Genius #28 - April 2026

Hello geniuses, feels like we're really racing thru the year. Earlier in April I took an overnight bike trip on the C&O Canal with some pals and it was really great to get outside. The pic above is from the trip! There were also 2 Chanp shows in Baltimore, each featuring a first-time-performed arrangement.

This is all to say that I have been busy.. but I've still got a couple great recommendations this month! Some ambient stuff, a little hip-hop, and a couple of truly great rock records. I'm mostly looking ahead: May is looking wild for new releases. I think there's like 12 down there for your consideration, including long dormant projects like Boards Of Canada and Rostam.

Plus, Don Caballero. Look, you knew it was gonna happen at some point. If there's one band that I'm always talking about, it's probably Don Cab. Or maybe Unwound. Or maybe Deerhoof. Or maybe, ok ok. This one was written into the destiny of this blog. Enough chit-chat let's get into it. Let's listen to some tunes.

• Album Recs
• Replay: American Don
• Upcoming Shows

Album Recommendations

Gregory Uhlmann - Extra Stars (Int'l Anthem, Mar '26)

bedroom ambient-jazz

Extra Stars, by Gregory Uhlmann

14 track album

International AnthemJavier Gómez

Skittery little bug guitar sounds, all mossy and twinkly! We love an ambient record with purpose and movement, real songs not just "vibes." These little lo-fi recordings of microlooped guitars blip thru different pitch-shifting algos and squish in their little reverby filters. Uhlmann's compositional style benefits from all of the multitracking – his band SML goes for more of a live feel, chopped-and-screwed. But for his solo LP, every track is a petri dish. Get it under a microscope to examine flagella wiggling, little guys racing around, liquid sloshing across the stereo field.

Suitor - Saw You Out With The Weeds (Mar '26)

ferocious and dancy post-punk

Saw You Out with the Weeds, by Suitor

10 track album

SuitorCustom Made In 1968

This band has been getting a little buzz and IMO it's with good reason! Giant drum sound, jagged guitars played up on the neck, and buzzy melodic basslines are all winners, but the unison yelping vocals from vocalist Emma and her big-swing vocal melodies are what draw the listener in. I love the way this record sounds – everything is right up front, but nothing eats anything else, so you can hear every instrument clearly based solely on where you direct your attention. I wasn't really surprised to see that it was recorded and produced by Caufield Schnug and Lira Mondal from the fantastic Sweeping Promises. Get in ahead of the curve, you will look very cool when this band is the next big thing.

Bill Orcutt - Music in Continuous Motion (Palilalia, Mar '26)

hypnotic quad-guitar parlor pieces

Music in Continuous Motion, by Bill Orcutt

12 track album

Bill Orcuttblox

Bill Orcutt returns for a sequel to Music For Four Guitars (2022), with more crispy american primitivist multi guitar intrigue. Each track is comprised of 4 interwearving guitar parts using his signature guitar setup (low E string + the 3 highest strings). I'm obsessed with his guitar tone – overdriven-t0-hell-but-not-quite-distorted. When I saw the quartet live, they played with their amplifiers as loud as possible, but facing away from the audience and players, adding a natural reflective lofi sound. Each track oscillates between tension and harmony, but the compositions feel looser this time – there are more moments where 3 or 4 of the guitars are all playing unison notes or just holding a simple rhythm. While these moments might be less intricate than the more interwoven parts, I think it's compelling from a songwriting perspective. "And soft to the touch" in particular is a truly beautiful one.

