Nomadic Matt

It’s easy to get lost in Wisconsin. Metropolitan centers might anchor to the Midwest, but patches of sprawling wilderness and bitter weather make for an American outlier. Barely Civil was built from this backdrop—four different dots on the state map. Despite this, their debut full-length We Can Live Here Forever plots a journey home, whatever and wherever that means. Stopovers across genre and structure keep the pace measured and lean, while Matt Riefler’s layered production explodes any breathing room into powerful statements.

The desert is a place of hardship and subtle beauty, a stark world that reveals its secrets slowly and carefully. For the renowned Saharan band Tinariwen, the desert is their home, their hypnotic and electrifying guitar rock reflecting the complex realities of their homebase in North West Africa. "Emmaar" is the follow up to the group's 2011 album "Tassili", recorded in the Algerian desert with an esteemed cadre of musicians including Wilco's Nels Cline and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone - the album won a Grammy for Best World Music.