buzzed about Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz, No Joy’s latest album is entitled Bugland and will be released on Hand Drawn Dracula and Sonic Cathedral on August 8th. To mark the announce No Joy is sharing the album’s titled track “Bugland.” 

In some ways, Bugland feels more like a collaborative album than a producer/artist relationship, with both Jasamine and Fire-Toolz pushing each other to find new horizons within the other’s sonic world. It takes the adventurous genre mashing of No Joy’s previous album as a starting point, but pushes so far beyond any genre’s accepted confines, and in such imaginative ways, that it feels like it creates something entirely new.

“The collaboration really felt limitless,” says Fire-Toolz (aka Angel Marcloid). “I didn’t have to adhere to a certain vision in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t be Fire-Toolz. I could easily relate to this album because Jasamine and I liked a lot of the same music, and I was able to be creative in ways that were freeing as if I was making my own album.“

The album’s title track was also the genesis of their collaboration, and neatly encapsulates the way their styles have melded. Some of the heavy elements of Motherhood remain, but are tempered by a tapestry of glitchy electronics that make up the track’s constantly shifting arrangement.

White-Gluz says of the track:

This was the first song Fire-Toolz & No Joy produced together, initially without any plan to ever release it. Our production styles melded so well together on this track that we decided we should make a whole album. The song came together super organically, from the Korn-esque bass lines to the earworm vocal, it’s the welcome sign of the album letting you know you’ve officially entered our world.

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[Thanks to Tom at Terrorbird Media.]

Making Time Festival announces its 2025 lineup…with over 100 DJs in it.

Making Time ∞ — also known as Making Time Forever — proudly returns to Philadelphia’s Fort Mifflin this fall, Friday, September 19 – Sunday, September 21. Today, the most ambitious DIY event in America announces the lineup for its fifth and most transcendental year yet. Founded 25 years ago by legendary Philadelphia promoter Dave Pianka, this year sees the beloved event series Making Time celebrating its silver anniversary (MTMXXV) and five years of Making Time ∞ at Revolutionary War-era Fort Mifflin.

This year’s lineup is jaw-dropping in its quality and enormity, launching with over 120 acts. Headliners include Four Tet¥ØU$UK€ ¥UK1MAT$UBoy HarsherPanda Bear, and Moodymann. Accompanying them are some of the best DJs in the world, including Avalon EmersonBen UFODJ NobuDonato DozzyInterplanetary CriminalOptimo (Espacio)Gerd JansonD. DanPaurro,Lena Willikens, PowderBadsista, and VTSS, to name just a few.

Live acts encompass a greater margin of this year’s lineup. Full Body2Maria Sommerville and Milan W. display diverse approaches to dream pop, post-punk, shoegaze, while Moin and YHWH Nailgun bring a more aggressive palette to the fore. Electronic live acts include AyaJames K.Crash Course in ScienceFcukersGhost Dubs, and Holy Tongue. On the experimental side are Moor MotherVoice Actor, and Disiniblud (Rachika Nayar & Nina Keith). Making Time ∞ also boasts a superior ambient offering including live performances from Suzanne CianiJefre Cantu-LedesmaWindy & Carl, and Suzanne Kraft.

Some festival favorites are playing bespoke sets: John Talabot will play two sets—a DJ set and a disco set, while Jubilee will throw down a freestyle extravaganza. In addition to the Optimo (Espacio) set, JD Twitch will host a “beatless rave” while Kuniyuki plays both dance and ambient live sets. Loidis and DJ Python team-up for a rare back-to-back DJ session, following the former’s ambient live show under his beloved Huerco S. alias.

The unique geography of Revolutionary War-era Fort Mifflin has allowed each zone,  or stage,  to develop its own personality. There’s the RA Majestic Zone, a wide-open space perfect for dancing or hanging with friends by the river. The Transcendental Zone, situated on a straightaway in front of former soldiers’ barracks, begins with live acts in the afternoon and ends with peak-time DJ sets. The Lot Radio livestreams from a stage that takes on infectious “free party” energy. The casemates, which have been used over centuries as munitions storage and a jail, are now an indoor club and chill-out room. This year, a new zone called Option + 5 launches in a canopy of trees next to the Delaware River, promising a transcendental forest rave. Returning once again are longtime Making Time collaborators Klip Collective who will project visuals on various structures all weekend.

The motto for MTMXXV is “choose transcendence.” For over 25 years, Making Time has been about partying your ass off and transcending the mundanity of the everyday, the average, the mediocre. If that means laughing with Laraaji during a meditation session, zoning out to plaintive folk songs of Joanne Robertson, or head banging to Blawan, it’s all here at Fort Mifflin this fall.  Anyone looking for an overview of the best in underground dance, ambient, guitar, and experimental music should have Making Time ∞ on their calendar.

Three-day passes for Making Time ∞ 2025 are available to purchase now for $235 (plus taxes and fees). Tickets with no service fees are available at the following locations: The Lot Radio in Brooklyn, Middle Child & Middle Child Clubhouse in Philadelphia.

PURCHASE TICKETS FOR MAKING TIME ∞ 2025

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[Thanks to Ahmad at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Swordes embraces manic love on her new single – “Boyfriend La La La.”

Credit: Alex Escribano

In the Summer of 2021, Swordes made her debut playing at the many warehouse raves and parties of Brooklyn, New York’s underground scene. Fearless, pop leaning, and addicted to melody, her live set is hardware synths, drum machines, and an emotive, operatic vocal. There’s no computer in sight.

Swordes is a multimedia artist and producer beginning to forge a singular path through Brooklyn’s underground with brooding, poetic lyricism and hypnotic, hardware-driven electronic music. Hailing from Honolulu and now based in NYC, she emerged from Parsons’ fine art program only to reject academia and carve her own sonic language. Since her 2021, she has captivated crowds with visceral, computer-free live sets that embrace experimental electronic, alt-pop, glitchy club, hyperpop and forward-thinking femme energy.

Her new single “Boyfriend La La La” is a chaotic power play—equal parts baby talk, club weapon and surrealist performance art. Playing a character of a stereotypical manic pixie dream girl/crazy girlfriend, Swordes chants obsessive mantras over infectious basslines and cartoonish 808 beats with a chorus that feels like a cursed nursery rhyme. It’s part pop fantasy, part manic delusion—and totally addictive. 

“I love being a crazy girlfriend. There’s nothing wrong with that,” she says in character. “Here’s a quote from my boyfriend: ‘I’m her muse. Who wouldn’t be crazy about me?’”

Check out the new single here.

It’s the first taste of her upcoming debut album out later this year—an eclectic, cinematic body of work blending pop vocals with the club inspired sounds of late 90s dance music — written, produced, and mixed entirely by Swordes. Known for her raw, hardware synth live sets and bold visual world, she’s already caught the attention of Versace (SS25 runway sync), PAPER, and FLAUNT. Viral on TikTok (25k followers + 575k likes), with a growing cult fanbase, Swordes is building something that lives between fashion, noise, pop, and performance.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to George at Terrorbird Media.]