He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…

Posted on August 28, 2019 by R.J.

Band/Artist: A Silver Mt. Zion
Album: He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…
Best song: “For Wanda” and “13 Angels Standing Guard ’round the Side of Your Bed”
Worst song: “Long March Rocket or Doomed Airliner” is not a song, necessarily.

I was having a conversation with a friend a few years ago about the dog meat trade that takes place in different cultures. There are conversations to be had about cultural differences and the reasonable question he asked was something to the effect of “well, we eat cows and pigs and chickens in the West. What’s the difference?”

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Hiss Spun

Posted on August 24, 2019 by R.J.

Band/Artist: Chelsea Wolfe
Album: Hiss Spun
Best song: “16 Psyche”
Worst song: “Twin Fawn” is a great song, but the least fitting on the record.

One of the things about getting older is that you lost touch with a lot of your friends. If you don’t have an activity with them – this is partially why I still play softball. It makes me see people I like without having to make an effort. – it’s easy to lose track of one another’s lives. Marriage, kids and the general ennui of getting older makes it so our social circles contract. Continue reading →

Demo

Posted on August 22, 2019 by R.J.

Band/Artist: Konvent
Album: Demo
Best song: “Chernobyl Child”
Worst song: None. The demo is four excellent songs.

I usually try to write these posts with something of a hook other than “check out this band I like,” but I really just wanted to highlight how much I like the Konvent demo. Continue reading →

Mare Vitalis

Posted on August 16, 2019 by R.J.

Band/Artist: The Appleseed Cast
Album: Mare Vitalis
Best song: “Mare Mortis” or “Fishing the Sky”
Worst song: “Kilgore Trout” isn’t much

One of my favorite things currently online is a video series for Deadspin called “Let’s Remember Some Guys.” For the uninitiated, the basic idea of the series is that two Deadspin staff members (David Roth is usually one of them) look through decades-old baseball cards and they, uh, remember the guy on the card. Roth is usually the rememberer, with a younger staffer – young Deadspinners Lauren Theisen and Luis Paez-Pumar are the most frequent cohosts – holding up the card and hosting to ask Roth if he remembers each guy. It’s Roth’s brand, though, and he also hosts non-Deadspinners to bring in their own cards or remember guys even further back. Continue reading →

Samsara

Posted on August 15, 2019 by R.J.

Band/Artist: Venom Prison
Album: Samsara
Best song: “Uterine Industrialisation” and “Naraka “
Worst song: “Self Inflicted Violence”

I’m not going to get into my dating life here (short version: I’ve not dated in ages because women sometimes pursue me despite my being a disaster person and I’m not interseted in them. I am incredibly stupid.), but I do enjoy getting glimpses of what dating is like for my younger generational mates . Continue reading →

Nest

Posted on August 14, 2019 by R.J.

Band/Artist: Brutus
Album: Nest
Best song: “Fire”
Worst song: “Horde V”

No one gives a shit about my process – especially since I’m not really promoting this site, not even on Twitter – but I am trying to write more on this site. It’s awfully hard, though, because of the various (rightful) restrictions my job puts on me. Journalism, in the age of social media, puts the restrictions on its adherents to not promote political causes or seem biased against/for candidates/parties/etc. and all I think about within the 2019 world is politics – you can’t fucking avoid it. So, even the type of navel-gazing bullshit I write here would probably end up being within that structure. I’m not 100% sure I didn’t line-step on the Myrkur essay just by shitting on white nationalists, so who knows? Continue reading →

Albums That I Own

I write about albums. Albums that I own.

Monthly Archives: August 2019