There is a distinctive friction when you listen to Pimpin Change and his upcoming album, “Luxury Pimpin”, something like the satisfying drag of a high-quality fountain pen across textured paper. You expect the ink to bleed, but the lines remain sharp. Jeremy Hill, the man behind the moniker and the Country Dreams Ent. label, operates in a space that feels surprisingly vacant in modern...

North Star Union has released "Echoes of decay", a slice of melodic heavy metal that feels less like a standard studio tracking and more like something dug out of the permafrost. There is a curious quality to Icelandic composer Myrmann’s work here; because he handles all the instrumentation and composition himself at Midgard Studio, the track possesses a singular, frighteningly cohesive nervous system. It...