E L U C I D & Sebb Bash - I Guess U Had To Be There (Mar '26)

avant-garde poetic hip-hop

I Guess U Had To Be There, by ELUCID & Sebb Bash

12 track album

E L U C I DKevin Haynes

Elucid's growth as a lyricist and artist has been a real marvel to behold. Each of his records are so different, he has been pushing into more of an experimental poetry with production beats behind. On this one, his stream-of-consciousness lyrics find all kinds of touchstones, but is mostly reflective on his childhood – in "Alive Herbals" he literally sits with his 16 year old self. I wasn't familiar with Sebb Bash, but his beats are fluid and understated, with sophisticated beat change-ups that seem to come out of nowhere and quickly resettle in their new environs. Most of the sounds are drums and classic rap sample fodder like harps and pizzicato strings, but there are some scratchier little textures and chiptuney synths hidden within. Each track is basically long enough to hold two long verses, sometimes with a feature (Armand Hammer second half billy woods takes a great one on "The Lorax"). A really intriguing listen.

Slippers - So You Like Slippers (Lame-O, 2024)

twee indie pop for the 2020s

So You Like Slippers?, by Slippers

10 track album

SlippersHunterianist

Solo artist Madeline BB has perfected the 60s-as-seen-from-the-90s (and recorded in the 2020s) garage-y power pop. She's got sugary melodies, stereo multitracked harmonies, gliding basslines, close-mic'd drums (of course with tambourine). At times some of these tracks hew a little too close to the source material, but her ear for melody is undeniable & the restraint in keeping to a very specific palette is exactly what makes these tracks work. There's almost no dynamic range on this thing, even the quietest sounds push the limiter to the red – a really satisfying squish. Roll the windows down and crank the dial, it's spring.

Green-House - Hinterlands (Ghostly Int'l, Mar '26)

chill environmental ambient

Hinterlands, by Green-House

12 track album

Green-HouseThe Tonearm

This album sounds like a dewdrop on a leaf in the sunshine. If you're into environmental ambient by artists like Hiroshi Yoshimura or Inoyama-Land, you'll have a lot to dig into here. Humming little bass lines and a mix of real acoustic guitars, pianos & synthesized flutes, arpeggiated percussion hits, little inharmonic bells that offer just enough clang to give a little uncertainty. My big beef with most ambient music is that it's too consonant and too smooth without bringing any movement to the piece, but the duo's compositions take the listener a lot of places and bring just enough dissonance and tinges of distortion to offer intrigue. The middle triptych of Hinterland I, II, and III are all very different approaches to ambient music, but basically describe the sounds of this album in miniature. This one was kind of hard to write about because I kept throwing it on and just getting lost in it – the tracks fall into the background, but when you focus on the sounds, you will notice all of the attention to detail.

Upcoming May albums:

This is an outrageous month for new releases!! I narrowed this down, but still ended up with too many! I don't have links to these, sorry you'll have to track them down yourself.

• 5/8
  • Post-Ought trio Cola is releasing their 3rd LP the sort-of-self-titled Cost Of Living Adjustment (Fire Talk)
  • Chicago's genre-transcendent Fire-Toolz is back for more Ableton-damaged black metal/vaporwave with Lavender Networks (Warp)
• 5/15
  • So cool that Portland's Rhododendron proggy psych-metal trio are still at it are releasing Ascent Effort on The Flenser – they were a band of high schoolers when I lived in PDX
  • Rostam's ex-Vampire Weekend career continues to push new boundaries with American Stories (Matsor)
  • It's no secret that I'm a huge freak about Discovery Zone – her next is an instrumental EP Library Copy Do Not Remove (RVNG) that I'm sure I'll cherish.
• 5/22:
  • Portland MIDI power user duo Visible Cloaks is back for more textural ambient and hyperreal room sounds!!! Paradessence (RVNG)
• American primitavist Marisa Anderson is releasing the Anthology of Unamerican Folk Music (Thrill Jockey), performing folk songs from across the world that have nothing to do with American folk music. I'm absolutely sure that this will hit.
• 5/29:
  • Boards of Canada are back for the first time since 2013 with Inferno (Warp)
  • Danish post-punkers Iceage return with For Love of Grace & the Hereafter (Mexican Summer) 5/29

Replay

Don Caballero - American Don (Touch And Go, 2000, remastered and re-released Mar '26)

American Don (Deluxe Edition), by Don Caballero

16 track album

Don CaballeroDon Caballero

Earlier this month, math rock fore-bearers re-released their seminal (and I'll say final*) record American Don remastered from the original tapes.

