A new compilation of spiritual and home-recorded music from the 1970s to 1990s, unearthed by Zully Adler, shimmers with quiet intensity. We talk to him about Goaty Tapes, […]
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No human is illegal… Donate to local Immigrant Rights Organizations. While protests continue across the country, here in our hometown of Los Angeles we’re seeing the immediate effects […]
Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt reflect on Metallic Life Review, recording live, and honoring Susan Alcorn. For nearly 30 years, Matmos — Drew Daniel and M.C. Schmidt — have […]
Listen to Brian Eno and Beatie Wolfe’s “Feeling of the Day” series on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. Earlier this month, KCRW announced a special collaborative radio project with ambient […]
International Anthem brings new light to Carlos Niño and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s live document through its IA11 reissue program and a deep listening/live series at Chicago’s Hungry Brain. In the summer […]
Our favorite new releases from Detroit, Chicago, Paris, Edmonton, Italy, Ireland, Berlin via Senegal, and more… New music continues to be a major focus for us here at […]
From Lustmord to unnamed techno bangers, these tapes survived long after the machines that played them. When dublab moved into its new building in late 2021, they found […]
Space Ghost & Teddy Bryant’s Majestic Fantasies is out June 13th on Peace World Records. Back in 2022, the duo Space Ghost (Oakland) & Teddy Bryant (South Carolina) […]
Five essential releases from one of the world’s most enigmatic labels — now available through In Sheep’s Clothing, no import required. “To make a long story short, I […]
Mark Ernestus and Arthur speak on Open Ground, Hard Wax, and Ndagga Rhythm Force ahead of their upcoming sets in Los Angeles on June 8th. Wuppertal is a […]
A look back through the blistering lens of Heartland Reggae, where Marley, Tosh, Judy Mowatt, Jacob Miller, and U-Roy lit up the stage while Kingston burned outside. In the […]
From backroom Paris sessions to L.A. studio burners, the label’s latest batch is pure voltage. Wewantsounds is in the middle of a heavy year. The Paris-based label has […]
Join us for a rare extended DJ set from Mark Ernestus on June 8th at an OPEN AIR venue alongside Foreigner and Arthur. A quiet, but towering figure […]
The addition of a phono stage to your home listening setup can make a dramatic impact in sound. The MU-2 is a beautifully designed mid-high tier product that’s […]
The slowest performance on Earth began in silence, and it’s still going. On September 5, 2001, a performance of John Cage’s Organ²/ASLSP began in a small medieval church […]
Emahoy’s treasured 1972 private press album is available now via Mississippi Records. The captivating musical legacy of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou continues to unfold. Mississippi Records’ release of Church […]
We’ve once again opened up spots in the Record Club! Learn more about the club from a few of its members. A few years ago, we launched a […]
A classically trained bassist with a mind for cosmology and non-linear math, he set out to build an instrument that could express both intuition and structure. The result […]
Our favorite electronic festival in the States continues to deliver with a dizzying lineup of the world’s best live acts and DJ’s… Don’t miss it! For the past […]
For anyone building a system on taste, this is where to start. Most of what matters in a turntable lives at the tip of the stylus. The cartridge […]
Join us Saturday 4-8pm at the Jerry Moss Plaza for the third annual On the Record Vinyl Fair presented by Music Center. The Music Center’s annual “On the […]
A look at the artist who fused sound, sex, spirit, and style across decades of iconic album art. Few album cover artists reward gobbling LSD more than Mati […]
A rare interview with cool jazz legend Chet Baker from a 1985 edition of Musician Magazine. Another night, another club: for Chet Baker it is the same story […]
“O Dengo Que a Nega Tem,” hidden for 50 years, delivers 7 minutes of slow-building, percussive bliss. In 1972, Gal Costa was riding high. Her live album Fa-Tal – Gal a Todo Vapor had just cemented her as one of […]
Join Edward George on a journey into reggae, dub, and versions that draws on critical theory, social history, cross-genre musical selection, and live dub mixing. Followers of this […]
Jonathan Ward returns with a rich label-by-label history of early 78 rpm recordings from East Africa, uncovering the region’s first stars, sessions and sonic exports. The first lines […]
A look into one of our favorite audiophile-minded spaces to emerge in Los Angeles. As listening bars continues to rise in popularity across the United States and around […]
A 1959 short captures the obsessive early days of high-fidelity systems. Men chase sonic perfection through wires, cabinets, and carefully measured madness. “You must have one of these […]
The MP-110 has gained legendary status amongst audiophiles for its combination of price and performance. One of the most overlooked upgrades for an entry-level hi-fi system, installing a new phono […]
From a defunct DIY venue to a modernist chapel, Dismal Niche has spent years staging the improbable — and making it feel necessary. It’s hard to foment a […]
Join us at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ this Saturday to dive deeper into the world of X-Cetra. Back in 2003, a handful of tracks from a remarkably odd […]
A 1975 copy of High Fidelity maps the world when vinyl and stereo equipment didn’t just occupy a room — it claimed it. In 1975, music didn’t just hang around […]
Haunted Hammond organ, rebajada versions, fictional salsa bands, and more from one of Colombia‘s most inventive and singular contemporary groups. In John Akomfrah’s 1996 Afrofuturist documentary The Last […]
One new collection draws from Wolfgang Seidel’s counter-history of the German underground, Krautrock Eruption. The other, Ambientale, is compiled by Charles Bals and explores ambient obscurities and digital […]
Argentinian selector and sound artist Barbarelle shares five favorites. Barberelle is no stranger to stages, and her work as a DJ has taken her around the world, captivating […]
A reel-to-reel in Mississippi, AM radio in Tennessee, and a new record, Time Indefinite, tuned to the quiet hiss between stations. Time Indefinite is William Tyler’s first solo album […]
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma gifts five selections in celebration of his latest album on Mexican Summer. One of our favorite ambient records of the year so far, multi-instrumentalist composer Jefre […]
New album from two cornerstones of Chicago’s experimental scene arrives ten years after their first collaborative release Ten years ago the Bitchin’ Bajas and Natural Information Society released Automaginary, […]
Join us this Friday at JACCC for a conversation, listening party, and dance from the great LA-based Latin music label ZZK Records. Anyone who has spent any time […]
An archival Musician Magazine profile examines Zorn’s early days in New York’s downtown scene. Note: This profile of John Zorn was originally published in Musician Magazine in 1985. Written by Peter Watrous under […]
With lost tracks and a vinyl reissue, the cult LA band gets a well-earned revival. Bryan Ling takes us back… The music scene in Los Angeles circa the […]
Kwame Yeboah and Ben Abarbanel-Wolff’s band returns with a genre-blending new release. “I have a problem with choosing an instrument,” Ghanaian musician and producer Kwame Yeboah said in […]
“The snake is gonna bite. The tiger’s gonna pounce. The bird’s gonna sing.” A prominent figure in New York’s legendary free jazz loft scene, David Murray arrived in […]
His long journey was restless, unscripted and unbound. Michael Hurley died last week, more than 60 years after his remarkable debut album for Folkways, First Songs, hit the world. […]
37 haikus transformed into sonic form by composer Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow) and vocalist Atsuko Kamura (Frank Chickens). In the spring of 2023, experimental music composer Tim Hodgkinson […]
Les Éditions Vermillon revives Western France’s obscure musical moments. Les Éditions Vermillon works more like a cultural salvage operation than a typical record label, driven by a desire […]
Build a complete audiophile-grade stereo system around the Acoustic Energy AE1 Active Bookshelf Loudspeakers for under $4,000. Reading Hi-Fi forums is bad for your health. Both mental and […]
A seven-year vocal comeback wrapped in myth and eerie imagination. The opening moments of great records possess a rare magic, where a few carefully chosen sounds cast a […]
Watch a new video look from Phi-Psonics recorded at Healing Force of the Universe in Pasadena. On his 1970 Impulse! Records classic, Albert Ayler is joined by his […]
The history of the iconic Latin imprint that has been dubbed the “Motown” of Colombia. One of the world’s greatest Latin music archives, Discos Fuentes’ story begins with […]
Low view counts, high devotion: How a massive subreddit built a culture of beautiful global obscurity. The search for obscure music winds through thrift bins, foreign airwaves, half-erased […]
The project represents a landmark collaboration between LA Phil Insight, REDCAT, and Wild Up uplifting the legacies of these maverick artists. Here’s another incredible archival project co-produced by […]
‘Psychic Geography’ leaves drums behind to explore inner topographies. Roland TB-303, Juno G, Prophet 5, Elektron Octatrack MKII, Make Noise DPO and René, Mutable Clouds, SH-101, Behringer TD3, Sherman […]
A deep dive into Yasuaki Shimizu’s expansive discography beyond Kakashi and Utakata no Hibi. Welcome to the spirited, enchanting world of Japanese musical visionary Yasuaki Shimizu… A contemporary […]
Horst Weidenmüller’s mix series didn’t just showcase DJs. It cemented their place in dance music history. The late Horst Weidenmüller, founder of DJ-Kicks and the driving force behind Berlin’s !K7 Records, […]
“New Music Drums to Raise Eyebrows and Move Hearts.” Archived from Musician Magazine. Imagine you’re taking a ‘new music’ blindfold test, and that today we’re talking drums. On […]
Dancefloor mysticism and ancestral resonance collide on his recent IBOGA. “The iboga plant is indigenous to the humid, tropical climates of West Central Africa, including Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, and […]
Contemporary Sounds from around the world… It’s a new year and of course Now Sounds continue to be a major focus for us here at In Sheep’s Clothing… […]
Before Alien Dreamtime became a legendary artifact of the early ‘90s underground, it was a live experiment: a collision of rave culture, psychedelic philosophy, and multimedia spectacle unfolding over 48 […]
Joel Shearer selects 5 favorites that influenced his new album Listening. Music for slowing down, Joel Shearer’s Listening took us on an a radiant meditative journey last week […]
DJ Funk once described his style as “…more like a megamix. It’s tracky and minimal most of the time—you’ll just have a beat, a bassline, a hi-hat, a clap, […]
Flora, the follow-up to Green and Surround, will be released on vinyl for the first time on March 20th via Temporal Drift. Our friends at Temporal Drift continue […]
Though no longer active, the magazine’s preserved works continue to influence and inform diggers and obsessives. The news landed quietly, and it still hasn’t fully sunk in for […]
A rare, behind-the-scenes look into the pioneering composer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Annette Peacock. “Her music is without time…” A true original, Annette Peacock has lived what seems like […]
Jelinek’s 2005 album warps time through shifting, eroding textures. The vinyl reissue arrives as he prepares for a rare performance at the Lodge Room. Known for working under […]
The Sun Ra Arkestra bandleader becomes the oldest person to release a debut album. Space is still the place… Avant-garde jazz saxophone player Marshall Allen has been with […]
Dariush Dolat-Shahi’s Electronic Music, Tar and Sehtar fused Persian tradition with synthesized experimentation, crafting a sound both timeless and otherworldly. Long overlooked, his visionary work has resurfaced on […]
An archival interview with organic music master Don Cherry from Musician Magazine in 1983. I went to Morocco in 1964. That was my first big adventure, the first […]
These days, we try and limit our doom-scrolling as much as possible, lest our brains explode from the pressure of it all. When we’re bored and trying to […]
Does one need to spend more than $500 for a phono cartridge? Grado, Sumiko, and Goldring would beg to differ. Over the past decade, it has come to […]
A collection of songs that don’t insist on being heard — but reward those who listen. Ichiko Aoba’s Luminescent Creatures doesn’t introduce a new world so much as trace the […]
A surprise live album from beloved LA singer Kelela is just what we needed. It’s been over a decade since LA-based singer Kelela released her foundational debut EP […]
Andy Moor, guitarist of Dutch anarcho-punk legends The Ex, shreds “Balada para la corporatocracia” apart and rebuilds it. The current anti-immigration regime in America isn’t just enforcing illegal […]
Manfred Eicher speaks to music journalist Zachary Moldof in New York City. Here’s an archival interview with the great Manfred Eicher, founder of Edition of Contemporary Music aka […]
A lost TV series, a landmark exhibition, and a reissued book bring her transcendental vision back into focus. Late-night television was a singular platform in the 1980s, especially […]
A legendary speaker used everywhere from political campaigns to festival dance parties. Background: A Klipsch classic, the La Scala was originally designed in 1963 to be used as […]
How a decade of innovation, frustration, and reinvention led to Ultramarine’s most defiant statement—now reissued on vinyl by WRWTFWW Records. Ultramarine’s A User’s Guide is getting a long-overdue return to […]
An archival interview with Yen Records’ engineer Yasuhiko Terada along with some words from Hosono himself on SFX. The following interviews were originally featured in the book Haruomi […]
A legendary archive returns with a massive new collection of rare texts, recordings, and technical resources for sonic explorers. Last week, about a year after it stopped uploading […]
“Organic music” hero Don Cherry plays himself in an odd but brilliant French sci-fi short. The narrative structure of this lesser-known short film by French filmmakers Jean-Noël Delamare, […]
Few artists possess the rare ability to transform their primary instrument, bending it entirely to their will and pushing it beyond its natural limits. The pedal steel guitarist […]
Read an archival interview with The Roches shortly after they released Speak in 1989. The Roches’ cottage industry: making fun of pain. It reminds me of being a […]
Join us on Sunday, February 2, for a Fire Relief Fundraiser and Record Sale at ROW DTLA. Losing a life’s work to fire is every collector’s nightmare, whether […]
“So, satisfied, leave without a trace…” As the world becomes increasingly bleak, now more than ever, we turn to music as a healing salve. Music from Memory co-founder […]
A burning new record by the great Ugandan label Ngeye Ngeya Tapes. Last year, Ale Hop and Titi Bakorta convened in Kampala, a city near the northern edges […]
For our next Art & Design in focus, we highlight the work of Maja Weber, wife of German bass icon Eberhard Weber. Arguably the most iconic series of […]
Going deep with a self-taught electrical engineer and his wild gadgets and devices. “Bruce has been informing me that electronic music perhaps is the thing of the 70s,” […]
Wally Badarou talks Island Records, Compass Point All Stars, Sly & Robbie, Grace Jones, and more… The following interview was originally posted in 2009 on UK-based music magazine Test […]
A worldwide group meditation will occur at noon PST To say that 2025 is off to a shitty start would be an understatement. You don’t even need examples. […]
Join us February 1st for a rare stateside performance from Chee Shimizu in collaboration with guitarist miku-mari. Chee Shimizu needs little introduction here. His work as a musical […]
The musicians lost everything in the Eaton Fire. Support their brilliant work. The musicians Celia Hollander and Evan Shornstein are among the thousands of people who have been […]
The greatest Serbian band you’ve never heard of… Here’s a Serbian band that we came across in this beautiful daytime set by Belgrade-born DJ Vladimir Ivkovic from the […]
The below link directs you to a list of musicians, producers, label owners, backline help, managers, publicists and other music-related people who have lost their homes in the […]
Todd Rundgren on computers, Apple, interactive music, PatroNet, and more. Here’s another archival nugget from the Japanese music book Todd Rundgren – Born to Synthesize: “There Goes the […]
The term Soca music is shorthand for “Soul of Calypso,” and one man is responsible for making it a thing. That man, Lord Shorty, exploded out of the […]
Visiting one of Tokyo’s oldest jazz kissas with filmmaker Nick Dwyer… Last November, I spent an evening visiting listening bars with my friend Nick Dwyer, a New Zealand-born, […]
In 2002, a broadsheet magazine called Arthur started appearing at various locations around Los Angeles. Rich with interviews, features, comic art, and reviews, the publication focused on music, […]
From Folkie to MIDI. Chris Maillard finds out how the hard bitten acoustic veteran has been bitten hard by the electronic bug. Chris Maillard finds John Martyn coming […]
Avant-comedy with Gavin Bryars, Brian Eno, Michael Nyman, and the Portsmouth Sinfonia. As record collectors, we’re often digging through the bins for the best in music. Who performed […]
Motian in Motion celebrates the ECM artist as he drums his way through the Village Vanguard, Birdland, the Blue Note, and beyond. Halfway through Motian in Motion, a […]
Explore a fan-made website dedicated to Windham Hill’s classic ‘A Winter’s Solstice’ series. Like the equally anomalous ECM label before it, Windham Hill is a label with its […]
Watch a music video from Indonesian artist Munir directed by Aaron “Airbear” Choe. As the year winds down, we’re continuing to highlight more contemporary sounds from around the […]
Listen to a bounty of holiday heat taken from an XL-II 90 made by the Cramps. The deeper and further you dig into the past, the weirder it […]
Our favorite archival reissues and compilations of the year! As usual, the year-end selections continue with archival and compilation projects… This year, two collections of lost demos captivated […]
