Wolf's Week #5
Ni, Bandcamp Friday Haul, Genevieve Artadi, other stuff
The storm finally came for your least favorite lupine. I'm in year-end list hell. Shout out to all my print pals that already finished this crap in October. Not that I'm jealous! No! Enjoy your hassle free December, ya dorks. If you're wondering why this newsletter is earlier, shorter, and sloppier than usual, there you go.
Music
Ni - Fol Naïs (Dur et Doux)
From: Bourg En Bresse, France
Genre: math rock
Ni is what I like to call a "heard you like riffs" band because the French quartet is so committed to the pursuit of sick ones. For example, Fol Naïs, the band's mostly instrumental fifth full-length, is kind of like if Loincloth got into This Heat. These riffs hammer away at you from unexpected angles calculated with a mathematician's precision. They also have a streak of screaming discord that lights up whatever vestigial part of your brain is supposed to still listen for pterodactyl cries. If you want a tasting pour, check out "Chicot," a song with a heart that beats in Hella's Hold Your Horse Is rhythms while turning into a rock arena jam in its second half.
Joey Alexander - Continuance (Mack Avenue Records)
From: New York, NY
Genre: jazz
Pianist Joey Alexander's Origin was one of my favorite albums from last year, a gentle record that felt like going on a long walk on a summer night with a best friend. For Continuance, Alexander works with all new players for a set that travels to new places. While still undeniably chill, everyone is cooking in this session. Alexander, of course, is one of the great young talents in jazz. But bassist Kris Funn and drummer John Davis are similarly skilled, giving these songs written by Alexander an invigorating rhythmic alacrity. Trumpeter Theo Croker also drops in for four tracks, providing a warmth that emanates throughout like a long hug. I especially like "Hear Me Now," which features Alexander on mellotron, and the closing ballad "Aliceanna," which has an end-of-the-day ache to it.
Bandcamp Friday Haul:
On what may be the final Bandcamp Friday, I went wild with the purchases. In lieu of not having listened to much during this short week, here's a quickie breakdown of my purchases. I'll hit these in more depth later this month.
Espen Berg - Water Fabric
This one comes courtesy of Dave Sumner's monthly jazz roundup on Bandcamp Daily. Water Fabric showcases Norwegian jazz pianist Espen Berg stretching out into third-stream chamber music. "The title itself embraces broadly, as an analogy to water in all possible states, textures and shades," reads the Bandcamp liner notes, "and it is borrowed from a piece that Espen wrote back in 2005 and later arranged for string quartet." The sextet that Berg has arranged for this album has "a background in jazz, classical, Norwegian folk music and Indian classical music," and those varied styles naturally turn Water Fabric into a varied listen.
ÇAYÎR - Demo
After unleashing this noisy blast of tinnitus punk, the SZÉGYEN KAZETTÁK label has been elevated to must-listen status. ÇAYÎR is like Zyanose playing early Lightning Bolt.
Mabe Fratti - Se Ve Desde Aquí
The Guatemalan cellist's newest album has been in my wishlist for eons, so I finally decided to pull the trigger. While experimental as all get out, Se Ve Desde Aquí has this undeniable humanity beating within it, especially whenever Fratti starts singing.
Krust - Irrational Numbers Volume 3
Over the past few months, Wonder Palace Music has released these great Krust compilations containing a mix of crucial selections and ultra-rare tracks. Come for the jungle and drum and bass, stay for "The Resistor," a hazy, atmospheric track that sounds like it could've been a big beat classic in another life.
Ben Lumsdaine - Murmuration Without End
I'm utterly smitten with "Dallas," which made this an easy pre-order. Per the International Anthem sales pitch, "Inspired by the vibrance of Cuban bata rhythms, Lumsdaine set himself to construct music that has a clear pulse but a fairly indiscernible downbeat, and ultimately makes an articulate artistic expression about finding peace within the unknown."
