These days, Metallica’s self-titled fifth LP (aka the Black Album) is hailed as a bona fide classic. Quite admirable, considering how upon its 1991 release date, diehard fans spread buyer’s remorse faster than COVID. In this writer’s tenure as a surly clerk for a mall-based record-store chain, he remembers the true believers complaining about everything […]
There’s something so exceptionally liberating about running. No matter where you may be in the world, all you need is a decent pair of footwear and you are free to explore wherever the fuck your restless limbs and whims take you.There is also something that’s very punk rock about the sport/obsession as well. Maybe it’s […]
Only a few things are certain in this world: death, taxes and the NFL dominating the fall (and winter). Last year’s weird season ended in the familiar fashion of Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl. Snore. This year, with fans returning to full capacity stadiums, it *should* feel like the NFL of recent memory for […]
If 2020 brought anything good, it’s another high point in the unimaginable meteoric rise in record sales. Sales grew 46% from 2019, with 27.5 million LPs sold in the United States last year, vinyl outsold CDs for the first time since the 1980s — when vinyl started losing to its polycarbonate plastic counterpart. It’s clear […]
From deep jazz spiritualism to big dumb rock, Summer 2021 has been chockfull of archival releases of old favorites, obscure discoveries and newly unearthed recordings that will appeal to a vast array of music fans with ice cream money to burn. I keep hearing about how the CD era is dead and all that stuff. […]
The story has been told thousands of times, but it bears repeating: Pearl Jam should never have happened. The ’90s had just begun. In March 1990, the promising Seattle rock band Mother Love Bone was about to unveil their debut album. But on the eve of the release, the band’s lead singer, Andrew Wood, died […]
Author’s note: the names in the article have been changed, the memories have not. According to Forbes, Jimmy Buffett is worth just north of half a billion dollars. All because he wrote a tune while getting shit-faced one afternoon in Austin, Texas. It was 1976. Jimmy Buffett sat in Lung’s Cocina del Sur. He had […]
Earlier on Tuesday, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died suddenly at the age of 80. Watts was one of the greatest drummers in rock history. Tributes to Watts came pouring in from the music world, expressing their gratitude for his incredible legacy. We asked Soundgarden/Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron to write a few words to […]
Great artists use their talents to blow minds and fill up hearts. If you can’t do that, change your course or leave the room. But assuming you’ve already got those bases covered, can you predict the future? What would you call a band who made significant sonic advancements, refused to hide their sexuality and fomented […]
I was 13 going on 14 when I started working at a family-run supermarket in Whitehorse, Yukon called Food Fair. It was the summer of 1995; Toy Story was a new movie that challenged our expectations of animation and Randy Newman; we were beginning to grapple with the reality of the Frappuccino; and we flirted […]