(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 10: And It Stoned Me…

Call it whatever you want: stoner or desert rock, doesn’t matter to me. What does matter are thick, juicy riffs just dripping with fuzz, a bass that rumbles the crust of the earth, and a penchant for melody that can be carried across an array of clean or throaty vocals. Inject it with doom, with prog, with sludge and death…you can’t disguise the pulse of the cosmic harmonic that calls directly to my lizard brain when all pistons are firing, so this week as I once again get ready for vacation (this time hopefully without catching a myriad of viruses and infections) let’s dive into some stoner rock and metal that have been getting me through life over the past few years.

ChrisAugust 10, 2024August 9, 2024Leave a comment

Vinyl

Mirthrandir: For You The Old Woman (1976)

It’s crazy how buried the US’s prog scene became in the absolute (beautiful) glut of progressive rock coming out of the UK and Italy during the 70s. For every Kansas or Styx that adjusted and stood in the rising waters to make it there were dozens if not hundreds (okay, most likely dozens) of bands who put out one of two albums and slowly sank again beneath the surface of extended keyboard pyrotechnics and odd time signatures. So cheers to New Jersey’s Mirthrandir for somehow getting a brief look at the sun as their sole album, 1976’s For You The Old Woman gets a vinyl reissue from PQR Records based out of France. Folks looking for a fix of classic era Yes, Gentle Giant, and even some Genesis will get a lot out of this compact little prog package.

ChrisAugust 7, 20241 Comment

Weed: Weed…! (1971)

Call it whatever you want: a lost German hard rock underground classic, a label attempt to cash in on a scene, or simply a way for Ken Hensley to fill his back account in between Uriah Heep albums and tours (I’m partial to that last one)…Weed the band and Weed…! the album is still a fun obscure rocker that benefits from being a one and done deal: there were already enough bands – like Heep – doing this better, and my enjoyment of the album really stems from Hensley’s involvement and how this compares to his writing and performance on Look at Yourself which would follow soon after. Still, it has moments of that early hard rock with shades of progressive and psychedelia that I go crazy for, so if that’s your bag as well this is an album worth tracking down.

ChrisAugust 6, 2024August 4, 20241 Comment

Storm Corrosion: Storm Corrosion (2012)

Time and distance. I’ve been thinking a lot about those concepts, and how they relate to the media and – specifically – music I consume. And between the news of Opeth returning with a new album (with death growls, at least on the single) as well as the news of a remastered, special edition the debut from Storm Corrosion, the collaboration between Mikael Åkerfeldt and Steven Wilson it was time to revisit that eponymous album, one I viscerally rebelled against at the time of its release. What was this thing that was neither what I wanted from Opeth nor Porcupine Tree? Certainly nothing to get me excited or pumped up for, so there it sat for 14 years. Surprise (no surprise), a decade of growth and musical consumption now yield a very different opinion of Storm Corrosion the album, so let’s get into it.

ChrisAugust 4, 2024August 4, 2024Leave a comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 9: Killing Music Forever

This one’s for the metalheads.

Three days back from vacation and I’m still negative for COVID…but I’m still congested all over, only now it’s accompanied by insane coughing, asthma, and an ear that feels like someone’s inflating a balloon in my skull. So I’ve been listening to a lot of music to match my sour mood. For a least eight years I’ve maintained a playlist called “Killing Music Forever” that contains a lot – but not all – of my favorite heavy music. It’s weird: there’s a dearth of black metal on it, which seems strange considering my love (and sideways adoption for my own music) for the genre, but I always wanted this playlist to punch more than scream, if that makes sense. It does to me, which is the only thing that matters. So as I continue to recuperate we’re hitting random and seeing what pops up. May it get your blood moving as well.

ChrisAugust 3, 2024August 3, 2024Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Month: August 2024