Concert Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain at Emo’s, Austin

Concert Review: The Jesus and Mary Chain at Emo’s, Austin: Scottish noise-pop icons flattened eardrums in fine style.  Full admission: I don’t wear earplugs to concerts. I know, I know–I’ll pay for it when I’m older (yes I know I’m already old…shut up), but it takes me out of the moment when I wanna rock […]

Primitive Race ‘Soul Pretender’ Review

Primitive Race ‘Soul Pretender’ Review: supergroup gets stylistic facelift on sophomore album.  [rating=4] When Primitive Race formed in 2013, it was an industrial supergroup of revolving members cultivated by band mastermind Chris Knikr. Things have changed on their latest release Soul Pretender, (out November 3rd on Metropolis Records). The group have undergone a sonic makeover […]

Tyson Todd Meade ‘Robbing The Nuclear Family’ Review

Tyson Todd Meade ‘Robbing The Nuclear Family’ Review: mastermind behind Defenestration and Chainsaw Kittens unique vision still thrills on new release. [rating=5] My art is dedicated to those other fringe dwellers and friends of fringe dwellers, those who want something beyond reality TV, casino gambling, car payments, 401k, church on Sunday, family portraits on the […]

Chuck Mosley Talks New Primitive Race Album ‘Soul Pretender’

UPDATED 11/10/2017: I have just been informed that Chuck Mosley has died. As far as I know, this may be the last interview he participated in. I truly enjoyed chatting with him, and found him to be a gentle, kind soul who seemed to have turned a corner in his career. I’m deeply saddened to […]

30 Rock Albums Turning 40 in 2017: The Best of 1977

30 Rock Albums Turning 40 in 2017: The Best of 1977: from punk to metal to electronic music, ’77 was one of the most pivotal years in music history. Here are the 30 best albums from four decades ago.  By SLIS and Peter Marks This Saturday marks two major musical milestones–the 40th anniversaries of two […]

Concert Review: Lords of Acid at Elysium

Concert Review: Lords of Acid at Elysium: raunchy electronic music titans bring down the house in Austin, TX.  [rating=5] It was a pleasantly cool Wednesday evening in Austin, but if you were at Elysium, it was steamy. The humidity in the goth hangout befitted horn-dog headliners Lords of Acid (echoed by attendees wearing glowing devil-horn headbands). The […]

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Vampyr’ [Criterion Collection]

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Vampyr’ [Criterion Collection]: cult classic 1932 horror film gets immortalized on superb Criterion edition. [rating=5] While not as well-known as other German expressionist horror films like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, director Carl Theodor Dreyer is revered in film geek circles. And for good reason–it’s an evocative nightmare that’s extremely visually […]

John Carpenter ‘Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998’ Review

John Carpenter ‘Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998’ Review: iconic filmmaker/composer goes down memory lane with new interpretations of his classic film scores.  [rating=4.5] Full disclaimer:John Carpenter is my favorite filmmaker of all time. Sure, he hasn’t made a truly great movie since the 80’s, but his body of work from 1976’s Assault on Precinct 13 through 1988’s […]

Albums Revisited: INXS ‘Kick’ Turns 30

Albums Revisited: INXS ‘Kick’ Turns 30: celebrating INXS’s career-defining album 30 years later. I wrote recently about how 1987 was the most pivotal year for music in the Reagan era (click here for my list of the 30 best albums from 1987). And one of the most iconic releases was certainly Kick (which celebrates its 30th […]

The Jesus & Mary Chain Kick Off North American Tour This Week

Scottish alternative rock icons (and shoegaze progenitors) The Jesus and Mary Chain kick off their North American tour October 19th at San Francisco’s The Fillmore Theater. The tour is in support of the group’s well-received Damage and Joy, their first album since 1998’s Munki. Click here for my Damage and Joy review  The group also […]