The group has gotten a favorable reception at a wide range of venues, ranging from a punk-rock club in Chicago (where they were billed as “heavy cello rock from Milwaukee”) to the Jazz Estate, where they perform frequently...

Afghanistan became the red-hot front line of the Cold War when the occupation by the Soviet Union was resisted by an uneasy, American-supported coalition. Some of the anti-Soviet forces, especially the Taliban and Al Quaeda, later turned on the U.S. in a series of events leading to 9-11 and the American invasion of the country. After all of that, including decades of pitched violence and he...

The Milwaukee Noise Fest wraps up its ear-melting three-day run at the Borg Ward tonight, with one final packed bill of experimental music, and also one of the festival’s biggest highlights: a reunion performance from Boy Dirt Car, an industrial noise band that first formed in 1981. The band shared members with Milwaukee punk legends Die Kreuzen, and played gigs with Sonic Youth and Einsterzende Neubauten. They broke...

The Uptowner, a 58-year-old corner bar in Riverwest, seems an unlikely venue for an impromptu noise show on a Saturday night. Peter J. Woods sets up his gear, synthesizers, effect pedals and an electric violin on a card table while a small group of people gather in front of him and a couple of guys shoot pool directly behind him. Then the noise starts.

Break out your earplugs, because you’re going to need them: Tonight is the beginning of the three-day Milwaukee Noise Fest at the Borg Ward. Included on tonight’s bill, which starts at 7 p.m., are Burial Hex, Drunjus, Hal Rammel and The Demix, along with many others who will be churning out loud and innovative blasts of abrasive noise.

The Milwaukee Underground Film Festival continues its four-day, multi-venue run tonight with a program that runs at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at the Times Cinema. Whatever screens, it’s a safe bet that it will be a little weird, a little confounding and, perhaps, a little controversial.

Cloud Cult's Craig Minowa laughs when recalling a large Canadian retailer that used a song from the band's second album in a television commercial.