Marcel Bonfim - Farewell / Despedida
Minneapolis's Shifting Paradigm Records has been putting in work this year, releasing a ton of exciting jazz records. If the samples are any indication, Farewell / Despedida might become one of my favorites. Bassist Marcel Bonfim's newest combines jazz with "Brazilian popular music." Total Wolf Rambatz catnip.
Krallice - Mass Cathexis 2 - The Kinectic Infinite
Instant blind buy. It's Krallice.
Sunny Kim, Vardan Ovespian, Ben Monder - Liminal Silence
Another one from Sumner's jazz column, and hot damn, it's really something. Sunny Kim (voice), Vardan Ovespian (piano, keys), and Ben Monder (guitar) play with the elasticity of music, exposing a "silence" that is anything but. "In silence, we embody our most vulnerable selves, yet it is this vulnerability that propels our innate abilities for deep transformation," Kim wrote in the notes. "Liminal Silence is a communal meditation on the nature of silence, the cycles of birth and death, and our innermost aspirations for change within."
Orion - Phobia II/Phobia III
The homie at Absence of Facts banging out some appropriately dark techno titled after various phobias.
Rodan - Hat Factory '93
These early versions of classics immortalized on Rusty burn a little hotter and faster during this longlost session. "The Everyday World of Bodies," in particular, has an appealing rawness that makes Tara Jane O'Neil's spokel harmonies feel even more affecting.
Oberlin - Invierno (Lontano Series)
Circa Alto - Rituals (Lontano Series)
Mind over MIDI - Sensitiv (Lontano Series)
Three more from Lontano Series, the best bang for your buck when it comes to ambient.
Godflesh - Purge
I just wrote about this one for Plague Rages.
Welp, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong. At first blush, I thought Purge, Godflesh's ninth album and third since reforming in 2009, was an echo of past successes. Now, I think it's the best of the duo's comeback records. What changed? The key was giving Purge time to breathe. While the first four songs sound like they could've appeared on a lost EP recorded between Songs of Love and Hate and Us and Them, "Permission" kicks off an experimental stretch with a more intriguing dynamic, melding darkness and light. That track, an album highlight that makes for a formidable one-two with the Hymns-esque "The Father," recasts JK Broadrick's voice and guitar as hypnotic droney textures that provide a killer contrast to the dark, Scorn-esque hip hop-inflected breakbeats. Godflesh always flourished in the darkness, but songs like the near-eight-minute closer, "You Are the Judge the Jury and the Executioner," alternately one of the bleakest and prettiest dirges of the band's career, allow small shafts of light to shine down to help illuminate the way.
Other music stuff:
Bettye Swann - "When the Game is Played On You (Tom Moulton Mix)"
Once you get into disco,1 you naturally gravitate towards mixes, edits, and other products of DJ/producer magic from geniuses who can transform singles into dance floor epics, teasing out the tension and drama and unfurling these songs' butterfly wings. You start to recognize these editors' traits, too. A John Morales "M+M Mix" aims straight for the groove. A Walter Gibbons remix is euphoria housed in a 12" record. A Larry Levan mix is pure adrenaline. And Tom Moulton turns songs into Tchaikovsky-esque Romantic barn burners.
Moulton's career is much more than his mixes. In the '60s, he created gapless sets to rectify the irritating issue of DJs hunting around in silence for the next song. In addition to pioneering the megamix and the 12" single, he's also responsible for the breakdown and advances in audio fidelity. (You can read a fun Guardian profile on Moulton here that only covers a thimble-full of what he's done for dance music. Or, in Moulton's words, "I never made a dance record, I made records you can dance to.") But, yeah, the mixes rule, and if you know the man's name, it's because of the words "A Tom Moulton Mix" being appended to the extended single edit of one of your favorite songs.
The original version of soul singer Bettye Swann's "When the Game is Played On You," penned by Philly songwriting legends Phil Hurtt and Tony Bell, runs three minutes and eight seconds. It's a killer single of karmic payback and how good it feels when your grudge pays dividends. That marching chorus, with Swann singing cold-as-ice daggers aimed at a former lover's broken heart, is top-notch Philly soul.