A primer on one of the great Jamaican vocal groups, whose sibling harmonies soar through every measure. In 1969, two brothers and a friend booked time at Coxsone […]
Dive into our favorite sounds of 2024, selected by the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing… An unfortunate year in a multitude of ways (a recurring theme), 2024 felt […]
From Bill Laswell to Mickey Hart to John McLaughlin, the percussion master changed the conversation. Zakir Hussain, who died on Sunday, redefined what it meant to be a […]
Read an interview with Psychic TV’s Genesis and Paula P-Orridge featured in a rare tour zine from 1990. Best known as the cofounder of Throbbing Gristle (alongside Cosey […]
The Australian jazz trio is one of the most consistently brilliant groups of the past 35 years. The Necks are a trio consisting of Chris Abrahams on piano, […]
Andrew Hale of Sade in conversation with Patrice Rushen for Test Pressing magazine. The following interview was originally posted on UK-based music magazine Test Pressing and is published […]
From ‘Dark Magus’ and The Dead to Water Damage and Musique Concrete, the archive hosts an astounding mass of live recordings. This year has been brutal for the […]
Watch Chicago legend Terry Callier perform classics including “What Color is Love” and “Dancing Girl.” An eternal favorite here at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ, Terry Callier aka “Jazz’s […]
Few thrills compare to watching masters find their groove and launch it skyward. It’s pure ecstasy — wild, untamed souls channeling their essence through acoustic instruments, creating a […]
Lifted’s latest album arrives on Peak Oil! Andrew and Matt share their inspirations, including a track from Grover… Baltimore-Washington legends Matt Papich and Andrew Field-Pickering (Max D, Dolo […]
“… you will never find a superior version. This is IT.” So reads the text introducing Blue Note’s acclaimed Tone Poet series of essential jazz titles. Those who […]
From the first listen — Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda — it’s clear why the HK 730 is worshiped. Let’s talk about mono blocks. In the world of […]
Follow the remaining members of Fishmans as they commemorate the 20th anniversary of Shinji Sato’s death. An accumulation of some of our favorite sounds, Fishmans was (and still […]
Limited edition 6 LP set features ISC favorites including Mary Lattimore, Laraaji, Hand Habits, More Ease, Asher White, Sade, claire rousey, Eli Winter, Arthur Baker (feat. Pharoah Sanders), […]
Steely Dan talk about their seventh album Gaucho in an extended interview with Musician Magazine in 1981. Those consummate troublemakers Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, are finally cornered, […]
A celebration of Butterboy’s Compilations, a music blog for diggers in search of brilliance. You know your Kraftwerk. You’ve got the Can essentials. Faust, Neu!, La Dusselfdorf — […]
Punk rock, world obscurities, and “deranged” mix CD’s from Keiji Yamabe’s Los Apson? record shop in Koenji, Tokyo. The best record shops in the world are much more […]
The Kikagaku Moyo guitarist/vocalist delivers a woozy psychedelic rock burner with an accompanying book titled Dream of the Egg. Those who haven’t yet discovered the work of the […]
Turbotito and Ragz’s new compilation focuses on an overlooked era of house and electronic music released between ’88 and ’94. Our good friends at Naya Beat continue to […]
Before you start reading this (too late), check out this drum solo from by Roy Haynes, who died Tuesday at 99. It’s a solo from 1966 when he […]
Scott Gilmore’s ‘Volume 01’ will be released on vinyl for the first time on November 15th. Multi-instrumentalist Scott Gilmore has been quietly developing his own musical language for […]
His pioneering work in the 1970s and ’80s pushed boundaries, creating unique, captivating tracks that continue to influence today’s electronic and ambient music. Known for his catchy, whimsical […]
Our favorite new music from CS + Kreme, urika’s bedroom, Barry Archie Johnson, Fine, and more! New music continues to be a major focus for us here at […]
And Thomas Brinkmann drops a new post-election track called ‘Deep Trouble.’ Music can help lighten dark days. Can’t it? This morning, German techno genius Thomas Brinkmann issued a […]
Digitally archiving an excellent 1981 Brian Eno interview featured in Musician Magazine. The ambient Mr. Eno again confounds his audience with a new creative collaboration with David Byrne […]
Released in November 1974, it was the Big Bang of electronic dance music. “Autobahn” starts with a spark — a key turns, igniting cylinders in synchronized rhythm, the mechanical […]
Looking back at one of the queens of Lovers Rock. Steve McQueen’s 2020 film Small Axe: Lovers Rock brought the beloved UK-born reggae sub-genre to a new generation of […]
Good Neighbor’s fully recyclable PET vinyl pressings combine superior sound quality with sustainability. Tim Anderson and Scotty Coats remember the moment that proved they were onto something with […]
Check out a new book from the musician, journalist, reggae scholar, and “Professor of Punk” at NYU. A founding member of the experimental new wave group The Flying […]
During the heyday of cassette culture, the respected home audio magazine Hi-Fi Stereo Review published one of its occasional overviews of new-model tape decks. The 1988 feature was […]
Here’s a guide to some of our favorite record shops in Los Angeles. Support your local record stores! Arguably one of the most confusing major American cities, Los […]
Read excerpts from interviews with Jeff Mills, Jessica Ackerley, Jesse Saunders, Toshimaru Nakamura, and Stefan Betke. This is a love letter to documentarians who put in the hours, […]
Looking back at an unsung hero from Warp Records’ seminal Artificial Intelligence compilation series. Once mentioned alongside contemporaries Aphex Twin, Autechre, Luke Vibert, and Mike Paradinas, Yorkshire-based producer […]
“I would like to create the 0.1-second sound which condenses all emotions in the universe. When I listen to it, maybe my mind and existence itself will collapse.”
Steve Roach will perform an all night set on October 26th at the Lloyd Wright constructed Institute of Mentalphysics in Joshua Tree. A bonafide living legend, the desert-based […]
Listen to the bassist’s new album for International Anthem while reading a brilliant Tiffany Ng essay on curation. “As we grow accustomed to the convenience of shuffling a […]
The Way Out of Easy is out November 22 on International Anthem. Join us for a special listening event on October 28th at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. The […]
Swedish singer, jazz musician, producer and songwriter Stina Nordenstam’s singular voice isn’t something you can easily shake, even 20 years after she stopped making records. With a distinctive, […]
Last weekend, our friends at dublab celebrated their monumental 25-year anniversary with a massive community-focused event at Zebulon featuring 25+ DJ’s and live performances. If you missed it, […]
By the time she was a teenager, Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi was already a skilled jazz and bossa nova pianist with a love of the Hammond organ, Astrud Gilberto […]
Last week Achim Szepanski, German techno force of nature who founded Force Inc. Music Works and cofounded early 1980s German experimental group P16.D4, passed away after a lifetime […]
Fresh off her fourth album and a new collaboration with Baba Stiltz, Okay Kaya shares five favorites with us. Kaya Wilkins aka Okay Kaya is a Norwegian-American singer-songwriter […]
There are songs and videos that rewire your brain, shock you with wonder, overwhelm you with spirit and the whoosh of time flying by in remarkable increments. Songs […]
For those of us living in a city, the notion of a dedicated listening room is laughably impractical. Space is at a premium, so carving out an entire […]
’90s era trip-hop blues and Japanese exotica from guitarist Shunji Mori. The seemingly endless well of ’90s CD-era Japanese downtempo bands continues to reveal new secrets… Our latest […]
Slowcore before there was such a term. Hints of shoegaze and shimmering ambient music. Early post-rock. Released by Brian Eno’s label. Born New York City in the 1980s. […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye shares record storage tips inspired by his recent trip to Japan. After 4 years of being Japan-less during the pandemic, I finally made it back for […]
Recent mailbox arrivals from Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald, Sandy Bull, Vanishing Twin, and Ø. Although the basic machinations that occur behind the scenes of the In […]
Join us this Friday, September 13th for Yu Su’s debut live Ambientale performance at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. Born in Kaifeng, a city in central China’s Henan province, […]
For the past decade, Manchester, England-based reissue label Be With Records has been resurrecting classic 1970s smoothness in all its forms, inspired by what owner Rob Butler describes […]
Piers Harrison shares five heady cuts in anticipation of his set at this Friday’s DISCOSXXX warehouse function. A lifelong music obsessive, London based DJ-writer-artist Piers Harrison has dedicated […]
Writer Teo Blake Beauchamp sits down with the musician in Idyllwild to discuss his work, his practice and his history. Every word we speak is an affirmation. Laraaji […]
For more than two decades, the US magazine Musician covered a broader range of music and genres than any other publication of the time. While Rolling Stone was […]
Our friend Alejandro Cohen shares fives favorites in celebration of his new album Chamber of Tears. Followers of this site will most likely know Alejandro Cohen as the […]
When in doubt, put on something by Eiko Ishibashi. It’s a mantra that will serve you well when looking for new and old sounds. The Japanese multi-instrumentalist, composer, […]
NAD’S C 3050 blends retro industrial design with a HybridDigital UcD output stage along with modular options to keep this unit relevant for years to come. In 2022, […]
Hear Daedelus discuss extra terrestrial communication, intellectual property and sampling, the views and expectations of the new generation of musicians, and more. Across more than 130 episodes, the […]
Tana Yonas live in conversation with Jazz is Dead’s Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. In 2011, Grammy Award winning trumpet player Nicholas Payne wrote, “Jazz died in […]
In 1986, the ambient composer Harold Budd was introduced to the Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie with the goal of teaming for a TV project. Or maybe it was […]
‘Everything Squared’ will be released on August 30th via Warp Records. Too Pure darlings Seefeel are back 13-years after their 2011 self-titled album! Based in London, the core […]
Words don’t need to introduce a lovely piece of recorded music. Sometimes, as below, the best curtain-raiser is the thing itself. That’s American choreographer, dancer, actress and educator […]
Daniel Aged’s fretless bass improvisations live at LIKE SOUND in Minato City, Tokyo. Earlier this year, we released bassist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Daniel Aged’s 2020 EP Bass Improvisations […]
If you’ve been shopping for vintage gear, you’ve seen your share of Pioneer components. Founded in 1938 in Tokyo by Nozomu Matsumoto, Pioneer initially focused on speaker production. […]
LA favorite Bianca Lexis picks 5 personal favorites from In Sheep Clothing’s online record collection. Longtime friend of In Sheep’s Clothing, Bianca Lexis is easily one of our […]
About 18 months before sitting down at a famously subpar Steinway in Cologne, Germany for his lauded solo album The Köln Concert, Keith Jarrett embarked on his second […]
Ryuichi Sakamoto meets Caetano Veloso, Iggy Pop, Jon Hassell, Dennis Bovell, Holger Czukay, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and more! Last week, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s posthumous album Opus was released alongside […]
We don’t have much to offer about the following trio of videos, other than anyone interested in pristine sound might find them riveting. Represented are twelve components in […]
How Dou Wei brought the sound of Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, and Bark Psychosis to Chinese rock. In the late-80s, a decade after the end of the Cultural Revolution, […]
A collection of “husband & wife duos, pub legends, one-man-bands, preachers’ sons, and country-lounge entertainers.” About two years ago, the Santa Cruz-based archival projects company Smiling C issued […]
JBL’s new modern and affordable approach to hi-fi and home theater pairs Stage 2 loudspeakers with new MA series A/V Receivers in matching white or black finishes. With […]
Essential footage of early electronic music pioneers Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire. In the 1960s, weird new sounds were infiltrating mass media. Cosmic tones generated through electricity, first […]
A cozy record store and bar in Shimokitazawa with Rare Groove records from around the world. While a relatively new phenomenon in America & Europe, record cafes/bars have […]
The pitch behind Beat Connection, writer Michaelangelo Matos’ newsletter, is basic. Described, simply, as “DJ mixes and the DJs that play them,” the Substack-published column goes deep on […]
Build your first complete audiophile system for under $1,500 with the best entry-level equipment from JBL, Klipsch, ELAC, Magnepan, Onkyo, and more! Steve Guttenberg aka The Audiophiliac is […]
Last fall, the Australian label Altered States Tapes released the debut album by Keanu Nelson, an indigenous musician with a strikingly soothing vocal tone and equally beguiling way […]
“Dubwise but not exactly dub, rich in ambience but not exactly ambient music.” With three of the classic Sade albums (Promise, Diamond Life, Stronger Than Pride) recently repressed […]
Griot families such as that which the great kora player Toumani Diabate, who passed earlier this week, was born into play a crucial part in West African culture. […]
Rachel Opert speaks to Travis Klein, owner of beloved Bushwick record store Human Head. Human Head has been a staple for many for the past ten years. Tucked […]
The summer is halfway over and you’ve been scrolling for like, what, six weeks straight now? Step away from your phone (after reading this, of course). An analog […]
Gelareh Khoie shares the story of thirtyninehotel, a legendary nightclub, art gallery, and performance space powered by Klipschorns from David Mancuso’s Prince Street loft parties. Love (Art & […]
Let’s allow the great dance music writer Barry Walters set the scene, which takes place not long after Larry Levan’s friend Frankie Knuckles started DJing in Chicago. There, […]
A new documentary about the Sun Ra Omniverse is currently in production. Support the Kickstarter today! In partnership with the SUN RA Estate and veteran bandleader, Marshall Allen, […]
Let’s talk about Roberto Musci, the Milanese experimental composer whose work both alone and with kindred spirit Giovanni Venosta starting in the 1980s has been gaining attention and […]
Transparent clarity, deep bass, and “Invisible Sound” from German audio company ADS. Background: One of the lesser known hi-fi brands of the ’70s, ADS (Analog and Digital Systems) […]
Join crucial selectors for curated delights on a killer system at our Sound & Vision shop in DTLA. No single statement better encapsulates In Sheep’s Clothing’s mission and […]
Good Smooth Jazz from Pat Metheny, 101 North (George Duke), Craig T. Cooper, Ben Tankard, and more! One of the most hated and controversial genres around, Smooth Jazz […]
Watch John Peel’s Channel 4 TV series ‘Sounds of the Suburbs’ series featuring Aphex Twin, Robert Wyatt, Luke Vibert, and more! “This is how I shall die, incidentally: […]
The forecast is ominous: Sometime on Wednesday, the massive Hurricane Beryl, currently a category 4 storm, will likely hit Kingston, Jamaica with sustained winds of more than 145 […]
In conversation with Small Medium Large, a new quintet from the burgeoning new West Coast jazz & improvised music scene. In 2018, LA-based jazz and post-rock guitarist Jeff […]
Few records get a party started better than The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru, a 2007 collection that gathers tracks from the utterly beguiling 1960s and […]
After a short break, we return with an expanded set of Now Sound favorites. New music continues to be a major focus for us here at In Sheep’s […]
In 1994, the late Japanese electronic producer Susumu Yokota was just getting started but only a few years away from releasing a string of brilliant, inventive ambient electronic […]
Music for after after hours from cult favorite Japanese dream pop duo Sugar Plant, sometimes referred to as “Psychedelic Sade.” With the POiSON GiRL FRiEND hype reaching a […]
Celebrating the New York duo’s sample-heavy work from 2002 through 2010. Twenty-five years ago, two struggling musicians living in the same New York apartment building, Nick Zammuto and […]
We’ve set up an Audio Note system in Hollywood and recently interviewed company founder Peter Qvortrup. Here’s Peter Qvortrup, founder of the respected British gear manufacturer Audio Note, […]
Step into Chee Shimizu’s Physical Store in Shimoigusa, Tokyo. Followers of this site should be quite familiar with Organic Music founder Chee Shimizu (check his ECM favorites for […]
10 Selects from Todd Rundgren pulled from a 1997 Japanese music research book on Todd Rundgren. I recently picked up a Japanese music book titled Todd Rundgren – […]
“Space and silence are the most important tools you can use in music.” In 1986, high school mates Graham Sutton and John Ling, both then 14 and attending […]
The Lijadu Sisters share crucial life lessons on the music industry, race, gender, and life. If you enjoyed the album Horizon Unlimited in our record collection, here is […]
In 1999, a budding UK imprint aligned with Soul Jazz Records introduced its first curated collection. Called Club Africa, it launched a discography that introduced so many disparate […]
Looking for your first high-end audiophile turntable but don’t want to spend more than $2,000 for something that will be your deck for many years to come? Are […]
The Oklahoma City-born, Los Angeles-raised horn player Don Cherry has been consuming a lot of research and turntable time over the past few months, at least in this […]
New music discoveries can be particularly potent while traveling. Case in point: I recently picked up a small stack of obscurities from Chee Shimizu’s revered Physical Store that […]
