Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums of 2019 – January to July

It’s been a pretty amazing year for music, I gotta tell ya. So much to dig into and get lost in. There have been some pretty great music years over the last few years, with 2012, 2014, and 2017 standing out considerably. Record labels such as El Paraiso Records, Holodeck Records, Azure Vista Records, Burning […]

What, Me Worry?

I grew up reading MAD Magazine. My dad, before he became a dad, husband, and clock puncher for 50 years at the same printing company, was an aspiring artist. He’d even applied at the Art Institute of Indianapolis his senior year of high school and was accepted, but due to lack of funds he didn’t […]

Thom Yorke : Anima

Thom Yorke’s output sans Radiohead has been both more dystopian and personal. A mish mash of jittery electronics and claustrophobic vocals; it’s as if he was creating these songs locked away in a darkened room with no windows or signs of life to speak of. Trapped with nothing but a laptop and a looming existential […]

Galactic Protector : Evening

There’s truly something quite magical about Galactic Protector’s debut album Evening. It’s made much in the same fashion as a lot of electronic/synth-heavy records are; human in a room with synthesizers, drum machines, and recording device. Ideas based around futuristic worlds and epic struggles put to music. But with Bryan Richie(bass/keys player for rockers The […]

Jonas Munk and Nicklas Sørensen Ready ‘Always Already Here’; Check Out The Hypnotic “Shift”

Jonas Munk and Nicklas Sørensen have been working together for a few years now. First, with Munk engineering three albums by Sørensen’s main gig, Papir. Then producing and working on Solo and Solo 2, Nicklas’ first two solo records. The two then began playing partially improvised synth/guitar shows together. These sonic excursions became the basis […]

Drown It Out : A Talk With Ohio’s Penny Wishes

Penny Wishes are a three-piece indie/alternative rock band out of Lima, Ohio. They’re a band fronted by bassist/singer Siera Lynn, with Nolan Klock on guitar and Jesse Martin on drums. The music these three create is thick with urgency and buzzing guitar jangle. Listening to their full-length self-titled debut from last year I’m reminded of […]

Imitation Girl Soundtrack : Natasha Kermani and Kevin Hufnagel

Imitation Girl is one of those little movies that if you don’t pay enough attention you might just miss it. This would be an absolute shame as it’s quite a unique and endearing sci fi film that works and connects on a very human level. The film, written and directed by Natsha Kermani, stars Lauren […]

Skeleton Beach : Ritual

Ritual, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, is defined as “the established form for a ceremony“; “a ceremonial act or action“. When you step into the world of Ritual, the brand new long player by Skeleton Beach, you are indeed stepping into ceremony. This album harkens back to the days of double gatefold sleeves and hanging out […]

Oslo Grooves : Norway’s Kanaan Explore New Musical Ground

Oslo, Norway three-piece Kanaan have recently been on a tour of Europe. Playing in small clubs, in front of record shops, and any open space that will have them, most of these crowds have no idea who this loud and precise rock trio are, but by the end of each show they’ve made new fans, […]

Majeure Returns With ‘Mass Flashback’; Listen To “Longing, Love, Loss”

I’m sure like a lot of people I found my way to Majeure via Zombi. AE Paterra, drummer extraordinaire for the prog/heavy synth duo Zombi, lays down serious cosmic grooves and swaths of heady synth in his side project Majeure. Paterra makes lush, dense soundscapes when he escapes into the world of Majeure. Where Zombi […]