Torn Light Records

Songs to Ignite: Eccentricity, Religious Music, and How We React to the Work of Sister Irene O’Connor

In a couple weeks, Freedom to Spend will reissue Fire of God’s Love, the offbeat, psych-religious release by Australian nun, Sister Irene O’Connor, available for the first time on vinyl […]

November 4, 2025

The Cathedral Paradox: JJJJJerome Ellis and Sarah Davachi at Talk Low Festival 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio

Last time on the blog, I wrote about my experience hearing Chris Corsano at Cincinnati’s Talk Low Festival, the second annual experimental music festival in the city featuring local and […]

October 22, 2025

Percussive Entropy: Chris Corsano at Talk Low Festival 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio

Talk Low Festival celebrated its second year as a premier experimental music festival in Cincinnati, drawing together the avant-garde from near and far. Before one of the performances I attended, […]

October 7, 2025

A Sign of Things to Come: A Conversation with Cincinnati’s Rob Mohan

About a year ago, I met up with Cincinnati-based acoustic guitarist Rob Mohan for a chat. Mohan and I have crossed paths in the local scene at various points, and […]

October 2, 2025

The Record Listening Muscle: Turning Discogs’ Dis/Connect Day Into Weeks, Months, and Years

Last week, Discogs announced an initiative called, “Dis/Connect,” a global day on October 18th that encourages distance from one’s digital devices, especially from music streaming, in order to embrace physical […]

September 22, 2025

Save the Waves, Another Spotify Exodus, and Reflecting on Artist and Audience Resistance in the Music Industry

During my most recent browse of The Wire, Raymond Cummings’ review of the Save the Waves: People for Public Media compilation caught my eye. Save the Waves was released in […]

September 3, 2025

The Musical Object as Conduit for the Personal, from Artist to Audience

I took a trip to New England during the first week of August, and despite my common sense repeatedly reminding me that I had limited room in my carry-on for […]

August 18, 2025

What Process Music Teaches About Time and Transparency

Several months ago now, Nonesuch released an immense CD boxset of Steve Reich’s Collected Works, spanning his early phase pieces like Come Out, his popular Music for 18 Musicians, and […]

July 28, 2025

Real Life: Marie Davidson, Identity Formation, and Albums as Snapshots Into the Contemporary Working Musician

It’s been a little while since I did a classic, artist profile-style blog, so I reflected on who I’ve been listening to on repeat recently that warranted a deep dive. […]

July 15, 2025