…And Justice For All : 30 Years On

…And Justice For All was both Metallica’s shining achievement and also the straw that broke the band’s back. It was their most intricate, complicated, and progressive album of music, but also their most stunted collection of tunes. If the record had a face, it would be frozen in a perpetual scowl, seething at everyone else’s […]

Deep Space Meditations(The Dresden Codex)

In space they can’t hear you scream. Well who’s they, and why would they be close enough to hear you scream? In space, the desolation is overwhelming, especially on a 10-year run into an exploration program that is sure to deteriorate my muscles and re-write my DNA enough that by the time my feet can […]

Hibernaculum Dreams

I had a really strange dream. It was one of those dreams you have between the time your alarm goes off and that extra bit of sleep you gift yourself before having to get up. I’d fallen back into a semi-sleep state when I’d dreamt I was sitting in a cafe. A rather attractive woman […]

Spirit Manimal

The 80s were filled with amazing network television programming. No, really, I ‘m being serious. I mean, it was amazing to 8 year old boys that loved to use their imagination and ask their mom to buy them the Kenner/Hasbro/Mattel toy that was affiliated with said network show every time they hit up Kmart when […]

Exit…Stage Froese

I don’t think there’s any other band that was as prolific as Tangerine Dream. In the 70s and 80s they were dropping albums once or twice a year. Once they started doing film scores that rate of creativity and productivity increased even more. Edgar Froese and whomever was in the band with him at the […]

Castles Made of Pixels

I don’t even remember Castlevania III : Dracula’s Curse. I don’t remember one single thing about the game, not even the music. Yet, I felt compelled to buy Mondo’s double LP release of the soundtrack a couple months ago. Compelled may not be the right word. Possessed to buy it, maybe? It’s like a sickness, […]

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

I wish I could sit here in my lederhosen, wood clogs, and stein full of warm beer and say I’ve been hip to Krautrock since I was a stellar Midwest teen. I wish I could say I started a movement in my John Hughes years of forward-thinking teenagers filling their heads with komische music like […]

“We’ll Go Down The Line”

It’s been a rough couple of days, so not much to report here. Lots of rain and some disturbing news about a friend. I’ve found solace in the last two days in the band Beach Fossils of all things. I’ve really liked this band since their debut, and especially their last album Clash The Truth. […]

Moog Muzak

So there I was minding my own business mowing like any other middle-aged guy, when last Saturday afternoon a package arrived on my doorstep. It had arrived from the frozen tundra and icy, harsh landscapes of Canada. From what I’ve read on fan fiction sites and in The Federalist, it’s a desolate place where Prime […]

Tea Leaf Dancers and the Bonus Beat

Flying Lotus, aka Steve Ellison, has been somewhat of an obsession of mine for the past couple of years. His beats are like these liquid-y flows that carry psychedelic melodies through the ether. His music is transformative. There seems to be a constant state of movement and reforming. It’s hip hop-based, for sure. But as […]