Quella Vecchio Locanda: Quella Vecchio Locanda (1972)

When in Rome…you get an afternoon to yourself, put your headphones on, and roam the streets looking for records stores. It wasn’t long before I found myself in front of Discoteca Laziale, a gorgeous marbled floor sanctuary for all manner of CDs and vinyl. My goal was some Italian progressive rock (again, when in Rome…) and was not surprised that Rome, like everywhere else, treats progressive rock like an unwanted step-child, relegating the vinyl to two unmarked boxes in the back and a small corner for CDs. Still, I grabbed the eponymous debut from Quella Vecchio Locanda (translated as “That Old Inn”) for just €9, and its blend of Jethro Tull-inspired folk rock with a heady dose of classical elements and symphonic arrangements made for a great travel companion throughout the first part of my trip to Italy.

ChrisJuly 17, 20251 Comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 58: My Voyage to Italy, Pt. 2

At the beginning of each year I create two “Smart” playlists in Apple Music: one that holds every albums I check out in the current year, and one that is just metal releases for the current year. It helps a lot come EOY time, and there’s a huge joy in then deleting all the music I didn’t like or purchase from the library. It’s cleansing, and feel good for the short period of time before it bloats back up with the new year’s releases. So to wrap up my Holiday Hiatus™ playlists, we’re hitting Shuffle again on the 2025 Music Playlist and see what spits out from this year. I’ll leave it to you to see if any of these are to your liking – I can’t guarantee they’re all to mine.

ChrisJuly 12, 2025June 29, 2025Leave a comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 57: My Voyage to Italy, Pt. 1

50,607 songs. That’s the current total in my online music library. And that doesn’t count the hundreds of albums I bought off of Bandcamp and haven’t downloaded yet, or the physical albums, CDs, and cassettes I have yet to add. This is what happens when you hit “Shuffle” and take an hour’s worth of music for the playlist. Enjoy.

ChrisJuly 5, 2025June 28, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Thee Oh Sees: Floating Coffin (2013)

Around the same time I discovered Ty Segall I discovered John Dwyer. Like Segall most of his output centers on explorations of psych and garage filtered through different lenses, and like Segall he’s prolific, with multiple projects releasing per year. But unlike Segall, there’s an abrasive, punk sensibility that permeates his best music, particularly with Thee Oh Sees (sometimes OCS, for a while Oh Sees, for now simply Osees) which – surprise no surprise – is my favorite sonic output of his vision. What is a surprise is how little of his output I’ve covered on the site, so let’s rectify that by going back to the earliest album I currently own, 2013’s Floating Coffin, which showcases a level of dynamics missing from the band most recent records.

ChrisJuly 3, 2025July 1, 2025Leave a comment

Motörhead: The Manticore Tapes (2025)

First breaths of a band are a tricky thing. It can take a few years – hell, it can take a few albums – before a band achieves that singular cohesion of function and form. Being kicked out of Hawkwind, Lemmy Kilmister knew EXACTLY what he wanted to become: the ugliest, dirtiest rock and troll band in the world. But despite the clear mission statement, it took a year to drudge up the exact combination of filth – namely, “Fast” Eddie Clarke on guitars and Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor on drums – to truly make Motörhead the band Lemmy needed it to be. The Manticore Tapes bring to life one of the earliest recording the classic trio did, a series of recorded rehearsals at Manticore, the headquarters of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Don’t call it a “lost album”; call it the birth of a sound that would continue to make your lawn die 50 years later.

ChrisJuly 1, 2025July 1, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Month: July 2025