The Sipsman Banner is deteriorating slowly but surely, thanks to me bringing it to places like Sicily strictly for this header imagery bit.
As you map out your year-end-best-of-what-have-yous, I’d love to remind you of these projects I was lucky enough to be a part of. Click play below, give a listen—should you like what you hear, write me and I’ll tell you more about ‘em:
Fusilier – Ambush: released Mar 28 via IS NOT MUSIC.
Lily Seabird – Trash Mountain: released Apr 04 via Lame-O
The Convenience – Like Cartoon Vampires: released Apr 18 via Winspear
Paper Castles – I’m Sad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Fake It Anymore: released May 13 via Sipsman
Clifford – Golden Caravan: released Jul 25, 2025 via Sipsman
Pegg – Presque Tout: Variations no. 435-514 “Baseball Season,” Pegg & Van Dyke Parks: released Sep 19 via IS NOT MUSIC.
Thomas Dollbaum – Drive All Night: released Sep 26 via Dear Life
IMARHAN
Proud to be working again with my favorite desert blues band, this time around the release of their fourth album, due Jan 16, 2026 via City Slang. With Essam (lightning in the Tuareg language of Tamasheq), Imarhan forge ahead once again, creating a watershed moment in Tuareg music. Lead single “Derhan N’Oulhine” was released last week with the announcement and showcases the Tamanrasset, Algeria group’s fearless experimentation, blending desert-rock roots with subtle electronic textures and folk motifs, anchored by a blues-inflected guitar that occasionally bursts into resonant riffs.
THOMAS DOLLBAUM
The Drive All Night EP was released last month via Dear Life Records, racking up love from New Commute (“Channeling Arthur Russell’s tender waver over humid, twangy grit”), Rosy Overdrive (“a really lovely six-song folk rock EP that delivers on a fair amount of potential“), Paste (“swampy, twangy pastorals”), Americana UK (“songs full of veiled tension, where the lost and the lonely skulk in the shadowy corners of the street with the dreamers and the losers”), and more. Give a spin today, and trust there’s more to come in 2026. Those in New Orleans can catch Thomas with me on Thursday with Lily Seabird and hemlock at Saturn Bar.
LILY SEABIRD
The Vermont singer-songwriter wasted no time hitting the road upon returning to the states from her watershed UK tour, playing SOME Fest in Maine, supporting Mikaela Davis once again on a handful of dates in NY/VT, and sloppin’ to & through the south with Dollbaum this past month. December dates with the legend Robert Lester Folsom have been announced, and Seabird’s been testing out a bunch of new material at shows, so don’t miss these! A van has been purchased. See you at Treefort in 2026, too.
POP MONTRÉAL
The 24th edition of POP has come and gone, and I already wanna get back up to the city. There were too many highlights to mention (seeing the old homies Truth Club play three new songs in particular), but I recommend reading recaps from KEXP’s Chris Sanley and Paste’s Casey Epstein-Gross to get a small sense of what makes this long-running festival so special. Start planning now for their big 25th anniversary blowout on Sep 23–27, 2026.
HOPSCOTCH
Thanks to Dollbaum, Julie Odell, SPLLIT, villagerrr, and everyone who showed up to my lil record fair during North Carolina’s best music festival—we raised some cash for the Carolina Abortion Fund and that feels good to me. Thanks to Les Savy Fav for running into the VIP section and kicking out all the chairs people were sitting on. Thanks to all the great people that work tirelessly to put this thing together for the love of the game.
THE CONVENIENCE
The New Orleans production and songwriting duo of Nick Corson and Duncan Troast just wrapped up a run of dates with Atlanta’s Omni. They play Sunday at Gasa Gasa with fellow local homies Lawn. Loosie single out next week 🤫
Thanks for listening, as always. -mike 🥤
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.