I’m excited to announce the next release on Machine Duplication Recordings! MDR-015 is Memphis musician and visual artist Carry Ripple’s new album Carry Ripple 2. The album drops 9/4 with a release show to follow the next day (9/5) at First Congregational Church. Tapes are available for pre-order now on Bandcamp, where you can also check out the single “Whosoever Will” alongside other previously released songs from the album.
Carry Ripple is the project of Memphis musician and visual artist Carter Earheart-Brown, who eagle-eyed readers may remember as the projection artist from two of the shows I helped book at the Jack Robinson Gallery. Carry Ripple 2 is, naturally, Carry Ripple’s second album, following carry ripple in 2024.
“Whosoever Will” is a microcosm of what I love about Carry Ripple 2; it’s a collage of romance and religion, lifting lyrics from the the hymn of the same name (a staple of the Presbyterian conferences Carter attended as a child with his pastor father) and smashing it together with references to Counter Strike 2, throwing a phone into a lake and diving in after it, and falling for the same crush over and over again. It’s stream of conscious in the way a good hang with old friends is, or the way a Twitter account from the halcyon days of 2014 would’ve been. There’s something vulnerable about it, but it’s a little hard to make out at first. You’ve gotta sift through the menagerie of instruments floating around the mix to really get at Carter’s beating heart, but it’s there. It feels playful, like someone hitting every button on a big switchboard of home videos and forgotten YouTube gems, just to see what happens. That’s Carry Ripple in a nutshell.
Carry Ripple 2 sits alongside records from artists like Alex G, more eaze, and Hovvdy that blend rustic sonic hallmarks (pedal steel, violins, a general warmth) with electronic processing to create a sort of “digital americana.” That stylistic reach is, in part, a reaction to Carter’s last (great!) record, which stayed planted in the indie rock zone. Producer tags mingle with violins. Clarinets dance with boing boing sound effects. All of these sounds can sit side-by-side when they’re anchored by Carter’s southern drawl. When Carter sent me the record, I heard “Birdbath” and immediately knew I had to put it out. The standup bass buoys everything, even the synth squelches. There’s no easy comparison point to a track like that. Carter intentionally yanked drums out of his musical lexicon for songs like “Birdbath” and “Whisper” to get weird with it and let other instruments infer a rhythm of their own. Carry Ripple 2 is a patchwork you could only create if you grew up in the American south, raised by the Internet. That speaks to me. I hope it will speak to you.
Carter’s ersatz band - made up of folks like MJ Lenderman and the Wind’s Colin Miller (who also engineered parts of the record), Grumpy’s Heaven Schmitt, and Darryl Johns - was assembled through Instagram DMs. The players were given the freedom to improvise their parts however they saw fit. Somehow, at a distance, they all gel together, resulting in a record that connotes the weird intimacy of an Discord call better than anything else I’ve ever heard.
There’s a lyric that’s always stuck with me from Mount Eerie’s “Through the Trees, Pt. 2.” It goes:
The “natural world”
and whatever else it’s called
I drive in and out of town
seeing no edge, breathing sky
and it’s hard to describe
without seeming absurd.
I know there’s no other world:
Mountains and websites
Carry Ripple 2 is an artifact of new American identity–a mirror image of how a virtual generation processes their culture through attention-span devouring memes. The virtual world is natural. We created it. It’s an extension of humanity, for better or worse. The difference feels like semantics to me at this point—everything is everything. That’s how people live now, right? We’re all Online first and foremost. Everything else gets filtered through that. There’s an honesty in just admitting it. Carter pulls just as much from Twitch streams as he does from the new wave of alt-country like Wednesday and villagerrr. This is a modern southern record for modern southern times. The threads are all connected here, you’ve just got to tap in and see for yourself.
We’re getting the gang back together for another night of immersive visuals and leftfield tunes at First Congo on 9/5. Carter’s assembling a real-deal band for the occasion, including Nashville’s candynavia (aka Sofie Pedersen) on clarinet and harmonies. That project will be performing, as well Memphis’ own Haley Mosenteen. Infinity Stairs will be projection mapping the church again, just like we had for the Luke Schneider show. If you’re local, come on out.
Memphis News
Gonerfest Announces Complete Lineup
Here’s a scoop: Infinity Stairs is BACK! They’ll be on visuals for the entire festival again this year. I really can’t imagine doing Gonerfest without them at this point, they were such a load bearing pillar last year that I think not having them in the mix would be a noticeable downgrade. I’m glad they’re doing it again.