A few days ago on his Blissblog, the LA-based writer and scholar Simon Reynolds highlighted a recently released 8-hour, brilliantly crafted ambient and post-rave experimental electronic mix and […]
In collaboration with Devon Turnbull, the Denon DL-103o moving coil phono cartridge contains a DL-103R in a stylish clear case. Denon has teamed up with Devon Turnbull of OJAS, […]
Temporarily shuttered to improve accessibility, Pioneer Works has more than enough footage to tide you over. If you’ve got a few minutes to experience something deep and grounding, […]
15 ECM selections from the man behind the Obscure Sound disc guide. We have a very special edition of “Home Listening” today… Our friend Chee Shimizu has shared […]
For more than a decade, Optimo was one of the hottest clubs in the world. Few club nights have made more of a dent in the international psyche […]
“The city of Yokohama is an indispensable part of the story of Japanese jazz.” Featured in Philip Arneill’s Tokyo Jazz Joints book, DownBeat is one of the classic […]
This hour-long videotape, issued by CTI, is a mesmerizing time capsule Although you should obviously pay attention to the visuals on Elemental 7, the 1983 video album by […]
Listen to a new album from New York free jazz legend Alan Braufman. Two years prior to releasing Pharoah Sanders’ 1977 psychedelic spiritual jazz masterpiece Pharoah (aka Harvest […]
Her new record, Lost – For Annie, comes out Friday via DC label Outside Time. Here’s a perfect introduction to the work of Ireland-based musician Natalia Beylis, conveyed […]
Experience the accurate sounds of Tannoy’s Super Gold Monitor (SGM) loudspeakers series originally used by mastering engineers in the 80s. In conjunction with their announcement of the Stirling III […]
“Let’s say that this was already inside us, but we were busy doing pop,” Portuguese musician Carlos Maria Trindade said of making Mr. Wollogallu, his brilliant 1991 collaborative […]
CDMX-based Colombian artist Daniel Rincón aka NAP takes us through the history of sound system culture in Mexico. In recent years, contemporary Latin club music has made its […]
File under: the collaboration when never knew we needed. Although all music is connected in a universal way, our favorite artists create singular worlds of sound so immediately […]
Robert Wyatt performs in a knitted mask on French television. One of the more underrated progressive rock groups from the ’70s Canterbury Scene, Matching Mole was a short-lived […]
“The party is an incredibly complex institution,” the yacht-living, Lamborghini-driving Serbian disco-funk producer Boban Petrović said in reissue liner notes for his 1981 album Žur. He was discussing […]
Birmingham-based keyboard wizard, producer, and DJ Byron the Aquarius first came up our radar back in 2016 through his High Life EP released on Theo Parrish’s venerable Sound […]
The 1990s were a transformative decade for ambient music, a genre whose name had been coined a mere 15-odd years earlier by Brian Eno with the release of […]
Explore one of the most fascinating collections of dance music ephemera on view now at SF MOMA until August 18th. As vinyl collectors, we’re all well aware of […]
Those of us who think a lot about songwriting but aren’t songwriters still understand the basics of making one. Take a melody or string of words that pops […]
Bei Ru is an LA-based producer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist who’s collected vinyl records for years. His collection mirrors elements of his releases, characterized by a fusion of […]
Jessica Pratt’s ‘Here In The Pitch’ is out today! Listen to our pick for album of the year… The Los Angeles musician Jessica Pratt spent three years composing […]
Step into one of the oldest standing jazz kissas in Japan. Founded in 1933 by a 20-year old jazz lover named Mamoru Yoshida, Jazz Cafe Chigusa in Yokohama […]
Despite being more than a half-century old, the information delivered in Introduction to Hi-Fi, a 1960 book on the basics of sound reproduction and high fidelity listening at […]
Andrew Lowell in conversation with Varia Instruments co-founder Simon Schär. Speaking with ISC from his workshop in Berne, Switzerland, Varia Instruments co-founder Simon Schär is beaming with energy. […]
Although major stories on it are frustratingly rare these days, the vibrancy and range of community-run internet radio collectives delivering human-selected music in human-selected combinations makes that region […]
A look into the young label behind the first-ever official reissues of Les Rallizes Dénudés and Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Surround. Temporal Drift is an independent record label launched by […]
Get lost in a great online portal for New Age music. For more than a decade, the cassette hub Sounds of the Dawn has explored the infinite well […]
Do your new pair of loudspeakers not sound like you envisioned after reading that super positive review? You may have a room acoustics issue. This is a topic […]
A few spots are now open for the record club. Join today for personally curated records delivered to you monthly! Last month a package arrived from Los Angeles […]
Rahill shares five favorites with us in anticipation of her debut headlining show on May 14th at Gold Diggers in East Hollywood. Iranian-American singer-songwriter Rahill first caught our […]
Although everyday is Hosono day, those in need of a specific boost on this Monday might find fuel in some video game music by Haruomi Hosono. Inspired by […]
Pre-Hispanic instruments meet synthesizers, drum machines, jazz, and progressive rock on Séance Centre & Smiling C’s latest cosmic meeting. Earlier this week, in perfect alignment with the solar […]
Contrary to popular belief that the discotheque and dance revolution didn’t begin until the mid-’70s, the whole two-turntables-and-a-mixer thing started happening a half-decade earlier. Demand was such that […]
Favorites from the ’70s beloved by hi-fi enthusiasts and music lovers alike including Donna Leake and Ed Seven of Vintage Hi-Fi Plants. Background: Founded in London by Guy […]
This quiet storm classic is perfect for an eclipse afternoon. The first time we met Sade, she was skeptically casting her eye at a man. As if glaring […]
Explore our newly designed and expanded webstore developed in collaboration with bean.la. Free shipping this week on orders over $100! Hey friends! It’s been a little while since […]
The scene: Greece, with Halley’s Comet floating overhead. It’s the 1970s and we’re watching three “titans” of synthesizer music prepare to battle it out onstage. “Whoever scores the […]
Step into the creative home base of one of the visionary architects of the Los Angeles beat scene. Last week, the William Grant Stills Arts Center opened its […]
British pianist/keyboardist Greg Foat has been releasing records at a steady clip since 2011, when he and his Greg Foat Group connected with UK label Jazzman Records for […]
Tana Yonas in conversation with Western Acoustics’ founder Liam Porr. Hi-fi culture in the United States has long been an obsession of mature audiences with deep pockets and […]
In 2022, the BBC broadcast a documentary that traces the history of the Hacienda, the Manchester club that helped transform the sound of electronic dance music in early […]
Here’s a scenario that virtually anyone who has entered the home listening game by investing in a vintage power amp or receiver has likely confronted. You’re aware of […]
Join us 2-5pm today at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for a listening session dedicated to the great Growing Bin Records. One of our absolute favorites, Growing Bin Records […]
Next year will mark the Sony PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, and as time passes the technology that helped define contemporary gaming is rendered more and more obsolete. Other than […]
Eilon Paz shares five selects from John Abercrombie, Cannonball Adderley, Kutiman, Quincy Jones, and King Britt. Eilon Paz is a publisher, photographer, collector, selector, and the eyes and […]
A couple weeks ago, Roland released a new short film about Detroit’s greatest musical collective since Motown, the cooperative and record label dubbed Submerge and UR (Underground Resistance). […]
Join us at ISC NYC for a Brian Eno Dedicated Listening Session today. If history has taught us anything, it’s that when Brian Eno starts talking about art, […]
New Islands’ Dino Soccio & Patrick Billard share five “unknowingly” balearic LA favorites in celebration of their reissue of Kim Yaffa. In the early ’80s, Hollywood indie label […]
Those fortunate enough to have seen the brilliant jazz pianist Austin Peralta before his heart wrenching death in 2011 at 22 understand the bittersweet thrills of listening to […]
DFA’s Infinity Machine aka The Juan MacLean and Gee Dee share five meditative healing songs. Infinity Machine is a new project from Juan MacLean – as in the […]
At the end of World War II, the US military loaded up all the equipment it used for communication and warfare against the Nazis and brought it back […]
If your budget for a new turntable can stretch to $1,000, the Pro-Ject Debut PRO Turntable is definitely the one to buy. 30 years have come and gone […]
To truly appreciate our conversation below with the brilliant Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas, you should get a sense of the artist’s approach to his instrument. The video at […]
Atmospheric bass, country & gospel music, Monterey, Grown at M Bar, inc., and more with Daniel Aged. Back in 2020, in the heart of the global pandemic, Los […]
It’s safe to say that few record labels have been as sampled as Blue Note. The classic New York jazz label, which was founded by Alfred Leon and […]
A deep dive into one of the most influential UK Soul groups of the ’80s. Arriving on the scene right around the same time as Sade, Loose Ends […]
You only need read the opening sentences of the liner notes to get a sense of the Habitat Ensemble’s world. Deep in the south of the Czech republic, […]
For our next Art & Design: In Focus feature, we look into the mystical pop art of Tadanori Yokoo. A contemporary and close friend of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s […]
For a long time, casual fans of 1990s British instrumental hip hop, which eventually became known as trip hop, likely only knew the purveyors so-called Bristol Sound: Tricky, […]
In 1981 New York City, the artist Joseph Nechvatal obtained a compilation album called Just Another Asshole #5. Curated by the artist-musician Barbara Ess (Y Pants) and the […]
Piano-cello duo Salenta + Topu share five favorites ahead of their live performance this Friday at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. “Two old souls creating music not of this […]
Listen to hundreds of hours of mixes (with tracklists) from “The Guv’nor” Andrew Weatherall. File under: Internet is Beautiful, DRVR is a new creation from The Flightpath Estate, “an […]
This is a post about New York musical collective the Sonic Arts Union, but it could be about the magical intricacies of virtually any earthen revelation. Push aside […]
A classic home speaker from JBL featuring crisp high frequency response and a wide soundstage. Background: In production from 1974-1977, the L65 aka Jubal is a 3-way bass […]
All hail the most durable and iconic turntable ever made. On the way to finding your forever turntable, many vintage brands and models will try and catch your […]
Join us this Friday at Sound & Vision for a listening party and solo performance from Anenon aka Brian Allen Simon. Anenon is the ongoing solo studio and […]
“Here’s some music for listening or not.” It’s been nearly three years since the brilliant musical explorer Jon Hassell passed, and even in that brief time his influence […]
A deep dive into one of the unsung heroes of Jamaican popular music’s gestation, birth and adolescence. In conversations around Jamaica’s greatest reggae producers, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Clement […]
And: Mazzacane Connors live performances with Darin Gray, Jim O’Rourke, and David Grubbs. Few guitarists approach their instrument with the delicacy of Loren Mazzacane Connors, and fewer still […]
The $190 Grado Labs Prestige Red3 might be the affordable cartridge upgrade your turntable needs. Based on the reaction to my CAF 2023 editorial, many of you agree that […]
Celebrating the album that birthed Yellow Magic Orchestra. Haruomi Hosono released his fourth solo album, Paraiso, on April 25, 1978, three short months after he and members of […]
The prolific Italian-born, UK-based drummer-composer talks beginnings, inspirations, and collaborations. The most featured drummer/artist on our 2023 end-of-year favorites list, Valentina Magaletti has over the years built a […]
The late Mexico City composer’s recordings move like Autechre and Aphex Twin tracks. Before MIDI or the 808, before Ableton, before the first home computers, an Arkansas-born, Mexico […]
Feel like watching an A+ drummer let loose? On Friday, British musician Yussef Dayes released the second in a series of live sets, Live in Malibu, to streaming […]
Join us 2-5pm today at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for a listening session dedicated to Efficient Space! Few labels command our attention as consistently and completely as Michael […]
Psychedelic pop sounds from Tokyo via Washington D.C. label Peoples Potential Unlimited. Andrew Morgan’s Peoples Potential Unlimited is widely regarded for its singular presentation of outsider boogie and […]
A new reissue by Wewantsounds brings back a raucous free jazz, soul funk session recorded in an empty St. Louis sanctuary. In 1973, the late alto saxophonist Luther […]
A guide to hi-fi audio terms pulled from a 1974 manual from Altec Lansing. Looking to get deeper into hi-fi, but not sure where to start? Plenty of […]
ISC NYC will feature Hancock’s classic records during today’s dedicated listening session. It’s been a little more than 40 years since keyboardist Herbie Hancock, searching for new sounds […]
LA-based DJ and choreographer Colored Craig shares the record from his first solo dance routine. One of our favorite DJ’s in Los Angeles, Craig Hollamon aka Colored Craig […]
Read McIntosh engineer Gordon Gow’s famed ‘Speaker Wire Listening Test.’ If you hang out in a hi-fi group for any length of time, inevitably the question of speaker […]
In the mid-1970s, Palo Alto and vicinity was becoming a home computing hub. In Cupertino, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had partnered to begin building the first Apple […]
Join us 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for a listening session dedicated to Awesome Tapes from Africa. One of the great archival labels of our time, Awesome […]
Looking back at an iconic moment from the ’90s when dream pop made its way to Hong Kong… With shoegaze and dream pop going off in TikTok land, […]
The musician and visionary, a founder of the genre, died Saturday. The best path for understanding the music and philosophies of the artist known as Iasos is to […]
Does the Thorens TD 1500 merely pay homage to one of its classic decks or is there something more here? Does familiarity truly breed contempt? Having invested a […]
In Krautrocksampler, his great book about German cosmic music, the musician, collector and writer Julian Cope describes the sensation of being a fan of Can, Neu!, Cluster, Amon […]
A beloved 2-way home system from iconic theater loudspeaker makers Altec Lansing. Background: Released in 1976, the Altec Lansing Model 19 was a 2-way vented floor type speaker […]
By the mid-1970s, Herbie Hancock had left bop and post-bop behind as he grew increasingly fascinated with electric keyboards and early synthesizers. Long a genre-straddling innovator, Hancock embraced […]
Happy New Year from all of us at In Sheep’s Clothing! Thanks for your support, good taste, enthusiasm, curiosity, and generosity. We appreciate you attending our events, record […]
Built to last and often easily refurbished, models from Advent, Cerwin Vega, Klipsch, JBL, and more will transform your system. A great stereo system, the saying goes, is […]
More discoveries from Aquarium Drunkard, Boomkat, Test Pressing, The Quietus, NPR, and more. Before we even start discussing the most illuminating “Best of” lists for this year, you […]
A near hour-long showcase style documentary on Lloyd Barnes’ legendary Bronx-based reggae label. One of the most iconic reggae labels around, Wackies was founded in 1976 by Prince […]
In the 1990s, there was no better club in America than Lounge Ax in Chicago. Located across the street from where John Dillinger was killed in Wrigleyville, the […]
Our favorite archival releases from Peruvian disco to Indian Musique Concrète to Chicago deep house. Our 2023 end of year roundup continued… Reissues, compilations, and archival projects continue […]
Turn up the volume on a newly discovered take on the Christmas classic, recorded at the Village Gate with Eric Dolphy. Did you know that “Greensleeves,” a song […]
“One night in a Japanese jazz kissa changed music listening for me forever.” Every now and then, a listening session turns into something more. You lose yourself for […]
Now Sound favorites selected by all of us at In Sheep’s Clothing. Part 2 Archival & Compilations coming soon. It’s been another year of unexpected changes here at […]
We asked a popular vintage audio forum for gear tips. Here’s what came back. Here’s a scenario that virtually anyone who has entered the home listening game by […]
Join us for a labels we love listening session at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC dedicated to Now-Again Records. Now-Again Records is a Los Angles based imprint that specializes […]
Introducing Soundsystems, an in-focus feature series on the Hi-Fi equipment of the past, and the notorious clubs and DJ’s that used them. An absurd amount of precision, fine-tuning […]
An interview with Jacob Gorchov, whose label has released essential recordings by Yasuaki Shimizu, Woo, Mariah, and, most recently, Dorothy Carter. Over the past decade, the NYC-based label […]
Essential tips from Paul W. Klipsch featured in a vintage brochure. Klipsch loudspeakers are the next best thing to original sound. It’s like being there. Klipsch loudspeaker systems, […]
A love letter to curated collections and the people who make them. Seventy-five years ago, Folkways Records began issuing a series of themed albums that corralled recordings made […]
Cousin’s latest EP HomeSoon is out now via Vancouver-based label Mood Hut. Followers of this site will know that we’ve been in a collective dubwise headspace here at […]
Each December in the 1970s, the monthly magazine High Fidelity delivered a holiday gift guide that offered suggestions for sound freaks — accessories, components, etc.
