NIckie’s Niches #53: April 2026

Start Artist Song Time Album Year 0:02:04 Sam Grassie Where Two Hawks Fly 3:35 Where Two Hawks Fly Debut 2026 0:06:00 Steve Broomhead Reflekt 4:15 Audio Experiments 2026 0:10:52 Telegraph Topography of Mind 11:05 Topography of Mind 2026 0:22:21 Lili Refrain Nagal 7:23 Nagalite 2026 0:30:04 Jonas Meersmans Glassman 7:28 Glassman 2026 0:37:53 Tanya Donelly and Chris Brokaw Sainte Nicholaes 3:03 The Undone is Done Again 2026 0:41:16 Iguanahead Sage 4:11 Lizardcore 2026 0:45:44 Beautiful Death Thy Shadow 3:35 Thy Shadow 2026 0:49:41 Mind Overclock Anti-war 4:04 Single 2026 Where Two Hawks Fly Debut LP by Sam Grassie favorite track Where Two Hawks Fly Fabulous Scottish fingerstyle guitarist Sam Grassie now makes his home in London. Not surprisingly, the Bert Jansch Foundation has backed this release, but Grassie brings plenty of his own style and personality to bear here. Sam supplies vocals and acoustic guitars, with guests on saxophone, double bass, flute, clairsach, clarinet, and backing vocals. Audio Experiments by Steve Broomhead favorite track Reflekt Multi-instrumentalist Steve Broomhead offers this collection of pieces of music that he felt didn’t fit with his other releases. They all fit quite nicely here, most are eerie and/or with a feeling impending doom, right up my deep and dark alley. Reflekt is very representative of the whole, although First Light also vies for my favourite. Topography of Mind by Telegraph favorite track Topography of Mind Israeli band Telegraph is a bit of a throwback to classic prog blended with psych and space rock. Instrumentation is the usual, guitars, bass, drums, plus synthesizers and other keyboards, and flute, with vocals as well. All of the tracks are epic in scope, as well as length, on this fine release. Nagalite by LILI REFRAIN favorite track Nagal This multi-instrumentalist and vocalist hails from Rome. The tracks are meditations on metamorphosis, evoking rituals and renewals by her eerie vocals and phantasmagorical production of the music. Instrumentation is guitars, bass, synths, bass drum, and drum machine. Enter the enthralling world evoked here. Glassman by jonasmeersmans favorite track Glassman Belgian fingerstyle guitarist and composer combines acoustic and electric guitars with looping layers, along with guests on violin, keyboards, double bass, and electric bass. The music touches on ambient, soundtrack, chamber, and jazz, in this ear-catching release. The Undone is Done Again by Tanya Donelly and Chris Brokaw favorite track Sainte Nicholaes Combining forces, Bostonians Tanya Donelly and Chris Brokaw reimagine some Medieval pieces using modern instrumentation. Tanya’s haunting voice and Chris’ brooding and echo-y guitars create a sense of antiquity, as if recorded in a monastery. Lizardcore by Iguanahead favorite track Sage Nifty hard psych band from Nashville, proving that not everyone there wears a cowboy hat. This trio utilizes the classic instrumentation of guitars, bass, and drums (vocals, too), adding dashes of metal, doom, and prog to lift this a cut above the others in this ouevre. Thy Shadow by Beautiful Death favorite track Thy Shadow Aussie solo artist influenced by dark metal utilizes the simple beauty of an acoustic guitar to bring dark folk themes to life. Unsurprisingly, there is a achingly melancholic thread throughout all of the pieces. Anti-war by Mind Overclock favorite track Anti-war These two songs could have been written during the Vietnam Era, yet sadly, they are new, because here we are again. They evoke much of the spirit of the anti-war movement of the times, and they do it so very well. Psych seems to go hand in hand with the idealism of peace and this band delivers it in spades.

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