August 2025 (Part 3)

Fresh from the blurb mines, I've unearthed eight writeups about eight cool songs, old and new. This is the last chunk of tracks featured on the Horse Combinations August 2025 playlist, August part one and part two are also available to you at the links that say "part one" and "part two" earlier in this sentence. 

Paira - “Ao Mar”
Loving the new EP from Horse Combinations favorites Paira! They maintain the essentials of their sound (twinkle guitars and breakbeats) while incorporating more dynamics and surprising production tricks across these five new songs. What a good band.

 

Winter - “In My Basement Room”
In my head I’m a guy who is into shoegaze bands but I think I really just actually mostly like dream pop and then Loveless. I was listening to this new Winter album and was pleasantly surprised that one of the one million gen z shoegaze adjacent bands remembered to write actual songs, but in a lot of cases, this one included, that just means they’re a dream pop band. This is an uninteresting and ultimately meaningless distinction that few people think or care about. Anyways "In My Basement Room" is the product of a songwriting class Samira Winter took with Phil Elverum and I think that's neat.  

  

August 2025 (Part 2)

We're back with another roundup of some nice songs that I've been listening to lately. Don't forget to check in on part one if you haven't already done so, otherwise let's get right into it. Here are some thoughts on eleven songs added to the official Horse Combinations August 2025 playlist!

Cass McCombs - “Asphodel”
I haven’t really kept up with Cass McCombs’ last few albums but I’ve been hearing a lot of positive things about his latest, Interior Live Oak. I’m pleased to announce that the album is in fact very good, full of aloof character sketches and subtly odd production choices. I like that “Asphodel” sounds like LCD Soundsystem for Drag City guys.

 
Diles que no me maten - “Tan Grande Nada”
I originally checked out the new Mexican Summer compilation Sitting on the Moon when I saw it featured a new ten minute Jefre Cantu-Ledesma track, the euphoric “Summer’s End,” but there’s a lot of stuff worth your time beyond that. The biggest surprise was from Mexico City’s Diles que no me maten, the sparse, rambing “Tan Grande Nada,” which I’ve been listening to a lot this week.

August 2025 (Part 1)

It's been a pretty nice August so far! I hope you can say the same. We caught a couple of really great shows (Orchestra Resavoir at Millennium Park, Death Cab For Cutie's Plans anniversary show at the Chicago Theatre) and just got back from a trip to London. The most Horse Combinations-adjacent part of the trip was an incredible meal at "mu", a jazz club/Japanese restaurant, which featured a solo piano set from Noel Art and some really fantastic food.

 

Anyways here's some thoughts on ten songs I heard this month and loved. These tracks and more can be found on the Horse Combinations August 2025 playlist, now streaming exclusively on Tidal.

Natural Information Society - “Sideways Fall”
I’ve been a casual fan of Natural Information Society for years, throwing on their long form, loping jams every few months while reading or making dinner. I'm always happy to see them pop up as an opening act at shows here in Chicago; their set before Angel Olsen at Thalia Hall back in 2023 was 45 minutes of driving, interlocking grooves that set the tone nicely for Olsen's mystic longing. This summer, NIS is releasing releasing a trio of career-spanning compilations/mixtapes, Meditation, Momentum, and the forthcoming Manifestation. “Sideways Fall” is one of my favorite songs from Momentum, a collection of propulsive tracks that best captures the vibe of their performance that night in 2023.

Michael Beach - “Sick Century”
This new Michael Beach record is awesome. I wasn’t familiar with the guy at all prior to this, but his fifth LP reminds me of a grittier, more authentic version of The War On Drugs’ spiritual take on classic rock or like if Mark Hollis and Crazy Horse made a record together. This is one for the real heads.

July 2025 (Part 3)

We're back to talk about thirteen nice songs that I heard this month and added to the Horse Combinations July 2025 playlist. Here's part one and part two of July songs if you missed those, otherwise let's just get into it:

This House is Creaking - “Whisper”
I’ve already said it once on this website but I feel like there are big things ahead for Chicago’s This House is Creaking. Every song on their new record features some surprising and delightful production flourish, ad lib, or songwriting choice that comes out of left field. For now, the compact, fuzzed-out gem “Whisper” is my current favorite of the bunch but that’s subject to change at any time. I highly recommend sliding into the band’s DMs on Instagram to order a CD, those local to Chicago may be lucky enough to have one of the members deliver a copy direct to their house. 

  

Håvard Volden - “Small Lives”
Veteran of the Norwegian experimental music scene and frequent Jenny Hval collaborator Håvard Volden’s new album Small Lives is a compelling group of loose yet intentional instrumentals. The record is full of odd textures and laid back, organic guitar work, a series of contradictions probably best captured by the title track.

 

July 2025 (Part 2)

No big crazy screeds this week, just some thoughts on seven cool songs I heard this month and added to my July 2025 playlist (now streaming exclusively on Tidal). Hope you're having a nice summer!

Cyrus Pireh - “Tim”
Reminiscent of the early work of both Mark McGuire and The Durutti Column, Cyrus Pireh’s Thank You, Guitar is a hypnotic collection of solo guitar pieces with substantial conceptual heft behind it. The Bandcamp page for Pireh’s 4th album of “transcendental shred electric guitar music” is accompanied by a few thoughtful essays that bring added context and insight that elevate an already enjoyable listen into something even more rewarding. 

cootie catcher - “Dumb lit”
I’m really liking the new cootie catcher record, the mix of twee songwriting and chaotic DIY aesthetics reminds me of the best of the mid 2000s upstate New York indie/punk scene that helped shape my taste fifteen or twenty years ago. “Dumb lit” is one of many bangers from the record that have been stuck in my head for the last few weeks.