For our latest “Art & Design In Focus” feature we take a look at our favorite canine album covers. With the National Dog Show having just passed this […]
Randall takes us to one of his favorite local spots in Columbia, Missouri. College town record shops rule, and for a pretty specific reason: a polyglot clientele with […]
Full service retipping, diamond-only replacement, coil rewinds, suspension repairs from Joseph Long aka Groovetickler. You likely know this, but the mechanical thing at the tip of your tonearm […]
Loveshadow’s sophomore album II is out now via Dark Entries. Two of our favorite DJs / musicians from the Bay Area, Anya Prisk and Izaak Schlossman make up […]
It’s sweater season in much of the country. The leaves have turned. The mice are coming in from the cold. Fire in the fireplace. Coffee steaming. Melancholia. Blankets. […]
Join us for the opening of SOUND & VISION at the ROW in DTLA! Hello friends! It’s only been about two months since our record store on Fairfax […]
Last week she released Exit Simulation, her debut album for Chicago-based Kranky Records. The South Carolina-based artist Niecy Blues grew up in a religious household, where she absorbed […]
Peter Hahn, Owner and Founder of Turntable Lab in New York City, joins eCoustics for 10 questions. If you shop for records, DJ equipment, HiFi equipment, or turntable […]
Join us today at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for a listening session dedicated to Arthur Russell. For those who believe in the notion of hallowed ground, of land […]
Time is Away’s latest compilation Searchlight Moonboom is out tomorrow via Efficient Space. Time is Away is the London-based DJ / historian / artist duo Jack Rollo and Elaine […]
This year marks Luluc’s 15th anniversary, and in that time singer Zoe Randell and multi-instrumentalist Steve Hassett have produced five LPs worth of precisely crafted, sublimely streamlined songs. […]
Join us at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for an entire day of Music from Memory. It’s been a few weeks now since Music from Memory co-founder Jamie Tiller’s […]
Ecoustics shares their top 13 audiophile upgrades for 2023 featuring a variety of affordable products. Audiophile publications have been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism […]
Her new album, There is only love and fear, is driven by what she calls ‘messy minimalism.’ You should go deep with the percussionist Bex Burch’s new album, […]
LA3C festival will take place in DTLA’s historic core from November 10-12. Tickets available now! We’re bringing the In Sheep’s Clothing record fair to a festival setting for […]
One of the scariest film scores ever was the product of a gift placed under a Christmas tree. “My father bought me a pair of bongos for Christmas […]
Blake Wagner takes us to legendary Detroit record shop Peoples Records. Walking around the sleepy edge of downtown Detroit, you might not realize you are standing at the […]
A lost gem from NPR classical critic Tom Manoff and master vocalist Jill Talvé. Jill Talvé was in her late teens when, in the early 1980s, she moved […]
Daniel Villarreal’s Lados B is out now on International Anthem. Panama-born, Chicago-based percussionist Daniel Villarreal’s new album, Lados B, is powered by a mere three players — him, […]
Join us for a listening session today 2-5pm featuring favorites from Ontario-based label Séance Centre. Founded in 2017 by Brandon Hocura and Naomi Okabe, Séance Centre is an […]
The Music from Memory and Rush Hour affiliate plays Sound of Make Believe this Saturday in Los Angeles. Madrid-born, London-based DJ & record collector John Gómez is known […]
The late composer co-founded “a kind of musical version of the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy, with every entry registering like a report from some farflung orbital station.“ […]
Il Sesso della Strega (‘Sex of the Witch’) is available on vinyl for the first time via CAM Sugar. Launched in 1959 Rome to capitalize on the ascent of […]
For Monday’s dedicated listening session, we’re going deep on the trumpeter’s expansive creative output. “Repetitious boredom.” “An insult to the intellect of the people.” “Nameless, faceless go-go music.” […]
Swedish-Filipino-American artist Baba Stiltz talks growing up, Vacaville, and his favorite things to do in Los Angeles. I first met Baba Stiltz back in 2016 when he was […]
Featuring The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, Cool Herc, John Cale, Afrika Bambaata, Fab 5, and more. “If it doesn’t work in New York, we’re in […]
A transcendental futuristic sounds experience in Philadelphia… Three weeks ago, a group of us traveled from Los Angeles to Philadelphia in search of a transcendental experience. Most us […]
Join us for a listening session today 2-5pm dedicated to Be With Records. 2024 will mark the 10-year anniversary of one of our favorite archival labels Be With […]
Blake Wagner shares his experience digging for records at Rooky’s Records in the Lower Haight. You would be a fool to run aground in San Francisco without paying […]
So much Zorn! The Tzadik Records catalog is now available on streaming… Last week, more than 25 years after it launched, the crucial New York label Tzadik released […]
Josh Dibb aka Deakin shares five favorites with us in celebration of Animal Collective’s new album. Animal Collective’s Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin, and Geologist meet genius producer […]
Join us 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for a listening session dedicated to jazz-funk classics. For a long time, “fusion” was a dirty word in jazz circles, […]
Join us Saturday, October 7th at Platform Park with Good Boy Wine and Sound of Make Believe. What better way to end the summer than with an outdoor […]
Visit the Numero Group pop-up shop at Rappcats this Thursday through Sunday. One of our favorite labels, Numero Group is back in Los Angeles this week for a […]
Our friend Sam Wilkes shares some favorites w/ personal write-ups on each pick… You could be forgiven for scratching your head at news that the Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist […]
The iconic Technics SL-1200 turntable gets a facelift and some improvements aimed at increasing the overall sound quality. The turntable category continues to be a source of strong sales […]
If you’ve never done so or it’s been a while, you should cue up “Metronomic Underground,” the opening track on Stereolab’s Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Released in March, 1996, […]
Brilliant Corners’ Aneesh will be playing the Sound of Make Believe party this Saturday, September 23rd! Aneesh, along with his brother Amit, are founders and owner of the […]
There are records that are as potent as psychedelics. Records that whoosh you into another realm the moment the stylus locks into the groove, embrace you in their […]
This week, while much of the music world has been discussing the blowback from Rolling Stone cofounder Jann Wenner’s confounding interview with David Marchese at The New York […]
Join us September 18th from 2-5 p.m. at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC for a listening session dedicated to EM Records! While building our in-house collection at In Sheep’s […]
Back with our recent favorites from Los Angeles, Xiamen, Sweden, UK, Ghana, Chicago, New York. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and […]
In advance of her mesmerizing new album, Goodbye, Hotel Arkada, the LA-based harpist recommends some gems. You’ll want to carve big chunks of time out of your busy […]
Carmen Villain shares five recent favorites in anticipation of her live performance next week at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. One of our favorite artists performing at the upcoming […]
Join us for a listening session dedicated today to Richard D. James’ aka Aphex Twin from 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC. Although many consider Aphex Twin’s two […]
The Gondwana Records boss shares five essential favorites. Manchester-based trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Matthew Halsall has a new album coming out tomorrow! Inspired by the breathtaking sea views […]
Inside the Harvest Time Project, an ambitious archival initiative created for Pharoah Sanders’ website, is a simple story about the birth of ‘Love Will Find a Way,’ the […]
The U-Turn Audio Orbit has been refreshed with a new tonearm, revamped drive system and other changes. The little engine that could is tucked away in a suburb […]
Join us for a listening session dedicated to Japanese ambient classics today 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC. Let’s talk about the sonics of water and the way […]
John Carroll Kirby continues to expand the world of his Huell Howser-inspired travelogue series. John Carroll Kirby has been keeping busy this past year. Since we hosted him […]
Remembering a musician and thinker whose work created a singular kind of bliss. When Stars of the Lid started releasing music in the mid-1990s, critics and tastemakers had […]
The birds aren’t an affectation on the first record by Flaer. Their chirps score Preludes because the artist behind the project, the visual and musical artist Realf Heygate, […]
Join us for a dedicated listening session today 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC. The Chicago-born, Los Angeles based label Numero Group recently celebrated it’s 20th anniversary. Founded […]
Join us for a krautrock listening party this Friday at the JACCC private Japanese garden. Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli, Jaki Liebezeit, Irmin Schmidt: The core members of visionary […]
When it tore through London before taking over the world in the early 1990s, the jungle/drum ‘n bass scene was unlike any other in the world. Harnessing samplers, […]
Enter the world of Planet Q, a “beautiful, secluded safe space” lovingly hand-crafted by artists Kyoko Takenaka and Tomoki Sanders. A little over a year ago, Pure Person […]
On Monday in New York, we’ll be spinning Brazilian classics as part of a weekly listening session. Unless you’re looking for a collection of toe-tapping ditties designed for […]
The 200 watt per channel vintage amplifier contains two separate mono amplifiers and can drive almost anything. If you’ve never spent any time on HiFiShark while searching for […]
Astro-Nubian Electronic Jaglara Dance Sounds from the Fashaga Underground. In a disputed territory called Fashaga near the border of Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea lives a man whose name, […]
Join us Saturday at ISC HQ to celebrate Brin & Dustin’s album release on Leaving Records. Two of our favorite local electronic artists come together on Texture II, […]
Many deep listeners and hi-fi heads have been inculcated into the Church of Spiritual Jazz through prominent disciples including Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra, all travelers […]
Nostalgic world music from longtime Hosono collaborator Soichiro Suzuki a.k.a. World Standard. Today, we present one of the more understated but also consistently prolific artists from the extended […]
Dive into a favorite from our collection at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC and join us for a listening party Thursday 4-8pm. The story goes that Hydroplane, the self-titled […]
The Birmingham, England band led by Trish Keenan left an indelible mark on the post-shoegaze sound of the ’90s and ’00s. It’s a Tuesday and we woke up […]
Join us for a dedicated listening session today 2-5pm at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC. As we continue our opening days at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC, we thought we’d […]
The Akron-based “Lemon friends” have a new album coming soon on London’s Last Resort. In Akron, Ohio, four friends get together every Tuesday with gas station snacks and […]
“They were from the left, these kids, but the traditional left didn’t agree with their ideas, and the right neither.“ During an interview with the director Marcelo Machado, […]
Ecoustics guides us through the history of recorded playback from Edison’s Phonograph to Thorens and Technics. Almost 145 years have elapsed since Edison’s Phonograph was patented. Since then, […]
Ever the explorer, the British folk guitarist and songwriter carved a singular path, mixing jazz, dub and Echoplex textures. Few testimonials carry more weight than that of the […]
Planet Q is available for pre-order now via In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi Selects and Pure Person Press! To explore and absorb Planet Q, the new record by artists […]
Experimental trailblazers join Meredith Monk for a supercharged musical ride celebrating her 80th birth year. Easily one of the most influential vocalists of our time, Meredith Monk is a […]
Contort yourself !! Let’s talk about logo hunting, one of the many strategies for finding jewels amid the junk when you’re out looking for unknown sure-shots. It shouldn’t […]
Munich-based Mongolian singer Enji Erkhem expands her sound with an international quintet. Following up on her amazing 2021 album Ursgal, Mongolian singer Enji Erkhem dives further inward on […]
Join our ECM Dedicated Listening at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC today from 3-7pm! On Monday at our new location in Lower Manhattan, we’ll officially resume our regular programming […]
Join us every Monday 2-5pm for dedicated listening session at In Sheep’s Clothing NYC. With our new location now open in Lower Manhattan, it’s finally time for us […]
The go-to book on the Lower Manhattan post-disco scene is required reading – and a great resource. One of the first tasks after moving into a new neighborhood […]
The legendary Japanese designer has worked with everyone from Nike to Pokémon. He’s also made dubwise dance and pop music… Hiroshi Fujiwara is a name most often associated […]
His sublime score for Burden of Proof, the HBO limited true crime series, is as haunting as it is beautiful. The haunting Chuck Johnson score for HBO’s limited […]
Planar magnetic and ribbon speakers offer a unique aesthetic and approach to sound reproduction. Planar magnetic headphones have been the tip of the spear during the Head-Fi revolution and […]
One of our all-time favorite records is finally getting a proper reissue… By 1977, Pharoah Sanders was moving through a particularly notable transition. Three years prior, his eight-year […]
‘Point of Entry’ is a serenely beautiful “personal folk” album perfect for the small hours. Years before the recent ambient music boom, Scottish musician Jonny Nash and his […]
There’s a new collection of previously unreleased Arthur Russell music out now… Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Arthur Russell’s passing, a melancholy milestone that served as […]
A breathtaking new vinyl version of John Coltrane’s ‘Coltrane’s Sound’ comes to the market. Over the past five years, a growing number of specialized labels or sublabels have […]
Phi-Psonics sophomore album ‘Octava’ is out now via Matthew Halsall‘s Gondwana Records. Longtime friends of In Sheep’s Clothing, Phi-Psonics is a rising jazz group from Los Angeles, led […]
Epic concerts and excerpts that illustrate why the Boredoms’ mesmerizing tribal explorations are unlike anything else on the planet. We’ve celebrated the Boredoms before, and recently added DJ […]
Ethereal dream pop, ambient jazz, electroacoustic, low-key indie rock, and more recent favorites. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
It’s not a coincidence that the birth of electronic dance music coincided with the rise of animated computer graphics. Scene: It’s 1993 and you just called the rave […]
Making Time ∞ returns to Fort Mifflin with 100+ acts. Check out some of our favorites. This site generally focuses on happenings in our home turf of Los […]
Incredible 16mm footage featuring Keith Hudson, Big Youth, John Lydon (Sex Pistols), Ari Up (The Slits), Tapper Zukie, and more! Few have experienced more than Don Letts when […]
Don’t miss Eli Winter this Sunday, June 25th at the Lodge Room in Highland Park. Over the past half-decade, the Houston-born, Chicago-based instrumental guitarist and writer Eli Winter […]
Listen to ambient music in the natural, biodiverse landscapes of the Descanso Gardens! Following up from last year’s smash hit, Tonalism, dublab’s night time ambient music extravaganza, returns […]
First-ever vinyl release of the artist’s Eno-mixed 1989 concert near the World Trade Center. We’ve previously written about Jon Hassell’s legendary 1989 performances at the Financial Center in […]
Ritualistic soundscapes from one of the leading figures in Mexican ambient music. As ambient music continues to rise in popularity in the United States and around the world, […]
Affordable vintage CD players from Marantz, Harman Kardon, Sony, Nakamichi, Rega, and more! For decades, the main format-facing argument between analog freaks and their CD-loving counterparts revolved around […]
Remembering a Detroit legend… To hear the late Ron Murphy discuss cutting records is like getting the lowdown on designing lamps from Charles Lewis Tiffany. The Detroit audio […]
Oddly therapeutic, ambient club sounds from the mysterious Noriko aka Dream Dolphin. Definitely one of the best artist names we’ve ever heard, Dream Dolphin is the ambient and […]
Jack J and Suzanne Kraft will play Zebulon together on Saturday, July 1st. If you’ve been following the selections on this site, there’s a very good chance you’ve […]
The McIntosh ML1 MKII is a unique loudspeaker where vintage style meets contemporary sound. Vintage Audio has become a huge trend in the high-end space; loudspeaker companies including Klipsch, […]
A subtle, cool masterpiece that upended popular music. Astrud Gilberto recorded “The Girl from Ipanema” because no other singer in the studio could do so in English. It […]
The story of Deep City Records, Miami’s Motown. In the early 1960s, Willie Clarke and Johnny Pearsall were two school teachers who met at Florida A&M University and […]
Words, tracks, and guest playlists from Ghostly International’s founder Sam Valenti IV. Dig in the crates all you want, but if you don’t have a clue what you’re […]
And: How a multimillion-dollar audio company was born after a series of listening sessions. In the early 1950s, a 32-year-old audio afficiando named Hideo Matsushita landed a job […]
Ally O’Neil chats with jazz legend Azar Lawrence. Los Angeles saxophone player Azar Lawrence is known for his work with McCoy Tyner and Miles Davis, but that just […]
Celebrating the eye candy that sold ear candy. This is a post without many words. Mostly the aim is to offer drool-worthy, curious, or otherwise engaging advertisements from […]
Essential albums from Chicago-based from singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Gia Margaret. “Instrumental music it can be kind of endless. Sometimes you wonder if what you made is music at […]
Don’t miss Carl Craig, Moritz Von Oswald, King Britt, and DJ Holographic this Thursday at MOCA Geffen. Detroit techno visionary Carl Craig needs little introduction, but for our […]
Listen back to Nuggets producer Lenny Kaye in conversation with Tana Yonas. On April 20, 2023, dublab, In Sheep’s Clothing, & Rhino Records presented the first listen of […]
This morning’s post is devoted to the Japanese graffiti artist turned occasional music video animator Katsura Moshino. Though hardly a household name, and despite the minimal output available […]
Klipsch and Wharfedale speakers can work exceptionally well in smaller spaces with the right components. Space. Not the final frontier but the amount of room that all of […]