Moulton inflates that song into a 10-minute saga, complete with an overture. Suddenly, Swann is at the center of a Wagnerian opera, backed by stomping Valkyries ready to drag her ex straight to hell. I love how over-the-top it is without collapsing underneath its own weight. That's the Tom Moulton effect.
Moulton, who just turned 83, is still working, reliably shining up some disco/soul gold every year. Naturally, due to the nature of rights, compilations of his material don't stay in print for long. If you can find it, the best starting point is Philly ReGrooved 3 - Tom Moulton Remixes, a two-disc set with one of the great Philly soul songs, Marc Evan's "The Way You Love Me." But if you poke around YouTube, you'll find a ton of his material. Worth your time.
Find me on Bandcamp until Ampwall goes live.
Wishlist Roulette
In this section, I'll randomly choose an album from my voluminous Bandcamp wishlist. After listening to it, I'll either buy or remove it.
Luster - Dopamine Loop (self-released)
Not to be confused with Lustre, the North Carolina power/pop band best remembered for its contribution to the Empire Records soundtrack, Luster is a Los Angeles shoegaze outfit that rides the kind of dancey drum loops that the style briefly flirted with in the pre-Loveless '90s. "All the Things We Said," the most median song on offer, has stormy guitars, nearly drowned-out vaporous vocals, and boots-and-pants house rhythms. You've heard it even if you haven't. "Thorn in Yr Kiss," perhaps the best thing here, is the most sonically inventive, freshening up the shoegaze tropes with clever editing, coming off like an IDM producer taking a crack at a remix. I'd bite if the rest of this short record was in that vein. Because I think the promise is there, Luster gets a follow and "Thorn in Yr Kiss" hits this month's playlist, but I'm throwing Dopamine Loop back.
OK, yes, I confused this band with Lustre. It's the whole reason I wishlisted it. Stop asking me about it. This blurb is over.
Reading
Since this newsletter is a quick turnaround, I don't have many interesting readings to report. That said, my bud Aaron just sent me Christopher Buehlman's Between Two Fires, which people have been comparing favorably to stuff in the Soulsborne universe. I can't wait to crack that one open.
…
"Take It" by Namwali Serpell, Literary Hub
Making my way through my Pocket backlog. Dug this short story about a party in San Francisco.
Movies
The Age of Adaline (2015)
Some bizarre choices, such as the Ken Burns-like narration, scuttle this overwrought romantic drama that needs more feelings and less science. Like a lot of sexless modern romances, I don't buy the chemistry between the leads. I'll never see Michiel Huisman as anyone but the guitar-toting fuck-up in Treme, so that problem might be on me. However, the script, written by two dudes, makes some tone-deaf decisions for Blake Lively's character. "I was really horrible to him," Lively confides to Ellen Burstyn, her elderly daughter. (There's a whole Tuck Everlasting thing going on. It's not worth getting into.) Girl, he doxxed your address from work and tried to lovebomb you after you had to put your dog down (in a genuinely sad scene!). I think you were justified. Granted, people make stupid decisions in love all the time. Just look at my life. But I don't want to watch a movie about it. 2/5
Corpse Bride (2005)
Go fuck yourself, Tim Burton. 1.5/5
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
In this grim sequel to Barbie, Ken is tasked with exterminating a Barbie born from the womb. As much of a vibes-based movie as the original Blade Runner with the added bonus of a more coherent plot. 3.5/5
Diner (1982)
This is a Catcher in the Rye-ass movie because it means something completely different if you watch it over the age of 25. The boys who hang out at the titular diner suck ass! It reminds me a bit of Girls in that it's so clear to me now, an older person, that they're anti-heroes. Like, you're not supposed to root for any of them. And yet, Barry Levinson perhaps knew that this flick would be farmed for quotes by males of a certain age, tipping his hand by having a character talk only in movie quotes. Kind of hated it, but the world-building and acting are so good. 3/5
