Salem 66 was formed in 1981 as a trio by guitarist-vocalist Judy Grunwald, bassist-vocalist-songwriter Beth Kaplan, and drummer Susan Merriam. Over the course of a decade a few members came and went as the lineup grew and the band recorded a 12-inch EP, two 45s, four LPs, and a compilation CD before breaking up. Now, 35 years later, Don Giovanni Records has dished SALT, a fresh collection of ten previously released songs by the band on vinyl, compact disc, and digital, as an overview to the Salem 66 catalog, becoming available digitally for the first time. Tapping into the zone where jangle pop mingles with post-punk, SALT finds their sound holding up spectacularly well. It’s available now.

Although many will romanticize it as the worst of times, the 1980s underground was loaded with high-quality music that’s diversity thrived through the individual stamp of regional scenes. Too often, the tendency when synopsizing the stretch of time between punk’s stylistic splintering and the Alt-rock explosion is to boil it down to the same dozen or so bands, but there was so many more worthwhile records in the store racks across that span, and too much of it has fallen into true obscurity, rather than cultivating a fanbase that’s modestly sized but in the know.

This is essentially the case with Salem 66. Ahead of their time but a persevering presence on the Boston scene, the band released the entirety of their output (excluding a few compilation appearances) on one of the cornerstone indie labels of the era, Homestead Records. That Salem 66 stuck with Homestead and vice versa is indicative of the band’s success while extant, and as mentioned above, a prior comp, 1983–1987 (Your Soul Is Mine, Fork It Over), dropped 18 songs from their pre-CD catalog onto the format; that wouldn’t have happened if Salem 66’s output was languishing in the cut-out bins.

As Don Giovanni points out in their promotion for SALT, Dinosaur Jr’s first show in New York was opening for Salem 66. But what’s important to note is that Salem 66 was not a buzz band a la Sonic Youth or abrasive in form and content like Big Black; with each successive release, their music became less linked to post-punk and university-friendly jangle pop in favor of a sound that’s more recognizable today as being proto-indie.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Smashing Pumpkins have formally detailed the long-awaited reissue and reformation of their 2000 masterpiece, Machina/The Machines of God, and its companion album, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. This reimagined project, featuring extensive remixing and remastering, will be out in multiple formats on August 22 via UMe and through Madame Zuzu’s Tea Shop.

Billy Corgan’s Madame Zuzu’s tea shop in Highland Park, IL is exclusively offering an expansive 80-song vinyl box set featuring a 48-track Machina plus an additional 32 bonus tracks of demos, outtakes, and live performances, marking the first time these two records will officially be united. This vinyl box set is the only format available to listen to all 80 songs in its entirety. Preorder the box set HERE.

Additionally, the rock band will release a 16-song reissue of the original Machina/The Machines of God vinyl on August 22, and pre-orders will begin on June 27. UMe will also be releasing various 25th-anniversary remastered formats of Machina/The Machines of God, including a black 180g 2LP vinyl reissue; a 180g limited-edition color 2LP in corona red/black, as well as CD and digital formats on August 22. Preorder Machina/The Machines of God HERE.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Platinum-selling, post-industrial/alternative rock pioneers, Filter are set to release their remixed and remastered new album, The Algorithm: Ultra Edition, on August 8 via the band’s No Pulse Records. The album features re-imagined cuts from The Algorithm—the tight conceptual statement heralding career-best songwriting from Filter mastermind Richard Patrick—with 9 additional tracks.

On July 11, the new album’s first single, the speaker-shattering “All The Good,” was released to radio and on all digital platforms. The epic track—featuring that classic Filter sound with a modern sonic edge—is pure existential chaos, heavy psychotic riffs, and a soaring, anthemic chorus. It’s not so much a loud-quiet-loud dynamic as a loud-quiet-monstrously loud one. From out of the blocks, Patrick’s vocals are pushed into the red, and from there… things only get heavier. Produced by Patrick and long-time collaborator Brian Virtue, “All The Good” was co-written by Zach Munowitz, the guitarist who co-wrote “For the Beaten,” “Up Against the Wall,” and “Say It Again.”

The Algorithm: Ultra Edition also delivers four remixes of previously released tracks, including former Nine Inch Nails member Charlie Clouser, producer/mixer Sean Beaven (NIN, Marilyn Manson), and Patrick’s mixes of “Obliteration” and Julian Gray’s version of “Burn Out the Sun.” There are also two covers: Patrick offers his take on U2’s “A Sort of Homecoming” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.”

Available on all music streaming platforms August 8th, with exclusive physical versions to be released in the future.

Remembering Woody Guthrie, born on this day in 1912. —Ed.

