Katy Perry Prism Photo:Turntablelab.com I remember the summer of 2010, on route 22 in Harrisburg driving in a car with friends and talking about Katy Perry. At this point, she had already begun to win me over as a listener and during our discussion of her music and her newest music video for California Gurls, someone mentioned that it was inarguably the song of the summer. “I bet we could look for it on the radio right now and find...
Alien – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2XLP By Jerry Goldsmith There are many scary movies out there, but few captivate their audience to a degree that they become their own franchise. That’s because few movies are as iconic as Alien. I can’t remember ever seeing the entire first movie until 6 years ago, but I already knew most of its iconic scenes. That chestburster scene must have been spoofed to death by now (get it?), and it even pops up...
Total Chaos: The Story of the Stooges by Iggy Pop (Editor), Jon Savage (Editor), Jeff Gold (Editor), Johan Kugelburg (Contributor) The Stooges are a great example that you can’t keep a good thing down, for better or worse. At least not in this day and age. For whatever reason, the Stooges were revived more than 10 years ago, with as original of a lineup as possible and Mike Watt on bass. Aware that he was not and would not ever...
White Stripes Elephant Photo: turntablelab.com The White Stripes’ elephant is an important album both for me personally and in the wider scope of musical history as it gives good perspective on what was going on with music at the time. For me personally it conjures up memories of driving through the redwoods for the first time, wondering how exactly Meg White manages to hit her drums so hard. It was also the first song we learnt as a band...
Katy Perry Witness It’s truly interesting to watch what has been happening to Katy Perry this year. Sure, she never appealed to everyone, but the woman has solidified herself as a pop music heavy hitter ever since she broke on the scene in 2008. And no, her Kate Hudson Christian rock phase does not count. For some reason, it seemed like Katy Perry was taking a different approach to pop music. While most artists seem to unabashedly embrace...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Full Circle split LP by Round Eye and Libyan Hit Squad. After I discovered Round Eye with the help of the band’s self-titled LP a couple of years ago, I was hooked. Like a fan of any band, I began singing the group’s praises to anyone who would listen; I talked about the band, I wrote about them and I listened to that first album constantly. I loved it – I...
Myers+Chang at Home: Recipes from the Beloved Boston Eatery by Joanne Chang & Karen Akunowicz One of the joys of living in Boston is that it’s exposed me to the wonderful cooking of Joanne Chang. She’s reached almost superstar status with her flagship Myers + Chang restaurant in the South End: a spot my wife and I cannot seem to get enough of. It’s a must-go especially on Mondays and Tuesdays when they have their date nights and their tasting...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into This Means War’s self-titled 10” EP. The catch, when it comes to trying to be in a good melodic hardcore band, is that trying to navigate the waters of punk rock is fraught with risk because the region is so over-populated. Unfortunately, there are lots of “melodic hardcore” bands which aren’t particularly melodic (read: the singer can’t carry a tune on his back) and aren’t exactly poster boys for hardcore either, for...
The Dopamines Tales of Interest My history with the Dopamines goes way back. I remember driving on the highway in Aruba years ago rocking them in my headphones, soaking in the sounds. It was one of those situations where the music permanently became embedded in the setting for me. The Dopamines are a part of that Midwestern pop punk sound that graces bands like the Copyrights (who I used to think were the same band), Teenage Bottlerocket, and Banner Pilot....
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Mid-Century Sounds – Deep Cuts From The Desert 2LP compilation. It might not be the first location which comes to mind when one thinks of “music hot spots” (and there is some irony in saying that – believe me), but those in the know are well aware of just how rich and the artistic soil is in the state of Arizona. Arizona was, of course, the birthplace of such grand musical...