Album Review: Dead Tired - Full Vol.

Weird dark hardcore from George Pettit of Alexonfire in the form of Dead Tired. The new album Full Vol. really rips and you can see my full write up over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Link below.

Review of Dead Tired's Full Vol.

Alexonfire may be due for a reassessment. In retrospect, they were pretty flappin' good.

Album Review: Ibibio Sound Machine - Doko Mien

Ibibio Sound Machine geared up this year for another album, Doko Mien. It's a worthy successor to Uyai in my *cough* professional opinion. Check out my review over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Link below. 

Review of Ibibio Sound Machine's Doko Mien

Remember to dance like no one is watching... unless someone is, then maybe you should stop. 

Album Review: Ex Hex - It's Real

Excited for the new Ex Hex album? I think I lot of us are. I was really swept away by Rips and the bar for this album was set very high in my mind. Did it clear the arbitrary standard of my mind bar? You're going to have to check out my review over at Chicago Crowd Surfer to find out. Link below.

Review of Ex Hex's It's Real

Save your hexes for your exes. 

Interview: Julia Nash of Wax Trax Records

Julia Nash inexplicably agreed to talk to me. She's a grown-ass woman with a real-ass job but she got up at 7am to talk to me about her Dad and the music he brought to the world. Truly, truly honored to be able to bring this conversation to you today.

“Wax Trax fans are just the most incredible, kind, sweet, loyal, dedicated people, and the outpouring of love and support, they’ve shown me and my family… I just felt like ‘I owe this to you guys, you should see this!’” -Julia Nash

If you want to read more from this humble and incredible woman, the full conversation can be found over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Link below. 

Interview with Julia Nash of Wax Trax Records

And now I'm waxing nostalgic for my goth phase. 

Album Review: Venom Prison - Samsara

Welsh progressive-minded and technical death metal Venom Prison released what may be my favorite album of the year so far this week. It's a merciless ass-kicker that just keeps me coming back for more and more punishment. Check out my review of Samsara over at Chicago Crowd Surfer at the link below.

Review of Venom Prison's Samsara 

Respect and solidarity, or GTFO.

Album Review: Chai - Punk

Neo-kawaii makes landfall in the States with the absurdly friendly new album from Chai.  Punk is really poppin off and I don't have anything but nice things to say about it. My review is up over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Get it in your eyeballs before it internet sells out.

Review of Chai's Punk

If you couldn't tell, I like Chai a latte. *rimshot*

Show Review: Oozing Wound Record Release at Empty Bottle, March 16, 2019

Photo Credit: CCS

Oozing Wound are sick as hell and I've got the scoop on their record release show at the Bottle this week. Click through to Chicago Crowd Surfer to read about the hole they ripped in space-time this past Saturday. Also featured, Hitter! Keep an eye on these sweaty goofy balls, they're my new favorite local band and I can't wait to see what they do next!

Recap of Oozing Wound's Record Release Party 

You can't shut what won't close.

Album Review: The Daktaris - Soul Explosion

This week I’ve been listening to and loving the reissue of The Daktaris’ debut album Soul Explosion. Released on Desco Records in 1998, Soul Explosion was essentially a hoax that kicked off the afrobeat renaissance that continues to this day. Presented to label runner Basco Mann as a recently unearthed Nigerian funk album from the 1970s, it was released by the unsuspecting label as a reissue of a buried classic. The ruse ran deep, with each of the band’s members adopting fake names, forging backstories, and even printing “Produced in Nigeria” on the album cover. In reality, the members all hail from Brooklyn and would go on to form other influential afrobeat groups, Antibalas and the Budos Band. The success of Soul Explosion reignited interest in the work of Fela Kuti, a true master of the African funk, soul, and jazz. The command of form and down-right catchiness of Soul Explosion have had the effect of canonizing the album in the minds of world jazz enthusiasts despite its dubious origins. Not bad for an album that includes the song titled “Eltsung Ibal Lasiti,” or “It Is All A Big Hustle” written backward. A more punk rock statement in the realm of world music you will not find.

Album Review: Helado Negro - This is How You Smile

I wrote a review of the new electro-folk foray from Helado Negro. It's not as good as his past work, but if you dig his style, I think it will put a smile on your face. Check it out here.

Album Review: Warm Human - Ghastly

I've got a review of the wonderful new Warm Human LP up over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Link here.