Born in 1912 and laid to rest in 1967 after a long bout with Huntington’s Disease, Woodrow Wilson Guthrie is as iconic a figure as American music has produced. Long-considered the granddaddy of folk protest, his 1940s recordings have influenced countless musicians across numerous genres, but ill-health brought his days as a performer to a close prior to the onset of the ’50s folk boom. But against all odds, in every era since, Guthrie’s music has remained relevant; the posthumous 1976 LP Struggle is testament to his staying power, and it’s been reissued on vinyl by Smithsonian Folkways in the label’s classic tip-on jacket, with artwork by David Stone Martin and original liner notes by Moses Asch.

It was as a music hungry youth in the mid-’80s that I first became cognizant of Woody Guthrie. Sure, I’d sung “This Land Is Your Land” in school a good while before that, but the teachers did a bang-up job of not mentioning whose song it was. It was a fascination with Dylan that led me to Guthrie, and even at that point Woody was moving beyond the iconic and into the realms of myth.

Mythic stature almost always brings a backlash, but with Guthrie, it was surprisingly little. He was beloved by the folkies natch, but also valued by the heartland rockers, rated as worthy by blues hounds (due to his association with Leadbelly and Sonny Terry), and even respected by the punks; well, some of them, anyway.

But I’ll confess that after soaking up and appreciating Dust Bowl Ballads (recorded for Victor in 1940) and the Library of Congress Recordings (from another 1940 session, issued by Elektra in ’63 and again by Rounder in ’88, which his how I heard it), for a long while afterward, I listened to Guthrie only intermittently.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Yungblud. Are You Ready, Boy?, the new documentary film featuring the globally recognized British artist Yungblud, will receive its worldwide theatrical release with screenings on August 20 and 24, courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing. Visit Yungblud.film to find out more, sign up for updates, and get tickets when they go on sale on July 17.

The feature-length documentary, directed by three-time Grammy Award-nominated, Emmy® and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Paul Dugdale (Adele: One Night Only, Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium, The Prodigy ‘Worlds on Fire’, Glastonbury Festival: Live at Worthy Farm) was shot at the legendary Hansa Studios Building in Berlin, the birthplace of David Bowie’s Heroes, U2’s Achtung Baby! and countless other iconic albums.

A personal journey of change, confidence, and rock-and-roll chaos, set against a city that has always celebrated counterculture and creativity, Yungblud. Are You Ready, Boy? is a revealing and uncompromising documentary about a generational artist finding his own voice.

Presented in B&W and colour, including stunning sequences shot in 16mm, the two-hour-long documentary shows Yungblud at a pivotal moment in his career. The film follows the artist as he relocates to the historic Berlin studio with his band to record live performances of tracks from his brand-new album, Idols, for the very first time. His most personal record to date, Idols was released in June 2025 to critical acclaim, becoming Yungblud’s third consecutive no. 1 album in the UK.

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O. my. What have we got here? Just a baritone saxophonist and a drummer, and enough effects pedals to make his saxophone sound like a goddamn machine gun and her drums sound like a German King Tiger tank.

The duo is called O. and they hail from the vibrant South London jazz scene. Saxophonist Joe Henwood and drummer Tash Keary met, clicked, and thought it would be a wonderful idea to expand the sonic possibilities of their instruments through a bank of effects pedals while infusing their jazz with elements of heavy metal, dub, electronica, and God only knows what else.

The results are nothing less than astounding. You can listen to their songs and never guess there’s a baritone sax in there. You hear the drums, but they’re doing things no one would have thought possible. Just check out “Green Shirt” from their debut LP, 2024’s WeirdOs. I dare you!

I was first introduced to them by means of their 2023 EP “Slice,” and I actually prefer it to WeirdOs, if only because it offers solid evidence of their jazz bona fides. That might seem to be an odd reason to prefer “Slice,” given O.’s predilection for moving as far from jazz as is humanly possible, but there you go. The song “ATM” ISN’T “Green Shirt” but it’s something every bit as great—jazz as played by two top-notch jazz musicians.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | On the 50th anniversary of its original release, the self-titled album has been certified 9x platinum by the RIAA. In celebration, Rhino announces two new premium audio editions of Fleetwood Mac, the 1975 album that ushered in a new era for the band. On August 8, the album will debut in Dolby Atmos and arrive on vinyl as part of the Rhino High Fidelity series of high-end reissues.

The Blu-ray Audio edition features a new Dolby ATMOS mix by Chris James, delivering a fully immersive experience of this classic album. It also includes a 5.1 surround mix by original producer Ken Caillat and Claus Trelby. Fleetwood Mac (Rhino High Fidelity) was mastered by Kevin Gray, cut directly from the original analog master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. Available exclusively at Rhino.com and internationally at select WMG stores, the album is limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies. A special version (limited to 2,000 copies) will also be available that includes two replica 7-inch singles featuring the single mixes of “Over My Head” b/w “Rhiannon” and “Say You Love Me” b/w “Blue Letter.” Pre-order HERE.

