Paul Gilbert : Behold Electric Guitar

I first discovered Paul Gilbert when I was a freshman in high school. Somewhere around 1988 or 1989 I picked up the Racer X album Second Heat and I was immediately blown away by the incredible Mr. Gilbert. I wasn’t as blown away by Racer X, but man could Paul Gilbert play. My admiration for […]

Com Truise : Persuasion System

Up to this point, producer/musician Seth Haley has worked in specific narratives within his project Com Truise. A loose concept about a space traveler named Com Truise, a self-described “synthetic astronaut”, has been the ground floor of his big beats, walls of synths, and shimmering 80s ethos. VHS tapes, woozy sci fi, and latchkey afternoons […]

Steve Moore : Beloved Exile

On his first non-soundtrack album since 2013s Pangea Ultima, Steve Moore goes deep. Beloved Exile is the musician’s most accomplished and engaging work yet, working with Tunisian singer/songwriter Emel Mathlouthi, harpist Mary Lattimore, and veteran percussionist Jeff Gretz. Along with the acerbic wit of Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle coming up with the album and song […]

Thomas Ragsdale : Samsa

The newest release from Thomas Ragsdale and record label Soundtracking The Void is a standalone track titled “Samsa”. It’s a hypnotic, dense piece that is to accompany Ragsdale’s next full-length, the epic Sonder(which arrives on 5/24.) In just the space of a little over 7 minutes, “Samsa” carries you thru a heady, sonic journey. A […]

Mac Demarco : Here Comes The Cowboy

Mac Demarco is the lovable weirdo of indie rock. Since the beginning, which was 2012s Rock and Roll Night Club, Demarco recorded songs that sounded like poorly stored pop songs; tracks on reel-to-reel tapes slowly molding in some nondescript storage unit in Canada. An equal mix of earnest songwriting and underlying seediness. With 2, his […]

Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer

Karyn Kusama’s crime/noir film Destroyer is a 4-star film only running at a 2.5. It is technically brilliant, incredibly acted, and has all the makings of a crime film classic. Unfortunately, the script never hones in on the emotional center of the story. We’re left not feeling much for the characters and the narrative twist […]

Papir : VI

Papir are one of the premier three-piece rock bands working today. The trio of Nicklas Sørensen, Christoffer Brøchmann Christensen, and Christian Becher Clausen have been working their sound into a tight, ethereal crunch for close to ten years now. Part fuzzed-out blasts of psych and post-rock, while other moments glimmer and shine with daydream bliss, […]

Black Mountain’s Gotta “License To Drive”

We’re a mere two weeks away from the release of Black Mountain’s newest opus Destroyer, an album I’ve been anticipating since the day it was announced. Black Mountain work a certain voodoo in their sound, one where the swirl of psychedelia, 70s prog, and 80s leather jacket heavy metal all coalesce into a massive shot […]

New Tool…Same As The Old Tool

While a bunch of metal fans are drooling with glee at the news that Tool are finally releasing a new album on August 30th, I’m thinking “Why?” Don’t get me wrong, I loved Tool as much as the next confused, misunderstood, rage-infected young American….25 years ago. It’s been 13 years since they released an album. […]

Voyag3r : War Mask

Detroit’s Voyag3r have steadily been building a reputation as one of the best progressive/heavy synth bands making music today. The trio, over the course of 6 years, have released a steady flow of sci-fi and horror-inspired albums that act as soundtracks to some lost B-movie from the late-70s or early-80s. Their blending of analog synth, […]