Kiyoshi Sugimoto: Babylonia Wind (1972)
Would you look at that? Japanese jazz that’s NOT on Three Blind Mice or East West Records. Earlier this year saw the vinyl release of Babylonia Wind, the 1972 record from guitarist Kiyoshi Sugimoto and his quintet. Beautifully packaged as part of the Deep Jazz Reality series from Universounds, the Tokyo record shop and reissue label run by Yusuke Ogawa, it’s another hidden gem in the early 70s jazz rock revolution. I don’t know if I’m equipped to compare how this fares with a lot of what was on the rise at the time: this isn’t Miles Davis levels of fusion and jazz rock, but Sugimoto’s guitar is definitely wailing with a rock god fervor over the course of the album’s five tracks.
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Militarie Gun: God Save The Gun (2025)
If you had told me a year ago I would be loving a bunch of young, hungry bands the “kids” of today were into, I guess I wouldn’t be that surprised: after all, I’ve been loving The Dirty Nil since discovering their brand of loud, in-your-face pop punk. But the sheer volume of these young bands, and the strength of their music gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, rock is coming back. Case in point: Militarie Gun, whose second (or third depending on how you count) album God Save The Gun was recommended to me by my friend Sean, who wasn’t even alive when I started dating my wife. It’s a terrific, heart-on-sleeve rock album that straddles the swagger of garage rock with pop punk and indie with a bellyful of hardcore/emo themes.
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Julie: My Anti-Aircraft Friend (2024)
I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way…especially if you’re teaching them by way of Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine. That’s what I hear when I listen to julie, a trio out of Los Angeles who have taken the gospels according to Moore and Shields to heart, and crafted in My Anti-Aircraft Friend a fun and vibrant debut full-length that works for what it is: a catchy and frazzled indie rock gem, slightly flawed and wearing its influences in each facet of its cut, but sincere and earnest in how it goes about it.
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The 9C Files: Magic Pie’s Maestro
Gather round, ye men and women of the heavy. For I have news to share, of the mighty return of Magic Pie, and the veritable cornucopia of virtues that lay within the band’s first album in six years, the masterful Maestro, filled to the brim with incredible guitars, catchy anthemic melodies and soaring choruses and…and…did I mention how great the guitar playing is? Because holy bovine, my friends, the guitar playing is majestic. Too often we turn to extreme music to mirror and reflect how we feel. Well, right now I need music that lifts me up, makes me cheer and rock and smile and feel like there is joy in the construction of a righteous racket. And my friends, my stalwart brethren in metal arms, these Norwegians do just that.
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(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 77: Dumb Fun
Sometimes you want to fall into the depths of a great song or album, stretching your senses around and in between the notes, feeling the rhythm shifts and tempo changes. Sometimes you want to dig into the marrow of lyrics, searching for analogues to your life and experiences. Sometimes, though, you just want some DUMB FUN. That’s this playlist: dumb, mindless fun for my soul. Note that my definition of DUMB FUN may differ from yours…and that’s perfectly okay. Let’s get it.
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Naxatras: V (2025)
Time has since clouded just how I discovered Naxatras, the Greek psychedelic rock outfit. I think it was via Bandcamp, possibly by following the breadcrumb trail of “You Might Also Like…” albums at the bottom of the page of…some album. I remember I featured the band’s fourth full length, simply titled IV, in my Best of 2022 Stoner and Psych list over at Nine Circles, and now here we are with the equally descriptive album title V. Good news is it’s even better than its predecessor, heavier and doubling down on the exotic flavor of its melodies. This has been another great headphones album, but it’s equally effective played at loud volumes on a good stereo.
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Consuming the Tangible 