Tag: blog

Miscellany, Vinyl

#MAYVINYLCHALLENGE 2023: A (Re)-Introduction

2023 has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I’ve been struggling to figure out what I want to do, and what I want to write about. I feel like there are obligations and commitments everywhere, and even when they’re self-imposed they feel like a prison, hemming me in and blocking my ability to enjoy and learn from the media I’m consuming. Since it’s May 1st and thus the start of another #mayvinylchallenge, I thought I’d try to feel my way back toward gaining a better understanding of myself through the music I consume. That’ll start in earnest with tomorrow’s entry: for now let’s do a quick gallery of my collection and audio setup.

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RSD 2022
Miscellany, Vinyl

Record Store Day 2022

I’m not one to usually get up and get on the line for Record Store Day; I’m more than content to head over to my local shop a few days later and pick through the remains, or order online. But the last few weeks have been a hotbed of anxiety, and I’ve been relying more and more on music in order to detach and decompress (hence the massive influx of incoming vinyl). So this morning I roused myself, showered, and with a hot cup of coffee took myself down to Needle + Groove Records to see if I could nab the few titles I was interested in.

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Record Haul April 2022
Miscellany

The Latest Haul / Fast and Furious

About an hour after I took this picture of the albums and CDs that came in the past week, the mail arrived. More boxes. Always a good thing – so much to sift through and digest and just consume. I’ve been on various kicks pouring through Ty Segall and the records from the awesome Dischord label (including the First Six Records boxset I haven’t listened to yet), so there’s a lot of that represented here. But there’s so much more, so this quick blog entry is just a placeholder marking off what came in and what’s on deck fro the next few weeks. The plan is go back to shorter, impressionistic reviews to get all this listened to and logged.

Any chance to enjoy some music, you know?

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Miscellany

Consuming in 2021: New Music

Sorry I’ve been away for a while. Due to holidays and some burnout I’ve been helping to hold down the fort at my other job over at Nine Circles, where I took over our weekly playlist and started my annual series of posts wrapping up my favorite metal albums of the year. And while my primary focus for 2021 has been digging deeper into the nooks and crannies of the music that made me a rock and roll addict for over 40 years, I still managed to find my way to a number of new releases that fired the synapses and gave way to the euphoric bliss of being able to turn away the ever-growing anxiety and depression. So before we jump back into the waters of yesteryear (Christmas yielded a bevy of vinyl treasures I can’t wait to talk about) let’s spend a little bit of time talking about some new music that kept my head, heart, and soul afloat this year.

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consuming 70s rock
Miscellany

Consuming the 70s: Heavy and (Not) Forgotten

Although it certainly didn’t start there, I have Pete Pardo and the Sea of Tranquility YouTube channel to thank for my latest musical excavation. Looking back over this site’s history it’s no secret I love the music of the 70s in all its facets. But hard rock, metal, and prog have always been my bread and butter, and my listening habits have recently been all but taken over by the sinister siren of Moog synthesizers and Fender Rhodes, of the primitive lock of bass and drums matched against Marshall amps stacked to the heavens, reverberating with the root of a thousand riffs chained within, that pentatonic box which birthed a thousand bands…a million songs. From the obscenely popular to the ominously obscured, I’ve been digging deep into the woodwork of 70s rock, and it’s all that damn Pardo’s fault.

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Miscellany

How I Consumed Media in The Year of Our Lord (COVID) 2020

Man, it’s been a year, huh?  I know I haven’t posted since the end of 2019, but I’ve been writing and keeping busy.  I still throw in the occasional review or massive three-part, 10,000 word end-of-year wrap-up for metal, and I’ve also been writing and recording a monthly podcast for my friend Jon’s film blog Cinema Dual.  But if I’m being honest, it’s been getting harder and harder to focus when life, the universe, and everything turns into a dumpster fire of global pandemics, racial injustice, and a government that seems hellbent on tearing down the entire country for its own selfish gains.  

Makes it hard to write about the latest Ben Folds Five album, you know?

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