As far as the lineup itself—who the fuck booked GWENIFER RAYMOND in the middle of the punk festival? Putting a Welsh fingerpicker two slots before Man or Astro-man? is some true MDR Observer wish fulfillment and for that, I thank you. Goner Records kept some heaters back for the full drop. New Orleans freaks D. Sablu have been hyped on various MDR platforms before; check out this footage I shot of them (on VHS!) playing at 2:00 AM after Gonerfest a few years ago. I’m on a twee kick lately so I’m excited to see Horsegirl’s circular youth-beat take on the genre. Cherry Cheeks has egg punk covered. I keep seeing videos of Parking on Instagram and their drummer’s ride cymbal is up comically high. That’s fun. Everyone loves that one Death album that Drag City reissued like 15 years ago.
The lineup feels kinda like the vegetable freaks on the flyer: a veritable cornucopia of bands across the garage, punk, and country, however you choose to interpret those spectrums. I’ll be covering the festival for see/saw this year and I’m already excited to have an excuse to print “Welsh primitivism” in the punk newsletter.
Art Edmaiston/Logan Hanna/Steve Hirsh - Primitive Sophisticates [self-released]
Another issue of the Observer, another Art Edmaiston album. If he’s gonna keep putting out stuff like this, I can’t complain too much. This one features his Echo Party compatriot Steve Hirsh on drums and Logan Hanna on guitar and “FX.” FX being called out as its own instrument is pretty accurate. To my relatively neophytic free jazz ears, Hirsh’s tone and place in this band reminds me a lot of where Gregory Uhlmann sits on SML records: he glides, he stumbles, he shrieks from out of nowhere. Edmaiston plays leader here, laying down phrases that provide a rhythmic guidance for the other two players to follow along.
This record, made up of six improvisations captured live at B-Side1 earlier this year, claims to be the first meeting ever for Hirsh and Hanna. I don’t know if that’s meant literally or just on record, but I like to imagine they never laid eyes on each other until the proverbial tape started rolling. It would make the record’s journey a little more obvious, at least, as the band audibly gets more comfortable as the show rolls on. The opening of “Improvisation #4” feels like the moment the players start to click with each other, which finally gives Edmaiston license to really start ripping. This is dense free music, not for the faint of heart.
Qemist - 1.1.1 [Sketches] (self-released)
Remember the WYXR x MDR Raised by Sound 2025 cassette? Time flies. Qemist’s track “Sketches 32 One Take” from that compilation reappears on 1.1.1 [Sketches] along with three other “live hardware sketches.” There’s a lot of interesting textures here and Qemist gives himself enough time on each track to explore them, tweaking tiny drum and synths sounds as the tracks progress beyond the seven-minute mark. Not to toot my own horn, but I still think the jazzy, piano-driven deep house on “Sketches 32 One Take” is the best track here, but the part on “NMH 1.6.0” where the lead synth really starts sawing away gives it a run for its money. This stuff is a little more off the cuff than Qemist’s usual work, but its great music for angrily driving to work at 2 PM on your day off. Don’t ask how I know.
AWFM - “UGLASS FREESTYLE” music video
A Weirdo From Memphis’ new mixtape Recessionary Indicator dropped a few days before this post is hitting your inbox, but I didn’t get enough time to digest it by press time (long story). I wanted to highlight something from it though, and luckily he dropped a music video for “UGLASS FREESTYLE” a couple of weeks ago. “I wanna fuck Donald Trump in his asshole so he can feel the way I felt when they fucked my dreams” is one the craziest lines I’ve ever heard in my life. That’s real shit. I’m hoping to get a full writeup on this one for next month’s issue, but until then, check the video out below.
Show Roundup
All Gonerfest aftershow dates reflect the shows starting at 11:59 PM (i.e. after that day’s official Gonerfest show).
8/14 - Sweeping Promises at Goner Records
8/15 - Eternity’s Pillar, Spek Was Here, Ash Leon, Starbunny, and Deaf Revival at Hi-Tone Cafe [Small Room]
8/28 - Infinity Stairs presents DK-TV Music Video Night at Bar DKDC
9/2 - Art Edmaiston/Logan Hanna/Schaeffer Mallory and Danny Kamins at H&S Printing
9/5 - Carry Ripple, Haley Mosenteen, and candynavia w/Infinity Stairs visuals at First Congregational Church
9/8 - Missed Dunks at Summer League, ET Cruiser, and Orchid Mantis at Bar DKDC
9/13 - Aquarian Blood, Jude Brothers, Dandelioness at Twang Hag House (ask for address)
9/18 - DJ Livin Birthday Bash featuring Kate Teague, Model Zero, DJ Rhinestone, DJ Livin, and DJ Divje Babe at Bar DKDC
9/24 - M.O.T.O., Liquids, and Wesley & the Boys at Bar DKDC (Gonerfest aftershow)
9/24 - GBUFO Memphis Invasion Pt. 2 featuring Pet Mosquito, Smart Shoppers, Petty Grievances, and more at The Lamplighter Lounge (Gonerfest aftershow)
9/26 - Feel It Afterparty featuring M.O.T.O., Liquids, Mod Lang, Gremlin, and Hustle Culture at The Lamplighter Lounge (Gonerfest aftershow)
Yes, Optic Sink will be performing at A. Schwab, the general store on Beale Street. How do you book A. Schwab? Is that a thing we can do? Can I book a punk show up there? That’s crazy. I feel like no one else thinks it’s crazy that there’s a show happening at A. Schwab, which is making me feel even crazier. Stop gaslighting me! This is wild! Acknowledge that it’s wild!
