Musings on the past and present state of music, film, and pop culture. Get off my lawn.
The 15 Best Rock Albums of 2024: the best in alternative, metal and more from a year that sorely needed musical solace. 2024. What a year, huh? I’m personally worn out from it and dreading 2025, but I take my pleasures where I can find them, and music remains a source of solace for me […]
The Melvins ‘Tarantula Heart’ Review: experimental metal pioneers go back to double drumming while exploring new sonic pathways. The Melvins are the metal band that never sleeps. Since forming in the late 80s, the sludge icons have pumped out 27 studio albums, setting a high bar for quantity and quality. Ever the musical mad scientists, […]
Concert Review: The Sisters of Mercy at ACL Live: Goth icons conjure nostalgia and break new ground with first Austin performance since 2006. It’s been 17 years since Goth legends The Sisters of Mercy last played Austin, TX. So to say the eager, black clad faithful attending their performance at ACL Live last Saturday were […]
Concert Review: Ministry, Gary Numan and Frontline Assembly at Emo’s, Austin: Industrial triptych blows minds and eardrums in Austin. It was a little over a year ago that Ministry graced Emo’s Austin with their presence on the Industrial Strength Tour. It was an alternative metal fan’s dream come true to see Al Jourgensen and co. […]
10 Must See Shows Coming To Austin in 2023: picking out the best of the cavalcade of concerts coming to ATX, including Ministry, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and more. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or don’t use apps like Bands In Town, you are probably aware that the amount of great bands coming […]
Concert Review: Ministry, Melvins, Corrosion of Conformity at Emo’s, Austin: ‘Industrial Strength’ tour pulverizes rabid crowd. The last time I was at a concert was January of 2020. I have avoided shows since COVID reared its ugly head. And even once lockdown was eased up and bands began touring again, I was still reticent to […]
35 Albums Turning 30 in 2022: The Best Albums of 1992: a list of the best alternative, metal, hip-hop, indie and experimental releases from 1992. Last year I boldly declared that 1991 was the best musical year of the 90’s. And I still stand by that. But by damn, 1992 is a very close second. Whereas […]
13 Best Rock and Metal Albums Of 2021: great music from a not-so-great year. I feel like every time I do yearly-best-of’s, I have to comment about how great music made a shitty year more bearable. Welp, 2021 was certainly another year that was pretty fucking terrible, when we desperately needed as many sonic escape […]
Ministry ‘Moral Hygiene’ Review: Al Jourgensen and co. expertly target our dystopian present while offering sonic catharsis on new album. How concerned are you? That’s the sampled repeated question on Alert Level, the ominous churning opener to Moral Hygiene, the latest album from Ministry (October 1st, Nuclear Blast). Over seismic beats and scalding power chords, […]
Episode 27: 30 Albums Turning 30 In 2019: The Best Albums of 1989-SLIS Podcast: celebrating the end of the 80’s and the beginning of a musical movement–and one of the best albums of all time. Following on the heels of last year’s Smells Like Infinite Sadness episode ranking the best albums from 1988, co-host Chris […]
