Back in December of last year I threatened to shut down this blog, or give it a break at the very least, and although certain aspects of life have gotten in the way of regular updates, I have somehow found time to keep it alive. I might not go to quite as many shows as I have in years past,… Read more →
As I mentioned back in December, the time I have available to dedicate to this blog has become less than years past. A new job and other real-life responsibilities have taken precedence over my daily ingest of music and pop culture. I have been working long (full) days for the past few months, and although it has been extremely rewarding to… Read more →
The end of the year is usually pretty light on new releases; especially December. So I usually spend the last month of the year reviewing ‘best of’ lists to find out what I missed. This year I skipped the lists in favor of giving my ears a break from new music. I have been digging deep, going as far back… Read more →
The image above might be slightly deceiving, as it is not a true representation of my favorite extreme albums of 2012. What it does represent is another impressive run for Profound Lore — the one man operation from Canada that continues to make all other extreme labels look bad by comparison. The list that follows includes the best from that… Read more →
This could have been a long-winded intro. I could have explained why I chose the following albums over countless other releases that came out over the past 12 months. I could have talked about the many artists who have stepped up to stoke an intense flame from the smoldering remains of traditional “indie rock”. I could have said a lot… Read more →
The end of the year is usually pretty light on new releases, so I don’t have a lot to recommend right now. In fact, November was so sparse I’ve gone ahead and included albums from late last month as well. I realize this is being posted a little early, but I will be traveling for the next couple weeks. And… Read more →
October turned out to be a HUGE month for new music. The return of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a double album of original material from Neil Young & Crazy Horse, the debut from Kendrick Lamar…Death Grips bypassing their label with the graphic NO LOVE DEEP WEB, hardcore shit from Pig Destroyer, Enslaved and Converge…the return of Bat For Lashes, Chelsea Wolfe… Read more →
September more than made up for August’s lack of color. Maybe there wasn’t anything as dense and mindblowing as The Seer, but I seriously doubt I could’ve handled another one of those anyway. What follows is a fitting goodnight to the long days of summer. And as much as I hate grouping these albums into posts like this, other aspects… Read more →
Swans – The Seer (Young God, 2012) When I posted my recommended releases for August, I made the mistake of saying the Swans’ latest epic was not “extraordinary”. I was wrong. The Seer is nothing less than an absolute beast, with the density of the blackest of holes. The fact that I couldn’t come to this conclusion on my first… Read more →
August has been one of the most disappointing months of new music in recent memory. I literally had a hard time finding even one album I could recommend in good conscience. Sure, there was that comeback Redd Kross album, that 2 hour opus from Swans, that Ash Borer album, and that debut from Jessie Ware, but none of them really… Read more →
Most of July was spent in transit, so my tastes might be skewed towards albums that sound good turned up loud while flying down the freeway, but that’s not to say there wasn’t variety in my roadtrip soundtrack. The past month might have been heavy on metal, but it also saw exciting releases in hip-hop, rock and synthpop. And as… Read more →
