A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Working With God LP by The Melvins. It has long gone overlooked and under-reported (maybe because they’re from Washington State, maybe because they first gained popular notice with the waves of alt-rock and grunge bands of the Nineties – there’s any number of possible explanations), but the fact is that the members of The Melvins are actually pretty funny guys. Each of them has a really good sense of humor. Each...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Way Down in the Rust Bucket 4LP set by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. In the fifty-two years which have made up his career to date, Neil Young has been a lot of things – an activist, a fortune teller, an elder statesman, a folkie, a rock star, a filmmaker and other titles too – but he has never seemed to be lighthearted. The singer has been interested in making a...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 40th anniversary, 2LP reissue of Signing Off by UB40. Maybe it’s just an extension of the unapologetic non-conformist in me, but I have never been able to stop myself from being drawn into music which goes out of its way to challenge expectations and/or just endeavor to go against the grain, defiantly. I know that, at least occasionally, I turn an ear toward music which doesn’t make me feel comfortable, in...

We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoeby Merrill Markoe About two thirds of the way in, I thought I might be the wrong person to review this book, because I wasn’t aware that I knew who Merrill Markoe was. But then it turns out I did, and it made me want to start over with that information in mind. Markoe was the head writer and creator of the Late Show with David Letterman and I read many of...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Kings LP by Antagonizers Atl. While it is far from un-tread terrain, it’s impossible to not get excited by the promise contained in the grooves of Kings – Antagonizers’ sophomore full-length album. This time out, the band has allowed the gang chorus/gang vocal power in them to build and season for a while before unloading it in a set of ten slabs which ignore the now long-worn costume that punk rock...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Now Or Never 12” EP by The 45 Adapters. From note one of their new 12” EP Now Or Never, it’s patently self-evident that while the band took almost four years between the They Call It Justice 7” and this new, six-song EP, they must have been working – because they don’t sound quite like the same band. As soon as stylus settles into groove on the A-side and the title...

Mo ShafeekArtistic DirectorMondo As far as vinyl soundtracks are concerned, Mondo has quickly become the gold standard over the years. From their roots as a shirt company in Austin TX, Mondo’s soundtracks are probably the most in-demand records for collectors. Their wild curating (they’ve released Raw and Josie and the Pussycats and Avengers Endgame) and meticulously detailed packaging and artwork, have garnered a devoted fanbase. We decided to talk to artistic director Mo Shafeek to gain a little knowledge of...

Spencer Burton Coyote (Still Records/Dine Alone) I confess that I was not paying complete attention to the music initially, the first time I threw Coyote on to review it. I figured it would be easy; I put it on and started washing dishes – but I didn’t actually get any dishes washed. In fact, before the second song on the album, “Memories We Won’t Soon Forget” had finished playing, I had stopped moving completely – even that early, all I...

Coming to America We’re kind of living in a special time where we get to witness Eddie Murphy’s comeback. I’m at that age where it’s hard for me to appreciate what a giant star he was in the 80s and 90s. His movies were simply huge, and it was almost as if he was the comedy version of Schwarzenegger’s action blockbusters. What I was unable to appreciate as a Gen X-er/Millenial is the subtlety and charm in Eddie Murphy’s...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Young & Dying in the Occident Supreme 12” EP by Mobley. Such events are undeniably rare in any language, but Mobley’s Young & Dying in the Occident Supreme is possessed of an imagination and design that is simply unheard of. The record goes out of its way to present listeners with a series of ideas which do not correlate; the A-side features six fantastic and undeniably unique pop songs while the...