En principio, todo festival suena “bien”. Un pequeño resguardo del hartazgo que nos diluvia cada día en esta vida. ¿Acaso liberar todo el estrés acumulado en un concierto, del género que sea, no es una ocasión gozosa? En el caso del Force Fest, el gozo fue un pozo ciego. Se anunciaba como un festival con un line-up que le tiraba a la cartera de los … Continue reading My name is mud – Force Fest 2018
It’s been a while. A real, extremely long, veritably interminable length of time. For a moment there, I thought they had faded, lost in an unknown swirling amusement ride of time. Lo and behold, Captives on the Carousel, back once more, their sparse, intimate music gliding over foggy hills. Their souls wet and cold. Outside, an emotional drizzle washes grey bodies over and over, never … Continue reading Review: Captives on the Carousel – The Violet Bank Sessions
“Do you wanna get nuts? C’MON, LET’S GET NUTS.” – Michael Keaton, Batman 1989. A few days from Autumn and the ankle is acting up again. They say all your pains grow exponentially once yours 30s are finished and perhaps that old nugget is true. The bar lights are dimming, the floorboards are sticky like treacle with the bloodied remains of Stellas and Kronenbourgs, the … Continue reading The Friends of Batman – Pain EP
“Adventures in an of Age of Anxiety”. I play Ryuichi Sakamoto async. There is no road map anymore. No revolution just a seemingly quiet acceptance of the way it is. A few heads pop up above the parapet causing a few ripples but mostly we are just living ‘in quiet desperation.’ There is plenty to distract us. Loads of social media platforms for our selfies, … Continue reading Dual Review: Godspeed You Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers // Ryuchi Sakamoto – async
Road 15 was always a good drive in the Camaro. A few rough patches of bad Tarmac, yes, but it was a good drive. The zippiest way from town to Emerald Quays, where the pier shined at night like a frantic kaleidoscope. Those were the days. Us four, the “Four Jays”, as our Phys. Ed. teacher, Mr. Torkmargh used to call us. One stop at … Continue reading Review: Vast Robot Armies – Dinner Music
When you think of Champaign-Urbana, you think of either their atmosphere-heavy dreampop bands (Absinthe Blind, Headlights, Gazelle, Psychic Twin) or their spaced-out, melodic juggernauts (Hum, Castor, Centaur). Winder might be getting their groove on the second set, but grab some inspiration from the first one. How so? There’s that emo/post-hardcore method that mixes a little lo-fi, distortion and, above all, intimacy, that harks to the … Continue reading Review: Winder – Always Assume
Weird westerns. Gotta love ’em. The cliché of the good guy wearing the white hat, evil being punished, and a good hootin’ and hollerin’ by the townsfolk at the end, all ignored. Instead, true grit is applied until the veneer breaks down into tiny pieces. The lustre is gone, night has fallen, and in the dark blue and pitch black nothingness that was a small … Continue reading Review: The Clench – The Clench
It’s a low-lit bar. The band takes the scene, as the uninterested saps and boozehounds keep hammerin’ down national beer and watered-down bourbon. The three bearded gents tune the instruments, check the cabling, and do a mic check. Nobody cares. It’s a non-smoking dive bar which saw its best days in the seventies, peaking the week before the oil crisis. Still, tar and nicotine still … Continue reading Review: The Life and Times – Doppelgängers EP
There is an urban myth that did the rounds about a few years ago. It concerns the editor of the incredibly well informed and, some would say, most on the ball fanzine to be found among the cast aside chip papers and club flyers on the pavements of Devonshire Green. The story goes that said editor disappeared for 36 hours and was found clutching his … Continue reading Review: Grails – Chalice Hymnal
Chapter 2: Darts and Tacos It hadn’t quite sunk in yet. I was sitting on the couch of our AirBnB with Joe, watching episode 1 of Vice Principals (during the sessions, this show and Stranger Things became our decompression shows after days in the studio). It didn’t quite feel real to me at this point. I was almost surprised to see them all the next … Continue reading Making Dinner Music: Studio Diaries #2
