Music
Essays, blog posts, playlists, and more focused broadly on music. For more playlists visit my Spotify profile.
- Stone Jack Jones at Grimey’s (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of Stone Jack Jones taken March 8, 2014 at Grimey’s in Nashville, TN.
- The Great Barrier Reefs, Uberphoncs, and Mode Fresh at The Rutledge (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of The Great Barrier Reefs, Uberphoncs, and Mode Fresh taken March 6, 2014 at The Rutledge in Nashville, TN. [Photos originally published by the Nashville Fringe Festival.]
- *repeat repeat Interview ()
Within the spectrum of rock music, surf isn’t all that different from ska: the originals are the ones who did it best, and few who presently indulge in the genres tend to contribute little beyond imitation. “It was my musical mentor and our producer Gregory Lattimer (of Now Records) that really started to get me […]
- AL-D, E.T. & Quiet Entertainer at Boheme Collectif (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of AL-D, E.T. & Quiet Entertainer taken March 1, 2014 at Boheme Collectif in East Nashville, TN.
- Floozies, Modern Measure, and Quiet Entertainer at 12th & Porter (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of the Floozies, Modern Measure, and Quiet Entertainer taken February 28, 2014 at 12th & Porter in Nashville, TN.
- Jesse Lafser Interview ()
“It happened to me for a dark and frightening couple of years,” writes Jesse Lafser, sharing a story of creative drought in a new piece she calls “Muses and Canyons.” “But I have come to trust the stillness – almost as much as I love the canyon winds. Because the longer the land lays fallow, […]
- Jesse Lafser & Kevin Gordon at The Station Inn (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of Jesse Lafser and Kevin Gordon taken January 22, 2014 at The Station Inn in Nashville, TN. [Photos originally published by the Nashville Fringe Festival.]
- P4 at fooBAR (East Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of P4 taken January 18, 2014 at fooBAR in East Nashville, TN.
- AL-D, ET, The Grips & More at The Basement (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos featuring AL-D, the Grips, DJ Rate, Wally Clark, E.T., Pow Shadowz, James Fate, and Swap Meet Symphony taken January 11, 2014 at The Basement in Nashville, TN. [Photos originally published by the Nashville Fringe Festival.]
- Andrew Muller Interview ()
Already playing for the Deep Fried 5, as well as Nashville neo-soul outfits DeRobert & the Half-Truths and AJ & the Jiggawatts, Andrew Muller has long-since earned his place in the Nashville music scene as one of the city’s most prolific and dextrous funk-inspired guitarists. Recording and performing with his new group, the Grips, only […]
- Michael Whittaker and Oscar Utterstrom at The Five Spot (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of Michael Whittaker and Oscar Utterstrom taken December 19, 2013 at The Five Spot in Nashville, TN. [Photos originally published by the Nashville Fringe Festival.]
- AL-D Interview ()
“Between sampling local funk monsters DeRobert and the Half-Truths, conscripting The Boom Bap’s DJ Rate for cuts and scratches and dropping dope rhymes over dope beats, AL-D delivers the tru-school goods with this one,” noted the Nashville Scene of Al-D’s Free Delivery in honoring it as the “Best Hip-Hop Mixtape” of 2013. “[It’s] a must-listen […]
- Hataraqq feat. Schelli Tolliver “Slow Woks” Video ()
During my time spent in Kansas City this year I came across a local producer online, making synth-heavy beats under the Hataraqq alias. Primarily sharing short snippets, and stamping most songs with a unique Cab Calloway imprint, his music reflects a happy medium between Weeknd-leaning nonchalance and traditional hip hop. I really dig his style. “Slow Woks” (which […]
- Kacey Musgraves vs. “California Love” Mashup Video ()
Last week I was reading a GQ interview with Kacey Musgraves. In the discussion she mentioned that she has “California Love” on her phone — no shocker there, I remember seeing her rock a 2Pac t-shirt a few years back. What was surprising to me was her caveat that, “it’s not like I know a […]
- Why Eminem Still Matters ()
Nearly 15 years ago Eminem’s “My Name Is” set a new rap standard when the skinny white MC found fame by filtering his generally abasing wordplay through an obnoxious Labi Siffre sample. While the single’s music video mocked both celebrity and lowest common denominator Ameri-slob entertainment, the track stood out as much for its shock […]
- Star Wars “Sexy Ackbar” Mashup Video ()
“Make a song about Admiral Ackbar and puppies, win prizes.” So went the challenge on my friend Sean‘s blog (Buzzgrinder) a few years ago. Being neither a Star Wars fanboy or an animal owner (or a musician, for that matter), I had no idea where to begin, but figured what the hell and took on […]