The Lost Boys (1987)
Oh, Joel Schumacher. A lot of yelling except for Corey Feldman, who uses the "in a world" Don LaFontaine voice throughout. Acting! Also, a lot of stupid. Probably one of the worst entries in the '80s vampire craze. The infinitely better Fight Night did camp right. 2/5
Misery (1990)
If ever there were a movie you wish the Cohen Brothers were writing and directing. Rob Reiner's thriller isn't weird or violent enough to keep me interested. It also doesn't do much with its characters. It'd be a little more unnerving if Kathy Bates' Annie Wilkes wasn't a constant punchline. Like, the whole "Dom Pérignon" bit just comes off as city-slicker snootiness. I don't feel bad that your ankles look like Lawrence Taylor tackled you, dude. 2.5/5
Get Carter (1971)
Goddamn, what a grimy movie. Get Carter makes the case that no one in crime wins better than living through a Scared Straight special. And Michael Caine is masterful as a villain who believes he's a hero due to the judicious nature of his Sisyphean quest. Apparently, the book is rife with justifications for Carter's revenge spree, but I think the movie is better off for ditching them, turning Carter into a morally ambiguous chaos agent. 4/5
Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)
Christina Applegate learns that being an adult sucks in this weird pre-grunge teen comedy that seems to argue that, among other conformist ideas, being a metalhead won't get you laid. Boo. Also, I bet director Stephen Herek was dying to put critters in this instead of a young David Duchovny. Still, the first kiss scene under a pier with fish flopping around at the couple's feet is more romantic than anything in The Age of Adaline. That said, why does a young California metalhead have a Confederate flag hanging in their room? Paging set design? Et tu, Kenny? 2.5/5
Check out my Letterboxd if you're bored.
Show Report
GENEVIEVE ARTADI / MIKU NAKAMURA / KAZ SKELLINGTON / BALOU ROYAL / ASTELLIUM - 12/1/2023
OK. I'm just going to write it: I was bill-fished. I thought this concert was going to be only Genevieve Artadi. I didn't know there was, like, an entire other show tacked on. And that show was...uh...not my kind of show. As such, I don't have many constructive things to say about the openers, so let's keep it short.
Astellium is a local LA trio that fuses trap, dubstep, and anime music. The players were green, but there's something here if they can find their voices and get their show-playing sealegs. Having people rock out to anime songs festooned with drops will get them places.
Balou Royal is another local doing a TikTok-y version of pop party rap. Far too positive for the likes of me, but the energy was there. Also, he gave away a skateboard during the show, so that's something.
The Orange County-born, Tokyo-located Kaz Skellington does an updated version of early '90s hip hop that's a more genial version of what Joey Valence and Brae are up to.2 Skellington's best material sounds like g-funk filtered through a Persona soundtrack. That said, he also flipped Mariya Takeuchi's "Plastic Love" into a B.o.B.-quality B-side, so I'll have to deduct some points.
I am so totally and completely out of my depth with Miku Nakamura. The internet tells me Miku is a member of Cö shu Nie, whose "Asphyxia" has 34 million views on YouTube. (Stop me if I've burned this comparison, but it's like math rock filtered through a Persona soundtrack. I have one reference for anime-esque music and it is that.) She also composed the theme songs for several animes, including Jujutsu Kaisen and Psycho-Pass 3. Kaz Skellington has directed some of her videos. That's all I got for you. Really. I know nothing more. I couldn't even tell you if this was a good performance. It was...quiet. In fact, I feel like the mix was messed up for nearly everyone on the night. Maybe if Miku had a full band and the sound was cranked, I would've been more into it. The studio stuff I've heard is interesting, at least. That said, I bet this is one of those sets I'll find out I'm privileged to have witnessed.
