Albums I forgot To Mention : Great Records of 2024(Part I)

I never realize just how many albums I’ve listened to in a year until I get to the year-end list season. There’s a LOT of records that have hit my ears this year, and sometimes I don’t get around to a review. I just end up enjoying a record and not sit down to write […]

Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2024(25-16)

I can’t believe I’m typing this, but we’re a mere couple weeks before 2024 makes like a tree and leaves. A year that began with the hope that it would stay on track, offer up new and exciting things, and see us all making the most of those 365 days. I’m sure that was the […]

McCoy and Henderson, Forces Of Nature : Live At Slugs’, 1966

I was never much of a live album guy. Growing up I had a few that stood out and I would listen to more than once, as opposed to relegating it to the shoebox of shame in my closet. The shoebox was where unloved albums went to die, making room for the bangers and regular […]

Out Of/Into : Motion I

Jazz quintet Out Of/Into – formerly known as The Blue Note Quintet – makes it perfectly clear that there are some exciting things happening in the world of jazz still. Following in the footsteps of the giants of jazz that came before, the band that consists of pianist Gerald Clayton, alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonist Joel Ross, drummer Kendrick […]

A Place To Bury Strangers : Synthesizer

Coming into a new album from Oliver Ackermann’s A Place To Bury Strangers you pretty much know that it’s going to be loud, abrasive, and sprinkled with melodic ear worms under all the aural debauchery. Ackermann is a bit of a sound wizard, creating effects boxes with his Death By Audio effects company. His effects […]

Jeff Parker ETA IVtet : The Way Out of Easy

Jeff Parker is one of those unsuspecting musical geniuses. He’s been a figure in the Chicago underground music scene for years, having played in Tortoise, Chicago Underground Quartet, Chicago Underground Trio, and Isotope 217 to name a few. He’s also worked with Makaya McCraven, Rob Mazurek, Joshua Abrams and Hamid Drake. That doesn’t include his […]

Terrorlord : Unreleased Beats 2001

Christopher Ashley didn’t start out making 80s-tinged melodic electronic music. In the 90s he was in the noise rock bands Murder Weapon, followed by Index For Potential Suicide. These were bands that dealt loud, pummeling music that often left crowds bloodied and breathless after shows. While Ashley was still in the midst of cacophonic waves […]

Sermons By The Devil : Exorcismo Electrónico

Tom Hall works in the hardware world when it comes to making music as Sermons By The Devil. The New Jersey-based musician/composer builds sonic meditations with patch cords, blinking lights, and stacks of old school pedals and tactile keys and synths. His music feels organic, like running your hands through sand and the feel of […]

The Cure : Songs Of A Lost World

There aren’t many bands that can take a 16 year break between albums without suffering some kind of hit. Most bands aren’t The Cure, though. The musical icons of grand melancholy and the Godfathers of goths everywhere have done just that. The last album Robert Smith and Co released was 2008s disappointing 4:13 Dream. It […]

Collins : VHS

We are less than a week away from Halloween. The best stuff always goes by way too fast, doesn’t it? We wait and anticipate the spooky season for most of the year that when October 1st arrives, November 1st shoves its way to the front of the line. I’ve been working on a little music […]