thundercat - drunk

Thundercat: Drunk (2017)

Day 10 of the #mayvinylchallenge is your favorite 10″, and that guideline makes it pretty easy for me, since I have only one 10″ in my record collection. It’s a doozy, though: the third full length from the Space Ace of Bass, Thundercat. Although I had heard his distinctive style of playing on projects from Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, and even Suicidal Tendencies, Drunk was my first exposure to the man as a solo artist and composer, and it was on of those pivotal “aha!” discoveries on my musical journey.

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75 dollar bill - i was real

75 Dollar Bill: I Was Real (2019)

Day 2 of the #mayvinylchallenge is Dynamic Duos, and looking over my options there was never really an option. Much love to Suicide and Big Business and Simon and Garfunkel and my own beloved Darkthrone, but there is something magical that happens whenever I put on I Was Real, the 2019 release from 75 Dollar Bill. It’s one of a handful of albums I get completely lost in, an album where I feel like I’m inside the physical space of the music being created.

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arkheth - 12 winter moons

Arkheth: 12 Winter Moons Comes The Witches Brew (2018)

I *think* this was the first “freebie” I got tossed as writer.  I’ve been a big fan of Transcending Obscurity as a metal label and tend to give their stuff a chance when it passes through the Nine Circles inbox.  Arkheth is a one-man black metal project (after my own heart) out of Australia, and 12 Winter Moons Comes The Witches Brew reaches levels of carnivalesque mayhem that have me admiring its audacity, even when it’s not something I can just randomly grab and listen to.  Anyway, they sent me the CD as thanks for a good review…completely unexpected but appreciated nevertheless. Continue reading “Arkheth: 12 Winter Moons Comes The Witches Brew (2018)”

adrian belew - side two

Adrian Belew: Side Two (2005)

Released about six months after Side One, Side Two finds Adrian Belew in a darker, more contemplative mood.  Handling all the instruments himself, the album shows just how formidable Belew is on all fronts: as a composer, instrumentalist, and vocalist.  Despite the lack of rockin’ hooks found on Side One find myself much more drawn to the compositions on this release. Continue reading “Adrian Belew: Side Two (2005)”