A personnel change in a band can go any number of ways. For some acts, the lightning-in-a-bottle aspect of their creative path is completely lost when a certain lineup is no longer together. Perhaps the new members aren’t as connected with the music, but something has been lost, maybe forever. And then there are otherContinue reading “#136 – The Stand Ins by Okkervil River”
Category Archives: rock
#132 – Independent Worm Saloon by Butthole Surfers
Anyone who has been to a concert has experienced the camaraderie of strangers who have been thrust into each other’s presence for a little while. It doesn’t matter who they are, they like the same band as you and they’ll be standing close by for the next few hours, so it’s preferable to have friendlyContinue reading “#132 – Independent Worm Saloon by Butthole Surfers”
#131 – Ege Bamyasi by CAN
A German avant garde rock band from the 70s is generally a good source of weird music. The use of dissonant noise in music is fairly common these days, so a modern music fan might not find this album particularly unusual, but these albums were and are extremely influential. So many sounds that have nowContinue reading “#131 – Ege Bamyasi by CAN”
#127 – The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
Until a few months ago, I had only ever listened to one album by the Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Robots. I’ve written before about a theory posited by a friend, who is a musician and music appreciation professor, that music finds you when your are ready for it. The Flaming Lips are another bandContinue reading “#127 – The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips”
#126 – The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus by Various Artists
This was meant to be a live concert film to add to the Rolling Stones publicity campaign for the Beggars’ Banquet album, which is my favorite album of theirs. Apparently it was shelved due to the feeling that the Stones had been upstaged by several of the other acts, especially The Who and Taj Mahal. Continue reading “#126 – The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus by Various Artists”
#119 – Truly Fine Citizen by Moby Grape
It’s hard sometimes to unplug enough from the steady stream of upsetting news long enough to write about the daily album selection. Every day there’s a new outrage to process on so many different fronts that you have to find some distance from it for a little while. Whatever your chosen escape is – mineContinue reading “#119 – Truly Fine Citizen by Moby Grape”
#118 – A/B by KALEO
These guys are really cool, an Icelandic band that sounds like they could be from America’s heartland. I had never heard of them until I saw them at Coachella a few years ago. A coworker of mine had worked with them earlier in his career and was so excited about them being there, I hadContinue reading “#118 – A/B by KALEO”
#117 – Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
This band came up in conversation the other night when we were discussing the unfortunate career path of Oasis. It is extra frustrating as a fan when an artist that you love has such a severe internal rift. There is an argument to be made that their music would never have had the edge thatContinue reading “#117 – Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds”
#116 – Trust Fall (Side B) by Incubus
My Incubus fandom tapered off after Light Grenades, but I was pretty obsessed with them for a while in college. When I first moved to LA and was going to a lot of random club shows, I used to see Mike Einzinger, the guitarist, sit in with random artists from time to time. This EPContinue reading “#116 – Trust Fall (Side B) by Incubus”
#109 – Soft Times by Matt Duncan
While having dinner at a friend’s home this evening, he drew my attention to and sang the praises of the album that was playing, by his friend Matt Duncan. As you may or may not have noticed, when an album is dropped into my lap like that, I take the opportunity to not have toContinue reading “#109 – Soft Times by Matt Duncan”
New Album A Day 