When I Fall Out is the first of two thematically-linked albums from Brooklyn's the Phantom Family Halo to be released this year, and as good as it is, it leaves you almost breathlessly wondering how the follow-up will sound like. Multi-instrumentalist Dominic Cipolla -- formerly of Louisville, Kentucky, and currently of Brooklyn -- is one heck of a busy and prolific guy. Cipolla, along with bassist William Benton, is essentially the brains behind the psychedelica-meets-glam rock group known as the Phantom Family Halo, and since 2007, the band has been spitting out records at a breakneck pace. They've [...]

by BBG Old Baby Evan Patterson will step out of his role as honcho for Young Widows to front Old Baby , a new project featuring members that have served time with Slint, Shipping News, Phantom Family Halo, and many other projects. The band's new LP, entitled Misunderstanding Human Behavior , is due via Hawthorne Street at the end of February. Check out "Pale as Man" streamable below. The band will celebrate [...]

[Photos by acidjack] The Phantom Family Halo deserve your attention - and they've already gotten their fair share. Last year's The Mindeater EP with Bonnie "Prince" Billy , another artist with some Louisville roots, earned them mention in the New York Times and beyond. Bandmember Dom Cipolla also participated in another high-profile collaborative affair recently when he contributed to a live session at Joe's Pub that covered Brian Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets . This Monday night show at Glasslands , however, was dedicated to the band's own material, [...]

DOWNLOAD: Phantom Family Halo - "White Hot Gun" (MP3) photos by Adam Cantor Sohrab Habibian & JG Thirlwell @ Joe's Pub The tribute to Brian Eno 's Here Come the Warm Jets went down at Joe's Pub on January 8 to a sold out audience (that included Bradford Cox). As mentioned when we first posted about the show, contributing musicians included Travis Morrison [...]

This week's round up of the tracks I haven't had the space to post... Obedient Wives Club From: Singapore Pop sieved through a fuzzy filter from a band that'll have the feminists fissing. Go Try Obedient Wives Club - This Is It [...]

Here is our final monthly Best Of mix of songs from 2011 - despite all the Christmas fayre on offer, there were still a whole plethora of cracking new tracks to enjoy, and as always we've gathered the best of our December posts into one lovely mix for you with a couple of new tracks to sample too. Don't forget to check out all our previous monthly mixes in the sidebar on the left. And off we go... Download Horse's Mouth – As I Climb mp3 (from Horse's Mouth) Opens with a [...]

Phantom Family Halo is the creation of multi-instrumentalist Dominic Cipolla. Their upcoming studio release, When I Fall Out is out on 14th February next year via Knitting Factory Records . We've featured the band before back in May following the release of The Mindeater EP , a split EP featuring them and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, and describing their sound as " evil desert psych rock evocative of the chunkiness of Hawkwind and the dark theatricality of Roxy Music " . Well, we're pleased to report, on the strength [...]

Ho ho ho, assholes! With the Christmas holiday coming up this weekend and we're already two days deep up on the Hanukkah tip, it's very much time to drop the annual The Decibel Tolls Holiday Mixer . You know the deal - a carefully curated collection of skewed, brain-burning, monolithic Christmas gems that totally sleigh. Get it?! Sleigh? Slay? It's a homophone, you guys! Ugh... never mind. Tough crowd. Anyway, these yule-time canticles exalted on high can crush shopping malls and magically spike egg nog, true story. For this year's mixer, you'll recognize you'll recognize some jams from previous year's mixers, [...]