Genevieve Artadi was a privilege in the moment, salvaging the night. The KNOWER singer played songs from her latest solo album, Forever Forever, with some of that album's collaborators: guitarist Pedro Martins and keyboardist Chiquita Magic. (I didn't catch who was playing drums. My bad! You were good!) The band sounded great for a quickly put-together ensemble that admittedly didn't rehearse, a testament to their boundless abilities. And that's something considering the harmonic/rhythmic demands of the music. Artadi and Martins were in lockstep, nailing progressions more challenging than an end-game platformer, while Magic and the drummer were a Rube Goldberg machine of slippery rhythms. So dope, and that dopeness was magnified by hearing it in person.
The highlight for me was Martins, who played effortless guitar solos as smooth as glass. Seriously, that player's legato is something else. My apologies, Martins, for basically eye-fucking your fretboard whenever you got a turn in the spotlight. But the song of the night had to go to the cover of MAC and the Lark's "Catch 21," a pop fusion composition originally penned by Artadi's parents. Yo, someone get that one down on tape.
Because this is a shortish, bad newsletter, here's another show report that has been sitting in the drafts.
JEROMES DREAM / KNUMEARS / GHOST SPIRIT - 10/21/2023
I hate noting that this was one of the worst-smelling shows I've been to in a bit, rivaled only by the time I saw Earth on 4/20 and the venue reeked of dirt weed and vegan farts. Who was the stinky culprits? Kids. Heyo, Gen Z: take a shower. Also, I got pushed into a pretty tame pit during Knumears, which, I mean, I guess I was asking for it by being a gray-haired old person in glasses nowhere near the pit. (I dominated the weaklings, and now four smelly twenty-somethings are forced to carry me around like a Roman emperor.) Anyway. Jeromes Dream. Rules. The setlist was heavy on new material, including "Reminders to Parallel," its track on the Balladeers, Redefined compilation, but that's fine by me because The Gray In Between, Jeromes Dream's newest album, bangs. "Conversations In Time, On Mute" and "Stretched Invisible From London" sounded even heavier in the flesh, complete with those feedback amp howls. (I also feel like the band intended to jump-start a reappraisal for 2019's LP. The freshened-up version of "Keep Those Bristles Clean and Closed," now with classic Jeromes Dream screaming, was pretty fiery.) But the band made time for classics: "This Is For Baby Fat" smoked, as did "A Present for Those Who Are Present." One bummer: We only got the outro to "It's More Like a Message to You," and most of the normal-hour barflies were shouting over it. Alas.
Other Stuff
This is blowing how I plan to cover my AOTY list at Plague Rages, but I want you to check this out. Someone pointed this out to me and it has cracked me up all day.
First, here's the tale of the tape on Nithing:
From: California
Genre: brutal death metal
Albums: one, Agonal Hymns, released this year
Here's a quickie blurb about Agonal Hymns that I penned for Plague Rages:
The mark of a good brutal death metal album is its memorability. Nearly five months after Nithing's full-length debut hit the streets, I still have total riff recall. That's no small thing. Despite containing more gonzo ideas than every version of Wormed hanging out together at a parallel universe reunion rager, Agonal Hymns is stuffed with memorable material. Despite being speedier than a cheetah that woke up late to work, Agonal Hymns's songs stick. This stuff should be a blur, but Matt Kilner, the sole soul behind this brutalizer, has a knack for finding hooks within the chaos. There are leads that sound like an alien radar pinging a planet for signs of life. There are extra-guttural growls that might as well be a Sarlacc mating call. Those elements have a catchy immediacy that is tougher to shake than off glitter. But Kilner can even dial up a slightly askew rhythm that will lodge itself in your melon for months. Still, while Agonal Hymns is highly memorable, the mark of a great brutal death metal album is hearing new stuff every time you spin it. In that case, Nithing's BDM is like running a metal detector over a busy beach. Every fresh survey surfaces a new point of interest.
