After more than ten years of silence, ex-Harry Pussy guitar player Bill Orcutt released ‘An New Way To Pay Old Debts’, an acoustic hardcore blues record that sounds heavier than all the eclectic guitar records in your collection. It was the best album of 2009... feature :: by Joeri Bruyninckx

New Zealand has always reigned supreme in the world of experimental music. Expressway, the Jefferies brothers, Alastair Galbraith... it's a long list of greats. In recent years, a new school of artists has emerged and is led by the mighty Campbell Kneale (aka Birchville Cat Motel). Through his Celebrate Psi-Phenomenon label, Kneale has launched sonic missile after sonic missile at the mainland. Over the course of more releases than I can count, Birchville Cat Motel has been lauded for its magnificent, emotional soundscapes. Behind the curtain, Kneale is approachable and amusing. In him, you'll find somebody who truly enjoys making music for no other reason than the music itself. 2004's "Beautiful Speck Triumph" was an opus of larger-than-life proportions. Spanning two CDs, it raised the bar for similar artists. Early in 2005, Kneale embarks on a rare North American tour. Don't fucking miss it... feature :: by Brad Rose

Straight outta the Metal midlands comes Joe Blanchard’s Blackest Rainbow label, the undoubted success underground noise/drone/free/post-everything label story of the past couple of years. Unlike many other players in the field, Blanchard keeps up a steady stream of releases without filler, dips in quality or disappearing acts – Christina Carter, Hush Arbors, Fossils, Tom Carter, Sunburned and Burial Hex to name a few. Check the website as there’s a ridiculously impressive back catalogue there. .. feature :: by Scott McKeating

Even though I am a bit late in the game with my initiation into the world of Jan Svensson & Börft Records, the guy is already practically a hero to me. Based in Sweden, Svensson started the label 23 years ago along with Joachim Nordwall (who no longer runs the label, but is involved in a ton of other great things), releasing cassettes of his own projects, Frak and Alvars Orkestra. From there, it just grew and grew and grew. Svensson is still at it after all these years and dozens of tapes and records and is still creating some of the best experimental synth-based music on the planet. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Jason Anderson (of Gift Tapes & Brother Raven) for tipping me off, but now that I'm fully enmeshed in the Svennson's Börft world, I am never leaving. This is as essential as it gets. (Part 1 of 2)... feature :: by Brad Rose