King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard With Mild High Club Sketches Of Brunswick East photo: turntablelab.com In some ways, Sketches of Brunswick East is an album that left me more impressed with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard than Murder of the Universe. The latter album is what made me fall in love with the band and solidified what the name “King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard” is supposed to represent musically. But, this band doesn’t adhere by any standards:...

Endless Poetry ABKCO In the featurette for Endless Poetry there’s a plea by writer/director Alejandro Jodorowksy where he claims that he wants to undo modern filmmaking and instead make something that’s an artistic expression by its creator, a film that will stay with the viewer after they watch it, that has the power to change lives. This is the bar Jodorowsky has set for himself and it should be enough for us to give him a chance. Having been...

El Topo Soundtrack Alejandro Jodorowksy photo: turntablelab.com El Topo is the kind of movie that should be seen by everyone simply due to its historical significance. It’s one of those movies that has nothing to lose. Some will love it and become interested in its creator Alejandro Jodorowsky and all his movies, others will like it, others will appreciate it for just how unique and strange it is, others will consider this movie homework and something a film buff ought...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Go Farther In Lightness 2LP by Gang Of Youths. For the nearly half-century since the genre’s inception now, one of the few steadfast foundations upon which punk rock has stood has been nihilism. Consistently, the spirit of punk has been one of “Fuck it all – strip the music down to the barest essentials and get emotionally dark and bleak – at least that way we’ll all beat the world at...

Phantom Thread I’m a fan of the Best Show with Tom Scharpling and in one of the host’s many ramblings, he’s expressed his feelings for Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) and how he believes him to be a genius: one of the few geniuses on this earth. Now, I wouldn’t go that far because I don’t really believe in geniuses. Although I do know one. What I can say about PTA is that all evidence points to him being the...

Notes on a Case of Melancholia, Or: A Little Death by Nicholas Gurewitch When it comes to webcomics it’s hard to find a better equalizer than Nicholas Gurewitch’s Perry Bible Fellowship. I’ve been reading it for more than 10 years and am still genuinely in awe of how this webcomic consistently excels both in its writing and art. Clearly, PBF is the creation of a disturbed mind, and as far as comedy comics are concerned, the current gold standard in...

Xetas The Tower How does one begin to describe Xetas? “Powerful,” that’s how. But also sinister, relentless, and exciting. Xetas came to my attention by pure chance. A chance I love to take with 12XU records. More and more they are becoming my primary source for new music exposure. That goes for you as well, dear reader. Listening to the Tower it’s evident that Xetas are not interested in wasting anyone’s time. Yours or their, for that matter. Legend has...

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress by Steven Pinker Boy, this is a tricky one. On the one hand, Steven Pinker is one of the most respected scientist and thinkers worldwide, and he’s responsible for some of the most enlightening books out there. On the other hand, he just might be out of his league with this one. Enlightenment Now should be commended for the scope of its subject: measuring trends of health, advancement, and human...

The Post Manufacturing Consent, a book by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman should be required reading for every person living in the United States. Among the many subjects it covers are how the media, while loving to pat itself on the back for swaying the course of the Vietnam War, was in fact very much in favor of it when it first started. In fact, it misreported, ignored inconvenient facts, and straight up lied to the public in...

If you were to ask me to name one artist that is at the forefront of punk rock, I’d have to say Jeff Rosenstock. It’s not just that he makes fresh, interesting, relevant, progressive pop punk, it’s also that his whole approach to making music is commendable. The man puts out his music for free, for God’s sake. And even though at times his music seems to be getting ahead of itself, there’s no denying there’s something...