A look at the experimental musician and video artist’s work and influence (and featuring a Peter Brötzmann cameo) This week the renowned American Masters series on PBS premiered […]
Rare grooves from Armenian selectors Zach Asdourian and Anaïs Gyulbudaghyan. Discotchari is a new project from LA-based record selectors Zach Asdourian and Anaïs Gyulbudaghyan. Named after a song […]
The 33 track playlist features Alva Noto, Erik Satie, Ennio Morricone, J.S. Bach, Debussy, and Laurel Halo. When David Bowie passed, he gifted the world his final album, […]
A home for vinyl and analog culture in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv cultural hub Beit Romano (Romano House) is a stunning compound that houses restaurants, a jazz […]
One of the greatest dancehall videos on YouTube… Precious dancehall history on YouTube… In the early ’70s, the People’s National Party (PNP) and Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) began […]
A sonic trip through Latin America with selections by El Marchante’s Osmar Romero. Last Friday on Cinco de Mayo, we presented a special listening session at the Japanese […]
Listen to one of the great jazz quartets from the CD era. The 1990s will never be known as a decade of great jazz. An era in which […]
Recent favorites from Chicago, Brooklyn, New Zealand, Basque, Amsterdam, Munich, Tokyo, and Sweden. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
The jazz supergroup features Benji B, Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, and more. The new double album London Brew was originally slated to be a 50th anniversary ode to […]
The LA-based ambient country-folk duo share recent favorites! Last month, the meditative Los Angeles instrumental outfit North Americans released Long Cool World, its fifth album overall and second […]
One of the best used electrostatic loudspeakers if you can find one… I vividly remember the day I flipped over the copy of Stereophile at the newsstand and saw my […]
In 1964 as the Beatles were going viral among the kids and remaking youth culture along the way, Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy were ferrying the adults to […]
Outsider experimental electropop from Russia. One of our favorite recent discoveries… Virtually unknown outside of the motherland, Тальник (written as Talnik in English / translates to Willow) is […]
The science of sound – how high-fidelity systems do what they do, and why – has been a subject of obsessive fascination since the rise of stereophonic systems […]
An essential album in any collection, ‘Erik Satie: Piano Music’ featured cover illustration by Pablo Picasso. One of the best additions to your record collection, and to your […]
In anticipation of our upcoming collaboration in New York, In Sheep’s Clothing’s Phil Cho speaks with Port Sa’id co-founder Zack Bar. Years before our first listening bar opened […]
Folklorist Derek Piotr speaks with Austrian experimental electronic producer and guitarist Christian Fennesz. I am pleased to tidy up my “Heroes Series” with a fifth and final entry […]
The long out-of-print holy grail private press album is finally being reissued on vinyl. One of the best parts of being a music freak is having your brain chemistry forever […]
Understand the basic audio components of a Hi-Fi stereo system so you know what to look for when shopping for audiophile equipment. Amplifier. Amp. Preamp. Integrated amp. Phono […]
“It’s all business as usual, really. Chaos, but good chaos.” That description of Mark E. Smith and the Fall opens the BBC 4’s 2004 documentary of the Mancunian […]
Minimalist ambient guitar music inspired by John Martyn, Erik Satie, Alice Coltrane, and Terry Riley. Santa Cruz-based label Smiling C returns with another lost gem from the archives. […]
Black Editions Group presents Shizuka’s sole studio album, 1994’s Heavenly Persona, for the first time on vinyl. Mind your volume control when dropping the needle on the opening […]
“Imagine the future” with Jonah Sharp aka Spacetime Continuum and Los Angeles-based rave project DISCOSXXX. One of the great UK chill-out room legends, Jonah Sharp began his career […]
Folklorist Derek Piotr shares recordings from his fieldwork archive. I made my first recording for the Derek Piotr Fieldwork Archive in March, 2020, and formally launched the project […]
“One of Rota’s most eerie and enigmatic scores, as if the Maestro had finally poured into a soundtrack all of his love for esotericism.” Those who follow the […]
Coming soon to Lower Manhattan, the new space will include a listening bar, record store, restaurant, and record library. We are excited to announce a collaboration with one […]
The event will include a Ras G streetwear drop and performances from Dibiase, Mndsgn, Koreatown Oddity, and AshTreJinkins. On April 4th aka “Ras G Day”, Roland, Poobah Records and dublab are […]
The beloved Ethiopian jazz pianist was 99 years old when she passed earlier this week… You likely know by now that Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guèbrou, the piano-playing, Jerusalem-based Ethiopian […]
John Jones in conversation with South of North founder Dominik Rodemann. I was first introduced to the Amsterdam-based label South of North by way of their 2018 debut […]
39 minutes of futuristic electronic music and psychedelic visuals on MTV’s Amp program. As one of the earliest artists on the essential 1990s label Astralwerks, Future Sound of […]
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. A Chance For Peace. Soul And Soledad. The Universal Truth. Today marks the historic return of one of our all-time favorite independent […]
The massive set features new music by Nick Cave, Blake Mills, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Seu Jorge, Sam Gendel, Sam Wilkes and dozens more Listen to the birds. That’s […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye shares his experience with a stunning direct drive turntable. Back in 2021, I wrote about what attracts me to Vintage Audio. I discussed several factors, like style, […]
Listen to one of Thurston Moore’s favorite guitar recordings. In 1967, a young electric guitarist named Sonny Sharrock joined flute player Herbie Mann’s jazz band. It was a […]
Recent ISC favorites from Malmö, Kingston, Newcastle, London, and Los Angeles. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks […]
The most beautiful and profound emotion we can experience is the sensation of the mystical. It is the sower of all true science. He to whom this emotion […]
Dip into the world of Tokyo’s 5AM and Thinner Groove ~ no matter what time you at ~ Perfectly out of time, 5AM’s debut album Pre Zz hasn’t […]
Two years ago, the Barcelona-based DJ, writer and electronic music expert Philip Sherburne teamed up with Albert Salinas to launch Balmat Records, a boutique label devoted to experimental […]
Past & present sounds from LA-based saxophone player Patrick Shiroishi. The Los Angeles saxophone player, improvisor, composer and inexhaustible creator-collaborator Patrick Shiroishi doesn’t seem to stay in the […]
If you can find a pair of DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3 Loudspeakers, these are vintage bookshelf speakers that will never disappoint. DeVore Fidelity has been handcrafting world class […]
“An exploration of the production, transmission, and mutation of affective tonality—when sound helps produce a bad vibe.” Next year will mark the singular British label Hyperdub’s 20th anniversary, […]
Today, we’re sharing this beautiful recap article and videos from Grand Performances x dublab’s tribute concert to Alice Coltrane. As both a groundbreaking musician and spiritual leader, Alice […]
One listener’s experience having his sonic mind blown… Getting lost in music is an act of vanishing, and if the ultimate goal of high-fidelity sound, vinyl culture and […]
The definitive documentary of one of our favorite singer-songwriters is streaming until March 1st. Don’t miss! It’s hard to pin down where to start with an artist that […]
Going deep inside a hypnotic recording derived from a Serbian brass band. It’s up to you to choose which of the below pieces you want to listen to […]
Join us for the Moonface Experience on March 11th at XTR Studios, with music and sound curated by In Sheep’s Clothing. If you visited the In Sheep’s Clothing […]
“Visions of space and atmosphere – the absence of busy, human life – populate a lot of what I do. It’s regenerative, an existential thing.” Nearly 30 years […]
Barbie Bertisch and Paul Raffaele follow the signal chain from Mancuso’s Loft parties to Klipsch and Hope, Arkansas. Love Injection is a monthly print-first music fanzine, record label, […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye takes a look at a few of the most prominent audiophile jazz labels around. A big bone of contention in audiophile circles is which stage […]
Abstract, ambient and classical music from the legendary Cologne-based electronic label. In 2001, electronic music was at a crossroads, one that felt more like a massive highway interchange […]
‘Raven’ is out now with contributions from OCA, LSDXOXO, Junglepussy, Bambii, Asmara, and KAYTRANADA. “When the world needed her most… she vanished.” Last Friday, after a six year […]
Want to get inspired about dance music? About the exuberant, profound joy of dancing itself? About the importance of physical spaces for stretching out and-or letting loose? And […]
The mysterious true story of mid-century New York City singer songwriter Connie Converse… What happened to Connie Converse? When she vanished in 1974 at age 50, never to […]
Listening and analog culture meets a master of ceremonies and dance music at Dante’s HiFi. In the fall of ‘22, we flew to Miami, the Magic City, after […]
Watch Peter Greenaway’s ‘Four American Composers’ featuring John Cage, Meredith Monk, Philip Glass, and Robert Ashley. Few people could discuss listening like John Cage. One of the great […]
From the 1950s through the 1980s, the home audio explosion was documented in real time. Online archives have digitized the bounty. It’s true. Those wanting to better understand […]
Dublab has released a new book chronicling the non-profit online radio station’s storied 20+ year history. It’s difficult to imagine what Los Angeles’ music scene would be like […]
On Feb. 2, 1973, the famed production premiered after The Tonight Show. For much of the 1970s and some of the ’80s, a weekly syndicated rock show called […]
Love Injection has launched a Kickstarter campaign to publish a compendium of Klipsch’s Dope From Hope newsletters. Here’s some big news for all our fellow Klipsch fans… Nearly […]
By now you’ve likely learned that Tom Verlaine, the brilliant New York guitarist, singer and lyricist best known for his work with Television, has passed. Though a foundational […]
“Motion is freedom of expression, motion is a real vibration on conventional rhythms, Motion is George Oban.” Though we’re music lovers constantly searching for the next new sound, […]
Hear the late Talk Talk founder’s early attempt at landing a record deal. Before forming Talk Talk in 1981, Mark Hollis was a singer and songwriter attempting, as […]
Mirage Loudspeakers are coming back. The storied Canadian brand has been reborn and we’re really excited to see if the M-1 is returning. If you are old enough […]
In the third issue of Synapse, a mid-1970s magazine devoted to news and features on the burgeoning field of electronic music, editors Douglas Lynner and Angela Schill offer […]
Art, mid-century furniture design, and stereo system all in one… One of the most iconic speakers ever made, the JBL-Ranger Paragon Integrated Stereophonic Reproductor was the first mass-produced […]
By the year 2000, various forms of electronic dance music had begun consuming global music culture, part of an evolution that began with the rise of home computers, […]
South African kwaito, bhangra, dancehall, Nigerian digi-roots, and more from Toronto’s Gripbuster, Kool Ty. Gripbuster is an online record shop run by Toronto’s Kool Ty, one half of […]
With his passing, celebrating the great drummer, singer and composer through video footage With his metronomic timing, calm vocal delivery, and movie-star good looks, musician Yukihiro Takahashi left […]
“Cute” space age healing music from Dr. Yann Tomita’s Audio Science Laboratory. It’s Doopee Time! Here’s an essential listen that’s been posted about quite a bit online, but […]
The 5+ hour, 79-track mix moves from Coil to the Scientist to Eno, YMO, Model 500, 808 State, and beyond. Got plans this weekend? Autechre’s got the dance-all-night […]
An Afrofuturist film featuring George Clinton, Juan Atkins, Goldie, DJ Spooky, and A Guy Called Gerald. Directed by British artist, writer, theorist John Akomfrah, The Last Angel of History is […]
Richard D. James has never released a sanctioned DJ mix. Fans have stepped in to meet the demand. More than three decades into his career, Richard D. James […]
The Leak Stereo 230 offers hi-res streaming support, MQA, DSD, and a MM phono stage. The vintage audio theme remained very popular with both consumers and manufacturers in 2022; Klipsch, […]
Improvisational Turntablism, Meta-Concert, Hypermobility, and more key performances from artist Christian Marclay. The visual and sound artist Christian Marclay is best known for The Clock, his 24-hour film […]
Music by Kevin “Mr. Groove” McCord “for all who like M-M-M (Mellow Mood Music).” Heralded by Dâm-Funk as one of his favorite producers, Kevin “Mr. Groove” McCord might […]
Looking back on 2022… As we at In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi prepare for a thrill-filled 2023, our final 2022 round-up focuses on a few things: Posts that you […]
A list about lists featuring (you guessed it) more music! Listening to and collecting music isn’t a competition, which is one reason why we try to avoid using […]
Learn the basics of setting up a dub session from lovers rock / reggae legend Dennis Bovell. Originally published in the December, 1977 issue of London-based Sounds magazine, […]
A primer on the birth and evolution of recorded sound and the rise of high-fidelity stereo systems… Cheesy 1990s graphics? Check. Dated approach to documentary TV? Obviously. Woefully […]
A guide to great music released in 2022, organized by moods… Where are we now (cont.)? From our experience, falling in love with a new record is sometimes […]
If you notice some of your older music-head friends seeming a little out of sorts over the holidays, know that it’s because we lost Terry Hall, the co-founder […]
Old is new… More favorites! Where are we now (cont.)? Well, in the reissue and compilation world things are looking busier than ever. New imprints pop up on […]
Record totes, weights, portable turntable, books for your beloved vinyl and hi-fi friends. Here’s a challenge for you: The holiday season is in full effect. Those who celebrate […]
Brooklyn-based Ohm Acoustics have been manufacturing loudspeakers for almost 48 years. A deep dive by the Budget Audiophiler. There is a wonderful scene in Bosch when after a long day […]
“When I found out E2-E4 was played in clubs, I couldn’t imagine people dancing to it…” When the great German musician and thinker Manuel Göttsching passed on Monday […]
More music is always better… So here are more favorites from 2022. Where are we now? 2022 was another big year of change for us at In Sheep’s […]
Private press folk compiled by Perfect Lives’ Bruno Halper and Samuel Strang for the great NTS Radio. It’s no secret that the holidays can be hard. All these […]
Makers across the country have expanded their shelving options. Another tactic? Buy your woodworking friend a bottle of Scotch. Let’s not belabor the point: Ikea’s KALLAX shelving unit, […]
Heels & Souls are pressing Pilgrims of the Minds’ West Coast classic What’s Your Shrine? for the first time ever on vinyl. Turn the dial back to 1996. […]
Deep cut anime and video game soundtrack selections from Motion Ward’s Ura. Los Angeles-based experimental electronic label Motion Ward continues to be on a roll, albeit at a […]
Don’t miss Ulla performing live this Thursday at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ. The term glitch was coined sometime in the 1990s to describe an emergent movement of artists […]
This is a film about listening. Documentary filmmaker Sam Green invites us into experimental composer Annea Lockwood’s world of listening. Highly recommended for anyone interested in “deep listening” […]
Featuring hurdy-gurdy, harp, voice, and Bruno Menny’s arrangements. In 1977, when much of Western music culture was being upended by both the distorted aggression of the global punk […]
The spacious North Park listening bar / lounge features four Klipschorns and two reel-to-reel tape machines. A few months ago, we took the Pacific Surfliner down the coast […]
As the remarkable series approaches its 10th anniversary, a look at the musician-producer’s online project. In 2013, the musician and producer Jim O’Rourke started releasing a series of […]
Send a friend or loved one a specially curated vinyl package for the holidays! A few months ago, we asked members of the In Sheep’s Clothing Record Club […]
Ecoustics’ Robert Silva dives into the basics of subwoofers and what you need to know. In order to experience great sound in a speaker setup, you need speaker […]
Absolutely essential Detroit ambient from the legend Neil Olivierra a.k.a. the Detroit Escalator Co. By the mid-1990s, synthesizers had fully integrated with computing software, resulting in a kind […]
Neapolitan duo Massimo Di Lena and Lucio Aquilina aka Nu Genea join us to discuss their latest album Bar Mediterraneo. In 1975, Napoli Centrale, a group founded by […]
Essential new music from the great Jeff Parker… Starting in 2018, LA-based guitarist Jeff Parker set up camp at the Enfield Tennis Academy in Highland Park for an […]
Deep and dubby electronic selections from Crates LA… Those of you who have been following along should be well aware of music blog / record seller / DJ […]
A new reissue of Horace Andy’s Wackie’s classic ‘Dance Hall Style’ has arrived and is available now in the shop. In 1982, Horace Andy carried his sweet, sweet […]
Audio-Technica celebrates 60 years with a limited run of their cult classic Sound Burger. We’re a little late on this, but figured it makes sense to share anyway […]
Though many of us have spent hours (days? weeks?) on end consumed in Can live performances over the years – really, is there any better reason for YouTube? […]
Recent favorites from Los Angeles, Detroit, New Zealand, Melbourne, and North West England. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
“I don’t think we’ve ever feared how people would react to our music,” Mimi Parker told the Quietus last year. The musically fearless Parker, who with husband-collaborator Alan […]
Cosmic Americana recorded in a two room cottage in Los Osos, California. I can clearly remember the first time I heard Jon Iverson’s music. It was a quiet […]
A deep dive into Albert Ayler’s classic free jazz composition “Ghosts.” Three years before the great free jazz tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler was found dead in the East […]
Don’t buy a vintage turntable until you read this. Here’s what you need to know. Do vintage turntables really offer a better listening experience than modern tables below $2,000? There […]
Forty-five years ago, the respected home audio magazine Hi-Fi Stereo Review published an overview of new-model cassette decks. Written by a hi-fi critic named Craig Stark, the 1988 […]
