It starts with a bang and ends with bangs and bells. A story unfolds throughout this earthy-electro album, and it’s one you’ll want to pay close attention to. At times it’s quiet, other times it’ll shout at you. There’s a dreamlike quality present throughout that makes you feel as if you’re drifting out to sea in a small paddle boat. You’re anxious for what awaits, but still, there’s a calm that wraps itself around you. … read more
Local Reviews: Tolchock Trio
As difficult as it is for an outsider to pin down exactly what Tolchock Trio sounds like, it is comforting to know that a similar problem may exist among the band itself. The liner notes mention that this album, the third full length by a band that doesn’t take the number three too seriously, has been in the works since the summer of 2006 (bordering on geologic time for local music). … read more
Sundance Film Review: Private Life
In Sundance premiere Private Life, Rachel (Kathryn Hahn) and Richard (Paul Giamatti) have become obsessed with getting pregnant. … read more
Book Review: Heatwave
The reader initially glances into Heatwave and instantly wants to pull the curtains shut. But author Zach Matheson’s sophomore novel sticks with us, so we pull the curtains back again and peer through its pages. We become consumed by its deviant behavior, its twisted tale. We’re the fly on the wall that can read minds. … read more
Want to support your scene and your cause? The Crook & the Bluff present This Machine Kills Fascists
Where will you be on Jan. 20, 2018, the one-year anniversary of Inauguration Day 2017? Hopefully, at the Urban Lounge at 8 p.m. with local psychedelic rock band Crook & The Bluff, who are rallying to host a protest concert titled This Machine Kills Fascists. … read more
Product Review: Smartwool – Merino 250 Crew
I needed a milder top that was also a bit less woollike in its texture—something that let me forget that I was wearing it, even. The Smartwool Merino 250 Baselayer Crew found its way to me, and it’s an impeccably comfortable base on which to build in a handful of effective ways.
Review: Black Diamond Equipment – Pursuit Ski Shell
The Black Diamond Pursuit Ski Shell continues the stoke that I feel with their product line. Its design features clean lines in a minimalist approach—just the way I like it. Of course, it’s still a ski shell and looks the part, but with some design elements that help it to go beyond a typical outdoor jacket. … read more
Sundance Film Review: The Oslo Diaries
In this Sundance World Documentary, The Oslo Diaries recalls a new low in Palestine-Israel relations in 1992. Each nation sent a secret delegation to Oslo, Norway, to negotiate a peace agreement. Surprisingly, they had settled on one. … read more
Local Reviews: Ask For The Future
Sure it might sound like another radio-rock album that is not worth your time, but hear me out on this one��it’s good. Ask For The Future may be a pop/rock band, but they’re a damn fine pop/rock band. Former Larusso front man Sam Sorenson founded the band and has really found his niche in this new project. … read more
Local Reviews: Chaz Prymek
Bicycles and Breakfast is a followup to Prymek’s Everything Is Wrong, Everything Is Fine, and is music to my ears. Prymek could not have chosen a better title to describe the pleasant feeling that overcame me when I leaned back, closed my eyes and listened. … read more
Local Reviews: Elizabethan Report
When I first hunted down Elizabethan Report on the Internet, I was impressed by the band’s uninhibited and energetic stage presence. Even when I wasn’t sure their sound was really my bag, I knew I’d have a blast at one of their shows. On their five-track EP , the mixture of fast funk, stand-up-and-jump rock and various noise-making devices (think trashcan lids and toy pianos) could have easily yielded a discordant mish-mash. … read more
Local Reviews: Sheeprizer
I will always have a deep admiration for multi-instrument musicians. Sheeprizer is a pretty standard hard rock setup by a man known as Butt Socrates, consisting of basic distorted guitars, drums and no vocals. Therein is my problem. … read more