Steve Hackett: Please Don’t Touch (1979)

If Voyage of the Acolyte was anything, it was the expected thing from Steve Hackett. A synthesis of his progressive rock chops honed from his time in Genesis and his penchant for more pastoral, classical arrangements. And beautiful guitar playing, of course. So the surprise of the left turn he takes on his sophomore solo album makes Please Don’t Touch perhaps makes the album more of a delight than I anticipated. Hackett recorded in the United States, working with a number of incredible vocalists and a killer’s row of backup musicians, and the variety of styles on display makes this a delight, my current go-to record for lifting the spirits.

ChrisAugust 6, 2025Leave a comment

Torche: Torche (2005)

I’m sure there were other bands purveying the sludge pop vibe before Torche; hell, you could say that Floor, the band founded by Torche’s Steve Brooks and Juan Montoya were already setting the groundwork for what Torche, the eponymous debut would crash out of the gate with. But it was my first dalliance with this kind of heaviness, one sheathed in a sparkling pop veneer, made more striking by the rainbows adorning the molten volcano on the cover art. Things would get even more melodic and catchy on subsequent releases, but I started here in that glorious year where extreme metal became a touchstone for me (again); let let’s take a moment and wrap up the work week with why this works (alliteration for the win).

ChrisAugust 4, 2025August 3, 2025Leave a comment

The Moody Blues: Days Of Future Passed (1967)

Let’s continue the trend with incredible album covers. I must have stared into David Anstey’s gorgeous collage of colors for hours as a child; Days of Future Passed was one of the few albums in my parent’s collection that was my mothers (the other was eponymous debut from Christopher Cross). But despite owning it I never actively played the music of The Moody Blues. I must have heard “Knights In White Satin” as a kid, probably on television and eschewed it for tunes that rocked harder. Once again proving you’re never too old, my fascination with progressive rock began leading me down peripheral branches, and that led to the particular chamber pop of the group, so here we are. Long story short: it was worth the rambling sojourn.

ChrisJune 26, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Joy Divison: That’ll Be The End (1980)

Some people believe the only “real” representation of the late, great Joy Division was their live shows, that the production meddling of Martin Hannett smothered their intensity into an otherworldly cold sheen on record. I love the production on those records, and while we can debate until the cows come whether that singular production was a help or hindrance to the band’s longevity, there’s no denying that live they were a different, more primal beast. That’ll Be The End documents their penultimate performance at the Ajanta Cinema Derby on April 19, 1980, less than a month before Ian Curtis’s tragic suicide. Like all of their live recordings it’s rough, not meant for official release, but unable to suppress the energy and control the band could hold over an audience.

ChrisApril 11, 2025April 11, 2025Leave a comment

David Bowie: Olympic Stadium, Montreal 1983

I haven’t really written about David Bowie yet on this site. When it comes to my favorite artists I need time to really think about how I want to frame their work and its impact on me. Of how my understanding of them change and grow over time, sometimes making them loom larger, sometimes smaller. He’s one who over time has become larger and larger in my life, and his death in 2016 was a galvanizing moment for me. So I’ll get to Bowie proper eventually; for now though we’ll use the opportunity of Bootleg Week to discuss this document from his Serious Moonlight Tour, Olympic Stadium Montreal 1983.

ChrisApril 10, 2025April 10, 2025Leave a comment

Vinyl

Steven Wilson: The Overview (2025)

Maybe a part of it is because I’m reading his memoir Limited Edition Of One at the same time. Maybe I’ve just put asides expectations and refused to engaged in speculation based on marketing, promotion, and that heavily burdened world “prog”. Maybe it’s just this time, this state of being that is so fraying that hearing The Overview, the latest album from Steven Wilson gives me what I need: a floating, exploratory record that both soothes and reflects in its electronic excursions some of that static that sits within. or maybe I’m just old, and I dig what he’s puttin’ out, you know?

ChrisMarch 21, 2025March 21, 2025Leave a comment

Consuming the Tangible

We are what we consume

Tag: pop