Archive for March, 2017

Vinyl

Swifty’s Bazaar, “Shopping Bug” from Everything You Hear Is For Sale (2017): One Track Mind

Swifty’s Bazaar’s ‘Everything You Hear Is For Sale’ is this weird little gem of sonic goodness.

Modern Art and the Art of the EP, from R.E.M., Let's Active, Bangles + others: Shadows in Stereo

Modern Art and the Art of the EP, from R.E.M., Let’s Active, Bangles + others: Shadows in Stereo

An EP release has an interesting aesthetic all its own, as shown by key releases from R.E.M., Let’s Active, the Dream Syndicate, the Bangles and others.

Yes, "Man in a White Car" from Drama (1980): YESterdays

Yes, “Man in a White Car” from Drama (1980): YESterdays

Yes’ ‘Man in a White Car’ has new wave edge that made it both a fitting piece for 1980’s ‘Drama,’ and also a weirdly engaging live piece.

Vinyl

Biscay – Burnt Mementos EP (2017)

Jazzy, R&B-inflected pop — aka ‘yacht rock’ — is music that had its day in the USA through the 70s and into the early 80s but since then the UK became the main mecca for this kind of music. From the time that You May Also Like: Burnt Sugar theRead More

Vinyl

Adam Steffeck, fingerstyle guitarist: Something Else! Interview

Fingerstyle guitarist Adam Steffeck discusses his new album, and how a family legacy in science influences his future plans.

Chuck Berry, June 1972: Shows I'll Never Forget

Chuck Berry, June 1972: Shows I’ll Never Forget

I did not know Chuck Berry was a black man until he stepped on that Des Moines stage.

Vinyl

Matt Nelson, Tim Dahl, Nick Podgurski – GRID (2017)

Describing ‘GRID’ as “guttural” is a modest way to put it, but scary music created on the fly has rarely sounded so sweet.

Vinyl

John Zorn’s Simulacrum – The Garden of Earthly Delights (2017)

‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ celebrates Hieronymus Bosch, whose surreal paintings seem to give John Zorn’s Simulacrum permission to follow similar patterns.

Vinyl

Leviathan – Leviathan: The Legendary Lost Elektra Album (2016)

The official release of Leviathan’s one and only album on Elektra Records has been a long time coming – in fact, some 47 years.

Vinyl

Taylor Haskins – Gnosis (2017)

Haskins’ capacity for blending cutting-edge, high-tech means of music making with the handmade, organically conceived method of playing jazz borders on the genius level, and that’s just what he is going for with ‘Gnosis.’