zakè : Orchestral Tape Studies II

I’m always enthralled by the work of zakè. The ambient/new age composer has spent the last several years building a catalog of forward-thinking, thoughtful, and intellectual albums. Records that accumulate beautifully orchestrated sound collages and sonic realms that put you, the listener, in a state of contemplative and meditative bliss. Using electronics to create both […]

Extreme : Six

If you weren’t an awkward headbanging teen in the late 80s then you wouldn’t understand. To be a fan of hair metal was to suffer through a cavalcade of lousy dime a dozen rock bands. Most, you’d hear about once and then they’d disappear in a haze of White Rain. It was a constant process […]

Every Breath You Take…I’ll Be Choking You

The last two days here in Northeast Indiana have been low air quality. How low, you ask? Well, a normal AQI number around here is 45-50. That is Good to Moderate. We have a lot of allergens in the air around here; from mold spores to pollen to just people having burn piles. But despite […]

Lightning Dust : Nostalgia Killer

Lightning Dust started as the electronic/pop side project of Black Mountain members Amber Webber and Joshua Wells, but after 2016s IV, Webber and Wells left the Canadian psych/prog behemoth permanently so they could concentrate on other things, including Lightning Dust. The band released the excellent and more Gothic-tinged Spectre in 2019, the same year that […]

Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2023(Mid-Year Edition)

It’s been a few years since I’ve sat down to do a mid-year album review for Complex Distractions. Not sure why I’ve let that go by the way side. Granted, it’s a lot of work for me. Making lists the old fashioned way, by pen and paper; ranking albums in accordance to my adoration and […]

The Weekend, Work Wear, And We’re Not The Party Animals We Used To Be

It’s been a long week. There were a couple days at work where we struggled to be busy for even half the day. Now I’m not opposed to slacking off for a day and getting paid to sit at my desk, read up on world news online, and wait for someone to ring the door […]

Hawksmoor : Telepathic Heights

James McKeown’s electronic music project Hawksmoor goes deep. McKeown’s sound is dense, heady, and pulls from the best that the early German electronic scene had to offer. Combining the warmth of analog via Moogs, Modular synthesis, guitar, and bass with a rhythmic backbone that feels more implied through mood, Hawksmoor makes the kind of music […]

Nothing Like A Good Hang

I think I really do underestimate the power of a really good hang. I’ve become a much more solitary creature as I’ve gotten older, so much so that the idea of being social gives me anxiety. The preparation, the anticipation, and the fear of how do I remain interested talking for more than a 30 […]

Queens of the Stone Age : In Times New Roman

Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has had a pretty rough decade or more. Starting clear back in the early 2010s with a surgery that nearly killed him, then working his way into a very ugly and public battle with ex-wife Brody Dalle of the Distillers. Add in the death of friend and […]

Father’s Day Walk, Big Bird In A Tower, And Appreciating The Little Things Everyday

I slept in till a little after 8 am on Father’s Day. I slept in till a little after 8 am on Saturday as well. It’s kind of out of character for me to sleep in that late. Usually 7:30 am is the latest I’ll sleep in before either the sun fills our bedroom with […]