Stay warm and human.

Album Review: While She Sleeps - So What?

There is a review of While She Sleeps's new LP over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. You can check it out here if you are so inclined. As far as pop-infused metalcore is concerned, it's no amo, but it's still damn good. 

Album Review: Mykele Deville - Maintain

Been listening to the new album Maintain by local MC and DIY ombudsman Mykele Deville and I am convinced he is the poet this city needs right now. The actor turned community organizer turned mic maestro is really in a league of his own and it’s cool to see him come into his own on his fourth LP. Deville doesn’t have a sound that fits into any current trends in hip-hop. It lacks the brooding, self-flagellating subject matter of R’nB artists like Weeknd and Drake, and is outside of the prevailing texture and beat fixations of the current trap and drill movements. He doesn’t even fit into the conception of the “Chicago sound,” which may be due to his sideways entrance into the cities music scene through theater. While his beats are inspired by the jazz-rap of De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest (especially on the smooth and smoky sidewalk sashay and gatekeeper rebuke “Free Soul”) he lacks the overly-chill vibe conveyed by either of those groups vocal delivery. The content and cadence of his flow are closer to that of Brother Ali if that grandmaster of conscious rhymes emphasized the percussive qualities of his voice while retaining its buttery, salve-like qualities. Deville’s verbose bars pack a lot of thought into condensed phrases without sacrificing the momentum of the verses, a skill that is masterfully displayed on the leading singles off the album, the ode to self-love “Type Love” and the boom-bap pep-talk “You’re Enough.” It's an album that addresses the anxieties of our time while showing a way forward. It's the perfect album to help you glide over hump day, as well as this dismal period in American history.

Album Review: Black Taffy - Elder Mantis

Just checked out Black Taffy’s Elder Mantis. Black Taffy is Donovan Jones, a Dallas based sound artist who may be best known for his work with heavy post-rockers This Will Destroy You, but has recently turned his attention to experimental hip-hop. Jones became aware of the power of music while observing his father lead mass as a Pentecostal preacher. His interrogation of the overlap between spirituality and music has lead him through Christianity into the looking-glass of mysticism, a journey that informs the sounds and aesthetics of his latest album. High-concept descriptions aside, Elder Mantis is essentially the morbid shut-in cousin of the “24/7 lofi hip hop” channels that have proliferated throughout Youtube. I recommend you start with the clammy shutter of opener “Divining Rod,” the restless and gusty “Land of Nod,” and the melancholy downward spiraling crawl of “Jaguarundi.” Gloomy goodness to get you through another frigid Mid-west winter.

Album Review: Candlemas - The Door To Doom

Candlemass throws open the doors to their ancient chest of eldritch relics and unleashes their most devastating spell since their first. The Door to Doom is an excellent sister salvo to Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and I am here for it. Check out my write up here.

Album Review: R. Stevie Moore - Afterlife

Digging on this new R. Stevie Moore LP. If you are in the mood for some homespun, outsider pop-rock click through to my review here.

Album Review: Cochemea - All My Relations

I really can't say that I've regretted checking out Cochemea Gastelum’s latest album, All of My Relations. Cochemea (whose name means “they were all killed asleep”) is a respected saxophonist and songwriter out of Brooklyn, NYC who performs avant-garde jazz with heavy African and indigenous influences, drawing specifically from his Yaqui and Mescalero Apache heritage (the former tribe are native to Mexico while the latter was settled in present-day New Mexico (formerly, just Mexico)). While he is best known for his work with the Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, he also performs with one of my favorite afrobeat bands, Antibalas. When Cochemea enters the stage his presence has a jittery magmatism to it, and not to get swept up in the enthusiasm he has for performing. All of My Relations is breezy, with a playful sense of curiosity that explores the intersection of roots music, indigenous-informed jazz, and afrobeat in an accessible and enlightening way. I’m really feeling the soulful hum of “Maso Yeeme,” the swagger and shuffle of “Mitote,” the smooth funky glide of “Seyewailo,” and the meditative “Song of Happiness.” You don’t have to tune into Cochemea’s frequency, but if you make the effort to properly collaborate your dial, you’ll be glad you did.

Interview: King Tuff

King Tuff @ Lincoln Hall by me

My interview with King Tuff is up at CHIRP Radio! It was a great conversation where we discussed the band's new album, encounters with beings from another world, and a suggested favor of ice cream for Ben & Jerry's to test drive. I'm very happy with the way this one turned out. 

