Son Henry & T. Rogers Band Grace (Twang House Records) In 2009, American blues musician and lap steel virtuoso Son Henry arrived at a music festival in Estonia with only his lap steel. The rest of his equipment was stuck at Heathrow Airport, where it remained for six months. He was rescued by T. Rogers band, “a group of mad Hungarians,” as he put it. They loaned him equipment and gave him stage time. A lifelong connection was established. Ten...

WHO: Mary Timony WHAT: Untame the Tiger WHY: Timony might be considered a guitar goddess, but if that’s the case, she doesn’t let it on. Maybe it’s safer to say she’s a guitarist’s guitarist. That being said, anyone listening to her music can expect the guitar to be the highlight. Her newest solo record is the first one in over a decade and was written during tumultuous times: a breakup, and the loss of both her parents. But out of...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Complicators’ self-titled album. While it’s very easy for any critic to come off as surprised when a band reassembles a set of well-used, time-honored musical cliches and presents something which works, it’s far more difficult to find the flaw which ultimately causes that very familiar structure to fall apart and/or come off as completely irredeemable.How does one do it? How does one point to the problem which ultimately caused the house...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the This Is How Democracy Dies LP by Brigata Vendetta. Okay, after the last few years of pundits both educated and ill-informed questioning the health and longevity of democracy and looking at the concept so closely the eye-strain could easily be attributable to a migraine, the idea of another punk band stepping forward to declare, “Us too!” is almost laughable enough to drive this critic into a stress-induced mental breakdown. Happily though,...

The last thing you think about after you have a near-death experience is when the next good show is coming to town. But, I love music. It’s funny, because I got hospitalized right after the last show I attended in November, and after you rehab and try to get back into your routine, the thought inevitably pops back into your head: when am I going back out there to catch a show? Starting a new demanding job didn’t help either:...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Vapids’ Revenge Therapy LP. Beyond a certain point, it’s understandable how fans of any given punk band lower their expectations of new albums, when they’re announced. Part of that might have to do with the age of the band playing a role; whether they admit it or not, fans of four-chord punk expect the bands making the music to be young and snotty. It could be argued that such is the...

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm The mind plays tricks on us. Especially, the child’s mind. Haven’t you gone back to something you remember loving as a kid and realizing it’s total shit? Distance is probably what’s making the heart grow fonder. I was having these feelings during the first 15 minutes of Batman Mask of the Phantasm. I remember the cover clearly as a kid, renting it from my video store, and rewatching it relentlessly. I watch movies...

WHO: Aesop Rock WHAT: Integrated Tech Solutions WHY: Boy, this was a close one. Aes’ last two albums had failed to resonate with me and I was starting to fear that either his best days were past him or that I was unable to relate to the guy’s music. I delved into Integrated Tech Solutions hesitantly and, luckily, after spending time with it, was able to finally crack it open. ITS is another example of Aesop Rock’s unmatchably verbose rapping...

Six Weeks in Russia, 1919by Arthur Ransome I look at Arthur Ransome’s Six Weeks in Russia, 1919 with both awe and disdain. It’s a thin book, definitely, and it’s also probably the last book I’ll be completing for a long time. After getting sick to the point of hospitalization and realizing I’ve taken on a new job which has very little interest in providing work/life balance, I’ve come to the realization that any opportunities to relax and “read a book”...

Barbie Hey Barbie, you gotta help me out here, OK? Look, I love Greta Gerwig. There was no chance in hell I was going to see Barbie if it weren’t for Gerwig’s involvement. The fandom behind the movie was dumb. It’s full of stunt casting and I knew it was going to be all hype. BUT… it’s Greta, you know? Weren’t we all shocked this became suck a smash hit? Sure, Margot Robbie reportedly predicted it, but who cares...