Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2020(Part Two)

Welcome back. Part two of this epic journey through the albums that mattered most(to me) in 2020. Here we’ve got 25 through 11. After that it’ll be my top ten favorite records of 2020. I do realize these lists are rather arbitrary to most. Maybe it seems like a self-importance trip or something. But to […]

Occult of Personality : Tom McDowell’s Library of the Occult

In a year of no concerts, quarantine, isolation, and Zoom meetings being the closest thing to getting together, it seems as though this may not have been the best time to start your own record label. Tom McDowell begs to differ. McDowell makes music under the name Dream Division, and has released several albums and […]

Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2020(Part One)

Boy, I never thought the end of 2020 would get here. It seemed like five years rolled into one. Between Covid-19, isolation, quarantining, everything being closed, no concerts, weird work situations, family all home for at-home schooling, and a summer that felt like an extension of spring. Of course there was the election, anti-maskers, conspiracy […]

The War On Drugs : Live Drugs

I never thought I’d look back on live shows as if they’re something from the past. Something that doesn’t exist anymore, so we have to live those experiences through live albums. Well if 2020 has taught me anything it’s that nothing is forever, folks. Thankfully there are some truly great live albums that exist. Albums […]

The Bird and the Bee : Put up the Lights

The Bird and the Bee, which consists of duo Inara George(Bird) and Greg Kurstin(Bee), has made a career out of making smooth, jazzy pop records that are sublime, serene, and just this side of cosmically joyful. Imagine Stevie Wonder, The Cardigans, and Broadcast came together and drank one too many martinis and reimagined Frank Sinatra […]

Lightning Dust Drop Live Performance of “Joanna”; Plus The Return Of Ex Spectors

I’ve been a fan of Lightning Dust(Joshua Wells and Amber Webber) ever since I first heard Infinite Light about 10 years ago. Of course, I knew them from Black Mountain prior to that. Webber’s vocals were the secret weapon in that band(shh, don’t tell McBean and co that.) With Lightning Dust Wells and Webber left […]

Monochrome Echo : Moonkeeper

Listening to Monochrome Echo’s new album Moonkeeper I’m reminded of simpler times. Times when dystopian science fiction films didn’t have to have dread-inducing scores filled with ominous synth and hellscape ambient tones. A time when touches of light and elements of electro pop could cleanse the mental palate after someone is twisted into a pretzel […]

The Nels Cline Singers : Share The Wealth

Nels Cline has had quite the career, both before and after Wilco. A musical force to be reckoned with in the Avant Garde, jazz, punk, and experimental scene he’s played with everyone from Mike Watt, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Geraldine Fibbers, Blue Man Group, Ornette Coleman, and Rickie Lee Jones to name a few. But […]

Baldocaster/Traveler CS : Exodus/Solare Split EP

In these tumultuous times I find music is the saving grace. A place to get lost in and a place to heal those psychic wounds. Of course it’s a temporary reprieve, but in these caustic days even a temporary locale to let your guard down is welcome. I’m finding that electronic music has been my […]

Salvatore Mercatante : The Foundations Of Eternal Sin

The musical world of Salvatore Mercatante is a mysterious and darkly brooding one. Working in the world minimalist synth, ambient, and Giallo, Mercatante locks into emotions and visceral experience when he composes. His work puts me in mind of Maine, another synth maestro that goes for feel and the musical journey over aping what’s come […]