Released on July 11, 1975, Fleetwood Mac was the band’s tenth studio album and the second named after the group, sharing its title with their 1968 debut. Often referred to by fans as “The White Album,” it also introduced Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks into the group’s core lineup, joining Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie. The chemistry between the five was immediate—and transformative. The album’s sound marked a break from the band’s blues-based roots, pivoting toward a melodic, harmony-rich approach that would come to define a generation of FM radio.

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Celebrating Peter Murphy on his 68th birthday. —Ed.

I’ve never been much of a gothic rock fan. Why? For starters, I’m not deceased. Bela Lugosi may be dead, but I’m not. And I’ve never been big on humorless doom and gloom types. You know, the ones who spend their spare weekends looking into crypt rentals.

But Bauhaus, different story. A jagged-edged post-punk band with a guitarist who played barb wire, Bauhaus eschewed gothic atmospherics in favor of dissonance, feedback, and raw power. What’s more, there was nothing sepulchral about he-of-the-prominent-cheekbones Peter Murphy’s voice; he’s very much alive, and proof that the quick and the dead needn’t be two different animals.

1986’s 1979-1983 Volume One is more than just a compilation of a pioneering Goth rock band; it’s a landmark of the post-punk era, and demonstrates why Bauhaus’ music continues to inspire and influence a wide variety of musical artists. Rarely will you find a compilation without a weak track on it, but Bauhaus pulls it off with their voodoo potion of punk, dub reggae, and what can only be described as noise rock. (“Double Dare” sounds more like a song by Cows than one of Bauhaus’ English contemporaries.) It was this mélange of influences that led Murphy to describe Bauhaus as “more aligned to the Clash than anything else that was going around.”

On LP opener axe ace Daniel Ash and David J’s fuzzed-out bass produce a wall of distorted noise over a submarine ping and Murphy’s baritone vocal. I always think of goth rock vocals as cadaver chilly, but Murphy’s veer on spontaneous human combustion. He also comes close to self-immolation on the breakneck “St. Vitus Dance,” spitting out his words before breaking into some staccato screaming and a swell monkey imitation.

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Lulu Lewis is the NYC synth-pop duo of Dylan Hundley and Pablo Martin. They’ve released a pair of albums and a handful of EPs, singles, and remixes since joining forces and today they are premiering another track, “Sinner,” ahead of the summer edition of their Salon Lulu event series, which takes place this Sunday July 13 from 2-6pm at the club Berlin in Manhattan. There will be live performances by Liz Lamere and Lulu Lewis, Julia Gorton’s short film “Stacked Deck” and a hands-on boutique of locally made musical equipment named Gear Weird. “Sinner” is up to Lulu Lewis’ high electro-dance standard; check it out below, and if you’re local, do drop by Salon Lulu on Sunday. It’s sure to be a stone gas.

There is consistency in the sound of Lulu Lewis, but the music is solid enough in conception to allow room to branch out. Since formation, the duo (who often welcome guest contributors; for “Sinner” it’s Bruce Martin on bongos and bell) has offered a collection of dub remixes and a covers EP featuring songs by Roxy Music, John Cale, and Funkadelic, to name two offramps from the main stylistic freeway.

Courtesy of the opening synths, “Sinner” has a dark, tense cinematic edge; that is, it sounds like a pop song that was cut to accompany a film, in this case, a low-budget, high-energy action flick set on the streets of the old, dangerous NYC. The lyrics and Hundley’s vocal suggest a woman who has lost her faith (or never had it) and is out doing the dirty but necessary work of seeking justice and getting revenge.

We’re talking shades of Zoe Lund in Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 and even the great Gena Rowlands in her hubby John Cassavetes’ Gloria, but we’re deeper into the 1980s with shades of a Golan Globus-esque exploitation vibe. The song is a bold synth-pop affair, but with a subtle rock undercurrent from Martin’s guitars. Hundley sings like someone who landed an unexpected opportunity and is making the very best of it by giving her all. Retaining a bit of that dub flair in the song is a sweet touch. If “Sinners” did land on the soundtrack to an ’80s action film, the song would very likely be the best thing about it.

PHOTO: JACKIE LEE YOUNG | I recently sat down with my former bandmate and friend, Jay Mumford. Jay’s career as a session and touring drummer has paired him with artists across multiple genres.

From Hermanos Gutierrez, to Danger Mouse, Lulu Lewis, Adrian Quesada, Vampire Weekend, Just Blaze, Dan Auerbach, Greyhounds, Madlib, Michael Kiwanuka, and many more. He’s also a co-founder and shares producer and songwriter duties with Pablo Martin (my partner) for their funk outfit, The Du-Rites.

Jay is on tour with Adrian Quesada with dates in August and September and played on Quesada’s Boleros Psicodelicos 2, which dropped June 27th on ATO Records.

There’s a new EP, “Tenement,” from The Du-Rites dropping this fall, and he’s back in the studio with Amsterdam-based keyboardist, producer, and arranger, Soul Supreme, working on new material. I recommend heading over to his Instagram to stay in the loop.

Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.