Heavy-hearted in the Midwest since 2011
One label has remained steadfast with their mission to open eyes, open ears, and blow minds with music that delves into the Gothic, the heady, and frizzle-fried psych freakouts. Library of the Occult and it’s proprietor/head spell binder Tom McDowell has been laying out otherworldly records since 2019. Artists reimagining the eerie and hazy sights […]
Read More Fortune Teller : The EmpressI had to do a double take when I saw that there was a brand new Yes album out in the year of our Lord 2026. Yes, the prog rock Grandfathers that started -along with Genesis, King Crimson, Soft Machine- prog rock.Yes came out of the late 60s British rock scene to show those pesky […]
Read More Yes : AuroraWhen you’re an ex-Beatle and 84-years old I suppose you can do pretty much whatever you want. Paul McCartney is still hitting arenas playing in front of thousands of adoring fans, all coming from different generations. From great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers to great-grandsons and granddaughters. And given the fact that the man is old enough to […]
Read More Paul McCartney : The Boys of Dungeon LaneI always felt like Mike Campbell was Tom Petty’s secret weapon. Petty took the spotlight for sure, as he was the music scholar in the band. He took his love of bands like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Byrds and so many others and turned it into a lifelong music career. Borrowing from but never […]
Read More Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs : Mission Of MercyKurt Vile has built a solid musical career out of jangly, classic rock vibes with a touch of outsider weirdness. It’s like Tom Petty meets R. Stevie Moore with a brush of John Prine and JJ Cale for good measure. His quietly genius guitar playing and stream-of-consciousness lyrical style feels both relatable and alien at […]
Read More Kurt Vile : Philadelphia’s been good to meI’m sure you’ve been sitting around waiting for your favorite corporate, Bud Light-sponsored blues rockers The Black Keys to drop a brand new by-the-books blues-infused record. Filled with competent Delta, Country, and boozy Midwest blues rock that will surely pepper your rock radio fumblings on the way to the next Coliseum gun and knife show. […]
Read More The Black Keys : Peaches!The Black Crowes have had a rather consistent and impressive music career that’s spanned nearly 40 years. They established themselves as saviors of blues-based rock and roll with 1990s Shake Your Money Maker, an album that saw many AOR rock radio hits like “Hard To Handle”, “She Talks To Angels”, and “Twice as Hard”. The […]
Read More The Black Crowes : A Pound of FeathersTony Williams was my first jazz drummer hero. I discovered him on Miles Davis’ Nefertiti, which was the first Miles Davis album I bought. I loved his nuanced playing; intricate and informed while still having a lot of power behind the set. When Nefertiti was released in 1967 Tony Williams was all of 22 years […]
Read More ‘Emergency!’ : The Tony Williams LifetimeI’m pretty sure that every young rock n roller coming up in the Midwest and beyond had a Cheap Trick phase. It was a rite of passage, really. You were already exposed to the At Budokan version of “I Want You To Want Me”, as well as hearing “Surrender” ad nauseum enough to grow to […]
Read More Cheap Trick : All Washed UpMidlake were a much obsessed over, nearly cult-like band back in the 2000s. With singer and main songwriter Tim Smith, Midlake made two highly exalted records in Bamnan and Slivercork and The Trials of Van Occupanther. The Denton, TX-based band made an outsider art record with the former, and the latter was revered for it’s […]
Read More Midlake : A Bridge To Far