Guacamole Christmas!
Before his provider basically forced him to switch a few months ago, my Bolivian father-in-law had a dumb phone, which meant he was the target of incessant...
Over-Sensory Osmosis
Y'all ever listen to a piece of music and think: I don't know WTF this is, but it's unscrewing my brain in the best possible way. Scott Walker's The Drift,...
Just Leave Me to the River (I Miss You, Mimi)
I first heard Mimi Parker's voice in 1999. It began with an oh — clear, warm and sustained like a fuzzy pedal organ at an old church. Then a la la la —...
I Just Want You to Know Who I Am
For the life of me, I cannot remember lyrics to songs, even those I've heard hundreds of times. Ask my high school musical theater teacher, church choir...
It's A Little Like Science
I play records around the 3 year old and she has questions/opinions. From my notes app, A-L on Vashti Bunyan's dreamy and delicate 1970 debut Just Another...
Algerian Rave, Nu-Jock Jams, Blackened Thrash
Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut was in the tape deck, Sadie Dupuis' new poetry collection (Cry Perfume) was read in starts and stops and glasses of a...
Roadside Monument Changed My Life
Roadside Monument never made the same record twice, but it was I am the Day of Current Taste, released in 1998 just a few months after they first broke up,...
Welcome to Planet Caravan
Typing by thumbs from vacation just outside Asheville, so forgive any typos. I’m visiting the folks and hoping to visit the Moogseum, the Asheville Pinball...
Mystic Folk, Hill Country Black Metal, Psychedelic Hardcore
Raymond Byron's Bond Wire Cur was already on my list of albums to recommend this week. ESP-Disk' had sent a copy that I finally placed on the turntable and...
He's Out There Setting Fires to the Demons in His Head
Y'all ever get tired of music nerds telling y'all how getting into music was different back in the day? Yeah, me neither. Liner notes, zines, cable access...
Vocaloid Emo, Egyptian Specters, Finnish Prog
Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe made me giggle for 87 straight minutes. (Heh heh he said "straight.") Subplots are sorta rushed to the finish line (heh...
Japanese Metalcore, Numbskull Arena-Rock, Chinese Psych-Pop
Sometimes you listlessly tweet about wanting to hear a Pedro the Lion song done in the style of Jawbreaker, and then someone makes it on his lunch break....
I Finally Fell in Love with Boiled Peanuts
Born in the North, raised in the South by the grace of God. My family moved to Georgia when I was 7 years old and, within days, I knew I was home. Drawn to...
Ren Faire Synth-Pop, Jungle Splatter, Noodles & Choogles
Summer pro-tip: Lemon pepper is underrated. Applied liberally to unbuttered chicken, the seasoning has persisted in American cuisine as an oven-baked, dried-...
Sit Still, Listen and Conduct the Air
In Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, the world-famous concert pianist stops into a truck stop. Behind sunglasses and under a large trench coat, the...
Quiet Music in an Unquiet Year
At the end of 2017, I was feeling pretty raw about the state of things in the U.S.: rising fascism, threats against women's autonomy and immigrants' safety,...
Gritty Post-Bop, Myst Ambient, Tropi-Psych
We'd been craving paletas — and Mexican snacks generally — ever since we vacationed in CDMX years ago. Sweet, spicy and sour chamoy creations, corn chips...
Guitar Drone, Faustian Black Metal, Bedroom Rave
Flowers bloomed, raced and spun across the floors and walls with a digital gust of wind. The room spun, but didn't. Children ran, skipped and hopped to keep...
Pedro the Lion's Subdued Set Felt Quietly Subversive
Some loosely organized notes on a recent Pedro the Lion gig at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C.: Burly, but bruised — never have I met a guitar tone that...
Swedish Christian Fuzz, Post-Punk Trompe-L'œil, Afro-French Jazz
This is my burger, give or take a topping: Bun, mayo, pickles, cheese, patty (maybe two), tomato, lettuce, bun. In that order. Add-ons can be nice — who am I...