Sound artist Rocio Zavala debuts with an album of otherworldly drone

In May 2020, during the isolating depths of the first large-scale U.S. COVID-19 lockdown, Gossip Wolf caught a live online performance by Rocio Zavala as part of Experimental Sound Studio’s Quarantine Concerts series. A sound and visual artist from Mexico who’s now based in Chicago, Zavala crafted an alluring, otherworldly drone with her own handmade electronic instruments, including synthesizers and a zither, and accompanied it with sparse digital percussion. Her set reminded this wolf of a once-functional electrical power station spinning down and finally falling silent, and it had to be more than just the apocalyptic energy of those early pandemic months doing that. On Friday, May 6, local label Monastral releases Zavala’s debut album, Invisible Miracles, which collects recordings and live performances from 2016 through 2021; according to the label, the music channels “the inevitable oscillation between states of the body and amplified sound as magnetized and electrified energy.” Digital downloads and a limited-edition cassette are available for preorder via Bandcamp.

^{On her first full-length release, Rocio Zavala collects around five years of work.}

On Sunday, May 1, local posthardcore four-piece the Ableist dropped the monster EP Staircase Wit—and yes, the release date was chosen deliberately. Even if you didn’t hear these anti-colonialist, anti-capitalist rippers on International Workers’ Day, the Ableist’s brawny melodies will keep Staircase Wit in your rotation for months. (And if you have a computer that can do anything with a three-and-a-half-inch floppy disk, you may be interested to hear that the crunchy single “Bloodshot, 1617” is for some reason coming out in a run of 50 floppies.) The Ableist celebrate the new EP by headlining a show at the Burlington on Sunday, May 8, with openers Gilt, Oux, and Prevention. The show starts at 9 PM, and tickets cost $10.

^{The final track on Staircase Wit, “Bloodshot, 1617,” is also available as a single on floppy disk.}

Chicago underground pop sensation Ivy Hollivana bowled over this wolf yet again last Saturday, releasing an EP called Believer. Hollivana powers her quasi-symphonic melodies and swooping, fluttering vocals with boisterous electronic percussion, and her kaleidoscopic editing helps give her wild experiments in future pop a giddy, pixelated ecstasy. On Thursday, May 12, she plays at the Empty Bottle with Cam Stacey (who mixed and mastered Believer) and the band Trdml.

^{Ivy Hollivana credits herself with production and vocals on Believer. Cam Stacey mixed and mastered the EP.}

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