Kevin Warwick, Reader associate editor
Man or Astro-man?, Project Infinity This mostly instrumental band leans hard on a zany shtick that includes whacked-out costumes (space-man getups, radiation suits, et cetera) and audio clips prophesying peril from beyond the stars, but those antics have never overshadowed the catalog of sharp surf-rock these weirdos released in the 90s on Estrus and Touch and Go. I recently dug out this 1995 record (in its otherworldly cover, “Direct From Outer Space Itself”) to bask in the over-the-top spring reverb of “Transmissions From Venus” and “Tomorrow Plus X.”
Whitney Johnson, vocalist, keyboardist, and violist in Verma and Matchess
Doug Hream Blunt, Gentle Persuasion Bay Area outsider-funk musician Doug Hream Blunt is fundamentally a smooth man, but he isn’t afraid to go wild when the opportunity arises. And so I played this EP on the first night that was nice enough for friends to come over and party in the backyard. I read online that this record will change your DNA. At any rate, it makes a nice combo with Carrie Vinarsky’s book Fried Coolaid and fernet with a twist.
The song of the world’s loneliest whale My friend Luke recently told me about the saddest whale in the world. This creature’s distinctive 52-hertz call and unique migratory pattern in the Pacific has led scientists to wonder if it has any possible counterpart anywhere in the ocean. I listened to its plaintive call today, pondering grief, in a delectably hot, reeking tour van. A search for more information turned up video of original songs that curious humans have written with the nautical artist as a muse.
