(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 55: Wake & Recover

Last night was the first night I wasn’t overwhelmed, wasn’t wracked with grief or anxiety (well at least any anxiety I wasn’t already used to) and could slip into some semblance of normalcy. Normalcy of course thinking about work, thinking about my son, thinking about the insanity of our country and the world, so once again I was back up at 5:30am on a week. But I woke up with a smile – an exasperated smile, to be sure – and was almost eager to slip downstairs, brew a cup of coffee (currently drinking a wonderful light roast from Driftaway Coffee) and get to listening. This is some of the music that got me to that point, where I could wake, and recover.

ChrisJune 21, 2025June 21, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Ash Ra Tempel: Schwingungen (1972)

If bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! sit as standard bearers of krautrock, and Hawkwind firmly wears the crown of space rock for many, where does that put a band like Ash Ra Tempel? Somewhere in the middle, at least to my ears after listening to their sophomore record Schwingungen (a name I can’t help but pronounce in my head like Mike Myers in Wayne’s World). The title translates to “vibrations” from German and over the course of its three tracks indeed vibrate back and forth between the two genres, finding pockets of blues and psychedelia along the way. This was one of my impulse “let’s check out a band I know nothing about purchases” and it’s something I need to be down with in order to enjoy. Exhausted and running on fumes, it’s about what I can manage this morning.

ChrisJune 20, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Lars Fredrik Frøislie: Gamle Mester (2025)

Coming on five years since the last Wobbler album, folks lamenting the increasing gap between delicious dishes of heavily indebted 70s progressive rock with a distinctive Norwegian folk twist should instead be overjoyed the band’s keyboardist Lars Fredrik Frøislie has kept so busy. Whether he’s participating in the supergroup Chronicles of Father Robin who released a triptych of concept album in the intervening years or hitting his fantastic solo albums, the man is keeping the flame alive. His latest solo effort, Gamle Mester, is my favorite recording from the man yet, fully analog prog rock that wonderfully adheres to the sonic touchstones of his influences without being beholden to them. Those yearning for some of the best organ, mellotron, and keyboard work in the scene right now should be well aware of this; time for the rest of you to get on board.

ChrisJune 17, 2025June 17, 20251 Comment

Vinyl

Turnstile: Never Enough (2025)

On paper I probably shouldn’t like Never Enough, the fourth studio album from punk/hardcore/emo/pop mashup Turnstile; I didn’t care for their lauded 2021 album Glow On, and the youthful, angsty lyrical conceits feel a thousand miles away from where I’m at both emotionally and mentally. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and right now that’s immaculate production, hooks that reach for miles, and a smooth punk delivery that washes over you and leaves without damage, to be experienced fresh the next time you hit play. I can’t say Never Enough lingers emotionally, but the feeling when it’s on is a joyous one.

ChrisJune 16, 2025June 17, 20252 Comments

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 54: Ross

I’m too tired, and the mourning subsides only to allow the calm to grab just enough of a hold so that the next stab of shock and anxiety hits like a brick to the face. Here’s the theme: Ross loved jam music. He was a Deadhead, but he also loved Otis Redding. Derek Trucks was a newer fascination, and I already talked about how he would come in and ask about bands like Caravan and older Genesis. God, he was a pain in the ass, but he was also a sweetheart. Next to me is a bag dropped off for my birthday last week, a set of notebooks from Moleskine, including a monogrammed soft leather notebook and a hardcover slipcase volume for logging movies. He knew me, covered for me, and cared.

ChrisJune 14, 2025June 14, 2025Leave a comment

natural information society and bitcoin bajas - totality

Vinyl

Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas: Totality (2025)

I was not expecting to use this music for this. Over the last few months I had been having trouble sleeping, and finding soothing, ambient music that wasn’t too new-age or AI-driven was what led me to Totality, the second collaboration between the music ensemble known as Natural Information Society and Bitchin Bajas, a sonic companion traveling the same roads. I had no prior experience with either group, but the fact it was released on Drag City (home of Ty Segall and Wand, among others) was a good sign. And now it’s here and I’m playing it for very different reasons: to starve off the shock and heartache of a friend’s sudden passing.

ChrisJune 13, 2025June 14, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Month: June 2025

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 55: Wake & Recover

Ash Ra Tempel: Schwingungen (1972)

Lars Fredrik Frøislie: Gamle Mester (2025)

Turnstile: Never Enough (2025)

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 54: Ross

Natural Information Society & Bitchin Bajas: Totality (2025)