CIRCLE WITH A DOT

In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, pedal steel guitarist Sam Wenc describes his physical relationship with his instrument's horizontal setup, explaining how he "steps into" the pedal steel apparatus.Don't miss the full conversation: https://podcast.thetonearm.com/sam-wenc-the-experimental-language-of-the-pedal-steel-guitar/#SamWenc #PedalSteel #ExperimentalMusic #Podcast

"Music could be more like nature—it could be raw. Sounds don't need to be perfect; they can have edges and texture."Classically trained string player Isabel Pine recorded her new album across 15 wilderness locations in British Columbia, embracing imperfection, improvisation, and the unpredictable feedback of the natural world. The Tonearm's Meredith Hobbs Coons listens to the trees:In Dialogue with the Forest — Isabel Pine's 'Fables': https://www.thetonearm.com/in-dialogue-with-the-forest-isabel-pine-fables/

"The Nigerian entertainment company broke the Guinness World Record for the largest orchestra for an Afrobeats concert. It’s just the beginning of what they hope to accomplish."Dapper Group Wants to Connect Africa to the World Through Music: https://www.spinmagazine.com/2026/03/dapper-group-wants-to-connect-africa-to-the-world-through-music/?ref=thetonearm.com

"It was just, ‘I like this feeling, I like this feeling, I like this feeling,’ create a loose structure for what it could be, get together with musicians who are sensitive and caring, and go for it.”How Did Flea Make a Jazz Album? Practice, Practice, Practice (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/arts/music/flea-honora-jazz-album.html?unlocked_article_code=1.UVA.1--c.xWPptYdqL_MZ&smid=nytcore-ios-share?ref=thetonearm.com

"Despite their artistic skill, Anita Pallenberg, Suzi Ronson and Yoko Ono were cast as mere lovers or muses. They’re now being allowed to tell their own stories – even if it’s after death."The Ultra-Creative Women Dismissed as Rock Star Girlfriends: https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/may/21/anita-pallenberg-catching-fire-suzi-ronson-and-yoko-ono--dismissed-as-rock-star-girlfriends

From Tupac's fear of reincarnation to Buddhist concepts of suffering, Kendrick Lamar weaves together hip-hop history and religious philosophy to examine what it means to return to life eternally — and whether such return might be the Devil's own prison.Kendrick Lamar Wrestles With the Devil's Samsara: https://www.thetonearm.com/kendrick-lamar-wrestles-with-the-devils-samsara/

"In the early 1970s, pianist Ana Ruíz and saxophonist Henry West introduced the dynamic sounds of improvisational music to the culturally rich precincts of Mexico City. With percussionist Evry Mann (née Robert Mann), they established Atrás del Cosmos, an ensemble that would become the most important improvisatory music groups in Mexico. Unfortunately, their music was lost to history—until now."In the ’70s, Atrás del Cosmos Brought Free Jazz to Mexico City: https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/atras-del-cosmos-cold-drinks-hot-dreams-interview

"Their guest mix includes Flow State favorites Vangelis, John Carroll Kirby, Ariel Kalma, Nala Sinephro, Nico Georis, and Photay. It also includes new-to-us artists like Milan Pilar, Keisuke Sakai, Hand Habits, Mark Duggan, and Eric Vann …"Flow State — Green-House Guest Mix: https://www.flowstate.fm/p/flow-state-ep-319-green-house-guest?ref=thetonearm.com

"If you start improvising with a group for long enough, you'll click into a default mode, and you'll start at a certain place. That can be fun and exciting in a live setting, but for this record, it was like, 'Okay, let's take it somewhere different.'"On their third album, 'Desert So Green,' the six-piece collective Winged Wheel reflects on the slow build of musical trust, the discipline of leaving space, and what it means to stop defaulting and start deciding. The Tonearm's Jonah Evans shifts into gear.From Default to Deliberate — Learning to Listen with Winged Wheel: https://www.thetonearm.com/from-default-to-deliberate-learning-to-listen-with-winged-wheel/

"In the quarter of a century since its release, Pet Shop Boys have shape-shifted and experimented with a range of artistic media, and each one of these personas has a umbilical rooting within 'Please'."A lot of Opportunities — Pet Shop Boys’ 'Please' Revisited: https://thequietus.com/opinion-and-essays/anniversary/pet-shop-boys-please-review/?ref=thetonearm.com

"Brubeck sold records by the crate, yet was steadfastly held in contempt by a demographic that could hardly do otherwise. There was something fundamentally tribal about the whole business, as would soon be all too readable in the new sociology of the assembling Sixties pop culture."West Coast jazz — soft as an accountant, punchable as a sack of feathers — but you've got to love it: https://nickcolemanwriter.substack.com/p/west-coast-jazz-soft-as-an-accountant?ref=thetonearm.com

Today's Tonal Treat #SongOfTheDay #NowPlaying #Jazztodon #TonalTreathttps://underpool.bandcamp.com/track/jard-n?ref=thetonearm.com

The 2026 edition of the Big Ears Festival commences this Thursday, March 27, and members of The Tonearm team will be in attendance. Here are our suggestions for some artists you should check out once the music kicks off in downtown Knoxville.The Tonearm's Guide to Big Ears:https://www.thetonearm.com/the-tonearms-guide-to-big-ears/

"At the outset of the recording process, MuRli asked, ‘What does a God Knows project look like today?' God Knows remembers. 'I said I want to collaborate with my friends … business as usual, I want to collaborate with people that I know and love.'"God Knows and MuRli — Ireland’s Hip-Hop Gamechangers: https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/god-knows-and-murli-interview?ref=thetonearm.com

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"I thought, 'Hey, that's quite cinematic and could be a film soundtrack. So, okay, what are we missing?' And then it all unfolded."Acclaimed London producer Raz Olsher discusses how island isolation and a borrowed Gretsch guitar led to 'Craters of the Lost Souls,' his haunting soundtrack to an imaginary Western film that doubles as a tribute to Ennio Morricone's cinematic legacy.Soul and Landscape — Raz Olsher Reimagines the Spaghetti Western: https://www.thetonearm.com/soul-and-landscape-raz-olsher-reimagines-the-spaghetti-western/

"Records and films are longer, but songs and scenes are shorter. What happened?"Why movies and albums both got so long: https://www.vox.com/culture/24156463/movies-albums-long-songs-scenes-short

"We took so many left turns, but it would have been an entirely different book had we stopped at a certain point. So I'm grateful it took a lot of time."Bob Weinstock believed in treating music and album covers equally as serious art, and 'WAIL,' by Chris Entwistle and Mark Havens, reveals how that conviction produced a graphic legacy still being imitated today. The Tonearm's Bill Kopp seeks out these grand designs.Graphical Jazz — The Unsung Canvas of Prestige Records: https://www.thetonearm.com/graphical-jazz-the-unsung-canvas-of-prestige-records/

"I want to experience the way other people will write about music they love (or hate, quite frankly). It makes me think about music in new ways. It’s like finding out how to hear something again for the first time."Wanna be a critic? Only $5 a month: https://touchofallright.substack.com/p/wanna-be-a-critic-only-5-a-month?ref=thetonearm.com

"Waiting in line for barbecue downtown, I glanced at the SXSW badge around the neck of the man in khakis behind me. 'Hyundai,' it said, under his name. I did not attempt to schmooze."The Dream of the 90s is Dead at SXSW: https://dadadrummer.substack.com/p/the-dream-of-the-90s-is-dead-at-sxsw?ref=thetonearm.com