Tag Archives: Pullman

Mixtape #180

02 February 2026

Emerging from the fertile Chicago post-rock scene of the late 1990s, Pullman features members of Tortoise, Directions in Music, Rex, Come, and Eleventh Dream Day. A studio-born acoustic supergroup, the band brings together Ken “Bundy K.” Brown, Curtis Harvey, Chris Brokaw, and Doug McCombs, with drummer Tim Barnes rounding out the lineup. Conceived as a space to explore instrumental ideas outside of their other bands, Pullman released two acclaimed and influential albums, Turnstyles & Junkpiles (1998) and Viewfinder (2001). More than twenty years on, Pullman returns with III, a beautiful, intimate and gentle record shaped by long friendship, trust and collaboration. One of the year’s most rewarding listens, it’s been a real joy spending time with it since it landed last month. So we couldn’t be happier to share the superb mixtape Pullman put together for us, offering a window into the sounds and influences that feed into their world. Press play and enjoy.

  1. Bill Orcutt – The Sun & Its Horizon [Palilalia Records]
  2. Daniel Bachman – Feel the ground beneath your feet (some sticks and leaves, but mostly earth…)
  3. Andrea Belfi & Jules Reidy – alto [Marionette]
  4. Angine de Poitrine – Sherpa [Les Cassettes Magiques]
  5. Grouper – A Lie [Yellow Electric / Kranky]
  6. Collections of Colonies of Bees – fa.ce (a – 04 Untitled [Crouton]
  7. BCMC – Ripple in High Tide [Drag City]
  8. The Dwarfs Of East Agouza – Neptune Anteater [Constellation]
  9. Jessica 93 – Poison [Teenage Menopause Records / Music Fear Satan]
  10. Tom Verlaine – Fragile [Warner Bros. / BGO Records]
  11. Califone – Burn the Sheets Bleach the Books [Jealous Butcher]
  12. Duffy X Uhlmann – In the Spirit of Fair Play [Orindal Records]
  13. Roy Orbison – Leah [London Records / Monument]
  14. X – The Unheard Music [Fat Possum Records]
  15. Captain Beefheart – A Carrot Is As Close A Rabbit Gets To A Diamond [Virgin]
  16. Marisa Anderson & William Tyler – News About Heaven [Thrill Jockey]
  17. Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes – Frica [International Anthem]
  18. Mallard – Yellow
  19. Kieran Hebden & William Tyler – Secret City [Temporary Residence]

Pullman release third and final single ‘Bray’ from upcoming new album III

07 January 2026

With Pullman’s long-awaited new album, III, now just a couple of days away, we’re down to the last preview before its release. Over the past few months, the Chicago-based acoustic supergroup have already given us two strong introductions to III, first with the dazzling and dreamy ‘Weightless’ and then the intricate and hypnotic ‘Kabul’, both of which marked their first new material in over twenty years. Today, ahead of the album’s release this Friday, Pullman have shared a final preview from III. The new track, ‘Bray’, shifts the mood once again, leaning into a denser and more tactile atmosphere. “Across two warm minutes, distorted timbres create a serrated, yet woolly atmosphere”, describes the press release. “It is equally indebted to ambient and noise, harkening back to ’90s Midwest experimentation.”

‘Bray’ highlights another side of a record shaped by long-standing collaboration, patience, and persistence. The album is out this Friday, January 9th, through Western Vinyl, and you can check out the new single below, offered alongside a visualizer.

Pullman share second single, ‘Kabul’, off upcoming new album III

12 December 2025

With Pullman’s long-awaited III just around the corner, and following the dazzling and dreamy ‘Weightless’, the storied Chicago-based acoustic supergroup have unveiled a beauty of a second single. Titled ‘Kabul’, the track builds on their unique blend of ambient folk and post-rock with even more intricate layers of instrumentation and gently hypnotic rhythms. As the band’s Chris Brokaw describes, the song’s creation process is a blend of influences and collaboration:

“Kabul. Dig deep. Banjo nod to the East. Throw it in the mail and into Bundy‘s blender. Back to the boys and out into the ether. Boiling weeds for soup ain’t no way to live.”

There is a sense of playful experimentation in ‘Kabul’, aligned with the spirit of the album itself, one that was shaped by friendship and endurance. After more than two decades, the band’s bond has been tested and strengthened over time, especially after drummer Tim Barnes was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2021. The album, and as the press release describes, “carries forward the group’s signature intimacy and space while embodying the spirit of community that has always defined their work.”

III is one of the most anticipated releases of 2026 and we can’t wait for it to drop on January 9th through Western Vinyl. Now check out the accompanying video for ‘Kabul’.

Pullman return with first new record in two decades, III

24 October 2025

Photo courtesy of Western Vinyl

With 2025 soon coming to an end, we are already looking ahead to next year’s releases. One of the albums slated for an early 2026 release that we are highly anticipating will come from the hands of Pullman, a studio-born acoustic supergroup that took root in the fertile soil of Chicago’s post-rock scene in the late ’90s, bringing together Ken “Bundy K.” Brown (Tortoise/Directions in Music), Curtis Harvey (Rex), Chris Brokaw (Come), and Doug McCombs (Tortoise/Eleventh Dream Day), with drummer Tim Barnes rounding out the lineup.

Pullman first surfaced on Thrill Jockey in 1998 with Turnstyles & Junkpiles, and three years later, Viewfinder arrived. With these two releases, and as the press release explains, Pullman “became a touchstone for acoustic, song-adjacent instrumental music: folk in spirit, post-rock in method, and timeless in tone.”

More than twenty years on, the band returns with III, a record shaped by friendship, endurance, and time. Out on January 9th through Western Vinyl, III is introduced with the dazzling and dreamy lead single ‘Weightless’. The single is offered with an accompanying video and you can watch it below.