Month: October 2025

miles davis - agharta
CD

Miles Davis: Agharta (1975)

Where does a listener start when it comes to the “electric period” of Miles Davis? Where does the “electric period” even begin? Miles and the second quintet were using electric instruments as far back as Miles In The Sky (a personal favorite) but it seems like most folks peg it at the ambient, rolling atmosphere of In A Silent Way (another favorite). Where listeners start, though, is another matter. For me it was unfortunately with Pangaea, a live set from Japan that at age 17 I was not prepared for. Had I only started with that same date’s afternoon set, the brilliantly funky Agharta, I might have more quickly embraced this side of Davis’s career instead of retreating back to the early 60s for much of my 20s and 30s.

Continue reading “Miles Davis: Agharta (1975)”
Unknown's avatarChrisLeave a comment
ivslys - 07410
CD

IVSLYS: Zero Seven Four One Zero (2025)

If there is one thing you can rely on when it comes to the work of the entities known collectively as 夢遊病者, it’s their ability to surprise. We’ve heard dissonant noise and Frank Zappa-esque freak outs, shades of space rock and drone as well as classical and world elements on their last release. Now we have the veiled and impenetrably named offshoot IVSLYS, returning with their first new batch of tunes in seven years with the equally obtuse title Zero Seven Four One Zero. One thing that is NOT obtuse or ambiguous is the music: this might be some of the most accessible set of tunes to come out of this camp, with each of the four tracks settling into different moods that veer from dark noir-ish cinema to swirling psychedelic folk.

Continue reading “IVSLYS: Zero Seven Four One Zero (2025)”
Unknown's avatarChrisLeave a comment
Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 73: Revisiting Wallet Chains

Back in the early 2000s I met this guy Sean. Like my friend Erik, my high school friends Mike and Steve, or Henry Rollins, he was another curator. Each had or have their pocket, and with Sean it was the indie rock and pop that suddenly blasted off at the beginning of the millennium, stretching onward. He would send me huge .zip files of albums to check out, and it was through him that I was drawn into bands like Tegan and Sara, Deerhunter, Stars, and more. I would take everything and load it into a playlist I playfully titled Wallet Chains, after the accessory that was maddeningly popular at the time, and that Sean himself wore around the office with pride.

For some reason this week I looked back and fell back…hard. It triggered the realization that it had been years – in some cases over a decade since I engaged in a lot of music I love simply because I was obsessed with something else (prog, the Dead, you name it). So this is a quick look at what I turned and tuned my ears to over the past week in that vein.

Continue reading “(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 73: Revisiting Wallet Chains”
Unknown's avatarChrisLeave a comment
Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 72: Aggressive Rise

I’ve been head down for so long with my deep dive into the Grateful Dead that a random pop-up of the latest Ghost (not the heaviest album by any and every definition of the word) triggered my brain to seek out some aggression to get in my ears. That and the latest reissues from Boris appearing at my door when I returned from a couple days of travel were the impetus for today’s title: aggression is rising, but it can’t completely stem the tide of obscure 70s rock gems from making their way to my ears. What do I mean? Let’s dig in below the jump.

Continue reading “(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 72: Aggressive Rise”
Unknown's avatarChrisLeave a comment
Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 71: Collection Woes

I think I have a problem. I don’t know if it’s some kind of coping mechanism (uh, its DEFINITELY a coping mechanism) for the stress and anxiety of work and my son and my own fears and depression, but I am amassing CDs and records like it’s the end of the world and I have to preserve our collective artistic accomplishments for future generations. As as I read back that last sentence I realized it might very well be that if we keep moving in the abysmal direction our government, AI, and the vacuous hole of social media seem to be leading us. Anyway, here’s a rough hour of some of the new music that’s come into the house over the last week.

Continue reading “(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 71: Collection Woes”
Unknown's avatarChrisLeave a comment
Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 70: Reunions

I’m writing this Thursday instead of my usual Saturday morning. Today I’m leaving for a wedding on my side of the family, a group I see very rarely. Then it’s a trip across two states to visit my son for Parent’s Weekend at his college. We haven’t seen other since August, and both my wife and are looking forward to that more than a night of drinking and dancing – especially since I no longer drink. So this will be some of the soundtrack for all the driving, the expectations, and the reality of my various reunions over the next few days.

Continue reading “(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 70: Reunions”
Unknown's avatarChrisLeave a comment