Don’t mingle with vampaya… The spookiest weekend of the year is upon us and what better way to celebrate than with a selection of haunted dub and reggae? […]
Sun Ra improvising on a Prophet VS synthesizer in 1986? Pump it straight into our veins. In the summer of that year while in Boston with his band, […]
Looking to build a great sounding system for under $5k? The Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers are a great place to start. Wharfedale’s founder, Gilbert Briggs built his first […]
And then read Dave Tompkins’ book about the “machine that tears speech to pieces,” How to Wreck a Nice Beach. Before you watch the below 10-minute documentary on […]
The lives and recordings of Delia Derbyshire, Margery Kempe & Cosey Fanni Tutti. Earlier this month Cosey Fanni Tutti, cofounder of Throbbing Gristle and one half of Chris […]
An affordable handmade 2.3 watt tube amplifier that hits much harder than its power rating would suggest. Over the past 23 years, I have had the opportunity to […]
Going deep with cult Detroit electro-techno outfit Drexciya. Sometimes submergence is the only way to explore and understand the mission of a particular artist: dive in, ignore everything […]
The experimental guitarist’s latest album Shebang! has arrived on Chicago-based independent label Drag City. To discover Oren Ambarchi’s discography is like coming upon a shimmering labyrinth in the […]
How a tiny turntable restoration company turned a new generation of vinyl listeners into the cult of Thorens. Have you taken a look at turntable prices lately? Inflation […]
On June 1, 1973, a drunken Robert Wyatt fell out of a fourth-floor window and broke his spine. A founding member of British band Soft Machine, in a […]
German rave classics and modern dance grooves from Kompakt Records’ Perel. Annegret Fiedler aka Perel has come a long way since her early years singing and playing in punk […]
John Oswald’s deconstructionist ‘Plunderphonics’ collage approach meets the Grateful Dead. In the early 1990s, the Canadian sound artist John Oswald was granted full access to the Grateful Dead’s […]
Essential pre-iPhone era archival footage from dub soundsystem parties. If you’re like us and have yet to experience the legendary dub sound systems of Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti-I, […]
Haunting performances from Julee Cruise, Peter Ivers, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Scott, and more. Listen in on any conversation about David Lynch’s music and the name Angelo Badalamenti will […]
Hallucinogenic journeys with the soon-to-be-disbanding Japanese psychedelic rock band. Earlier this year the great Japanese psych-prog-folk-jam-band Kikagaku Moyo released what they say will be their swan song. Called […]
An underrated vintage receiver designed by one of the most respected sound engineers of our time. Outside of audio circles, it is not well known that Advent manufactured […]
A collection of interviews with the late great “Astral Traveler,” Pharoah Sanders. This weekend the world lost a giant. Pharoah Sanders, whose singular approach to composition and performance […]
Explore some of Impulse! Records’ latest releases ahead of our in-store listening party 5-7pm tonight. Some logos hold a special kind of power. Even design elements – color […]
A look into one of our favorite new labels from Dublin, Ireland. In the last few years, a new wave of left-field artists has emerged from the lush […]
Recent favorites from Brazil, Japan, Toronto, Australia, London, and more. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who […]
The Quad 303 and 33 are two of the best British vintage audio components from before you were born. How do they sound decades later? As much as […]
tl;dr: It’s not fun. Do it very carefully. It’s going to be expensive. Your back will ache and your legs will throb – even if you use a […]
The Melbourne duo has released a live video and album recorded at Syndey Opera House. If you were lucky enough to catch Melbourne-based duo HTRK on their international […]
Considered one of the great albums of the 1970s, it’s a mystic Rastafarian ode to Jah. The refrain arrives as if the singing narrators are announcing a new […]
Immerse yourself in an intimate Brooklyn listening space. Anyone who has spent time in New York knows that it’s a loud city. The streets are constantly bustling with […]
A portable listening party with George the Poet and producer Benbrick. In the genre-bending BBC podcast “Have You Heard George’s Podcast,” George the Poet and producer Benbrick combine […]
Ambient translations in dub, Japan in the ’80s, and future music with visionary bass player / producer Bill Laswell. A few months ago, news arrived that iconic bass […]
Garage house, balearic grooves, boogie, and more from local DJ Xica Soul. One of our favorite selectors in town, Daniela Zepeda aka Xica Soul knows how to make […]
A potent alchemy of texture and rhythm akin to ‘My Life in the Bush of Ghosts’ or early Material albums. During the spring of 1984 in a semi-rural […]
What you need to know about understanding frequency response curves of loudspeakers. Here’s an essential archival article from Paul Diacomo, a brilliant writer and longtime Polk Audio executive […]
Extreme Animals is a long-running project by artist Jacob Ciocci. A crucial member of the ’00s Providence, RI music and art scene that helped birth Lightning Bolt, he […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye shares his best record cleaning solutions to maintain your records. When I went to Japan as an ESL teacher in my mid-20s, it marked not […]
Fly or Die. Rest in peace jaimie branch. Like the rest of the world, Tuesday afternoon turned dark for us as news broke that trumpeter, bandleader, and composer […]
Remembering an iconic ’90s track that bridged Northwest indie-pop and sample-based electronic music. In mid-1990s America, the independent underground music world was frustratingly balkanized. Detroit was producing sturdy […]
Derek Piotr speaks to Death is Not the End label boss Luke Owen. For the fourth edition of our Heroes Series, I sat down with my current partner-in-crime […]
ISC’s John Jones speaks to the “bubblin’ up” production trio from Chicago. At In Sheep’s Clothing, we’ve quickly become fans of the Chicago three-piece outfit Purelink. Their first […]
Mid-80’s digital new age meets the voices of Lyra Pramuk, Holly Herndon, and Mindar the Buddhist Robot on the Seahawks’ latest album. Let’s talk about headphone music – […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye shares his adventures with the Klipsch KLF-30 speakers. On March 15th I had the opportunity to hear my second ever pair of Klipsch loudspeakers. In […]
“This film is the ultimate reference about reggae. A pure gem.” One great thing about a crucial music documentary is its ability to crack open a portal to […]
A tribute to singular musician and spiritual leader Alice Coltrane in celebration of her 85th birthday. Here’s another very special happening coming up at Grand Performances in downtown […]
Sights, sounds, and mathematics from Japan’s leading audiovisual artist Ryoji Ikeda. Since his arrival on the international stage in the mid-1990s via his early releases for Touch, +/-, sonic […]
Synth-pop, indie, and dubwise downtempo from NYC based DJ Yibing! About a month ago, I got a chance to catch New York based DJ Yibing play a poolside […]
All hail the Sims 2: Nightlife soundtrack. In the late 1990s a trio of 10-inch records by a little known London beat-based duo called Lemon Jelly hit the […]
In the late 1980s, rap labels Jive and Profile issued a series of killer house and techno comps featuring remixes by Marshall Jefferson, Kevin Saunderson and dozens more. […]
Derek Piotr continues his ‘Heroes’ interview series with Finnish audio sculptress Antye Greie-Ripatti aka AGF. I am delighted to introduce Antye Greie-Ripatti, aka poemproducer, aka AGF. Antye and […]
Efficient Space returns with another narrative driven comp, this time focusing on the regional backwaters of North America. If you were a regular at the ISC listening bar, […]
McIntosh, Technics, GLI, Acoustic Research, and more legendary gear and memorabilia from the godfather of rap, DJ Kool Herc. Later this month the esteemed auction house Christie’s will […]
Recently one of the great mix CDs of the so-called electronica age, Kruder & Dorfmeister’s The K&D Sessions from 1998, finally landed on streaming services a quarter-century after […]
It’s been almost two decades since Sun Ra, the enigmatic artist who reported Saturn as his birthplace, left our planet and yet – the cosmic jazz pioneer’s Afrofuturist […]
One of the best and easiest ways to support independent artists and physical media… It will surprise some to learn that the venerable Maxell tape is still in […]
Phonographs, shellac discs, dusty 45’s, and archival videos curated and presented by Lance and April Ledbetter. For the past 20-plus years, the Georgia-based archival imprint Dust-to-Digital has been […]
With 2022 more than halfway gone, we figured it was time to wrangle some of our favorite records into a loose collection. What follows is a selection of […]
A suite of raga-inspired compositions and improvisations centered around just tuning, deep listening, and resonant spaces. To better appreciate the sublime forthcoming collaboration by Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison […]
A ‘straight ahead’ mix from Naffi’s Brenda Ray including an unreleased track titled “As Time Passes By.” There are many pathways into the world of Brenda Kenny a.k.a. […]
30-minutes of pure cosmic joy and wonder from Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Arkestra. By 1972, Sun Ra had firmly established his Arkestra as a formidable presence on […]
The great Miles Davis delivers a heartbreaking performance of Cyndi Lauper’s pop classic. In 1985, the “king of cool” Miles Davis released You’re Under Arrest, a collection of […]
Though criminally underrated as a player, jazz pianist Marian McPartland served a crucial role in facilitating conversations with geniuses. As the host of Piano Jazz, an hour-long interview […]
One of the most iconic Japanese audio brands, vintage Sansui amplifiers have become super hot on the used market and we know why. In my last year of […]
Listen to highlights from the selections. A master at comprehensive musical overviews and the thoughtful unpacking of brilliant sounds, writer Sasha Frere-Jones recently focused his attention on German […]
No one interpreted classics like her. Here are five great ones. When it comes to adapting other writers’ songs, there’s Nina Simone, and everyone else. Raised as a […]
Have prices for vintage Marantz components made them a stretch for a lot of vintage audio fans? Fear not. We have other options. Vintage Marantz components have seen […]
This illuminating hour-long 1993 documentary will rewire your brain. Sometimes you come across a documentary, article, essay or DJ mix that explodes your world. Something you didn’t realize […]
Watch the first part of a two-part doc portrait of the unorthodox Jazz piano great, featuring live performances at the Village Vanguard and intimate BTS footage of 1967 […]
The genius keyboardist’s jazz-funk band was on fire – and a pro film crew captured the moment. In 1973, a restless Herbie Hancock, fresh from his cosmically free […]
“Nobody was willing to market the sound of Hindi New Wave.” The much-anticipated followup to Naya Beat’s critically lauded debut compilation South Asian Dance and Electronic Music 1983-1992 […]
There is no equality without access to comprehensive reproduction health care. Another dark day in America last Friday as the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade eliminating the […]
Two legends of German music deliver nearly two hours of improvised bliss. In 1999, two towering figures of electronic music, Michael Rother and Dieter Moebius, stood onstage in […]
Recent favorites from Italy, Brazil, Leipzig, Memphis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music […]
Watch an ’80s tourist promo for the legendary open-air Ibiza nightclub that rivaled Studio 54. Summer has officially arrived, and in light of all this heat and sunshine […]
Tana Yonas speaks to the great Hailu Mergia before his June 24th performance at The Regent, Los Angeles. Haliu Mergia’s story started in an unassuming small village just […]
The founder of the famed loudspeaker company guides visitors through his lab and headquarters. For a while the Klipsch Speaker company in Hope, Arkansas not only built and […]
American-made floorstanding loudspeakers offer a taste high-end audio for under $2,000. I know I’ve been harping on “affordability” a lot recently on eCoustics. Boring. Yawn. I get it. […]
Watch the Throbbing Gristle cofounder’s innovative visual work of the ‘80s and ‘90s. “Evolution requires mutation,” wrote the late British musician, visual artist and “pandrogyny” advocate Genesis Breyer […]
Dive into seven essential tracks from Melbourne’s CS + Kreme ahead of their LA debut at ISC HQ on June 25th. The weird tunes world is more accessible […]
A short retrospective on the Twin Peaks crooner, along with some of our favorite recordings from the late dream-pop icon. Eerie, otherworldly, the epitome of ethereal, Julee Cruise […]
Watch a documentary on a pair of landmark product releases and the ways they upended global culture. In the relative scheme of things, it wasn’t too long ago […]
Part 2 on how the French singer “borrowed” from the Nigerian drum master. (Editor’s note: this is Part 2 of this Feature, read Part 1 here: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/serge-gainsbourg-babatunde-olatunji/) Hailing from […]
Nikole Guzman in conversation with visual artist, singer-songwriter, and Prince collaborator Ingrid Chavez. Ingrid Chavez has always been undefinable. Among many other things, she’s a poet, songwriter, singer, […]
A living legend and one of the all-time great sonic explorers, Bill Laswell, needs our help. It is no exaggeration to say that we are huge fans of […]
The journey of a beat from Nigeria to New York to Paris to ‘New York – U.S.A.’ Long before he established a reputation as a clever songwriter who […]
A short documentary filmed in 1974 captures the Scottish folk guitarist in the studio. In the spring of 1974, Scottish guitarist Bert Jansch commenced recording sessions at label […]
Starting in 1963, the guitarist-oudist recorded three versions of his extended work. They will calm you down (and blow you away). Sometimes we all need to call a […]
Baltimore-based musician PJ Dorsey aka Tarotplane shares his five favorite Kosmische records. After giving up music for almost 10 years in the late 90s to mid 2000s, Baltimore-based […]
Ubiquitous on vintage audio marketplaces, the company’s flagship speaker outperforms fancier brands. Once upon a time at an estate sale in the middle of Missouri, two lucky gear […]
An ambient music exhibit featuring spatial audio works by Morton Subotnick, Patrick Gleeson, Craig Leon, Suzanne Ciani, and others. Dublab’s long-running Tonalism series is making it’s way to […]
Watch the 2011 film documenting the genesis of lover’s rock featuring interviews and footage of Dennis Bovell, Jean Adebambo, Janet Kay, and more. The Story of Lover’s Rock […]
Recent favorites from the Bay Area, Indonesia, London via Shanghai, Berlin, and Hungary. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their founding, an ode to Sade’s fifth album. Some artists transcend taste, are so naturally skilled at conveying universal emotion that their creations […]
Watch the seven-part surreal and transcendental TV opera by the American avant-garde giant. The complete seven acts of Robert Ashley’s celebrated visual work Perfect Lives have been uploaded […]
Before he died at 44 in 1998, the brilliant experimental player was a central figure in ‘80s and ‘90s New York avant-jazz scene. Next year will mark the […]
Step into the world of chillout pioneer Morris Gould aka Mixmaster Morris aka Irresistible Force. “The sampler changed my life,” the British DJ and producer Mixmaster Morris told […]
Though only a 7-inch single, the 1991 record offers a primal primer on the New Zealand experimental scene. Nearly 35 years ago, experimental guitarist Bruce Russell founded a […]
Derek Piotr interviews Nathan Salsburg, musician and curator for the Alan Lomax Archive. I was overjoyed to invite Nathan Salsburg to participate in this series; Nathan and I […]
Three modern sounding loudspeakers with an old-school aesthetic from Klipsch, JBL, and Wharfedale. Consumers and manufacturers love to wax poetically about “vintage” when it comes to loudspeakers and […]
Pachyman comes through with 5 selects prior to his appearance at This Ain’t No Picnic festival. Los Angeles-based musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and all around dub champion Pachy García […]
How a 4-hour drive between Midwestern cities transformed electronic beat music. It’s no coincidence that two of electronic beat music’s most important subgenres, house and techno, were born […]
Crates LA is back for another record pop-up this Saturday 1-7pm at In Sheep’s Clothing Records. In anticipation of the record sale this Saturday, Crates LA has sent […]
Derek Piotr interviews storm chaser / musician Hank Schyma aka Pecos Hank. For anyone with even a casual interest in extreme weather, Pecos Hank should be a household […]
A 1986 story by Barry Walters shined a spotlight on a new dance-floor sound. In 1986, the great music writer Barry Walters, who made his name covering underground […]
Baba Stiltz “In L.A.” is available now exclusively at In Sheep’s Clothing Records and Public Possession. Stockholm-based musician, singer, and producer Baba Stiltz is bringing it “home,” in […]
The extended composition’s best known version is 75 minutes long and features harmonizing by Tom Waits. In the early 1970s, the British minimalist composer Gavin Bryars had begun […]
Exploring the wild world of YouTube channel Are Sounds Electrik? It’s been about 50 years since the synthesizer began easing its way into the mainstream, and man were […]
The Mermaid’s Purse captures a brilliant group of uncategorizable musical explorers. Core member Wall Matthews recalls their work. To best introduce the work of the Entourage Music and […]
Ecoustics’ Jeremy Sikora shares his journey acquiring and restoring the rare Fisher 400 Tube Receiver. The Budget Audiophiler is going to begin this week with a little rant. […]
A look into the great Zulu Warrior, legendary dub soundsystem operator and producer Jah Shaka. “It’s something like seeing the Wizard of Oz for the first time; all […]
Hear a pair of revelatory versions featuring Brian Eno on “splintered” Minimoog. Last week two David Bowie tracks recorded during the Low sessions in 1976 showed up on […]
Six essential new releases to get you through the week. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who […]
Buying tip: Aldo Ciccolini’s essential recordings are easily found, exquisitely pressed and helped define a musical movement. In 1956 at the dawn of the hi-fi age, the Italian […]
A new collection by U.K. label Matsuli Music explores the jazz-funk sounds of Club Pelican, a renegade spot in South Africa during the height of Apartheid. The liner […]
Peak Oil’s Brian Foote and Brion Brionson chat ’90s raves, indie rock, and faceless techno bollocks. In the early ‘90s, rave culture exploded across the United States. Generator […]
A book that “travels from the rainforests of the Amazonas to virtual Las Vegas, high in the Hollywood Hills to the megalopolis of Tokyo.” Earlier this week we […]