Quick Don Cab history: formed in Pittsburgh in the early 90s as an instrumental trio consisting of drummer Damon Che, bassist Pat Morris, and guitarist Mike Banfield. They wrote some knotted up time signature-hopping proggy & chuggy rock songs. After their first record, guitarist Ian Williams (later of Battles) joined as a 2nd guitarist and brought with it his kind of bird chirpy, more flighty guitar sound. Their music is instrumental rock with convoluted structures. You can expect giant drum fills across the whole kit, skittery guitars that veer between distorted riffs and Williams' blippy birdsong melodies, while the rotating cast of bassists typically offered gritty and effected bass holds things somewhat steady.

Their first records feature guitar interplay between the 2 guitarists, but over the course of the band, the line-up changed with each release with only Che remaining consistent. On American Don, the band had shrunk down to a trio of Che, Williams, and bassist Eric Emm, with Williams using an Akai Headrush looper pedal to build songs up. Live videos of the band playing these songs are wild:

The band would not survive for even 2 months after this record was released. Fred Weaver wrote extensively in a tour diary published in Chunklet describing the final tour & the falling out between Ian Williams and Damon Che. If you haven't read, I highly recommend. This story has it all: Al Gore, the band being pelted by pizza slices, a multi-car pileup that ends the tour. And what a band of monsters! A charitable read is that every one of these people is idiosyncratic to a fault – less charitable is that they're so narcissistic to the point where they clearly don't like that they have to share this band with anyone else.

Anyways, American Don! This is one of the best records I've ever heard – it's an absolute testament to the band's deep knowledge of one another, There are moments where it seems like they're doing their own thing, then suddenly they come together on one rhythm. Each song has a definable melody, a propulsive element. This is cosmonaut post-rock shit. I've been effusive since the first time I heard the riff on opener "Fire Back About Your Baby's Sex." Of course Steve Albini recorded it at Electrical Audio.

The new remaster is crisp – an immediate upgrade when A/B'ing against the original release. Eric Emm's bass playing has lost the low-mid hump, giving more space for note clarity, tom drum impact, and lower guitar sounds to cut through. There's more air, so the cymbals have slightly more edge on them, bringing more structure to the pieces. Albini's compatriot Bob Weston at Electrical Audio did a great job breathing new life into a classic album.

The big draw for ME is that the remaster also includes never-released recordings of the band performing the songs live in studio with audio engineer Greg Norman after the recording was complete. The "True Live" takes are fiery, faster tempo and lower fidelity. At times reminds more of their punkier work on Don Caballero 2. The True Live "Haven't Lived Afro Pop" and the wayyy darker "Ones All Over The Place" in particular are worth listening to.

*Don Cab is still technically a band releasing records, but only drummer Damon Che remains a member – American Don is the last to feature Ian Williams.

Upcoming Shows

So many shows in May!! Get to the gig.

Baltimore

• 5/1 (Fri) Poison Ruin with the Serfs, Seclusion & Sluggo @ Ottobar
• 5/3 (Sun) Stil Bones, Cuni, Better Living, Sunny Mondays @ Ottobar
• 5/6 (Wed) Wolf Eyes @ Ottobar
• 5/6 (Wed) Caroline Davis & Dustin Carlson, Jon Birkholz & John Dierker & Mike Kuhl @ Normals
• 5/7 (Thu) Soul Blind, Split Chain, Downward, Dream Fatigue @ Ottobar
• 5/8 (Fri) Inc Inc Inc, Microkingdom, Curving Tooth @ Current Space
• 5/9 (Sat) Chain Of Memories, Be Safe, Michael, The Taste @ Skatepark
• 5/10 (Sun) Your Ex’s Pets, Bubbler, Room Corners, Jupie @ Ottobar
• 5/13 (Wed) Jjjjjerome Ellis, Daoure Diongue, Kaz @ Current Space
• 5/14 (Thu) 2 Does Not 1 Or 3, Inspired Duos @ Normals
• 5/15 (Fri) Kaki King @ Creative Alliance
• 5/16 (Sat) Sluice, Hiding Places @ Metro
• 5/17 (Sun) Cult Counselor , Glorian, Choking Boys, Jon Winslow @ Metro
• 5/21 (Thu) Teen Suicide, Cloud Nothings, University @ Ottobar
• 5/22 (Fri) Mean Sea, Dosser, Oxrun & Fetcher @ Ottobar
• 5/28 (Thu) Muscle, Choncy, Eraser, Gloop @ Holy Frijoles
• 5/28 (Thu) Future Islands, Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat @ Pier Six
• 5/30 (Sat) Ragdollz EP Release w/ Natural Velvet, Kinda Evil, Pluot @ Metro
• 5/30 (Sat) Pearl, Spiderwind, Whistling Moon, Geff Cassuto @ Zone of Totality

