“Nature, The Cosmos, Music, Art…” : The Sound World Of Paul Riedl

Every once in awhile an album comes along and sort of rewires your brain. Something or someone in the universe sees fit to gift your head and heart with a little aural magic; a tickle to your psyche that ignites something in the head and heart. For me that came in the form of Paul […]

Voyag3r : New York Ninja S/T

New York Ninja is not a movie you’ve seen, but you sort of have. You see, in 1984 John Liu wrote, starred in, and directed this over-the-top ninjasploitation film in New York. It had it all; gritty NYC and crime, a tragedy of epic proportions, and a hero donning a white ninja outfit slicing and […]

Makaya McCraven : Deciphering The Message

Makaya McCraven is one of the most intriguing artists/composers working in jazz today. His jazz chops combined with his Teo Macero cut n paste arrangements have given me(and the rest of the world) something to look forward to every time he drops a new album. Albums like In The Moment, Highly Rare, and Universal Beings […]

Jeff Parker : Forfolks

Jazz guitarist Jeff Parker returns with another stunning display of his guitar prowess and compositional skills with the stunning Forfolks. A solo guitar affair in which Parker builds upon looping guitar lines to make something that tows the line between solo jazz guitar and avante garde, minimalist composition. Working once again with the amazing Chicago-based […]

Wojciech Golczewski : Inert

Polish film score composer Wojciech Golczewski has made a reputation for himself as a director’s secret weapon. His scores add a depth and emotional component to the films he works on, building sonic worlds with analog sound that bring you into that cinematic landscape organically. Beyond The Gates, Tonight She Comes, We Are Still Here, […]

New Year’s Day

I always remember New Year’s Day as a quiet day. It was the calm after the New Year’s Eve drinking and laughs. As a kid New Year’s Day was spent with the curtains closed in the living room while my mom watched TV on the couch lying down, while my dad stayed in the bedroom […]

long Story Short : 2021 End Of Year Gems

So there were a few releases that came out in the last month or so that I didn’t get to write a proper review up due to all the crazy year-end lists I spent so much time on. So in honor of these few amazing albums I wanted to give a shout out to them. […]

Christmas Blues : Clapton, Beck, Page, Dad & Me

It was the Christmas of 1988. I was a budding guitarist who had just received his first electric guitar, a 1986 Fender Squier Stratocaster, for his 14th birthday a mere three weeks before. Prior to that, the last two years were spent toiling on a generic dreadnought acoustic with the kind of action that’s meant […]

Complex Distractions Presents Top 30 Albums Of 2021 : 10-1

It’s been a year, hasn’t it? I mean if we’re being honest it’s been quite a couple of years; pandemic, nearly a million deaths from Covid in the US alone, protests, science deniers, attempted insurrection, fascism disguised as nationalism disguised as patriotism, and of course the return of the McRib. But besides all of that, […]

Complex Distractions Presents Top 30 Albums Of 2021 : 20-11

Okay we’re back. Been a week, so the posts were delayed a bit. The 9 to 5 did its best to take me out at the knees this week, and nearly did. Thankfully they did’t succeed, but I did have a time trying to post my lists this week. Next week will be better, I’m […]