WHO: Billy Bragg WHAT: The Million Things That Never Happened WHY: Billy Bragg has easily slid into the “easy listening” category over the past few albums, but what sets him apart is that his music still packs a powerful message. It’s quite an efficient and...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Voodoo Rhythm Records Label Compilation Vol. 5 LP. I confess that label compilations have never been my favorite thing. Not that I’m definitively against the form (I have heard some good comps over the years, and...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 3LPs in the Acid Box by Acid. There’s no question that bands have come up with some pretty unusual items to include with their albums and/or box sets in the twenty-first century, but Acid – the band formed by Jeff...
Hello, dear reader. We thought we were out of the woods with this whole pandemic thing, huh? Looks like we have to hunker down for a while longer. We’re prouder than ever this year to bring you our take on the best this year had to offer. We’d like to consider...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Black Label Society’s Doom Crew Inc. 2LP. Funny thing about the bands and/or projects launched by guitarists, they tend to focus heavily on guitar. It is not uncommon, for example, for songs on such albums to feature...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the I Am Alive, But Only If You Say I Am LP by Long Range Hustle. While the nature of the album’s title seems inherently soft, on its face (most bands want to exclaim, “We are here,” but the title of Long Range...
Madame Bovaryby Gustave Flaubert The bad thing about reading almost exclusively non-fiction is that, obviously, I purposely miss out on the great fiction out there. And the bad thing about missing out on fiction is that I miss out on some of the great classics. But,...
The Incalby Alejandro Jodorowsky & Moebius It’s still strange for me to think about how the documentary Jodorowksy’s Dune changed my life. It made me appreciate Dune and Jodorowsky as a filmmaker. Now, I’m a fan of both and I have that little documentary to...
WHO: Fiddlehead WHAT: Between the Richness WHY: No lie, this one’s a grower. And a remarkable thing for an album that’s so short. Between the Richness is equal parts post-post-hardcore as it is western Mass, whatever that means. Pay close attention and you might...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into TK and The Holy Know Nothings’ The Incredible Heat Machine LP. It isn’t always easy for this writer to get into country music (there often has to be a “alt-country” plank in the floor to make it easier to enter...