Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2022 Part III(20-11)

Hey hey folks. We’re in the countdown now. Not only are we five days away from baby Jesus, three wise men, and all that jazz, but we’ve gotten to the top 20 favorite albums of the year. Whose favorite albums? Well mine, of course. Who am I? Well I’m your friendly neighborhood hermit who enjoys […]

2022 In Review : Carl Weingarten And The Return Of Delay Tactics

The first time I became aware of musician Carl Weingarten was back in 2018. Azure Vista Records label head Jonas Munk sent me a copy of Weingarten’s 1985 album Living In The Distant Present, which Munk was re-issuing on Azure Vista on vinyl. The album had a short cassette run when it came out, so […]

Complex Distractons Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2022 Part II

And we’re back. 2022 was a pretty great year for music. I can’t remember a week that something amazing didn’t drop, and with independent artists there’s no limiting their output. Musicians don’t have to hold back their creativity; they write and release when they want. This is a great thing, but also a situation where […]

Under The Weather…Getting Over The Hump

The concept of sick seems to have changed dramatically in the last two and a half years. Before Covid you could say you felt like shit and nobody would blink an eye at you. Coughing, sore throat, sniffles, maybe even a slight wheeze in your chest and it was “Oh, well I’ll stop at CVS […]

Complex Distractions Presents : Favorite Albums Of 2022 Part I

Well here we are, at the end of another year. As far as the last couple years have gone I’d say this one was mildly more successful in not driving me to the brink. 2020 was, well, 2020. Isolation, pandemic, masks became a thing, and the truly stupid made their presence known(and continue to.) 2021, […]

Record Cleaning For The Soul

Lately I’ve found a lot of comfort in cleaning my record collection. Maybe it’s just a distraction for a tired brain, or maybe it’s my anal-retentive, OCD tendencies up to their old tricks. Or possibly it’s just as simple as records need cleaned regardless of how shiny they look on the surface. Even those brand […]

Long Story Short : Softaware, Steve Hadfield, Matt Evans, Monochrome Echo

I thought I was done with these Long Story Short pieces for the year, but man, the music just isn’t stopping. There’s been some albums I haven’t gotten a chance to dig into until recently so I’m going to throw a couple more albums your way before the clock runs out on 2022. I hate […]

Stepping Into The Dura Plane : Jakob Skott Talks ‘Instrumentality’ And The Road To It

Hey, hi. I’m currently in the throes of year end list gathering, so I’m a little short on time for writing new schtuff. While I’m gathering information and wringing my hands over what moved me the most in 2022 I thought I’d repost some oldies but goodies. Today I’m reposting my interview with drummer/synth extraordinaire […]

Long Story Short : Burial Grid, Rupert Lally, Hawksmoor, Camp Of Wolves

It’s been quite the year for music, hasn’t it? There hasn’t been a shortage of great albums to hit my ears, which only makes the year-end that much harder. The favorite lists are a labor of love, at least to me. It’s a time to go back and revisit what I’ve heard and then narrow […]

The Rutabega : Leading Up To

It’s been six long years since we last heard from South Bend’s “Carp Rock Duo” The Rutebega. The band, which consists of singer/guitarist/songwriter Joshua Hensley and drummer/spiritual guru Garth Mason, has made endearing and emotionally buzzing alternative rock for the better part of 20 years. Hensley has a knack for pulling the listener into his […]