DC

• 5/1 (Fri) Queering Sound Fundraiser w/ Glorian / Bushmeat Sound System / Novparolo / Ja$$ie / Charlee Scythe @ Rhizome
• 5/4 (Mon) Gelli Haha @ Songbyrd
• 5/5 (Tue) SPY, Loose Leash, Consumer Culture @ Jammin Java
• 5/6 (Wed) Sinister Feeling, Blood Stained Concrete, Heavens Die, Crosswords @ Pie Shop
• 5/8 (Fri) Wolf Eyes / Beauty / Agonesiac @ Rhizome
• 5/8 (Fri) Dry Cleaning, Hotline Tnt @ Howard Theatre
• 5/9 (Sat) The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis @ Black Cat
• 5/9 (Sat) Caroline Davis & Dustin Carlson Duo / simone baron @ Rhizome
• 5/10 (Sun) Silkworm reunion(??!!) @ Pearl St Warehouse
• 5/11 (Mon) Bill Callahan, Noveller @ Union Stage
• 5/15 (Fri) The Mountain Goats @ Fillmore
• 5/19 (Tue) Grace Ives @ The Atlantis
• 5/21 (Thu) The New Pornographers, Will Sheff @ 9:30 Club
• 5/22 (Fri) Robber Robber / Empath @ Rhizome
• 5/25 & 5/26 (Mon & Tue) Lucinda Williams And Her Band @ 9:30 Club
• 5/26 (Tue) Kerosene Heights, Stars Hollow, Palette Knife @ Songbyrd
• 5/27 (Wed) Glenn Jones / Liam Grant / Ari Rosenfield @ Rhizome
• 5/28 (Thu) My Body My Festival: Yaya Bey, Nourished By Time and more, Hamilton Leithauser, Bartees Strange, Deakin @ 9:30 Club

NYC

• 5/1 (Fri) Long Play:Kali Malone's Does Spring Hide Its Joy (ft. Lucy Railton, Stephen O’Malley, Nika Milano visuals) @ Pioneer Works
• 5/2 (Sat) Black Eyes, LEYA, Nu Jazz @ Trans-Pecos
• 5/7 (Thu) Dave Ruder (w/ Wendy Eisenberg, Alfredo Colón, Jeff Tobias), Ian Andrew Askew, Out of Sight of Land @ Mama Tried
• 5/8 (Fri) C2C: YHWH Nailgun, Arca, Aya, Los Thutanaka, Nourished By Time, etc. @ Knockdown Center
• 5/8 (Fri) Ana Roxannee @ National Sawdust
• 5/9 (Sat) Editrix @ Mama Tried
• 5/9 (Sat) ABC NO RIO Benefit: Choked Up, Joe Jack Talcum, Cupid’s Nemesis, Hasty @ Property Is Theft
• 5/9 (Sat) Benefit for ABC No Rio: Regula Unintentional, Isolation Exercise, Z.Z.Z.Z., Surf Hair @ Fringe Records
• 5/16 (Sat) ABC NO RIO Benefit: Telomeres, Ivy & The Poison, Andrew’s False Consciousness, Nussy Andrews @ Property Is Theft
• 5/21 (Thu) caroline, claire rousay, giant claw @ Knockdown Center
• 5/23 (Sat) P.I.T. Benefit:Kortex, Cool Whip, Xullah @ Property Is Theft
• 5/31 (Sun) Dan Weiss (w/ Jacob Sacks, Thomas Morgan) @ Close Up Jazz

