(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 64: Gone Too Soon

Rest in power Brent Hinds. Mastodon are one of my favorite bands, and I was already despairing what they’d do without his incredibly singular playing style, not to mention his great vocals. But I assumed I would still get more music from the man in one of his other bands. No more, and life continues to take and take without any regard for what we want. I guess it’s always been that way, but for some reason it stings a little too much this time…

ChrisAugust 23, 2025Leave a comment

Miscellany, Playlists

52 Reasons Why

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.

ChrisJune 4, 2025June 4, 20252 Comments

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 40: Lamenting Loss Of All Types

In the same week one of my favorite modern bands loses a founding member via “mutual decision” and one of my favorite classic bands loses a founding member recently reunited to the inevitable end. A jazz great leaves us, and sans link I simultaneously began realizing my all encompassing love for one of my favorite artists was beginning to dwindle because there’s only so much you can learn about your idols (I hate that word) before it all turns sour. But hey, that’s only the first four tracks of this week’s playlist – the second half is dedicated to the rock and prog that came in this week from all corners of the Earth.

ChrisMarch 8, 2025March 8, 2025Leave a comment

Playlists

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 35: The One With My First Great Album(s) of 2025

Used to be January was a bit of a dumping ground for music; smaller bands and releases living in the shadow of everyone’s year end lists and folks checking out all the stuff they may have missed. So I wasn’t expecting much, thinking I would just nestle down with some cozy 70s prog and 80s metal, hibernating until the “good stuff” starting poking out. Welp, that’s already started to happen, so we’re going to keep this trend of what’s been coming in the house and I’ve been listening to for the last week, and we’re kicking it off with an album I’ve fallen hard for, a surefire bet for my own end of year list. Or albums, I should say, because wouldn’t you know it? Yesterday Ty Segall had to go and release his third album in one 12-month cycle…

ChrisFebruary 1, 2025February 1, 2025Leave a comment

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.

ChrisDecember 31, 2021December 31, 20214 Comments

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: mastodon