The Whimsyhaus show looks great too. I caught their last one because Carry Ripple played it and was absolutely blown away by how intimate they made The Lamp feel. aster’s one to watch in Memphis’ small ambient world; their set felt like meditating in the middle of an active factory with steam billowing off all the machines. About three-fourths of the way through their set, they dropped a four-on-the-floor beat and it reminded me of the best moments of Gas’s Narkopop, where the pounding monotony breaks through a dense wall of sound. I’m excited to see them again.
Here and There
Intrepid graphic designer and photographer Kendra Petersen-Kamp has a new website up for all of her projects. I love websites. We need more websites. Find it over at Compact Archives. I’d check out the Touch Girl Apple Blossom show first, which features both great photos from the show and a ringing endorsement of my Instagram stories.
I mentioned it in the last issue, but my see/saw interview with Choncy is up now. I felt like I lost control of this one as soon as it started, but it turned out way better than I expected.
BEA666 has a lot of music on the way soon, including some material lead Amoeba Jacob described to me as “shoegazy egg punk.” Expect a writeup of at least one batch of that material next month.
There’s a new 1-800-MIKEY single up in advance of a full length on Goner Records. I wish Mikey could’ve come stateside to play Gonerfest but that’s 2026 for ya. Word on the street is that there should be a new Ibex Clone record out on Goner sometime soon later this year, but you didn’t hear it from the Observer.
Send any hot local music tips, upcoming shows, new music you’re working on, or whatever else to machineduplicationrecordings@gmail.com! I’d love to hear what you’ve got coming up. There’s no guarantee I can cover everything (I’m only one man with my own taste) but it’s nice to hear from y’all.
Records You Should Hear
Nirosta Steel - MY SKYSCRAPER (ULYSSA)
I’m not totally sold on MY SKYSCRAPER a full work yet, but the 23 minute monolith of improvised drums, guitar, and vocals that makes up “FRESH FEELING” and “SPECIAL WEAKNESS” is my song of the year. I can say that about two songs because it’s basically the same song twice and it’s my blog, dammit. Those tracks of Steven Hall rambling between a handful of chords and Arthur Russell keeping perfect time on the drums represent a lot of the story that’s made this album an indie-internet sensation. Hall feels a lot like Russell in the sense that he can’t really stick to one genre for too long without getting bored, and that benefits him in spots like the layered vocal experiment “GREY BOY (A CAPELLA MIX)” and the late night lounge churner “GO FOR THE NIGHT,” but I’m not sure that it works towards a cohesive whole. Did “YHEMA” really need to be here? Can this album live on its own outside of the shadow of the “Arthur Russell collaborator and historian who could never really get it together finally puts out his definitive statement” story? I’m unsure, but art doesn’t live in a vacuum. The history and the substance are pretty well intertwined here, to the point where I strongly recommend reading the Tone Glow interview to understand what this thing is all about. I’m sure the full album will grow on me over time, but until it does, I’m gonna be zoning out to those 23 minutes over and over again.
Twisted Teens - Florida Water Blues (Going Underground)
The first time I heard Twisted Teens’ instant-classic debut record, I got stuck on a couplet from the opening track “Twisted Teen”: “I been happy as a pitbull with someone’s leg in its mouth/and why in the fuck did it take me so long to come back south?” On “Business,” a song in Florida Water Blues’ middle stretch, Caspian Hollywell inverts the question, asking himself why he’d ever come back south amidst a humid collage of sex, Jesus, and honesty, all in service of a diss track levied against someone who chews ice too much. I never really know where Twisted Teens are coming from. Reading interviews with them probably doesn’t help either, unless you’ve got a better handle on the link between the I Ching and, uh, moon people than I do. But this is what being a southerner is, to some degree. It’s beautiful. It’s ugly. It’s paranoid. It’s forgiving. It’s regret. It’s love. It is so horrific that you can’t put a name to it, but you know better than anybody else what the fuck is really going on in this world because you’re truly living in the conservative endgame and you’ve been living in that shit for as long as you can remember. So why the fuck did you come back to it? As Caspian put it, “why did you miss it?” I’ll never know, and I don’t think the Teens do either.
