Every so often, the conditions of our homeland create the perfect environment for an unusually excellent band to form and grow into a thing so lovely and special that its very nature prevents it from staying rooted to the soil from whose fecundity it sprang. Like a tumbleweed or a kaleidoscope of dandelion seeds, it […]
Opossum Sun Trail
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Solidarity Forever
I’m not going to waste too much of your time here, as we all have a long weekend ahead, one we can enjoy collectively only because of the efforts of the greatest collective struggle of all time, and the one least reported on in our country because the struggle isn’t over yet. I am talking […]
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Far-Out West
Opossum Sun Trail is a group I have championed for half a decade for their integrity, musicianship and brilliant creative output. So I didn’t want to be too overwrought with the big bag of superlatives I keep stashed for just such an occasion when I reviewed the group’s latest release. But dammit, this one is […]
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Make It So
Cicero, writing a couple thousand years ago in a now dead tongue, wryly noted the habit among the wealthy men of Rome of copying the ostentatiousness of a great man’s sumptuous villas, while showing no interest in imitating his fine personal virtues. Ain’t that the rich for you? Then, as now, money could not buy […]
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Halloween Lite
This is an odd series of days to report on the nightlife, as it so happens Halloween is just past the clutches of this writer’s ichorous, undead claws. By which I mean it falls on a Thursday so I have to kick the can for another week before I can deliver the goods. But most […]
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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Full disclosure, I absolutely love autumn. In fact, fall is one of the only times I feel justified in my general instinct to cloister myself away from the rest of the human world while finding a balance between social isolation and subterranean slumber. This might seem like a cop-out to many of you and I […]
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Ape Days A Week
I admit I wanted to like this album from the moment I saw the disgusting cover art by John Vochatzer. A bright anatomical nightmare figure tiptoes across a literally visceral landscape with brains, guts and banners of confetti all a go-go. I will also cop to a lesser but perhaps incriminating charge: Until a couple […]
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Hot Summer Nights
Oops, I did it again. Another late night with one of my friends has led into a morning deadline panic and bleary-eyed struggle session with the English language. It’s OK, it was probably worth it. While I wasn’t in a Paris salon or a New York City coffee klatch, I would like to think I […]
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To an Oasis, Sprinkled by Stars Above
Last week surf rock icon Dick Dale died. I saw him live twice and was deafened by his massive and beautiful sound both times. Unfortunately, I saw Mr. Dale’s shows because he was forced to tour into his old age and until his death due to medical bills. Dick Dale’s experience was just one example […]
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In and Out of Love
I am tired and the delightful Les McCann reissue from 1966 I am listening to nonstop is putting me down at the coda of a long working day. So instead of blathering, I will share a quick thought with you: As much as I like this record, I’m glad people don’t just casually write break-up […]
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Animal Instincts
I am writing this in my living room on my couch with a large Italian mastiff snoring like a Sardinian sow pig behind me. She doesn’t mean any offense and, in fact, Grinza is a sweet dog, stinkiness notwithstanding. She’s better company than most people, if I am being honest. I mention her because she […]
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Anniversaries, Dreams and Hauntings
I am not a nostalgic fella and I tend to have a private needle that clicks between “ignorant indifference” and “seething distrust” when it comes to all of the hallmarks and anniversaries that we are collectively reminded to celebrate. However, in deference to my readers, of whom I am genuinely fond, and for the sake […]