Tagged: Strange Currency

Formed nearly a decade ago in Wichita, Spirit of the Stairs has consistently evolved in unexpected but always fascinating ways. From its earliest days as a guitarless trio to its current incarnation as a guitar-heavy quintet, the all-instrumental ensemble has never disappointed.

1. Lambo Doors­­ Spirit of the Stairs (Independent)


2. Charmer ­­Aimee Mann Charmer (Super Ego)


3. Silver Age­­ Bob Mould (Merge)


4. Between the Ditches­­ Reverend Peyton¹s Big Damn Band (Side One Dummy)


5. Apologies ­­David Ramirez


6. Tempest­­ Bob Dylan (Columbia)


7. A Thing Called Divine Fits (Merge)


8. OST: Lawless­­ Various Artists (Sony)


9. Ringmaster General­­ Dave Stewart (Surfdog)


10. Firefly­­ The Wonder Revolu

Patti Smith was America’s first punk poet. Influenced by beat writers such as Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs as much as by rock and roll and classic literature­­including French symbolist poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud­­Smith’s emergence from the New York punk rock scene of the 1970s ushered in a new era in popular music in which academic intellect and street smarts were equally appealing.

Formed in 1991 by brothers Tjinder and Avtar Singh with their friends Ben Ayres and David Chambers, Cornershop fuses the music of India with British rock and pop as well as electronic dance music with an incomparable sense of humor.