Berlin’s Bis auf’s Messer emporium has all bases covered. From two rooms in the Eastern borough of Friedrichshain, Robert and Stefan run a store and a mailorder operation, they organize gigs, and not one, but two labels: Stefan’s label is Vendetta, while Robert is head of the Adagio 830 imprint. Before visiting the store for the first time a few weeks ago, I had only been a regular mailorder customer. After one hour in the store I was already considering doing a feature for Foxy Digitalis, after another hour on the listening sofa I knew I would do it. By then it was 4pm and the small store was buzzing – on a Monday afternoon. All record players were taken, so Robert was in high demand to comment on releases he had just gotten in. And while his passion as a music dealer was obvious, he commented rather skeptically on most of the things people showed him... feature :: by Jan-Arne Sohns

More so than perhaps any festival on the radar, the lineup itself was truly the draw of Chicago’s inaugural Neon Marshmallow Fest, the four-day cornucopia of experimental music of all stripes (yes, Cornucopia did play). (yes, Cornucopia did play). Programmed by Chicagoans Dan Smith, aka Red Electric Rainbow, and Matt Kimmel, of the video site Acid Marshmallow, Neon Marshmallow somehow managed to cram in, on two stages at the beautiful, industrial Viaduct Theatre, over 90 sets by an astonishingly wide variety of prominent artists... feature :: by Travis Bird

Padna’s own Nat Hawks runs a rad micro-label out of Brooklyn with an even radder name! The releases that LFT lovingly puts out are by passionate artists that just want to do something different and push the envelope. You know, do their own thing. Artists like Robe., Arklight, Color Rabbit, Spermwhales, and Universal Studios Florida are a fun, eclectic bunch that have gotten out there thanks to this little critter of a label. Read what Nat Hawks had to tell me about his label…... feature :: by Dave Miller

Show review from August 6th, 2010 at Cafe Oto in London featuring Graham Lambkin, Call Back the Giants and Helm. I was disappointed by the headliners, but a smashing performance from Helm and some creepy poetry from Call Back The Giants made it all worthwhile... feature :: by Peter Taylor

Donovan Quinn has already proven himself to be one of the more gifted folk-pop songsmiths of the past decade through his work with Verdure and The Skygreen Leopards. But his recent efforts backed by the 13th Month have been particularly notable for their pitch perfect blend of pop, rock, and country songcraft and darkly imaginative lyrics, both enhanced by a well-considered analog sound. Donovan answered some questions about “Your Wicked Man”, his brand new full-length co-released by Soft Abuse and Shrimper Records, and about some of his other recent projects... feature :: by David Perron

Many readers of Foxy Digitalis will be familiar with the respective work of Scott Goodwin, Spencer Doran, Alex Neerman, and Jed Bindeman in projects recorded under their own names or with bands such as Bonus, The Intima, Heavy Winged, Eternal Tapestry, and RV Painting, among several others. The musicians came together to form the excellent Portland, Oregon-based group Operative, whose sound is a combination of synthesizers, drum machines, and two drummers, and a finding and developing of tightly-interwoven musical patterns within layers of percussion and variations of timbre. Operative's recent 12" LP and digital release on Root Strata, "Ramp" b/w "Pulse," is well worth seeking out, and the band will also appear on September 3rd at the On Land Festival.. feature :: by Jordan Anderson

Marc Manning is an artist and musician living and working in San Francisco. Inspired by the forests of the pacific northwest and the ghost folklore of the north east, Manning uses the wail of his electric guitar to ward off unseen forces that seem to be conspiring against him. He has released music under the monikers, Legend of Boggy Creek, Everything is Fine, Red Weather Tigers, and Heavy Lids. He has performed extensively on the east and west coasts over the past 10 years. Manning is a veteran of several Philadelphia atmospheric bands, the shoe gazer art rock of "The Legend of Boggy Creek" and cave core rock of "Everything is Fine". .. feature :: by Dave Miller

Over the last several years, drummer Alex Neilson has developed a reputation as a brilliant musician, not only for his work in improvisational music circles, his collaborations and touring with a large number of artists (Current 93, Six Organs of Admittance, Richard Youngs, among many others), but also for his own projects, including Motor Ghost and Directing Hand. In addition to his improvisational work, Neilson began to write songs in a more traditional structure in 2008, in order to explore songwriting as a form he put together the Glasgow, Scotland-based band Trembling Bells, whose members include the excellent musicians Lavinia Blackwall, Mike Hastings, and Simon Shaw. Trembling Bells's music--as demonstrated on the band's two distinctive albums for Honest Jon's Records, "Carbeth" and the recently released, instrumentally expansive "Abandoned Love"--is of such high quality that a listener might think Neilson had been writing songs his entire life. Not only does the band's formal work distinguish them from many of their peers, but they also accomplish a great deal conceptually and through emotional honesty. One of their strengths lies in the ability to express a genuine style of folk music without resorting to self-consciousness or self-righteousness. Indeed, Joe Boyd (producer of Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band, and Nick Drake) has given high praise to the group, partly for this reason, saying, "their lyrics and melodies have a sense of history and Britishness that most contemporary bands lack, but without any of the 'heritage' atmosphere that clings to even the best revivalists in the folk world." Trembling Bells are currently touring across the UK and wider Europe, supporting Bonnie "Prince" Billy on many of the tour's stops. .. feature :: by Jordan Anderson

Eggy Records (and Eggy Distribution) is the brainchild of Portlander, Raf Spielman. He is perhaps best known as the guy behind the excellent project, The Polyps, and also as an integral member of one of the most underrated pop bands around, The Golden Hours. Yet it is with the tapes and 7”s he’s been quietly releasing on Eggy that he’s really making a name for himself. All the releases are packaged in beautifully silkscreened sleeves (all designed by Spielman – his work is instantly recognizable). The music generally has a bit of a pop-bend, but is always interesting in other ways as well. If he could, he’d eat spaghetti every day and he has a book of drawings coming out through Container Corps (which I’m damn excited about). I highly recommend heading on over to Eggy and seeing all the goodies Spielman has to offer... label-spotlight :: by Brad Rose

“Shed all your skins and run, from the mountain to the sun. Serpents tangle round and round to calculate and solve, burning, spitting, tearing apart, when the sun comes up we explode.” Burn your guitars, Mother of Fire is on the move. This hard-hitting violin-bass-drum trio from Minneapolis has just unleashed a beast of a full-length on the De Stijl label, offering a unique brand of hypnotic locked-groove psych with Naomi Joy capable of coaxing woozy textures to early Sonic Youth-level cacophony from her effects-laden strings. While gearing up for their summer tour, Naomi and bassist Jason Misik answered some questions about the origins of Mother of Fire and the making of their new album. .. feature :: by David Perron

I’ve been vaguely familiar with the TRD W/d (aka Turned Word) label for a while but only become fully aware of just how much incredible stuff they’ve been doing when I did a massive trade with one of the guys who runs it, Dan Beckman. Most familiar to me is Beckman’s project, Uke of Spaces Corners, but the thing that’s so great about TRD W/d is the range of stuff they release. C Section 8’s “Urban Music” is one of the best things I’ve heard all year, but it’s totally off another path from Uke. Add in killer stuff like Flak Mask, Impractical Cockpit and Shep & Me, and you’ve got one hell of a line-up with a little taste for everyone. Get on that wagon, folks... label-spotlight :: by Brad Rose