Look out for our next compilation album, “Resolution”

Resolution is a powerful word that carries layered meanings. In visual arts, it correlates to the detail level of an image (and the same relationship exists for audio and audio resolution). Towards the end of the year, people begin crafting their own resolutions for the ensuing year, and cultivating a hungry determination to pursue those goals. And, in essence, that determination is reflective of the quality of being resolute. Resolutions can also exist as the agreed-upon solution to an existing problem or impasse. In short, the word is a web that occasionally tangles itself into knots.

And all of the word’s various meanings entwine on our latest compilation album, Resolution, which we will release this week on Bandcamp Friday. (If you need a primer on what Bandcamp Friday is, or what it matters, you can find that here.)

For Resolution, we reached out to a number of our favorite local acts—or acts that our contributing roster is directly involved in—for demos, early or alternate mixes, or unreleased and/or hard-to-find material. Demos, by their very nature, are typically lower-resolution, but operate as a determinative base for what eventually becomes resolved by way of a finished, refined version. Hottt Probs, Slick, Free Dirt, Mumbumper, Rockstar & Elise, and Jonathon Millionaire all contributed tracks to Resolution, alongside many others. Those contributions may be wide-ranging in terms of studio polish, but are all firmly united by their underlying, undeniable creative spirit. 

If you’d like to get a sneak peek of Resolution, and hear tracks that have graced our previous compilations, swing over to our compilation listening party on Thursday, December 4, at Giant Jones Brewing Company, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Speaking personally, I’ve always held a sincere fondness for demos and alternative mixes, and have seen them as highly emblematic of a DIY ethos; a testament to artists operating within modest means, and chasing a creative vision with verve. I’ve been just as fond of unreleased material, especially when it’s a piece of art that has been cared for and carried for years. In this inherent relationship to the admirably stubborn, evolutionary process of art, it’s not hard to see a direct line between that process and the complex reality of pushing Tone Madison forward.

Buying Resolution this Friday will count towards our year-end NewsMatch fundraiser, and you’ll get a generous helping of truly exceptional music in return.

Operating, maintaining, and evolving this publication is not an easy task. And, over time, it has become costly. Overhead, our commitment to paying freelancers competitive rates, and the hourly work our editorial staff pours in ensures the continuation of a highly principled journalistic standard all take a legitimate toll. But we remain resolute, dig our heels in, and keep moving ahead. In 2025’s final quarter, our decision to keep progressing has seen those costs—and the overall degree of difficulty in keeping Tone Madison going—significantly increase.

If the rate of those occurrences continue and/or expand, Tone Madison either won’t make it to the end of 2026, or will be forced into a template-resetting upheaval.

While we haven’t been directly impacted by the transparently fascistic Trump administration-led shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, we have still felt its impact. And we’re painfully aware that the climate for journalism of any sort has grown increasingly hostile and antagonistic. Much of journalism’s erosion has been pointed and hyper-intentional, and often comes at the hands of people seeking to dismantle any outlet that doesn’t blindly capitulate to the whims of the executive class. But we still believe in the independent model, and we still believe the difficulties the present state of journalism presents can effectively be offset by a community that understands journalism’s value and rallies around it.

Now, more than ever, we need that spirited support. And through December 31, the value of that support will be multiplied, thanks to NewsMatch. Every donation we get, up to the total of $15,000, will be doubled. Monthly donations will be matched up to 12x, reflecting a doubling of their annual value. And if 50 new subscribers donate before 2025 ends, we’ll receive an additional $1,000 bonus.

Every last cent—and subscriber/sustainer—can make a critical difference.  

We’ve worked hard to earn not just the support of our readers, but the support and trust of the artists featured on this compilation. And we remain exceptionally proud of our relationship to our city’s local musicians. We remain thankful for everyone that’s picked up any one of our three compilations to date (Contributors, To Grow A Garden, and 10), and anyone who’s made a donation of any sort. We can’t wait to add Resolution to that collection, and are looking forward to its release.

Until then, and after, our resolve will remain steadfast when it comes to providing our readers with the coverage, events, and soundtracks they so richly deserve.

If you’d like to make a donation now, you can do so here.