Musings on the past and present state of music, film, and pop culture. Get off my lawn.
Human Impact ‘Human Impact’ Review: industrial noise rock vets make a murky stew of sound. Human Impact is a supergroup of a most specific pedigree, featuring key members from the New York City noise rock and industrial scenes of the late 80’s and early 90’s. The lineup features vocalist/guitarist Chris Spencer [Unsane], bassist Chris Pravdica […]
Body Count ‘Carnivore’ Review: Ice-T’s rap-metal project remain at the top of their game. Body Count made major waves on their 90’s debut album, especially its track Cop Killer, which drew fire from everyone from president George H.W. Bush to Charlton Heston. Hip hop icon Ice-T effortlessly infused his socially conscious lyrics to thrash guitar […]
Caspian ‘On Circles’ Review: Massachusets post rockers widen their sonic palette on richly layered new album. Massachusets post rock collective Caspian have blazed their own distinctive trail in their sub-genre, last heard on 2015’s Dust and Disquiet. And the group return with On Circles (January 24, Triple Crown Records) which adds a subtle evolution to […]
Concert Review: Tool at Frank Erwin Center-prog-metal titans belie their age in a powerful, propulsive set. “Supposedly, Austin…Work on it.” That cryptic yet acerbic comment came from Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan addressing the packed house at Austin’s Frank Irwin Center this Tuesday. But Keenan mostly eschewed chitchat and let the band’s music do the […]
In Appreciation of Neil Peart (remembering the late Rush drummer and songwriter) by David Dierksen I’ve been a Rush fan since probably 7th or 8th grade (approximately 30 years), but I’ve never been a RUSH GUY. Like I didn’t have every record, obsess over the lyrics, or nerd out with other musician types about how […]
Episode 33: Our Picks For the 2020 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-SLIS Podcast On this week’s episode of the SLIS podcast, co-host Chris Logan and I choose our picks for the 2020 inductees for the RRHOF. It wasn’t easy given next year’s artists for consideration include Soundgarden, Depeche Mode, Motörhead, Judas Priest, Kraftwerk, Nine […]
The 19 Best Rock and Metal Albums of 2019: saying farewell to a great year for music as this decade comes to a close. Welp, it’s hard to believe that we’re not only about to say goodbye to 2019, but also to the decade. It has been a very strange, stressful year (and let’s face […]
Concert Review: Melvins and Redd Kross at The Mohawk, Austin: two cult favorites that taste great together warm up a frigid Austin crowd. Not even a miserably cold and rainy tonight could keep away the Melvins faithful. Anticipation was high for yet another blowout set from the sludge/grunge progenitors, and this evening didn’t disappoint. Openers […]
Episode 32: 25 Albums Turning 25 in 2019-The Best Albums of 1994-SLIS Podcast: tackling the best releases from another amazing year of music. Following our podcast episode ranking the best albums from 1989, co-host Chris Logan and I dive in to the best 25 albums from 1993 turning 25 this year. ’94 was a HUGE […]
Confrontational ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ Review: Italian synthwave artist honors his 80s influences on inventive covers album. CONFRONTATIONAL (aka Italian musician Massimo Usai) have been at the forefront of the synthwave scene, a musical subgenre that has seen the revival of film-inspired electronic music indebted to soundtracks by the likes of John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream […]