The best book on the rise of electronic dance music turns 25 next year. The introduction to Simon Reynolds’ essential book Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno […]
Pino, Blake, and Sam’s ‘Live at Sound City’ is out today via ISC Hi-Fi Selects. Generations apart, Pino Palladino, Blake Mills, and Sam Gendel are in many ways […]
Check out a video explainer on an instrument used by Eno, Bowie, Mark Mothersbaugh and more. The ad copy says it all: “Sound like a pro—make music instantly, […]
Looking for a pair of entry-level bookshelf speakers? Check this honest review from ecoustics on the Klipsch RP-600M. A lot of ink has been spilt about the Klipsch […]
Step into a world of North Carolina mountain singing with music archivist Derek Piotr. A series of recordings collected by Herbert Halpert for the Library of Congress in […]
An overview of one of the greatest drummers you’ve (likely) never heard. Let’s talk about Susie Ibarra, perhaps the greatest percussionist you’ve never heard. Across three-plus decades, the […]
Listen to highlights from an unsung legend’s early career. To get a sense of the ways in which Timmy Thomas’ music has seeped into contemporary culture, take a […]
Saigon rock & soul, Bollywood steel guitar, Khmer Folk and beyond… For the past 19 years the Seattle label Sublime Frequencies has been traveling the globe in search […]
In light of her recent passing, here is a short musical introduction to the funk pioneer, fashion icon, and bonafide Nasty Gal. Wholly unique, a force to be […]
Recent favorites from New York, Detroit, Akron, and Ukraine. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who read […]
Brilliant footage of the Miles Davis Quintet at peak power. Between Feb. 1969 and Feb. 1970, Miles Davis released eight albums. Near the tail end of that amazing […]
In Sheep’s Clothing announces the first edition of our ISC Hi-FI Selects series. Back in 2018, Pino Palladino, Blake Mills, and Sam Gendel played one of the first […]
The prolific head of Tzadik’s sublime work mixes jazz, Hebrew melodies and genre-bending beauty. In 1995, the New York composer, saxophonist and visionary John Zorn embarked on a […]
A selection of restrained, melodic IDM from 1997. Twenty-five years ago, a barrage of wild, speedy albums came onto the market that propelled the subgenres drum ‘n bass […]
Five mesmerizing tracks by the Austrian experimental electronic producer and instrumentalist. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Hotel Paral.lel, the first solo album by Austrian experimental guitarist […]
Get the best sound from your turntable by upgrading its phono cartridge. Vinyl finds itself at an unexpected crossroads in 2022; a new generation of listeners has turned […]
A tipsheet on the trailblazing British duo, who formed after Throbbing Gristle’s early ‘80s breakup. Let’s talk about industrial music. Wait – come back! Not the relentless aggro […]
The producer born James Yancey changed the way hip hop could sound. Last week something wonderfully weird happened: A definitive biography of the great beat producer J Dilla […]
John Jones chats with Lifted’s Andrew Field-Pickering (Max D) and Matt Papich. Lifted is an ever-shifting music ensemble anchored by their two founding members, Andrew Field-Pickering (Max D) […]
Today we take a look at the mighty eighty-plus pound broadcast turntable – Elektromesstechnik’s 927 and its compact kid brother, the EMT 930. Massive, industrial, monochromatic, and most […]
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, here are One Hundred Love Songs, a dive into Lesley Duncan’s seminal 1969 ballad and the endless covers that followed. If you’ve been […]
Post-Can selections from one of our favorite drummers – Jaki Liebezeit. There’s no mistaking the sound of Can drummer Jaki Liebewitz’s pound. Both sparse and complex, the late […]
It’s a composition that “scared the bejabbers” out of David Bowie the first time he heard it. Sometime this week when you’re feeling particularly sane, stable and able […]
The brilliant Brazilian singer, songwriter and political activist Caetano Veloso will turn 80 in August, and given his stature, influence and shimmering output over the past 60-plus years, […]
Recent favorites from Los Angeles, Melbourne, Munich, Dublin, and Algeria. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who […]
Limited on space and budget? Check these great sounding bookshelf speakers from $318 and up. Most people love the idea of a pair of floor standing loudspeakers in […]
Instrumental magic from the Chicago underground. Though it’s always been a crucial music center, in the past half-decade a bunch of Chicago avant-jazz players have been commanding the […]
In celebration of his 82nd birthday today, here is a retrospective on Eberhard Weber, the eminent bass innovator, ECM mainstay, and ISC favorite. It’s hard to define the […]
Looking for a classic vintage power amplifier? The Dynaco ST-70 needs to be on your radar if you crave that classic EL34 tube sound. Not all vintage buys […]
Matt Marble’s podcast is a fascinating dive into the esoteric history of musical spiritualism. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you don’t need to be convinced […]
Key moments and tracks from On-U Sound’s premier dub group. You could spend the rest of the winter researching producer, musician and On-U Sound founder Adrian Sherwood – […]
Remembering the inimitable Jacqueline du Pré, widely considered as one of the greatest classical cellists of the 20th century. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Jacqueline du […]
Cosmic soul, breezy soft rock, and latin funk from Crates LA. Crates LA is a blog and music channel dedicated to uncovering obscure and unknown songs across a […]
Ecoustics’ Eric Pye (Audio Love NYC) shares his journey with two premium vintage turntables from the 70’s. In the early ‘90s I took the digital plunge, and I […]
The great Jeff Parker shares five diverse selections from psychedelic jazz to visionary hip-hop. Jeff Parker is a musician that deals in many worlds. Equally adept at soloing […]
Art Don’t Sleep’s jazz series is back at The Lodge Room on March 13 with The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. If you’re a jazz fan in Los Angeles, […]
A fully comprehensive guide to buying vintage audio from ecoustics’ Budget Audiophiler. After reading the first two installments of my column, I’m sure it’s become obvious that I have a […]
Coffee, books, sandwiches, and dub! The year is finally coming to a close and boy, has it been one: Lockdowns, social distancing, vaccines, variants, worlds opening and closing […]
Join us New Year’s Eve for a special In Sheep’s Clothing set supporting DIIV. Shoegaze and dream pop have been making their way back into our collective consciousness. […]
Moog synthesizers, Roots Radics, vocoders, Arthur Lyman and other lesser-known Christmas sounds. There are Christmas songs they have not told you about. Songs that celebrate the season not […]
You love reissues. We love reissues. Here are some more favorites from 2021. From rare midwestern soul, cosmic jazz, Angolan funk and Swiss library music to Armenian disco, […]
Five crucial selections from Tokyo’s Toshihito “Dubby” Maeyama. Toshihito “Dubby” Maeyama is one of the most revered record collectors in Tokyo. Having worked at legendary record store Cisco […]
Another strange year in the books. In 2021, we finally begin to crawl out of this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. It hasn’t been a smooth transition by any means, but […]
For our next Art & Design: In Focus feature, we look into the psychedelic worlds of MC Escher. Ever feel stuck in your music discovery routine? After extended […]
Another installment of deep cuts, this time we take a look at an ISC patron saint, the enigmatic and genre-defying ~ John Martyn. Before what some consider […]
KLF, The Orb, Plastikman and more ambient classics from the 1990’s. At the beginning of the year, the essential Music from Memory label issued Virtual Dreams: Ambient Explorations […]
Klipsch, Altec Lansing, JBL, Advent, Acoustic Research, and more classics that won’t bust your budget. A great stereo system, the saying goes, is only as good as its […]
Part 3 of our series highlighting hidden gems from your local record store’s bargain bin. In the record collecting community, there’s an idea that to build a great […]
Synthesized Satie for home listening, the dance floor, and beyond. You’ve heard groundbreaking French composer Erik Satie’s slow, existential sounding pieces in numerous films, shows, animations, and documentaries. […]
A few selections from our favorite online archive of art, music, film, and all things esoteric. Though you’ve likely stumbled across a post or two from UbuWeb during […]
Nearing the holidays with more great new music from the UK, France, Switzerland, and Bay Area. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues […]
Seven vintage but affordable amplifiers to upgrade your listening setup. Here’s a scenario that virtually anyone who has entered the home listening game by investing in a vintage […]
“A fusion of sounds.” More selections from the Armenian Diaspora (1971-1982). Darone Sassounian is an Armenian-American DJ, selector, and producer in Los Angeles who spent three years tracking […]
Austin Brown shares his journey into sound system culture and deep listening with 5 recent favorites. Several years ago Parquet Courts cofounder Austin Brown started going to the […]
McIntosh announces an updated version of their classic power amp. More than 50 years ago, the hi-fi magazine Stereo Review opened its assessment of the then-new McIntosh MC-3500 […]
An eclectic selection of new favorites from Séance Centre, Warp Records, Club Romantico, Nothing But Net, and Into The Light Records. Each week the global listening community gets […]
The innovative vocalist and composer will premiere a new piece at Mills College in Oakland. Vocalist, composer, choreographer, artist, and ECM favorite Meredith Monk has a new piece […]
Essential tracks, collaborations, and productions from The Velvet Underground’s electric viola player, John Cale. A few weeks ago, “The Velvet Underground,” director Todd Haynes’ documentary on the influential […]
Join us as we continue to grow and build new listening experiences. In 2017, we set out to create a space where analog culture, including records and hi-fidelity […]
Downtempo and abstract electronica selections from one of the principal architects of modern Japanese pop music. It’s virtually impossible to find an individual as prolific and influential as […]
Fresh sounds from Zurich, Brooklyn, Russia, and British Columbia selected by your your friends at In Sheep’s Clothing. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new […]
For our next Art & Design: In Focus feature, we take a look at iconic New York free jazz label, Impulse! When Creed Taylor launched Impulse! Records in […]
The British shoegaze movement wouldn’t have existed without Alan McGee’s aesthetic in the years before the ‘90s explosion. Before bands including My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Slowdive, Swervedriver and […]
A look into some of our favorite audiophile bars around the globe, old and new, from Hong Kong to Miami. In recent years, hi-fi and listening bars have […]
Legendary Klipsch, McIntosh, Altec, Sansui equipment from the Grateful Dead go up for auction this Thursday. On Thursday, Sotheby’s will open bidding on a breathtakingly deep auction of […]
Suzanne Kraft joins us for an intimate live show at In Sheep’s Clothing HQ this Friday with friends. Earlier this summer, Los Angeles native Diego Herrera, aka Suzanne […]
From Yoshio Suzuki, Seigen Ono, to Ichiko Hashimoto, here are our essential releases from the cult minimalist imprint. Inspired by Erik Satie’s belief that music, just as beautiful […]
Our friends at Numero Group deliver a definitive tribute to gospel legend Pastor T.L. Barrett. In late 1960s Chicago, not long after bands like the Rolling Stones and […]
Younge hosted the last night of the ISC residency at Neuehouse, and this ARTFORM video shows a glimpse of his world and way of thinking. The In Sheep’s […]
Recent reissues and new releases shared by your friends at In Sheep’s Clothing. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As […]
Dive into a singular artist whose beautifully chaotic energy inspired us during the pandemic. Last year as the pandemic forced us all inside to isolate, the fantastic speaker […]
Rest in power Richard H. Kirk. We revisit 5 tracks from the electronic music pioneer’s multitude of projects. Richard H. Kirk, sadly, has passed at 65. Besides founding […]
Five new releases we’re extremely excited about. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who read these missives […]
Exploring contemporary projects and shifts in a futurist utopia with releases from Arushi Jain, Brian Eno, Laurie Spiegel, and Kuniyuki Takahashi. Since its origin, ambient music has been […]
Revisiting a lost Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder collaboration recorded at George Martin’s AIR studio. Mention a Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder collaboration and most people will likely […]
New Tara Clerkin Trio, spiritual free jazz, Chinese dreamscapes, and more of that “Now Sound” selected by the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing. Each week the global listening […]
Katsumasa Kusunose, founder of the great Jazz Kissa publication, shares his fifteen favorite jazz kissas in Tokyo. Currently, about 100 jazz kissa and jazz bars are open in […]
Highly recommended vintage hi-fi reading from audiophile writer Hans Fantel. Though his name is nearly lost to time, starting in the 1950s the writer Hans Fantel was a […]
New releases selected by the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing. Each week the global listening community gets bombarded with new releases, reissues and restocks. As music freaks who […]
Amaro Freitas’ spiritual quest into the forgotten stories, philosophies and figures of Black Brazil. The Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas drew the title of his exquisite new jazz trio […]
Building a system from the ground up? Start with the speakers. Some sage advice from a 1975 essay in High Fidelity magazine. The whole thing can be overwhelming, […]
Multi-instrumentalist, drummer (CMON, Drugdealer), and NTS radio host Josh da Costa shares five gems. CMON (Confusing Mix Of Nations) is the studio project of Josh da Costa formerly […]
“Not exactly a sporting selection” from hero Chee Shimizu. For anyone looking for some musical inspiration today, here’s a perfect playlist from our friend Chee Shimizu. Selected for […]
Introducing Cell Alpha, the world’s first Triphonic speaker. I wasn’t quite sure what to think when I first saw Syng’s Cell Alpha speaker. The clear, almost droid-like design […]
Khruangbin’s new record ‘Mordechai Remixes’ is out now. Tana Yonas sits down with the band to talk about the history of remixing and how vinyl collecting shapes their […]
Smiling C shares an intimate documentary on Mexican experimental jazz artist Germán Bringas. For the past few years, the Santa Cruz-based archival project (and one of our absolute […]
A quick dive into Brian Long’s influential ‘Excursions in Ambience’ compilation CD series. In 1993, Brian Long, a New York-based music freak who’d recently left Los Angeles and […]
The industry of ready made commercial soundtracks of the ’70s and early ’80s thrived in Europe, but composers in Italy were in a world of their own. The […]
Softly psychedelic folk, soul, rare groove from the Hawaiian islands. Few labels are as committed to uncovering old and new sounds from their local scene than Honolulu-based Aloha […]
Five “fingertracks” from Andrew Hogge aka Lovefingers. It is without exaggeration to say that Andrew Hogge, aka Lovefingers, is one of our absolute favorite selectors. His pre-social media, […]
The newly formed Fresh Hold imprint teams up with fellow Melbourne-based label Efficient Space to present a long-lost jazz grail. Michael Kucyk’s always reliable Efficient Space has teamed […]
An introduction to aural therapy with two artists exploring the healing qualities of sound. Have you noticed that days without music tend to be the low-energy days? If […]
Obscure psychedelic folk, cosmic soul, and crooning AOR from the label behind Belong to the Wind. Los Angeles reissue upstart Forager Records got off to a strong start. […]
In conversation with Nishant Mittal, founder of archival Indian music page Digging in India. Better known by his Instagram handle “Digging in India,” Nishant Mittal’s unique perspective and […]
LA based music archivist and investigator Sonrisita shares iconic records from her life and collection. Melissa Dueñas aka Sonrisita joined us as a guest selector at our ongoing […]
A round up of 10 performances from the great Brazilian singer/guitarist. It was no accident that Brazilian singer and composer Gal Costa was born to enrapture audiences around […]
Abstract, experimental electronic music from one of our favorite local labels. Shimmering. Foggy. Warm. Hypnotic. These are all words that have been used to describe the abstract electronic […]
A new “electronic travelogue” full-length from Toronto-based C.R. Gillespie arrives today via Séance Centre. We’ve been closely following the introspective, highly conceptual sonic works of Colin Roy Gillespie […]
Charlotte Renaud’s incredible essay on the celebrated Swedish auteur’s devotion to classical music. ‘If I was forced to choose between losing my hearing or losing my sight, I […]
Maximalist experimental jazz from four heroes of the genre. For eight years starting in 1986, the searing free jazz quartet of Sonny Sharrock (electric guitar), Peter Brötzmann (sax), […]
Thousand-year-old Mongolian music traditions meet folk and jazz on Squama Recordings’ latest. An undeniable magic inhabits the melodies and sounds of our youth. Lullabies, folk songs, the music of […]
Music from the 12th Isle via Glasgow’s underground. Glasgow’s 12th Isle has been steadily releasing some of our favorite genre-bending electronic works since 2016. The label takes a […]
From June 23 – September 25, the team behind In Sheep’s Clothing will host a series of dedicated listening sessions four nights a week at Neuehouse. After more […]
A deep dive on our favorite dollar bin jazz man, aka the professor of cool, and a selection of essential songs from his decades-spanning career. When you’re in […]
A recent doc showcases unsung female electronic pioneers including Delia Derbyshire, Pauline Oliveros, Laurie Spiegel, Suzanne Cianni + a few of our favorites from these legends. In case […]
The jazz world mirrors the suppression of women in most areas of mid-century society. Val Wilmer made sure they would never be forgotten. When focusing on and appreciating […]
The ingenious novelty of playable vinyl stamps from the Bhutan postal agency. It’s no wonder that the so-called “happiest nation in the world” found a way to make […]
A timeless synth played by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Alessandro Cortini, and Wendy Carlos. Introduced by Bay Area synthesizer innovator Don Buchla’s company in 1973, the Buchla Music Easel […]
Ten absurdly beautiful plinth designs. The physical experience of playing vinyl helps listeners rationalize elaborate customizations, from record shelves to speaker stands. One of the most gratifying, and […]
A list of kid-friendly holy grails, including two of the most sought-after LPs of all time: Stark Reality Discovers Hoagy Carmichael’s Music Shop and The Langley Schools Music […]