And here's ChatGPT 3.5 "reviewing" Nithing:
Nithing's latest release, "Veil of Desolation," is a visceral journey into the depths of extreme metal. The band's mastery is evident in the seamless fusion of black, death, and doom metal elements, creating a multifaceted sonic experience. The album's dark and foreboding atmosphere, coupled with intense vocals and expertly executed instrumentals, showcases Nithing's commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre. While the relentless heaviness may be overwhelming for some, fans of extreme metal will appreciate the poetic and evocative lyrics exploring themes of despair and existential dread. "Veil of Desolation" cements Nithing's place in the metal pantheon, offering a captivating and intense exploration of the darker aspects of the human experience.
Veil of Desolation doesn't exist. In fact, no metal band in Encyclopaedia Metallum has ever released an album titled Veil of Desolation. This isn't breaking news. ChatGPT, an LLM that's basically evolved predictive text, makes shit up like this all the time. When it comes to veracity, it is jaw-droppingly unreliable because accuracy is not its goal.
Here's one from GrammarlyGO:
Nithing is a Swedish black metal band that has been making waves in the underground scene with their debut album "Grief". The album is a relentless assault of raw, aggressive black metal that is sure to satisfy fans of the genre. The band's sound is characterized by fast-paced, tremolo-picked riffs, blast beats, and harsh, raspy vocals. The production is intentionally lo-fi, adding to the overall atmosphere of the album. While the songs are not particularly complex, they are well-written and executed with precision. Overall, "Grief" is a solid debut from a promising new band in the black metal scene.
lol. Forget the fact that Nithing is neither a Swedish(!) black metal band nor released an album titled "Grief." I use Grammarly as a word processor, and it flagged seven writing suggestions in that paragraph alone. Y'all can't even generate copy that your own grammar checker won't flag?
If you think I'm being unfair to these LLMs by withholding the album title, guess what? It doesn't make a lick of difference.
ChatGPT:
Nithing's latest album, "Agonal Hymns," is a visceral and uncompromising exploration of the darker realms of metal. From the ominous opening track to the hauntingly atmospheric finale, the album takes listeners on a journey through a sonic landscape that is both brutal and ethereal. The band's masterful use of dissonant guitar riffs, thunderous percussion, and guttural vocals creates a sense of unease and intensity that is truly captivating. The production quality is impeccable, allowing each instrument to carve out its space in the mix while maintaining a cohesive and immersive sound. Nithing skillfully balances moments of blistering aggression with haunting melodic passages, showcasing a musical dexterity that sets them apart in the extreme metal scene. "Agonal Hymns" is a testament to the band's artistic evolution, pushing the boundaries of their genre and delivering an album that demands multiple listens to fully appreciate its depth and complexity.
Closer, but this is still basically the music criticism equivalent of a one-size-fits-all astrology chart. Haunting melodic passages? Nope. This is one of the big problems with predicative text generators, that they're typically constrained to one corpus, written word, instead of, you know, hearing, feeling, and seeing stuff like a human would to help flesh out their observations.
GrammarlyGO:
Nithing's Agonal Hymns is a brutal and unrelenting album that showcases the band's mastery of the death metal genre. From the opening track, "Crown of Horns," to the closing track, "The Final Lament," the album is a non-stop assault on the senses. The guitar work is particularly impressive, with intricate riffs and blistering solos that are sure to satisfy even the most discerning metalhead. The vocals are also noteworthy, with guttural growls and screams that perfectly complement the music. Overall, Agonal Hymns is a must-listen for fans of extreme metal.
For the record, Agonal Hymns' opening track is "Cystic Ovarian Burial Ground" and the closer is "Of Those Immortal, Longing for Decease." "The Final Lament"! Dying. What is that, an original from a Paradise Lost cover band? Other than that, A+ work on t-haha, no. Horrible.
