by Nick

Review of The Grisly Hand’s self-titled at Modern Vinyl

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A double album can be an odd duck, but Kansas City’s The Grisly Hand may have unlocked its secrets. On the surface, the idea of recording 19 songs, putting them out as two separate compact discs (a year apart), and then re-sequencing them as a double vinyl release (now self-titled) sounds overly-complicated, and maybe it is. However, while the two albums which comprise The Grisly Hand’s double LP — last year’s Flesh & Gold, and this year’s Hearts & Stars — are both excellent records on their own, it’s when the two are combined that this music really takes shape.
Read the full review at Modern Vinyl. Published 1/23/17
by Nick

Recommending Nikki Lane’s “Jackpot” at Modern Vinyl

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For every discussion about how Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton are bringing energy and fervor back to country music, while making it “real” again, I can’t help but feel like Nikki Lane is getting shunted to the side. She’s been kicking out albums since her 2011 debut, Walk of Shame, a full three years prior to Simpson’s debut. The title track’s liberated, feminist embrace of the same topics Simpson would get praise for on Metamodern Sounds in Country Music‘s “Life of Sin” three years later should give Lane the same acclaim as her male peers, but for some reason, she’s been quietly relegated to the background when discussion of taking back Nashville comes around.
Read the full recommendation at Modern Vinyl. Published 1/23/17
by Nick

Review of Eve 6’s self-titled at Modern Vinyl

eve 6 cover Eve 6’s self-titled debut is nearly 20 years old, and I only just listened to it all the way through. It’s weird when an album as omnipresent as this finally makes its way to vinyl, because it’s not like you can’t easily snag a copy of the compact disc in any record store dollar bin. Despite this being a platinum record, it’s the sort of thing which dominated the ‘90s alt-rock scene: an album with a big, inescapable single that led to a sophomore album which was more of the same. Read the full review at Modern Vinyl. Published 1/19/17
by Nick

Review of Exterminators’ ‘Product of America’ at Modern Vinyl

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A band returning to record material years after the fact isn’t unheard of: the Sloths put out an album on Burger, 50 years after recording their only single, “Makin’ Love,” in 1965, and it’s absolutely fantastic. But for a band to return 40 years later to the material and seemingly be angrier than the majority of most young punks? It’s positively astonishing.
Read the full review at Modern Vinyl. Published 1/23/17
by Nick

Interview with Creep Records’ Will Angelos at Modern Vinyl

creep-records-logo-copy With a myriad of options for vinyl subscriptions, there’s no end to who can curate new listening experiences for you. Still, there’s nothing quite like the hand-picked, personal touch that comes with a recommendation from a local record shop. One such record shop is combining those two worlds. Philadelphia’s Creep Records, along with a physical store in the Northern Liberties section of the city, has been a record label for over 20 years, releasing albums by the likes of Plow United and more. Here, each subscriber has legit record store employees making picks for them each month. We reached out to Creep’s manager, Will Angelos, via e-mail and asked him some questions about this new spin on an old idea. Read the full interview at Modern Vinyl. Published 1/17/17
by Nick

Review of ‘Bornless Ones’ at We Are Indie Horror

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Produced by Black Drone Media and distributed by Uncork’d Entertainment, Bornless Ones is a cabin in the woods film, strongly influenced by The Evil Dead. Looking at the plot outline for Alexander Babaev’s film, viewers familiar with the genre will know exactly what they’re in for when viewing the movie.
Read the full review at We Are Indie Horror. Published 1/25/17
by Nick

An endorsement of Nazi punching at Cinepunx

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Like many folks, I woke up Friday morning feeling afraid and uncomfortable, uncertain as to what was going to happen to the United States. I knew of the many marches planned for that night and the next day, but by the time noon rolled around and the president-elect replace Barack Obama, I was fairly well sick with worry. So, as is my wont, I went to the bar near my house to watch Jeopardy and zone out. Jeopardy was pre-empted by the parade, so I got to watch a limp work its way down Pennsylvania Avenue while I drank cheap beer and tried to tamp down everything. By the time I got home and sat around watching Venture Bros DVDs, I was a morose, sad-sack guy. Then — then I saw a video that gave me hope. Self-described “alt-right” demagogue — in reality a white nationalist, racist, bigoted piece of human garbage — Richard Spencer was in the middle of an interview, and just as he began to explain the Pepe the Frog pin on his lapel, he got fucking cold-cocked.
Read the full op-ed at Cinepunx. Published 1/23/17
by Nick

Interview with The Naked & Famous’ David Beadle in the Pitch

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You’ve heard New Zealand indie dance-pop quintet the Naked and Famous, even if you don’t know the group by name. Its first single, “Young Blood,” has turned up in absolutely everything since its arrival in 2010 — movies, TV shows, video games, commercials. And even after all this time, it generates not weariness but an “Oh, it’s that song!” kind of reaction.
Read the full interview at the Pitch. Published 11/2/16
by Nick

Interview with mc chris in the Pitch

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MC Chris has blown past the nerdcore label to become one of the most interesting minds in music. Sure, he could rock the mic for the comics-convention set indefinitely, but he clearly has a broader audience in mind. His latest, MC Chris Is Dreaming, concludes a kind of trilogy with an ambitious set centered on dreams and A Nightmare on Elm Street. It’s one of the rare hip-hop records on which the skits generate real excitement.
Read the full interview at the Pitch. Published 11/9/16
by Nick

Interview with Longriver’s David Longoria in the Pitch

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Austin musician David Longoria’s recordings under the name Longriver are more than just standard singer-songwriter fare. The Longriver album features instrumentals, found sounds and poetry, all flowing together like its aqueous namesake. Longoria’s voice and guitar playing are clear and clean, yet the record is by no means antiseptic. The music is instead warm and inviting. I spoke with Longoria by phone about recording the album, and about his love of nature.
Read the full interview at the Pitch. Published 11/23/16