Last year was my first year in a decade that did not culminate in an Arsies tournament. That was bittersweet for me, but I still feel good about the decision. And clearly, I did not slack on my Firsties duties: 144 new albums evaluated in 2019! We’ll see how I do in the coming year. See the rest here
Today, I published my final installment The Arsies, wrapping up what I certainly didn’t intend to be a ten-year, 81,000-word odyssey. Now that the bittersweet end is finally here, I have some thoughts. See the rest here
It’s time: the bracket is here for what is sure to be the most bizarro Arsies ever!
(It’s also the last, friends. So let’s make it count!)
I just watched the new documentary on the band Death, called “Death By Metal,” which you can find on Amazon Prime. It’s really sweet and touching, and does a great job reminiscing about the early days while still hitting all the biographical beats you’d expect. Also, great interviews with ex-members of Death, Sadus, and just about everybody you’d care about. See the rest here
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I just discovered a man on Reddit who’d done the 80s hard rock lead guitarist thing, without commercial success, and lost the drive for it. Gave up guitar playing, settled down, had some kids. About a year ago, he was somehow inspired to come out of retirement for fun, to see if he could play a fairly advanced classical guitar piece. See the rest here
(The listening party starts over at TIDAL.) See the rest here
Was just rocking out with some Nevermore and Sanctuary—he was a talented guy. So sad.
(Also, pop on Into the Mirror Black and tell me you don’t immediately feel like you should be drinking a tall boy in Carman). See the rest here
Revolver Magazine just launched a new series that they call “Game Changers,” and the debut piece is a good one: Deftones talking about the making of “Around The Fur.” They make mention of Our Old Best Friend Terry Date, and what happened there. Check it out. See the rest here
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