Honorable Mention Part II : Earthless ‘From The Ages’

Another band I discovered this year that have been around for a few years is Earthless. A San Diego three-piece that consists of guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, bassist Mike Eginton, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba and play what most folks call psych rock. Psych rock, space rock, stoner rock…all are things that have been said when speaking […]

Honorable Mention Part I : The Knife’s Shaking The Habitual

It’s that time of year again. Yes, it’s the “My Favorite Albums of 2013” list time of year. I’ve been feverishly working on mine, and I’m nearly done. It’s probably the most detailed and agonizing list I’ve made yet. Before I started this page I loathed those lists. I felt they were pretentious, overzealous, and […]

Brad Laner :: Nearest Suns

Seconds into “Be Gone”, the lead off track from Brad Laner’s newest solo album Nearest Suns you know this isn’t going to be your average listening experience. Part psych-pop, part Eastern-influenced, and all aural sunlit grandeur, Laner takes his Medicine magic and spreads it over 60s-influenced pop and makes a record that sounds quite magical. […]

Miracle :: Mecury

Miracle’s Mercury is a loving homage to early 80s synth pop, much like Quentin Tarantino’s loving film homages to 70s exploitation films and the entire career of Sam Peckinpah. Like Tarantino, Steve Moore and singer Daniel O’Sullivan have created a debut album that’s steeped in inspiration, all the while never blatantly aping that inspiration. Unlike […]

The Vickers’ “I Don’t Know What It Is”

A few months back I heard this great new psych pop/rock band out of Italy named The Vickers. They play a great mix of classic psych pop. Think a nice mix of Sgt. Pepper and Something Else by The Kinks and you’ll have a good idea of what these guys do. But along with that classic […]

The Flaming Lips :: Peace Sword

Welcome back, heartfelt Wayne Coyne. That’s the first thing that came to my mind as I listened to The Flaming Lips Peace Sword. Sure, it’s songs from and inspired by some lousy movie based on a cultish sci fi book from the 80s called ‘Enders Game’, but that’s not the point. It’s those ideas put […]

Andrew Bird :: I Want to See Pulaski at Night

I’ve seen Andrew Bird live twice in my life. The first time was at the Chicago Opera House back in early 2009. The second time was at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis, IN in the fall of 2009. Both shows were stunning, Bird displaying a mastery of musical art like no other. But both shows […]

Midlake :: Antiphon

So here’s the scoop in case you didn’t know or didn’t really care, Midlake was/is a band from Denton, Texas that was fronted by a guy named Tim Smith. They created strange worlds on their albums that were part renaissance fair and part Ray Bradbury novel. A renaissance fair that took place in another dimension […]

My Bloody Valentine: Live at the Aragon Ballroom

It’s not very often that one gets to see legends on stage. Not only that, but legends as prickly and fussy as a guy named Kevin Shields. A guy that took 22 years to release a follow-up to a record that pretty much helped create a genre. Sure, the argument can be said that Ride […]

Discovered :: Miles Davis’ Pangaea

If you’ve never been to Jazz Record Mart on Illinois St in Chicago, you don’t know what you’re missing friends. It’s a chunk of vinyl history tucked into a small building that if you blinked you’d miss it. I’ve been there three, maybe four times and each time I end up leaving knowing I could’ve […]