“If Words Could Speak They’d Mean Even Less”

Christmas, 1990. I was 17-years old and my Christmas list consisted of just a few very important items: Alice in Chains’ Facelift, Super Mario 3, Soundgarden’s Louder Than Live videotape, and Jellyfish’ Bellybutton. There were some socks and a bag of peanut M&Ms, as well as a bottle of Brut 33 in my stocking. Under […]

AC/DC Return With “Shot In The Dark”; ‘Power Up’ Drops November 20th

With the passing of Eddie Van Halen yesterday comes the release of the first new AC/DC music since 2014s Rock or Bust. Call it the circle of life, transition, or whatever you want, but next to Van Halen, AC/DC were one of my first big band obsessions in the 80s. Another band that got stuck […]

EVH 1955-2020

Everyone has their “entry” Van Halen album, at least those of us that grew up in the late-70s and 80s. Oddly enough it wasn’t an older brother or that dude at the record shop that always looked tired and smelled like incense that got me into Van Halen at the age of 5. It was […]

Dungeon Electro Doom : Erik Enocksson’s ‘Apan’

I love those little moments in life that surprise you. Not like people jumping out of the closet yelling “Surprise!” at a birthday party. Surprises that the universe offers up every once in a while. Like, a bout of insomnia leads you to turn on the tube at 2am and stumble across a classic movie […]

Bluetech : Underwater Cities

Bluetech works in the warm and inviting world of analog and modular synth music, going for more dance floor and techno vibes. The lush world that fills his albums feels like a sonic cleanser from the world outside; a circuital bath meant to wash away the negative static we encounter on a daily basis. On […]

Andy Fosberry : When Comfort Is Stranger

Andy Fosberry makes visual music. His albums are filled with a series of emotional sketches. Fosberry works in film scoring, but even when it’s not for someone else’s vision the music feels cinematic. Vast soundscapes that feel like grand orchestrations one minute, the next they’re intimate swaths of piano and strings. But always with a […]

Thelonious Monk : Palo Alto

In 1968 Thelonious Monk was in poor health, with little money in the bank, and sadly seen in the jazz world as “stale” and “out of touch” by the jazz snobs at Downbeat Magazine(the same ones that thought Miles Davis was violating jazz protocol with the masterpiece Bitches Brew.) Thelonious Monk, the man who just […]

Daniel Lopatin Returns With Magic Oneohtrix Point Never

Oneohtrix Point Never came into my life at just the right time. 2013 saw the release of Warp Records debut R Plus Seven and also saw me fall heavily for Daniel Lopatin’s musical world. I deep-dived most of 2014 through his early albums and could not get enough of his psychedelic ambient and drone-y synth […]

Matt Glass : 12 Hour Shift Soundtrack

The new horror/dark comedy 12 Hour Shift tells the story of a nurse(played by Angela Bettis) who is a drug addict and involved in a black market organ trafficking ring. On one particular evening the organ delivery is mishandled and Bettis’ nurse Mandy scrambles to find a replacement organ. Insanity and mayhem ensue. The film […]

Sufjan Stevens : The Ascension

On Sufjan Stevens follow-up to 2015s ornate and personal Carrie & Lowell, the singer-songwriter returns to his extended electronic compositions. At one hour and twenty minutes The Ascension can feel dense and at times hard to get all the way thru in one sitting, but with patience comes the rewards. Much like Stevens 2010 opus […]