Pearl JamNo Codephoto: turntablelab.com Few albums were as impactful in my formative years as Pearl Jam’s No Code. I was just getting into music and had very little for a starting off point. It was Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire, Bush’s Razorblade Suitcase, and Pearl Jam’s No Code. I saw music, and particularly rock music, as a vehicle to coolness. Rock music was edgy and if you liked the right bands it made you cool. Unfortunately, for me No...
DuneOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrackby Hans Zimmer Can you believe they made a Dune movie AGAIN? And that it turned out THIS good? Jodowosky’s Dune opened my world to the mythos surrounding the book and to Jodorowksy himself. My cultural world was changed after watching that documentary, so of course, after seeing David Lynch’s movie, the idea of a new Dune movie is a loaded proposition to me. What was a good sign was that Denis Villeneuve would be directing. The...
The ClashCombat Rock + The People’s Hall40th Anniversary Edition Let’s add something more what has already been said about a 40 year old album by one of the most important bands in history. If you’re a punk, you’re already familiar with the Clash’s Combat Rock. If you’ve never heard the Clash and are curious to get into them, and want to understand them in true “album form,” Combat Rock offers the perfect starting point. It’s an incredibly ambitious album that...
Pearl JamLive on Two LegsRecord Store Day Exclusive Everything critical that can be said about Pearl Jam has already been said. What’s left now are just end stories and personal experiences. The validity of “grunge” as a music genre can be debated (and it should be since it’s complete limited to the bands that came out of a certain part of the earth in a certain point of the 90s), but what is a fact is that Pearl Jam was...
MF DoomOperation: Doomsdayphoto: turntablelab.com Pity the state of mainstream hip hop. Seriously, pity it. I’ve completely tuned out and shun it. It’s one of those weird situations where I don’t listen to it, but I just know it sucks. I was in an Uber the other day and speaking to the driver, who was a rap fan and had insights into the process. I could pinpoint what I disliked about it, and he had names for these different elements. He...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Drag Me LP by S-E-R-V-I-C-E. While fans already had a pretty good idea where Jon Spencer would end up following the dissolution of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in 2016 (other than making appearances in the multitude of projects to which the guitarist had offered both his name and talent over the years, he also has a newly minted solo career to develop), the question of where drummer Russell Simins may...
Mastodon Hushed and Grim photo: thegroovemanscollection There’s a reason why Mastodon is currently one of the biggest metal bands that still matters. They don’t pack in stadiums, I know, but they’re not playing tiny venues either. They’re big enough to play all the late night shows (I’ve seen them on Letterman, Kimmel, and Fallon), and even occasionally do the oddball appearance (remember when they were on the Human Giant show?). Also, they have a sense of humor about themselves. These...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Spencer Gets It Lit LP by Jon Spencer & the HITmakers. After breaking and then building upon the first new and surprisingly fertile ground that the guitarist had touched in years with Spencer Sings The Hits! in 2018, Jon Spencer has continued on the same creative terrain with Spencer Gets It Lit. For any other musician, such a statement could sound unsurprising and/or unexciting but – with a well-established history of...
Steve GunnOther You Few albums in the past few years have made the impact on me that Other You has. Part of it has to do with the fact that I just wasn’t expecting it. It’s not exactly a smash hit album, so my expectations weren’t set (i.e. I hadn’t been jaded yet by public opinion), so I wasn’t expecting to fall in love. Most of why I’m impressed by this album is that I didn’t know I needed it....
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Animal 12” EP by Suzi Moon. Important point: there are three songs on Suzi Moon’s Animal 12” EP. All three songs appear on both sides of said single so, where most vinyl releases are characterized by the movement from front to back, this single seeks to reprise its progression from one side to the next. That statement is not made as an indictment – it is made as an observation as...