The National : First Two Pages Of Frankenstein

By now The National have become profs in the Indie Rock University and have made tenure. The Brooklyn band by way of Ohio can do no wrong. Their 2010 album High Violet cemented their stature as the voice for the broken-hearted and world weary coffeehouse intellectual. Lead vocalist Matt Berninger has always had the look […]

Paul Riedl : Ocean of Peace

Paul Riedl has proven to be one of the preeminent sonic purveyors of New Age bliss and cosmic ambient vibes. His late night zone out recordings are in stark contrast to his work as frontman for the cosmic death metal band Blood Incantation. Though the band’s last release, 2022s Timewave Zero, was all brooding analog […]

Tim Hecker : No Highs

Tim Hecker works in the electronic music realm, though it’s hard to put him into any sort of neat and easy box. His music is the equivalent of abstract art in music form; he lays out audio maps and we’re tasked to check the coordinates and follow them to some conclusion. His work lays in […]

Metallica : 72 Seasons

At this point Metallica have ascended to elder statesmen of rock and roll. 40 years into a career that’s seen the Bay area thrash band rewrite what it is to a be a metal band. Game-changing albums(Kill Em All through …And Justice For All) to remaking themselves as stadium filling rockers(The Black Album, Load), to […]

I love You, But Don’t Invite Me To Anything

There comes a time in one’s life when you’ve got to take stock of those “responsibilities” we put on ourselves in regards to staying in contact with family, friends, and acquaintances. When we’re younger it’s instilled in us by our parents that family is family. There’s a function, you should go. So we go, whether […]

The Crooked Whispers : Funeral Blues

On a random “new releases” search I came acrosss this L.A. psych/doom band The Crooked Whispers. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, but the skull with the sword through it, demonic stone cross, and sepia-toned feel of the album cover won me over. They had just released a new album called Funeral […]

Is This Long Covid?(Or Am I Just Sad?)

I’ve been in a bit of a rut, lately. Ever since that bout of Covid a little over a month ago I just haven’t felt, well, normal. There are days when I feel okay. I started to go to the Y a week afterwards and got in two days before I tapped out. Just wasn’t […]

My First (Electric) Guitar

It was December of 1987 and I was looking down the barrel of my 14th birthday. By that point I’d been playing guitar for a year and change(first lesson was August of 1986.) Of course I wanted to start out with an electric guitar. It wasn’t like I’d been inspired by acoustic troubadours and the […]

Paul Gilbert : The Dio Album

Paul Gilbert is an 80s guitar vituoso survivor. He was one of THE 80s guitar shredders, coming out of the Guitar Institute of Technology in the mid-80s in Los Angeles and formed the speed metal band Racer X, recording on Mike Varney’s Shrapnel Records. But his biggest gig was the pop metal band Mr. Big, […]

Ode To The Witch : A Eulogy For Burning Witches Records

I think it was summer of 2017 when I first heard of Burning Witches Records. It was somehow discovering Maine’s beautiful album V and that BWR was where I could find it on vinyl, which I immediately purchased. At that point BWR was on my radar. I deep dived into Burning Tapes, Deathcount in Silicon […]