Heavy-hearted in the Midwest since 2011
Hello Folks. We’re officially one week out from Christmas. What does that mean? Well, it means that we’re only two weeks out from New Year’s Day. That means that 2023 is an old geezer of a year and that 2024’s water is about to break. My sense of time and the passage of time has […]
Read More 2023 : We Hardly Knew YeLeave it to Kurt Vile to release a 52-minute album and call it an EP. Vile never seems to be in a hurry to get to the end of a song. He rambles and sways through 7 or 8 minutes of jangly guitar riffs, slow motion vocals, and richly-layered compositions that live and die by […]
Read More Kurt Vile : Back To Moon BeachIt’s been 13 years since Midlake’s former singer/songwriter Tim Smith has released any new music. Midlake’s 2010 release The Courage of Others was a dark, somber record built on acoustic-driven tracks with touches of flute and overcast moods. Nothing as driving and 70s rock-driven as their previous effort – the excellent The Trials of Van […]
Read More Harp : AlbionIt’s 3:50 am on a Monday morning and I’m writing to you all. Why? It’s not because I can’t or don’t want to sleep, believe me. Ever since my 20-year old who’s living on her own was late getting to work last week I’ve been paranoid about making sure she’s up on time. She’s what […]
Read More Weekend Wrap-Up : Still Moving Things, Work Brunch, Movies, Two Weeks Till SantaThe return of Justin Sweatt’s nom de plume Xander Harris is always something to celebrate. I’ve been following the musical world of Xander Harris for some time. At least six years, ever since hearing the amazing Termination Dust and realizing I’d been missing out on something special. The following year Villains of Romance dropped and […]
Read More Xander Harris : MaledictionI’m coming to the conclusion that you should not ask the universe the question “Can it get any worse?”. Nine times out of ten the reply from the universe is “Hold my beer.” Just when you get a day or two reprieve from it all, something else is lurking just around the corner waiting to […]
Read More Friday Words Of Wisdom(Or Wisdom According To Me)forestlike is the music duo of Jared Myers and Joshua Wayne Hensley. Meeting in the Michiana music scene of the late 90s, the two built a musical rapport playing on porches, dive bars, and DIY shows in various projects. While still remaining friends, Hensley went off to form The Rutabega, while Myers did his own […]
Read More forestlike : forestlikeEven before I found myself going down the jazz rabbit hole(a hole I’m still dizzily finding myself descending into 15 years later) I knew of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. As a teen seeing that album cover by French painter Malti Klarwein perusing Musicland or Super Sounds, it would always make me stop and gawk. The […]
Read More John Runs The Voodoo Down : Me, Miles, and The Portal That Is ‘Bitches Brew’Why hello. How are you? How’s it going? It’s been a minute since I checked in here. A couple weeks, to be exact. It’s been a busy couple of weeks, what with Thanksgiving, a family-wide illness, and the big 5-0 which I turned on December 2nd. Maybe not action packed, but it’s been packed. Where […]
Read More 50, or: 10 Years Since A Lost Time AccidentI’m probably the last guy to be talking about hip hop and rap music. I feel gravely underqualified to discuss beat making, rap producers, rap styles, and flow. In high school I was intimidated by rap music. I felt like you had to possess a certain amount of confidence and bravado to be able to […]
Read More Aesop Rock : Integrated Tech Solutions