Los Angeles’ Expose were born in 2019, as the brainchild of vocalist and drummer Trent Rivas, but since its embryonic stages as Rivas’ solo outlet, the experimental noise rock collective has expanded, taking on guitarists Jeff Stephens and Duke Guisness, synthesizer James Novick, bassist Jake Getz, viola player Coleman Sawyer, and saxophonist Brian Bartus alongside contributions from Ray Monde of the experimental psych-pop duo Monde UFO. Expose’s debut album, E., was released in 2019, while their second full-length, ETC., was released in January this year via the magnificent Italian label Quindi Records, based in Florence. On this second release, the LA outfit double-down on a unique blend of bloated guitar fuzz and grimy analogue synths, and come out with a curiously cosmic kind of kick-ass.

The Bird Calls is the musical project of Sam Sodomsky, a writer (a Pitchfork contributor for many years), based in Brooklyn, New York. For a long time, he self-released lots of albums that he recorded at home with just his acoustic guitar and vocals. Since 2022, his approach has expanded and his albums have arrived via Ruination Record Co. Sodomsky released near 40 albums since 2011.His latest, Melody Trail, came out on February 7th, 2025. It features eclectic, colorful production by Ryan Weiner and the sharpest songwriting of Sam’s career. The lyrics are characterized by wry quotations, traces of frontier Americana imagery, and an inimitable cocktail of melancholy, nostalgia, humor, and stone-tablet wisdom about the natural rhythms of self-actualization and disappointment.