Future Shows

• 6/1 (Mon) Built To Spill, Guerilla Toss @ 9:30 Club (DC)
• 6/4 (Thu) Portrayal of Guilt, Street Sects, The Infinity Ring, Ostraca @ DC9 (DC)
• 6/6 (Sat) Ousted, Prisoner, Pilau, Mass Ego (early show) @ Pie Shop (DC)
• 6/6 (Sat) Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog (w/ Shahzad Ismaily, Ches Smith) @ Pianos (NYC)
• 6/9 (Tue) Mdou Moctar (solo) more TBA @ Ottobar (Baltimore)
• 6/13 (Sat) CCAS Reunion Weekend (NoMan, Rob S from Ruinier, WarxGames, Beach Creeper, Unicorn Dogs, more) @ Metro (Baltimore)
• 6/14 (Sun) Eyelet, Life, Oxrun. Consumer Culture @ Ottobar (Baltimore)
• 6/14 (Sun) Kalia Vandever / I hate performing alone (Emily Francisco & Alex Tyson) @ Rhizome (DC)
• 6/18 (Thu) Alan Sparhawk, Circuit des Yeux, POLIÇA @ Knockdown Center (NYC)
• 6/20 (Sat) Rostam - American Stories Tour, Elori Saxl, Henry Solomon @ 9:30 Club (DC)
• 6/20 & 6/21 (Sat & Sun) The Bad Plus Farewell Tour @ Blues Alley (DC)
• 6/21 (Sun) Heems @ Pearl St Warehouse (DC)
• 6/23 (Tue) The Breeders @ Nevermore Hall (Baltimore)
• 6/24 (Wed) Spoon, The Beths @ Nevermore Hall (Baltimore)
• 6/25 (Thu) Tortoise @ Knockdown Center (NYC)
• 6/26 (Fri) Fred Frith / Chao Tian @ Rhizome (DC)
• 6/28 (Sun) Delta Sleep, Michael Cera Palin, Combat @ Ottobar (Baltimore)
• 6/28 (Sun) Tortoise @ 9:30 Club (DC)
• 7/3 (Fri) Black Country, New Road @ Nevermore Hall (Baltimore)
• 7/6 (Mon) Man Man, Death Valley Girls @ Ottobar (Baltimore)
• 7/9 (Thu) Earl Sweatshirt & Mike @ Nevermore Hall (Baltimore)
• 7/11 & 7/12 (Sat & Sun) American Football, Ian Sweet @ 9:30 Club (DC)
• 7/12 (Sun) Jejune, Ethel Meserve @ Songbyrd (DC)
• 7/14 (Tue) Wombo, Shower Curtain @ Metro (Baltimore)
• 7/16 (Thu) Cola, PARKiNG @ Songbyrd (DC)
• 8/6 (Thu) The Body, Big|Brave @ Metro (Baltimore)
• 8/10 (Mon) Lip Critic @ Songbyrd (DC)
• 8/14 (Fri) Yard Act @ Black Cat (DC)
• 9/11 (Fri) Aldous Harding @ Howard Theatre (DC)
• 9/18 (Fri) Kim Gordon, Bill Nace @ Black Cat (DC)
• 9/19 (Sat) Grouper @ Lincoln Theatre (DC)
• 9/27 (Sun) Armand Hammer @ Union Stage (DC)
• 9/30 (Wed) New Pornographers @ The Recher (Baltimore)
• 10/4 (Sun) Unsane, Consumer Culture @ Pearl St Warehouse (DC)