Our Mother the Mountain50th Anniversary EditionTownes Van Zandt There comes a time in a punk rocker’s life where they have to go back to where it all came from and really branch out. And really, that’s what good punk rock does: it broadens our horizons. For a while, punks were really getting in touch with their folk side. That has since passed, but for aging punks, the midlife crisis music discovery seems to be country. You start with basics like...
El-PCancer 4 Curephoto: turntablelab.com I remember the moment that the world of Hip Hop was opened to me. Years ago, I was interviewing Dillinger Four at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, talking to their bass player about music. He said something along the lines of mainstream rap being in a deplorable state; to the effect that standards and quality control didn’t exist anymore in his opinion. Lucky for me, I had a rap aficionado friend who immediately approved of this sentiment....
X Alphabetland LP (Fat Possum Records) Alphabetland was one of the most important records of 2020. Let me count the ways. For one it was, just plainly on the surface, a record that did many things and did them well. Compared to both rock and punk music it sounded fresh, yet undeniably familiar. It also managed to be both fun and urgent, and musically it was catchy as hell. Blame that on guitarist Billy Zoom’s rockabilly tendencies matched with the...