Makaya McCraven : Off The Record

For me, jazz drummer/composer/bandleader Makaya McCraven is one of the most exciting jazz artists(or any genre for that matter) making music today. Starting with his breakthrough record In The Moment from 2015, McCraven pushed jazz forward by recording improvisational live shows, then taking those recordings and cutting/pasting them into studio works. Essentially taking the raw […]

Wolfmen Of Mars : The Obsolete Illusion

I think the first time I’d ever heard Wolfmen of Mars was on a compilation called SNDTRK, which came out back in 2016 on the now long dead Disco Cinematic Recordings. There was a who’s who of heavy synth artists on that album including Slasher Film Festival Strategy, Xander Harris, Repeated Viewing and an East […]

Dressel Amorosi : House of Dolls

The musical world of Dressel Amorosi is a splendid, sinister thing. The band consists of Heinrich Dressel(Valerio Lombardozzi) and Federico Amorosi, a duo locked heavily into the world of Giallo scores, Goblin jams, and prog rock tightness. All combined together gives us a musical world of 70s Italian horror with plenty of meat on the […]

Tame Impala : Deadbeat

It felt like for a very long time that Kevin Parker could do no wrong. Tame Impala was this ever expanding collection of psychedelic rock with pop turns and Beatles-esque melodies strewn throughout acid-burnt guitar solos, to die for drum grooves, and the sense this Australian musical wunderkind who could do anything. His decade-run of […]

Tom Skinner : Kaleidoscopic Visions

Drummer/percussionist Tom Skinner started playing drums at 9. He came up in the 90s grunge era, but then quickly moved to and found inspiration from experimental jazz artists like John Zorn and Ornette Coleman. He came out of the London jazz scene and then formed experimental jazz band Sons of Kemet. From 2013 to 2022 […]

Jay Som : Belong

Melina Mae Cortez Duterte, aka Jay Som, has a very distinct sound to her music. At times sparse, other times big fuzzed-out guitars, Jay Som makes indie rock that can spend equal time in big pop production and also low key and lo-fi. Her official debut as Jay Som, 2017’s Everybody Works was catchy radio-ready […]

Sloan : Based on the Best Seller

I discovered the Canadian rock band Sloan back in 1997 thanks to the Canadian music channel MuchMusic. MuchMusic came with our satellite subscription and for the bulk of 1997 I watched a lot of MuchMusic, and one of the many great Canadian bands I discovered(besides Odds, Big Sugar, and Big Wreck) was the band Sloan. […]

Carlton Melton : Live Hebden Bridge & Enschede 2023

Carlton Melton, one of the West Coast’s premier psych rock explorers, have been at it now for going on two decades. Andy Duvall(drums and guitar), Clint Golden(bass), Rich Millman(guitar/synth), and Anthony Taibi(synth/guitar) have created their own world of psychedelic swirls, monolithic drones, scuzzy blues, and widescreen jams with a view out of the dusty windshield […]

Camp of Wolves : Bear Creek

David Salisbury, aka Camp of Wolves, works in memories both bittersweet and melancholy. Tender, subtle tomes that reflect on time and childhood and those complicated building blocks of experience that go to shape the adult we become, once we’ve sadly left those formative years. Humming, ghostly tomes that come at you like ghosts of the […]

Foo Fighters : Are Playing Where??? Vol. I

When was the last time a Foo Fighters album was really all that good? At first they were the little band that could, with the drummer from Nirvana trying to do his own thing after Kurt Cobain checked out permanently. That debut was culled from 4-track recordings that the drummer in question, Dave Grohl, recorded […]