Interview: Smashed Plastic

I took this photo

As luck would have it, I was able to snag a quick interview with two of the founders of Chicago's newest (and only) vinyl pressing plant following their grand opening earlier in the month at Gallery 400. The full transcript of my conversation with Matt Bradford and Steve Polutnik can be found over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Smash the link here!

Album Review: Da Staat - Bubble Gum

Just checked out the sixth LP from Dutch alternative rock and psychedelic dance group, De Staat. Bubble Gum is an album that falls under the long shadow of the band’s smash hit “Witch Doctor” off 2016’s O. That song’s obsession with big meaty beats, polyrhythms, and Fincher-esque voyeuristic storytelling informs the entirety of their latest album, from the Soul Coughing infused, velvet sheathed malic of “Kitty Kitty,” to the trippy middle-eastern flavored glide of “Fake it Till You Make It,” to the skronky post-rock implosion “Mona Lisa,” the pulse of these hits lands without warning, and if you aren’t moving, you’re liable to be laid out on the dance floor. If you’re looking for a scornfully good dance party to help break up the milieu of your day, look no further. Check out the video for “Mona Lisa” to ride its cold, sauntering groove.

Show Review: Smashed Plastic Records Opening w/ Serengeti, Diagonal, The Lawrence Peters Outfit & Bleach Party @ Workshop 400, February 2, 2019

Serengeti (Photo by me)

I stopped out to deliver my well wishes to Chicago's newest small batch vinyl printing press moguls, Smashed Plastic last Saturday and now I come to you with a full recap of the festivities. I'm honestly surprised at what I can remember given all the commotion and free libations. If you want to read my best recollections of the event, click through to Chicago Crowd Surfer. The highlight for me was Serengeti who you can see in the mediocre shot from my cell phone above. Everyone had such a good time at this thing, SP is basically obligated to throw another in 2020.

Album Review: Swallow the Sun - When the Shadow is Forced into the Light

A thing of beauty born in the wake of tragedy. If you need some hard feeling heavy metal in your life today, click here for my review of  Swallow the Sun's new LP When the Shadow is Forced into the Light, now up over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. Be sure to hug one of your loved ones today or let a friend know how much you care about them. You never know when it will be the last time you see them.

Album Review: Boy Harsher - Careful

Have some harsh words for a boy in your life? Need to dance it out? Have I got an album for you! Click here to read my review of the new Boy Harsher album Careful over at Chicago Crowd Surfer. I listen to every album I review around 6 or 7 times, but this one easily lapsed into the double digits when it came to sheer number of spins. Total endorsement!

Album Review: DAWN - new breed

Today I am just about to lose my head over the latest LP from former Danity Kane idol, Dawn Richard, fka D∆WN, currently DAWN. On new breed, DAWN performs electro and R’nB derived pop inspired by her home town of NOLA and her black Indian roots. The aesthetic choices here lean heavily on the glossy side of southern rap production and the damp, shadowy edge of synth-pop. It’s a bunch of odd bedfellows that somehow all manage to have good, clean, kinky fun together. I’m feeling the 90’s flavored title track with its Grace Jones sample, the swaddling flow of “spaces,” the funk-wave of “dreams and converse,” the entertainment industry skewering “vultures | wolves” and the piano-driven “we, diamonds.” Give this a spin next time you need something to sing into a hairbrush in front of the mirror to.

Grab a copy of new breed here. 

Album Review: Deathchant - Deathchant

At the moment I'm staring down the void with the help of the new self-titled debut from LA stoner rock leviathan, Deathchant. The group’s sound clings closely to the synapse annihilating fuzz-bombs of their forebears Fu Manchu while indulging in ranging song structures that would make Sleep nod approvingly. The mind-altering chords they craft often detour into sticky pools of hot psychedelic pitch only to emerge and strike up another locked groove unphased by their transdimensional journey. These transitions are truly awesome to witness. Think Crazy Horse dosed with Uncle Acid fronted by the ghost of Josh Homme. I’m feeling the burning tower of 70’s fuzz-gun powder “Pessimist,” the lilting melodies and star-crushing hooks of “Control,” and the reigning acid rock shower “Hex.” This album is a bad trip that you’ll be glad you went on.

Snag a copy of Deathchant's LP from their Bandcamp page here.