Footage of Durutti Column performing in Kaivopuisto Park in their early Factory Records days and a few other rare appearances. Vini Reilly of Durutti Column was the first […]
How “Scratch” inspired John Martyn’s 1977 classic proto trip-hop recording ‘One World.’ Truly a “worlds collide” pairing, in 1976 UK folk musician and ISC patron saint John Martyn […]
A few basic concepts to get the best sound out of your listening room. With all the time, money and effort spent buying and putting together the hi-fi […]
Tracing the impact of seminal kraut rock bands like Tangerine Dream, Harmonia, Ash Ra Temple, and more. As a generation of youths of came of age in 1960’s […]
Our recent favorites from NTS, dublab, Bar Part Time, and XLR8R. Music discovery has always been a central mission of In Sheep’s Clothing. Whether among staff, patrons, or […]
ISC sits down with Condesa Electronics founder Mehdi El-Aquil to talk mixers, how Condesa came to be, and the future of rotaries. Based in Adelaide, Australia, Condesa Electronics in […]
An ISC deep dive into the leftfield, intimate, and dreamy pop sounds of one of Belgium’s finest labels and our personal highlights from their diverse catalog. Translated as […]
Ambient selections from the deep discography of influential Japanese electronic producer Susumu Yokota. Where to start with Susumu Yokota. When asked about his mission in making music, the […]
Andy Beta interviews Brazilian singer/composer Priscilla Ermel. “Dear Mr. Eno, I would like you to know about our work, we work with tapes and sounds of Nature.” So […]
The musical world of psychedelia in Brazil is so profound and prolific it often drowns out contributions from the rest of the continent. We highlight some of those […]
“The asymmetric relationship between those who give orders & those who must obey is always demonstrated by who controls access to the soundscape.” Our friends at Radio Alhara […]
Part 2 of our series highlighting low budget music videos with that perfectly endearing DIY 80’s aesthetic. At the beginning of the 1980s, music began to pursue and […]
Paintings, installations, light works from ten musicians who ventured into the visual arts. Thanks to recording technology, music has now become the most consumed art form in the […]
An intro to the surreal and funky world of “library records,” the assembly-line-produced albums designed to soundtrack film and television. It’s hard to sum up the “library record.” […]
Classic advertisements and illustrations from the cassette age. When Lou Ottens, who invented the cassette tape, died in March, a host of stories celebrated the life of a […]
Shibuya-kei. Beck. Yellow Magic Orchestra. Three decades of Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius. One of Japan’s foremost musical ambassadors, Keigo Oyamada aka Cornelius has played a leading role in […]
Whether pitched up, down or at the wrong rpm entirely, sometimes the wrong speed on a turntable can completely transform a song — for the better. You’re well […]
Capturing the 70’s hi-fidelity craze in illustrations. If you were lucky enough to be a music freak who could also illustrate, in the 1960s and ‘70s you could […]
Was Rahsaan Roland Kirk the coolest person who ever lived? Rahsaan Roland Kirk unapologetically rode the edge of absurdity his entire life and regularly left audiences gobsmacked in […]
All hail the Thorens TD-160, an easily modified and uniquely designed classic turntable. History The famed Thorens TD-160 is pretty much unparalleled when it comes to classic vintage […]
Hidden gems, one trackers, and undervalued full listens from the world of bargain bin New Age. Considered one of the most “uncool” genres of the past few decades, […]
Beautiful Japanese designs from the golden age of record players. Portable technology has always been an essential part of humanity. Whether a stone tool or cellular phone, there’s an […]
Classic Marantz, Klipsch, JBL, and Garrard advertisements from the peak Hi-Fi era. Fifty years ago when magazines were the dominant source of information on listening and hi-fi culture, […]
Introducing Deep Listening Tips, a new series inspired by Pauline Oliveros’ deep listening guide. Shhh, listen. You hear that phrase a lot in life. Shut up, too. Be […]
Another installment of deep cuts, this time we take a look at the dearly beloved ~ Prince. His Royal Badness. The High Priest of Pop. The Artist Formerly […]
Celebrity sound systems featuring Garrard, Tannoy, McIntosh, Thorens, and custom hi-fi equipment. News alert: Celebrities are very much human like the rest of us, despite that popular culture […]
The next part in our intro to hi-fi series focuses on used marketplaces and how to find deals on vintage gear. Finding a killer vintage amp or turntable […]
Exploring the vast catalog of jazz records pressed in Japan with a selection of our favorite OBI’s. If you have records in your collection with an OBI, you […]
Sublime deep listening works from the founder of seminal electronic label Kompakt. In the early 1990s, Germany was a country undergoing a profound transition. The wall that separated […]
A brief history of compilation albums, the trajectory of this multi-artist concept, and of course, a list of some ISC favorites. The Compilation. Some purists may cringe at […]
New reissue label Naya Beat focuses on uncovering rarities and oddities from the subcontinent and South Asian diaspora. Co-founder Ragz shares five picks from his collection. Raghav Mani, […]
Celebrating the great Japanese vocalist, songwriter, arranger with a retrospective on her works across city pop, disco, latin jazz, and dub. With city pop mania at an all […]
Our favorite rarities from the queen of smooth soul jazz and one of the most iconic singers from the 1980s and 1990s, Sade. Born in Ibadan, Nigeria to […]
A new series highlighting low budget music videos with that perfectly endearing DIY 80’s aesthetic. At the start of the 1980s, music began to pursue a new form: […]
In conversation with Justin Gage, founder of the long-running, eclectic audio journal Aquarium Drunkard. For the past 15 years, Aquarium Drunkard has provided a home for music heads […]
Fish scales. Video Stores. Jazz. The multi-layered world of Munich-based label Squama Recordings. Martin Brugger is a producer and bass player for the modern jazz quintet Fazer. Max […]
Background When committing to hi-fi audio gear you’re going to have a lot of choices, and among the most crucial is whether you’ll be looking for a tube […]
More “CD Age” selections from two of Japan’s most respected diggers. If you haven’t yet listened to Music from Memory’s newest release Heisei No Oto – Japanese Left-field […]
Punk, disco, hip hop and experimental. A look into the seminal New York City ‘No Wave’ label. New York City in 1980 was at a musical crossroads: the […]
A brief primer on Ikutaro Kakehashi, the revolutionary engineer who built the world’s most widely used electronic equipment. At 28, a young engineer named Ikutaro Kakehashi began a […]
Cats don’t seem to care much for music, but musicians certainly care about cats. Cats. They’re not only beloved fixtures of domesticity, but also have a rich history […]
A look into the most prolific years from the genre-defining dream pop label. The great British label 4AD was co-founded by Peter Kent and Ivo Watts-Russell, the latter […]
After 21 years, Beats in Space will be “taking a break.” Though it may not be the end, here’s a tribute to one of our favorite radio shows. […]
Background When Jonathan Weiss first laid eyes on the old stone Oswalds Mill building in the wilds outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania in New Tripoli, he knew it was […]
An intro to the production duo who brought jazz and funk together with artists like Donald Byrd, Johnny Hammond, and Marvin Gaye. Before the Mizell brothers, the cultures […]
A look into the genius singer-songwriter who explored northern soul, “new folk sounds” and jazz, while always flying just below the radar. Terry Callier seemed destined to play […]
Continuing our intro to hi-fi series with a look at one of the most important components of the sound system – the phono cartridge. When considering the sound […]
For the next piece in our Art & Design series, we’ve decided to take a slightly different approach. Instead of focusing on a particular designer, artist or style, […]
While most architects and designers were busy developing the future of everyday things, a few made the foray into hi-fi and had stunning results. Aiming to add simplicity […]
A look into the producer/engineer behind classics like Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Judee Sill’s Heart Food. We’ve touched on Henry Lewy’s work in the past, but even then […]
A list of our favorite Paul McCartney rarities and a closer look at the broad scope of one of pop music’s best. There’s no real need for any […]
Celebrating 40 years of On-U Sound with selections from the label’s catalog of groundbreaking post-punk meets dub productions. Emerging during a time in the UK when racial tensions […]
A primer on Japanese experimental masters EYE, Yoshimi, Seiichi Yamamoto and the hypnotic mess they’ve made. The Boredoms aren’t an easy group to nail down. One of the strangest-ever […]
A look into the label behind the iconic ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING. If you’ve stepped into a reputable record store or stereo dealer in the past 30 years, you’ve […]
Tana Yonas explores the 7″ format with music writer Elizabeth Owuor and former Island Records exec Danny Holloway. Many record collectors who focus on albums or 12-inch singles […]
Fresh Bread is out now on Leaving Records. Sam Gendel walks us through five records in his current rotation. If you’re not yet familiar with Sam Gendel’s work […]
Surprisingly affordable, powerful integrated receivers with warm, clear sound. Background: Maybe it’s the nostalgia. Perhaps it’s the distinctive stainless steel look, with its warm golden glow emanating from […]
Folk, blues, minimalism and beyond. Selections from John Fahey’s seminal Americana label Takoma Records. It’s difficult not to think about Takoma Records without John Fahey’s name coming up. […]
Tana Yonas speaks to Blue Note’s Joe Harley on his history with jazz and the upcoming releases in their Tone Poet hi-fi series. Blue Note’s recent Tone Poet […]
A look into New York’s longest-running sound installation created by influential minimalist La Monte Young and multi-disciplinary artist Marian Zazeela. “The daddy of us all” is a direct […]
The Lounge Lizards, Fishing with John, Stranger Than Paradise, Painting with John: ISC celebrates a singular artist. To continue the celebration of John Lurie’s new introspective HBO series, […]
A new full length-album from G.S. Schray arrives March 5th on Last Resort. We’ve been closely following Akron musician G.S. Schray ever since his album Gabriel was released […]
For the first piece in our new gear series, we take a look at one of our all time favorite speakers, the Klipsch Heresy. Background: First introduced by […]
Jocelyn Romo shares five essential selections that go beyond the preconceptions of what prog can be. The very word makes any number of music fans recoil: Prog. The […]
Post-punk and dub selections from the originator of lovers rock. The British reggae and dub producer Dennis Bovell is best known for his work producing sweet, swinging post-roots-reggae […]
Love songs from our friend Dakota Johnson. Dear Love Songs, You are my sweet companion. You break my heart. You make me fall in love with love. You […]
Hidden gems in the Don Cherry catalog including collaborations with Sun Ra, Terry Riley, and Alejandro Jodorowsky. The “organic music” of free jazz trumpet player Don Cherry has […]
This cinematic movement centered around the black experience gave legends like Roy Ayers and Barry White their first shot at scoring films. The American civil rights movement in […]
Tana Yonas speaks to the Dark Entries label boss on Patrick Cowley and the importance of archiving. Music archivists and researchers often work in the shadows. For some, […]
Early electronics and computer music, new opera, experimental vocal albums: A guide to the influential Bay Area label dedicated to the American avant-garde. Since its founding in 1978, […]
Tana Yonas speaks to Discogs’ Aub Driver and Christopher Masagatani on the company’s history and how they are adapting amid a global pandemic. The vinyl community shifted with […]
A look into the influential BBC Radiophonic Workshop composer who arranged the electronic opening theme of Doctor Who. Delia Derbyshire’s fascination with electronic music started when she was […]
Interested in vintage audio gear? The team behind ISC HiFi takes you through the basics and shares a few of their favorites. It’s a hotly debated topic when […]
Five iconic tracks from the 80’s featuring Dave Smith’s legendary Prophet-5 synthesizer. American synthesizer company Sequential Circuits recently announced a brand new compact desktop version of their iconic […]
Celebrating 50 years of Mwandishi with a retrospective on the albums beyond the group’s legendary trilogy. Herbie Hancock’s electronics-heavy free jazz group Mwandishi has in recent years attained […]
ISC HiFi releases 20 new (( ROOM RECORDINGS )). Bryan Ling reflects on the inspiration behind these sessions. The room recordings on the ISC website are meant to […]
Although some of its artists also used electronics, the American label Windham Hill pioneered new acoustic music to such an extent that during its peak years the label […]
Archival scans of the rare sci-fi graphic novel included with Haruomi Hosono’s Making of Non-Standard Music. Included with the complete package of Haruomi Hosono’s Making of Non-Standard Music […]
Jazz’s evolution over the decades has begat a series of subgenres: be-bop, post-bop, free-jazz, spiritual jazz and fusion, to name a few. But by the end of the […]
The unbelievable story of the Incan princess who made timeless exotica with Les Baxter. Yma Sumac had a supernatural hold on her audiences. When she walked on stage, […]
Phil Cho speaks to the artist behind dublab’s new Quadraphonic Universally Accessible Resource Kit (QUARK). Kamran V builds bridges between technology and artistry. He’s a producer, sound artist, […]
Next up in our Art & Design: In Focus series, Tana Yonas takes a look into the plants behind your favorite album covers. There is something endlessly fascinating […]
Essential productions from one of the major architects of modern Japanese pop music. To find an individual as prolific and influential as Haruomi Hosono is almost impossible in […]
Marty Sartini Garner reflects on the healing power of ambient and metal during darkened times. The first new album I fell in love with in 2020 was Leo […]
Essential lockdown viewing and the perfect gateway into “cool jazz” legend Chet Baker. Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber’s monochromatic masterpiece on “cool jazz” great Chet Baker, is a […]
Like many people around the world, we’ve been heavily listening to and remembering Daniel “MF DOOM” Dumile through his music over the last few days… One of the […]
Reissues. We love them. But can there be too many? Surely not, so here are 11 reissues and archival recordings that you might have missed during this tumultuous […]
The pandemic. George Floyd’s murder and the furious protests that followed. The election. The isolation and its physical and mental tolls. Brilliant creators like Harold Budd, Charley Pride, […]
One common language issue among serious listeners and the writers who pander to them has to do with the adjective heavy and the ways in which it is […]
Prolific Swedish electronic producer Tom Wolgers is a heavy favorite around ISC. The under-the-radar artist, who moonlighted as a fashion model, issued a series of records starting in […]
Here’s one of our absolute favorite documentaries. Alan Greenberg’s directorial debut Land of Look Behind is a beautifully honest and intimate look into the people and culture surrounding […]
Andy Beta reflects on the close and unknowable music of Ethiopian jazz pianist Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. Last week, I visited my local coffee shop. Most days, the soundtrack […]
It’s no secret that In Sheep’s Clothing focuses on active listening and the depths to be explored within the grooves of great records. We sell and recommend physical […]
In 1958, RCA Victor introduced to the world a new technology under the banner “Living Stereo.” Focused at first on standard repertoire classical music, the vinyl imprint went […]
ISC Staff Michael Friedman steps into Wes Katzir’s elegant, industrial Downtown Los Angeles showroom. It doesn’t get any more ‘state of the art’ than this, and one could […]
For many vinyl obsessives, not being able to dig for records in person due to pandemic restrictions can be tough… That feeling of finding a gem after hours […]
We had a discussion on which Aphex Twin album to feature first as a part of our collection at ISC HiFi, and went with Drukqs in part because […]
Collaborating with Brian Eno is like having your very own alchemist in the studio. Almost everything he touches turns to gold. In the interest of keeping the In […]
Tana Yonas dives into how one small country developed the brilliantly colorful sound of electrified “funana” music. The Cape Verdean Island of Santiago — where funana music was […]
Larger-than-life dub heroes. For our second Art & Design: In Focus feature, ISC staff Phil Cho traces the origins behind the iconic comic book style album cover in […]
If you hung out at In Sheep’s Clothing during daylight hours, before we lit the candles and weren’t primarily pouring whiskey, you may have noticed another collection. Yes, […]
Earlier in October the New York-based concern Oda unveiled a first-generation speaker and performance system that was years in the making. Though envisioned and prototyped long before the […]
Introducing a new series where we highlight the hidden gems, one trackers, and undervalued full listens found in your local record store’s dollar bin. In the record collecting […]
Jorge Ben didn’t need a hit in 1974. The Brazilian singer-songwriter’s Ben, released two years earlier, had capped a run that definitively established him as one of the […]
Pop quiz: name the famous jazz trumpeter that got his start in bop and yet continued on to greater success for decades after? Who was the trumpeter responsible […]
The decision to sell records at In Sheep’s Clothing came naturally. Music discovery has always been central to In Sheep’s Clothing’s DNA. A year after we opened the […]
Bryan Ling recounts his trip to Johannesburg record shop Afrosynth Records and revisits a few choice selections from store owner DJ Okapi. We only had a couple free […]
Music discovery has always been a central mission of In Sheep’s Clothing. Whether among staff, patrons or record fair-goers, our physical space was aimed at introducing people to […]
Here is a fun throwback to 1920 – a newspaper advertisement for the new Edison Phonograph and its proclamation of “Supreme Realism.” Like a magician showing the audience […]
Interested in setting up a hi-fi audio system in your home but not sure where to start? The team behind In Sheep’s Clothing hi-fi takes you through the […]
In Sheep’s Clothing was built out of necessity. Once there was a pizzeria that was looking for a home and found one in the Art’s District of Los […]
Notice anything in the recordings in our audio player? Maybe Alice Coltrane’s World Galaxy hums differently than on vinyl or streaming platforms? Perhaps it sounds a little more […]
