John Carpenter : Lost Themes IV : Noir

John Carpenter, the Master of Horror, hasn’t made a film in 14 years. After 2010 he became mostly interested in playing video games and the dropping occasional hot take about Hollywood(and his own classic films.) It seemed as if he would fade into the sunset with a game controller in one hand and flipping the […]

The Black Keys : Ohio Players

The Black Keys are an American music institution. They’ve been making their own brand of Midwest duo delta blues now for just a little over 20 years, starting with 2002s The Big Come Up. The duo of Dan Auerbach(guitar, vocals) and drummer Patrick Carney(drums) started out recording their albums in a basement with concrete walls, […]

St. Vincent : All Born Screaming

If ever there was a proper heir to the throne of our beloved David Bowie it would be Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent. From the Texas native’s beginnings as a member of the Polyphonic Spree to a stint in Sufjan Steven’s band to her debut album Marry Me in 2007, Clark has shown a need […]

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE : Exit Signal

SOMAFREE INSTITUTE, the heavy synth trio of Andrew Crawshaw(keys), Justin Thomas Kleine(keys), and Tim Call(drums) have been honing their skills as songwriters and musicians for a few years now. Combining the sonic explorations of 70s electronic titans Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Vangelis with the more modern sound worlds of Zombi and Sinoia Caves. Over […]

The Grateful Dad

My wife and I were driving this weekend and I looked down at the tops of my hands. I was shocked by how old they looked. Or maybe not so much shocked by how old they looked, but by the fact they looked like my dad’s hands. The hands that I’d see on weekends when […]

Morph Stereo : Here We Are

Keith Canisius returns once again as Morph Stereo for another round of hazy, ambient modular cosmic trips. This time with the 3-song EP Here we are. A blend of Krautrock and early 80s experimental electronic music, Canisius blends all of of the vibes of his other musical projects(Rumskib/Astral TV/Shortwave Broadcaster) into one immersive experience as […]

“Baby it’s the guitar man”

I recently switched out pickups in my Squier Vintage Modified Mustang. They weren’t the stock pickups, mind you. They were some random Seymour Duncan pickups I pulled out of my very first guitar, a 1986 Fender Squier Stratocaster I received for my 14th birthday. Oh, what a great birthday that was. I’d been playing guitar […]

Marine Eyes : To Belong

The eloquent, hushed sound world of Cynthia Bernard, aka Marine Eyes, is one of mystery and ethereal soundscapes. Combining heavily-effected guitar, subtle synthesizers, and her own layered vocals, Bernard creates records of dream-like beauty and crystalline visions. Her ambient recordings are not unlike stepping into another world, one built from a foundation of longing for […]

Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea : Reveries

Over the last couple of years I’ve started painting. Acrylics, canvas, and my imagination lay out some simple vision that sits in my head waiting to reveal itself through hand, brush, and color palate. The urge to communicate something from heart to head to canvas. This is not to say I find myself particularly good […]

Celebrating the Big 5-0 And Reflecting On 33 Years Of Ups, Downs, Inside Outs

I haven’t worked a full week in like three weeks. Took a mini-vacation mid-April, then the week after I took a Friday off before the big Joe Satriani concert, then this past weekend I took Friday off so my wife and I could celebrate her 50th birthday. Her birthday was actually Sunday the 28th, but […]