Louisville, Kentucky is often called the "Gateway to the South." But for multi-instrumentalist Dom Cipolla, the city is a gateway to the realm of surreal musical experimentation. Landing in the Derby City in the '90s, Cipolla has become a cult figure within Louisville's music community, even teaming with one of that city's biggest indie darlings, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, for a recent split single . Now, Cipolla and fellow multi-instrumentalist William Benton, collectively known as The Phantom Family Halo , are readying their most involved album to date, When I Fall Out . The [...]
If you haven't had a chance to catch a show at World Cafe Live at the Queen since its opening last spring, make it happen. This is a new venue with excellent acoustics, friendly staff, and enough positive energy to give Wilmington, DE a much-needed push towards revitalization. I visited the smaller upstairs stage several weeks ago for the My Friends / Atlas album release show, and was also impressed by the larger downstairs stage Thursday night. With accoutrements of the old theatre (including a balcony) still intact, the space has a great historical-mixed-with-contempo rary decor. It also has [...]
Lots of interesting re-releases/best-ofs this week: The Jesus and Mary Chain , Anvil , The Stooges and Nirvana . Notice that I left out Pink Floyd . Don't worry, I'm prepared to get nuked in the comments. Worthwhile new stuff includes Mastodon , Rwake , Arthur Russell , Wilco and the CD release of The Mindeater from Bonnie "Prince" Billy and The Phantom Family Halo . (Note to Travis Lee: I am still planning to mail that to you. Sorry for [...]

You Ain't No Picasso recently posted a new music video from Bonnie Billy 's forthcoming album, Wolfroy Goes to Town (out Oct 2011 on Drag City ). See below. Corresponding with the release, Bonnie Billy will be playing a show in Louisville at the Clifton Center with The Phantom Family Halo (with whom he recently put out a split 103). Tickets are $16-$18 and are available at Carmichaels Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, (502) 896-6950 or visit www.cliftoncenter.org . [...]

You Ain't No Picasso recently posted a new music video from Bonnie Billy 's forthcoming album, Wolfroy Goes to Town (out Oct 2011 on Drag City ). See below. Corresponding with the release, Bonnie Billy will be playing a show in Louisville at the Clifton Center with The Phantom Family Halo (with whom he recently put out a split 103). Tickets are $16-$18 and are available at Carmichaels Bookstore, 2720 Frankfort Avenue, (502) 896-6950 or visit www.cliftoncenter.org . [...]

The Mindeater EP is a collaborative project birthed by Bonnie "Prince" Billy (aka Will Oldham) and Dominic Cipolla, multi-instrumentalist and main brain behind the elusive Phantom Family Halo . Previously released as a limited-edition vinyl EP through the Sophomore Lounge label, The Mindeater EP will be available both on CD format and digitally for the first time on September 27, 2011 through the band's new label, Knitting Factory Records, who'll be releasing a Phantom Family Halo full-length in early 2012. While Cippola [...]
Will Oldham breaks folkie character on an eight-minute guitar freakout version of an Everly Brothers chestnut.

Here are the juiciest cuts from our May postings rounded up and presented as one marvellous mix plus a couple of cracking new tracks as well. Be sure to check out all our previous 'Best Of the Month' mixes in the sidebar too. Download Country Mice – Morning Son mp3 (from Twister) Country rock and blistering sonic experiments combining to deliver a brilliant apocalyptic ballad. Download Howling Owls – Hay Fever mp3 (from When Tipsy Turns Somber EP) Deliciously ominous folk music that creeps from the edges of [...]
I haven't said much about Bonnie Prince Billy in a while, because though I love the prolific bastard, I haven't found a release from him in a while that really jumped out at me. This collaboration with Louisville's The Phantom Family Halo is that release. Prince Billy's twanged out folk has been scaled back here [...]

Our friends at Sophomore Lounge Records passed us an advance copy of The Mindeater , a collaboration between Bonnie "Prince" Billy and The Phantom Family Halo encrusted in a 10-inch vinyl slab. It's a real brain melter. And now we're passing it to you, loyal Buzzgrinderers. Well, one of you, anyway. The record doesn't come out until May 17, but you'll have a chance to own this before anyone else (even if you have to wait a day to put your [...]

Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Phantom Family Halo - "The Mindeater" It's been a spell since we've heard the lo-fi, brooding side of Will Oldham, but the title track off Bonnie "Prince" Billy's 4-song collaborative EP with Phantom Family Halo, The Mindeater , arrived today (via My Old Kentucky Blog ) and, upon first listen, the hushed, acoustic slide-accented tune feels like it would be right at home on Oldham's meditative 1994 Palace Brothers set, Days in the Wake . Fans of the eery side [...]