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“All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go,” the third single from Discovery Zone’s Quantum Web, finds the experimental pop project’s mastermind JJ Weihl ensconced “in the garden” as layered vocals and trilling synth lines weave together into a major key reverie, evoking the ivory that might wreathe a gateway from one world to another. Weihl’s gossamer voice celebrates choosing the scenery of this adventure, a sentiment echoed by the lush production, handled by Weihl along with co-producer E.T., that recalls 60s FM psychedelia and 80s sophisti-pop with its warm flute flourishes played by Jane Penny (Tops) and compelling yet cozy casio drum machine waltz. "All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go” comes accompanied with a video conceptualized by Weihl and Janosch Pugnaghi, and shot, directed, and edited by Pugnaghi. The video follows an angel avatar in a virtual world who stumbles upon a flaming portal that leads her straight into an earthly garden in “reality.” "Virtual realms hold many parallels to the realm of spirits, existing outside of 'material reality.’ So I thought it would be an appropriate avatar to embody, traversing both immaterial and material gardens,” says Weihl. "The heavenly garden spoken of in theology melting into a garden created from code. Both inhabited by fallen angels of sorts.”

Ka Baird returns with Bearings: Soundtracks for the Bardos, an album that intertwines elements of the New York based vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer’s ecstatic live performances within minimalistic, visceral compositions that expand in scope and sound through collaboration. The album’s eleven movements manifest as shapeshifting invocations defined by their own multiplicity; the emotional outcome of circumstance and grief, played against rigorous conceptualism and musical craft. Today, Ka shares a video for “Gate VIII,” the first offering from Bearings, directed by Sebastian Mlynarski. Standard and artist vinyl editions of Bearings, alongside a Japanese import CD edition from Plancha, are available for pre-order now / ahead of the March 22 release date.

Danielle Boutet’s Pièces is a mysterious artifact of Quebecois marginalia, self-released in 1985 and revised again as part of Freedom To Spend's uncommon¢ series. Moving from languid ennui to high drama, Pièces is a dreamy gestalt, an album that borders chanson, spoken-word, jazz noir, and minimalism, conjured from the chasm between acoustic and electronic realms Pièces arrives February 16, 2024 as a limited vinyl edition, with pre-orders open now. Check out “P. 216” below, and stay tuned for more from Danielle and FT$.

“So much of chorus was constructed by spying on my own online habits.” Released ten years ago this month, Holly Herndon's “Chorus.” What did you think when you first heard this one?

“I walk a lone path. I guess when you say that I’m not really in present time, I’m not. I’m far more futuristic and far in the ancient past.” Pauline Anna Strom, whose Echoes, Spaces, Lines was released November 10, 2023.

“The phrase Hidden Beauty haunted me for some time, long before I began working on the album. For me, hidden beauty is an intimate voyage through feminine nature, illustrated in a musical collage, subtexts and hidden allusions. Like the record that hides beyond the sleeve, it is a chance for discovery: to release the invisible and bring fragility to the surface.” Sign Libra on Hidden Beauty, released November 3, 2023.