Ben Zimmerman’s ‘The Baltika Years’

I just love coming across new and exciting things. Why just yesterday I came across a garlic press that doubles as a watch and defibrillator. And last week I came across a pen with an eraser on the end of it. Can you believe it?? Erasable ink?? We are living in futuristic times, people. We […]

Built To Spill : Untethered Moon

I am a late bloomer when it comes to Built To Spill. I didn’t hear a Built To Spill album till 2008, and that album was Keep It Like A Secret. Hell of an album to be initiated into the BTS fraternity, for sure. When I first heard it I wasn’t sure what I was […]

Lower Dens : Escape From Evil

Escape From Evil feels like a breezy reprieve from the dense, claustrophobic world of Lower Dens’ previous album, the dark masterpiece Nootropics. On that 2012 record, singer/songwriter Jana Hunter wanted to create this world within the grooves. A world not easily found. Only after a few spins did that record’s genius show itself. With Escape […]

Good Weekend

Okay, I’m beat. It was a jam-packed weekend of record store visits, car rides to the big city, good food, incredible live music, and swanky hotel room living. I’ll tell you the short version as I’m tired and ready to sleep for 12 hours. This was Record Store Day weekend. There wasn’t a bunch of […]

Record Store Day Returns

Just like clockwork, April did indeed follow March this year and that means we’re already a quarter the way through 2015. It’s hard to believe. MLK Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter Sunday….we hardly knew ye. That means that the one holiday every vinyl guy and gal drools over is quickly approaching: Record Store […]

Spring Breaks

So this is the first spring break I’ve taken the entire week off. Where did we go, you ask? Well let’s see, we went to the grocery store, the public library, the record shop, and the…oh, you mean like “Where in Florida did you and your family go?” Well, we didn’t go to the Sunshine […]

Sufjan Stevens : Carrie & Lowell

Not since Seven Swans has Sufjan Stevens put out such a confessional, introspective, and heartfelt record. Even more, while Seven Swans was heartfelt and confessional, it was a generalization of those feelings of life, loss, and love. Carrie & Lowell is an album of grief pulled straight from Sufjan’s own life. The album is named […]

Lightning Bolt : Fantasy Empire

Back in the day I used to get together with a friend of mine on a random Friday or Saturday night. There would be lots of beer consumed and albums shared between the two of us. This friend, we’ll call him Shane since that’s his name, would bring his entire record collection over in digital […]

Colleen : Captain Of None

I can remember there was a time I’d pick up an album for no other reason other than I liked the album cover. Or maybe I heard a snippet of a song in 10 seconds of a music video. Or maybe because I was just bored and snagged something out of the ‘Metal’ section at […]

Favorite Spins of 2015 : April Edition

It’s hard to believe we’re nearly into April already. Time flies when you’re being froze out by Old Man Winter, or Mother Nature, or whoever it was that shat upon us with snow and sub-zero temps the last three months. It’s a good thing that it’s been a great three months worth of album releases […]