Rusty Reid is such an artist that his indie work is based on the folk-country rock tapestry element to emphasize protest and passion narrative. However, his most recent work “ American Villain ” stands as an alarm bell, reminiscent of the infusion between the sixties and today’s political constituency. After a short tenure with the University of Houston, he was under Nashville’s bright lights at 19....

Anastasia Rydlevskaya makes rage feel methodical on Alchemia. Her fourth full-length album takes the four classical stages of alchemy and turns them into a hard-edged account of betrayal, trauma and feminine power. Nigredo, Albedo and Calcinatio, Citrinitas, then Rubedo each push the heroine into a new state. The result sits firmly in dark electronic music, but it also carries experimental pop and pagan motifs. That framing...