I didn't know there was a bigass new Martin Rev album out! Listening now.

I miss Alan Vega. :(

Built to Spill - There is No Enemy

This, and its successor Untethered Moon, sound like time capsules of underrated 90's era BTS.

Evan Dando - Baby I'm Bored (Deluxe Reissue)

When the weather warms up, I always give Its a Shame About Ray (undeniable classic pop rock), which prompted me to look into what Dando has been up to since 2009's lackluster covers lp Varshons. Turns out not much - but this 2003 solo release was given the reissue treatment by Fire Records. Great record IMO, check it out if you haven't heard it.

There's a deluxe edition of Baby I'm Bored? Woah. What's the bonus stuff? I love that album. And The Lemonheads in general.

Specifically "Carn Marth." What a blessed track!!!

I listened to the latest HELMET last night, I don't recommend you do the same.

the Elvis Costello cover is one of the worst songs I heard in a long time. Yes they really did an Elvis Costello cover

Still, I might go see them tomorrow. I need some loud noise in my ears

Yeah man, I listen to a bit of Dead to the World when it came out, and... yeesh.
But then it's not like they've been doing a great job recently. Or, like, since Aftertaste even... that album was not strong, and it's built around a kind of sound that was just omnipresent at the time in harder rock, making it largely forgettable..

They went from being this weird and melodically compelling jazzy/prog/stoner-metal band with definite chops and a unique sound to being a blueprint for an entire generation of terrible butt-rocky "alternative" cosplayers like — oh, let's see here... Chevelle, Stevendust, fucking Breaking Benjamin? Seether? Woof!

It's sad, because there was a time when Helmet was one of the more exciting bands on the mainstream periphery, with a nice sound that was sometimes chaotic, sometimes lean and mean as hell. "Unsung" sounds like a classic Black Sabbath track, with a gen x moan instead of a demented Ozzy wail. Betty is definitely my favorite album of theirs, and probably a classic in its own right. It's so weird. "Sam Hell" was, like, Ween-weird. "Milquetoast" just crushed it. "Vaccination" almost had an Unwound feel to it.

I guess Aftertaste wasn't all bad. "Pure" had a kind of rolling groove and borderline-emo chord progression that gave it some serious lift. That shit has certainly influenced modern "cool" metal bands like Defheaven. But all in all, I think Aftertaste was album where they lost it. And whoever the hell is in the band now besides Hamilton hasn't even tried to get it back.

They could have been better all around. I see them as kind of a casualty of the alternative boom. While Joshe Homme spent his time between Kyuss and QOTSA really teasing out a sound and approach that would be both traditional and exciting, pleasing enough to Kyuss faithfulls and immediate enough to get some airplay in a time that was basically a black hole for interesting radio rock music. Then he went on to become one of the biggest artists in the world... really just a few pop culture awareness points away from Jack White territory. But Page Hamilton took the exact opposite path. He started out with a bit of tradition filtered through a bizarro lens, and that lead to three pretty solid albums, but he didn't adapt or change anything, and he let his sound stagnate and become commonplace. Then he used his time off doing apparently fuckall, because he came back with a series of increasingly boring duds that sound indistinguishable from the duds his band inspired.

By the by, QOTSA's debut crushes everything in the Helmet discography, in my opinion.
And Shellac? Unwound? Forget about it.

man, I kind of forgot about Helmet. I haven't heard any of their output since. Hmm. Well technically I did get Unsung, though it had some b-sides and stuff I don't think it had new material, but still, so 2004 I guess was the last time I heard Helmet.

Devastating. Best "Betsy On The Roof" commited to tape.



Devastating... in a different way. :D

(still the greatest record ever)


(great unwashed - clean out of our minds)

K2 (James Ferraro) - Chameleon Ballet
https://oesbee.bandcamp.com/album/chameleon-ballet

Fun fact: this album's "Industrial Spy" is listed on the liner notes of Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga as being sampled on "Finer Feelings". However, the sample actually comes from a different African Anthem song, "Operator's Choice". Many people will be more familiar with this exact same sampled line ("Riddim fulla culture, y'all") from Public Enemy's "Welcome To The Terrordome", where it almost sounds like Flavor Flav is saying it.

This investigation has been brought to you exclusively by The Soup Nazi. Accept no imitations.

I didn't know that. Thanks Soup Nazi!

T-Swift's discography is back on Spotify. I know what I'm gonna be listening to. Haters be damned.

for the past week or so I've been back in that phase of wanting to hear nothing but Wilco all the time.

Pentagram - Relentless

One of those albums that doesn't stand up to too close a listen but if played with a bit too much bass on the EQ, and heard from another room so songs seem to bleed into one another, it transforms into an absolute monster.

these are the dark nights of the soul, castle perilous......

free improv...

Did you make this? If so, nice.

Also, nice cactus.