“Let’s build a wall between/All of the kerosene/So we can juggle road flares/In the yard.” The lines come in the verse that bursts out of a more subdued lament (“Maybe this time I’ll get lucky and you’ll mean all the things you say to me”) on “Road Flares,” off of Reed KD’s “Ashes Bloom” album, [...]

1. Picture in a Frame-Pearl Jam. 2. I Don’t Wanna Grow Up-Cold War Kids. An illogical tune: Great song + Great band = Not so great cover. But cool for the curious or completist. For a great cover of this song, check out The Ramones version. Or . . . 3. I Don’t Wanna Grow [...]

Actually, it’s one reason and five supporting arguments: Because you get to cultivate relationships with talented artists and labels who share music with you that you otherwise wouldn’t hear! 1. Finian McKean. I interviewed Finian McKean on my old site, before the RIAA threatened to separate me from my family for posting a song from [...]

An excuse to post or repost some of my favorite covers of the year . . . 10. Guilt By Association (link). A wonderful collection of covers by indie bands. What sets this collection apart from all the other covers projects this year is a truly eclectic (but not eclectic for its own sake) selection [...]

I’ve written often here about the virtually unknown but completely awesome The Michael Parks (a.k.a. Detective Kalita), whose self-titled album is a rare example of a gentle indie album that I return to year after year. If you have a few bucks to drop on some beautiful music, go to Kelp Records’ site and get [...]

I daresay that Old Time Relijun’s, “Catharsis In Crisis” is the most unique record I’ve heard this year. It’s not quite angry, and it’s definitely not mean, but it’s as intense and voracious as Tom Waits and as musically inventive as The Tom Tom Club. Hailing from Olympia, Washington, the center of Old Time Relijun [...]

TEJAS SINGH-”A Brief History” Before you dismiss Tejas Singh as just another jam band, keep in mind that although something Phishy is definitely going on here, this singer-songwriter’s band has one of the most extraordinary drummers I’ve heard in years. Frenetic, kinetic, and driving the entire band forward with a propulsive, gyrating rhythms, Sydney Driver [...]

“If I could, I would, turn the bad into good.” “Cracks,” the first great song on The Grey Race’s first full-length, begins with this idealistic sentiment, but quickly recognizes a need for the “gritty edge to keep me interesting”, a need for cracks, a need for shades of gray. What follows are nine more deceiving [...]