The main thing to grasp onto here is the interplay between Hollywell and steel player RJ Santos, two players who really know how to occupy opposing sonic zones. You’d think this formula—Roland 707 drum machine fills layered over minimal live drums, hound dog hollers about living in the end times, sinewy lead guitar lines—would get old over four (!!!) releases in three years but, if anything, the twin Teens have slowly-but-surely expanded the boundaries of their sonic palette over that time. They’ve never rocked as hard as they have on the riffs that punctuate the rambling “Guided Thunder.” This is Twisted Teens at their most complete—the most they’ve ever sounded like a genuine band as opposed to a recording project spawned out of a Louisiana swamp. Plus, the title track’s opening lyric “You’ve had about a hundred beers of solitude/Since you get outta pocket when you’re feeling rude” is better than anything our generation’s David Berman ripoff guys are trying to write. I love this band.
SML - Spontaneous Music Live (International Anthem Recording Co.)
It’s nice that SML, the best live band in America, finally decided to put out a live album. I’ve seen them twice now (three times if you split the second show into the first set and the SML XL second set with guest players) and both times I have walked away feeling like I was seeing the modern nu-jazz equivalent of Can in 1973 or Miles Davis in his evil fusion years. Is that hyperbole? Maybe. Is it true? I think so. Do you get that from Spontaneous Music Live? Sort of.
SML is a jazz quintet consisting of saxophonist Josh Johnson, guitarist Gregory Uhlmann, bassist Anna Butterss, electronics wizard Jeremiah Chiuu, and drummer Booker Stardrum2. Their live show is completely improvised, with their sound taking notes from Chicago post-rock, krautrock, jazz fusion, and post-minimalist composition. Their two previous records, Small Medium Large and How You Been, consisted of cut up excerpts from those live shows reworked into bite sized chunks (you might call them songs, perhaps), occasionally reconfigured in the studio with overdubs and loops. Spontaneous Music Live presents two titanic 20+ minute long pieces recorded live in Los Angeles, presented as complete documents with no post-production magic. “The Drums” is the hit here, building to the usual SML undulating, squawking freakout. “Roundabouts” gets a little lost in itself and forgets to hit that second gear.
Sometimes professional wrestling matches are planned out on the fly, or “in the ring” as the parlance goes. Sometimes that leads to matches like Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: Dallas, where the chemistry cosmically works itself out and the completely improvised nature of the process becomes part of the appeal of engaging with the art. That’s “The Drums.” Sometimes it leads to a bunch of “rest holds” that allow the two wrestlers to lay on the ground and take it easy. That’s “Roundabouts.” That dichotomy is jazz and pro wrestling distilled. When it works, it works. When it doesn’t, it just blends into the background. Part of me thinks you’d be better served digging into the archived bootleg recordings of their Big Ears residency if you want to get a hold of that wild alchemy that’s become SML’s bread and butter. “The Drums” is still good enough for me to give this record a thumbs up, but I know they can do better.
Tyshawn Sorey - Members…Don’t! [Pi Recordings]
This is where my limited critical vocabulary for jazz is going to fail me. Literal genius drummer and composer Tyshawn Sorey reinterprets my all-time favorite drummer Max Roach’s fantastic record Members, Don’t Git Weary with a free wheeling band and triples the run time in the process. This is high octane jazz, baby. This one was recorded live and I’m absolutely stunned at the stamina everyone in this group has—just scrub anywhere in “Effi” and you’ll hear Sorey and crew absolutely freaking out in that cool jazz-magic-trick way where it seems like everything’s about to fall off the rails in a totally controlled way. Does that make sense? I told you: limited vocabulary. I’d recommend you hear the Roach original before this one, at least so you can appreciate the way the band reinterprets the main motif of “Libra” multiple times around.
Chanel Beads - Your Day Will Come [Jagjaguwar]
I tried for days to write about this because it’s probably my favorite album of 2026. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t find the words to describe how it makes me feel. I could picture it, though. One image just kept turning itself over and over in my mind. Exactly one thing on this planet accurately captured my feelings for Chanel Beads’ near perfect second full length record Your Day Will Come.
Horse Lords - Demand to Be Taken to Heaven Alive! [RVNG Intl.]
Take 1: Guy who has only heard Steve Reich use the human voice in minimalist music hearing a second artist use the human voice in minimalist music: Getting a lot of ‘Steve Reich’ vibes from this…
[buzzer noise]
Take 2: Comraderly Objects sounded like four guys working an an automotive assembly line. This sounds like those same four guys invited their wives to go to an escape room with them.
[buzzer noise]
Take 3: This is The Rizzler to Angine de Poitrine’s Big Justice.
[buzzer noise]
I had my wedding reception at B-Side. I would highly recommend it for your show booking or private event needs.
This motherfucker’s name simply cannot really be StarDRUM, right? That’s like electing a guy named John Coolpresident. That’s gotta be fake. Don’t try to tell me it’s real.
Re: note 2. Booker's parents are flutist Stefani Starin and composer Dean Drummond, hence the stage name Stardrum. I think it's pretty cute.