Photo Source: Dog Shredder

This upcoming Saturday, Dog Shredder are playing at The Highline with Rose Windows and Kayo Dot.

Their latest EP Brass Tactics – released in April via local Seattle label Good to Die Records – is a maelstorm of sweat, blood and adrenaline. All three songs do battle with the listener, evidenced before the aural inferno even takes off by their names: "Battle Toads," "Battle Snakes," and "Battle 07."

"Battle Snake" is heavy and lightning-quick. The pace of the song does not relent, leaping from lick to lick in a powerful and precise dance. Math rock’s signature stop/start dynamics and time signature flips are present, but what once was asymmetrical guitar looping is furious progressive rock spit from the maw of Dog Shredder. Part monster of metal, part creature of incessant progression, part pure thrash, their musical chimeras bridge the gap between technical brilliance and exuberant, emotional energy.

"Battle 07" is a significant departure from the two prior tracks; a lone, aching synth conjoins with Josh Holland’s obscured vocals in a bizarro post-punk ballad. The clinking of wrenches and chains slinks in through industrial-like programming. What feels like a desperate cathedral sermon gradually distorts itself into a dystopian anthem.

September 1st at The Highline will be an excellent show – do not miss Dog Shredder and the rest of the lineup! The 21+ show begins at 10pm and costs $10. Check out "Battle Toads" below and visit their bandcamp to stream all of Brass Tactics. The EP is available digitally for $4, or through GTD Records on vinyl for $10.

– Cameron LaFlam

Following the release of her acclaimed debut albums, Brooklyn-based ambient electro experimenter Laurel Halo will be touring with Ital (PLANET MU) starting mid-next month and into early October. The tour will start at 285 Kent Ave. on 09.21.

Planted firmly in the roots music of American folk, Mountain Man shoots up from the salt of the earth and into the high, wide atmosphere with delicate harmonies and spirits as wide as the Mississippi. Their three voices have the strange effect of sounding close enough in range to fool you into thinking their magic is issuing from a single being, not unlike another downhome female powerhouse, First Aid Kit.

The trio of Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath recently opened for Feist, and are working on the follow up to their debut album, ‘Made the Harbor". – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

If you’re a Duran Duran fan, you may want to check out the NYC artist who is currently touring with them: MDNR’s debut record ‘Feed Me Diamonds’ is a sweat-stained roller-coaster mixing chilled electro grooves supplied by Peter Wade, alongside sultry bombshell vocalist Amanda Warner. The Chelsea loft-ready group has been releasing singles since emigrating to New York from Oakland back in 2010, and are set now to embark on their own dates, where towels and energy drinks are highly recommended.

Join them in saying goodbye to the summer for their album premiere party this Thursday the 30th at the TriBeCa Grand Hotel. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)

One of the most interesting LA based artists of the new decade, Julia Hotler just announced a touring schedule which will include dates on the East Coast, the Moogfest and the Unsound Fest in Poland. She also released this interesting video created by visual artist José Wolfffor the vocoder heavy single "Goddess Eyes I".

For those of you out there who might remember the head-on post rock of Connecticut’s Apse, it’s time for something decidedly… different – from some of the same musicians, now based in Brooklyn. Where that band reveled in complicated tapestries of ambient texture, Eraas dials the textures down, preferring to slice with a fine-tipped scalpel instead. Their two latest tracks exist in the same shadows as the eerie cover art for their self-titled debut set for release on October 1st. "Fang" especially sinks its claws into a booming sub-bass and demonic vocals that swing across it’s canyon space. A stark vision in contrast to the band’s older work, it’s about time someone tried to scare the eardrums off the L train crowd. Watch it happen yourself when the band plays The Mercury Lounge on September 4. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)