I don't have any great insight here besides some yuks. Like, I get it. LLMs are uniquely terrible at this sort of thing. And I don't really care to take AI to task for baldfaced inaccuracies. Again, writing something insightful is precisely not what it's good at. AI as a writer is Clippy with a kid's magic act kit, which should make the rapacious capitalists dying to cut 60 percent of their workforce in favor of AI even more ashamed of this emperor-has-no-clothes trend in publishing. But yeah, I don't know. It's funny. Maybe it shouldn't be. Maybe this portends an end to my career like it's a terminator telling me about Nithing's non-existent "The Final Lament" before crushing my head with its foot. Whatever. At least you can make ChatGPT revise its review in the voice of a Cyberman from Dr. Who slyly trying to audition for a spot in Mortician.
Nithing's Agonal Hymns, an auditory assimilation of unparalleled resonance, echoes with the cold precision of Cyberman efficiency, transcending the limitations of mere mortal musical compositions. With a sonic palette as vast as the void of space, this album assimilates diverse influences, creating a cacophony that resonates with the relentless march of Cybermen across time and space. The relentless, mechanized beats and dissonant harmonies merge seamlessly with the visceral brutality of Mortician's signature sound. The Agonal Hymns epitomize the fusion of the organic and the synthetic, a harmonious integration that mirrors the Cyberman's quest for perfection. Prepare for an auditory upgrade as Nithing's Agonal Hymns ushers in a new era of sonic conquest, destined to resonate across galaxies and Cyber-converted realms alike.
Upcoming Stuff
My brain is focused solely on writing year-end blurbs, so I don't have much bandwidth for new music. Sorry! I am looking forward to this new album from Aterrima on the ever-reliable Fiadh Productions.
Shows:
HEALING GEMS / ORA COGAN / PINK TRASH CAN / LAENA - 12/6/2023 (tix)
I have no idea who most of these artists are. I'm going for Ora Cogan, who just released a pretty fun country post-punk album.
BOTCH / MUTOID MAN / DUMMY - 12/7/2023 (tix)
BOTCH. Oh yes, I am wearing my "RIP Botch 2001" shirt like any smug smark would.
LORD MARZ / CORPUS / MISTER FISTER / ANCIENT ENEMY - 12/8/2023 (tix at the door)
Catching the Ancient Enemy boys for potentially the last time this year.
WILLIAM BASINSKI - 12/9/2023 (tix)
If you're in the LA area and want to hear some sick decomposing loops, these tickets are absurdly cheap on the resale market.
On the fence: JEFFREY MARTIN / ANNA TIVEL - 12/10/2023 (tix)
If you like stripped-down folk, Jeffrey Martin's newest album is a pretty good hang. (It's not quite my thing, but I'm interested enough to go.) I've also been thinking for years that I'll love Anna Tivel live, so I might as well test that theory. (Tivel is a little too precious for me on record.) That said, scheduling snafu! I may catch them later on tour and free up my Sunday for a Friend-mas get-together.
Follow me on IG for upcoming release natterings and show dispatches.
Memes And Junk
https://bsky.app/profile/catbus.bsky.social/post/3kfq763ia7i2i
Hocking My Wares
Hello, new subs. If you missed it last week, I talked to Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse), Kirk Windstein (Crowbar), Tim "Ripper" Owens (KK's Priest), Dylan DiLella (Pyrrhon), Doug Moore (Pyrrhon), and John Tardy (Obituary) about fooooootbaawwwwwww.
Also, holy hell, I finally published the long-rumored fifth installment of the Refill. It covers...stuff released in June. Yeah. It has been a bit.
Check out Wolf's other garbage: https://linktr.ee/wrambatz
Want to help me buy more music? Drop us a donation on Ko-fi
What is the best disco song? Objectively, it's Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park Suite." My favorite is the 12" version of Brainstorm's "Lovin' is Really My Game." Now you know stuff about me. Gross, isn't it?
Since I mentioned it, I found PUNK TACTICS disappointing because those two can't rhyme a lick, but the production is solid.