- Dante’s Down the Hatch (Atlanta, GA) ()
Photos taken July 26, 2013 at Dante’s Down the Hatch in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Garth Brooks and Ronnie Dunn at Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert (Norman, OK) ()
Photos of Garth Brooks and Ronnie Dunn taken July 6, 2013 at the Oklahoma Twister Relief Concert in Norman, OK at the University of Oklahoma Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
- Troglodyte Interview ()
Having worked in the indie movie world for years as a special effects make-up artist, Jeff Sisson flipped the script in 2005 when he formed Troglodyte with a group of KC metal vets. Using the gory Bigfoot exploitation flick Night of the Demon as inspiration, the band summons tales from the bog, crafting its Sasquatch-themed […]
- The Dead Girls Interview ()
Cameron Joel Hawk is the guitarist for the Lawrence power-pop four-piece the Dead Girls, the “old school punk rock” group Stiff Middle Fingers, and Many Moods of Dad. He also drums for Hidden Pictures. And up until this year, was regularly tackling music on his Record Geek Heaven blog. But despite being so thoroughly tied […]
- Bloodbirds Interview ()
Mike Tuley’s been around. Madd Scientists, Or Die Trying, Short Bus Kids, Hairy Belafonte, Ad Astra Per Aspera, Ad Astra Arkestra… he’s played in them all. And with Bloodbirds he’s added hyperdistorted psych-tinged post-punk garage rock to his musical resume, assuming guitar and vocal duties in the trio along with Brooke Tuley on drums and […]
- Hataraqq Interview ()
Javan Brewer is Hataraqq, and Hataraqq is Javan Brewer. Javan Brewer doesn’t say much, only briefly elaborating on his electronic productions here. Hataraqq’s audio output is ripe with concise sound clips, only teasing what they might become if they were fully expanded compositions. Throughout his music there are Eddie Murphy, James Brown, and Blackalicious samples, […]
- c-Logik Interview ()
With about a decade and a half of beat tinkering behind him, Seth Morris recently released a new mainline electro-funk track with “theHunt,” which is how I was introduced to his music. To say that he “dabbles” in music sounds dismissive of both his interest-level and creativity, but under his c-Logik moniker Seth dabbles, in […]
- Gee Watts Interview ()
“A certain sense of believable honesty combs through Gee’s lyrics,” writes The Smoking Section’s J. Tinsley, in his review of Gee Watts’ new Watts Up mixtape. “As does depth.” Gee Watts has two more things going for him that most rappers never achieve: he has patience, and he actually knows what he wants. A year […]
- The Evaporators “Gassy Jack and Other Tales” ()
In ’90s when he was bombarding unsuspecting artists with his off-the-wall interview stylings (the man was a deep-googler before Google was even a thing), few if any might have placed Nardwuar the Human Serviette as some sort of niche hip hop icon as the new millennium’s first decade drew to a close. Yet that’s exactly […]
- El-P “Cancer 4 Cure” ()
“It’s like a fresh start on a new world,” chants El-P in the chorus of Cancer 4 Cure‘s “Works Every Time.” In some ways the entire album represents a fresh start for the Brooklyn-based MC and producer, though the same could be said of practically everything the tirelessly inventive Producto has signed his name to […]
- Quintron and Miss Pussycat “Swamp Tech” ()
The distance between physically experiencing live music and attempting to replicate that same energy force on a recording is as prominent with Quintron & Miss Pussycat as it very well might be with any other musicians on the planet. To soak up the rotating bliss of Quintron’s Drum Buddy invention, or dance in time with […]
- Party Trash “Remixes (Part One)” ()
There isn’t much of an expressed back-story behind Remixes from Nashville’s Party Trash… the album contains ten remixes, produced for fun, released for free. Straight-forward as the concept might be, the quality of the tracks is in no way diminished by the simplicity of the concept behind the release. In fact, the electronic dexterity on […]
- Evan Blocker “Reign Dance (Eyes Open)” ()
When I was first introduced to Evan Blocker‘s debut, Life’s in a Blur, I subconsciously slipped up and confused the young Nashville MC’s name with that of a pro-wrestler (Evan Bourne). Make no mistake though: his debut was memorable, and Blur stands as one of the better hip hop releases to come from the city […]
- Amerigo Gazaway “Gummy Soul Forces” ()
Following a meeting of the minds at Atlanta’s recent A3C Festival, Gummy Soul‘s Amerigo Gazaway has linked up with Detroit’s Clear Soul Forces crew, blending styles and summoning hip hop godfathers with a new collaborative track titled “Gummy Soul Forces.” Exuding a sound very much in line with Gazaway’s much-celebrated Bizarre Tribe mashup album, “Gummy […]