Wanted to do something different today. It’s my birthday, and I already built a playlist last week celebrating a bunch of great music that came out during the year of my birth. But the music of 1973 isn’t what made me into who I am now – that’s an ever-growing, ever-evolving store of musical moments and memories. And so I wanted to make another playlist, of the songs that inspired me, moved, me, marked significant moments of my life.
Continue reading “52 Reasons Why”
I won’t argue it has a more iconic line than yesterday’s Johnny Cash album, but for a kid growing up in the 80s in love with hard rock and heavy metal, there was no greater thrill than shouting out “Scream for me, Long Beach!” along with Bruce Dickinson. I may have discovered Iron Maiden through The Number of the Beast, but it was Live After Death, their live document of the 1984-85 Powerslave tour that hooked me as a fan for life.Practically a note for note execution of their greatest hits to date, everything from the cover artwork to the photos to the galvanizing me into the fan for life I am today.
Continue reading “Iron Maiden: Live After Death (1985)”
Work is a disaster, the world gets even more impossibly (except the reality shows it is in fact entirely possible) insane, and I just can’t keep up. I’m working on the theme for April (it’s gonna be live music all month), prepping for a vacation and for more work insanity as the first quarter ends and the second one begins. It’s like the universe knew I needed heavy music to pound my brain, so this week’s playlist is – almost – all new and heavy music. Dig into the metal below:
Continue reading “(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 43: This One Went to 11…”
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.
Continue reading “Consuming in 2021: New Music”
Consuming the Tangible 