Hi. Let's get into the new Imperial Triumphant, and how it helped me deal with issues I've been struggling with for a while now.

If you missed when I gushed about Kryptograf's great third album, well...here's another chance to get in on their particular brand of doomy stoner rock and metal.

happy holidays, everyone...

Do you like modern jazz fusion? Doesn't matter if the answer is yes or no; I still encourage you to check out the fantastic Nankai Trio. I mean, check out that album cover...

Tired of living in the Skynyrd-verse King Gizzard has been living in the past few years? Have you checked out the double shot from Psychedelic Porn Crumpets? You should...

I love my friends over at Nine Circles, but I also love prog in all its many forms. Once a year, my loves collide.

I wrote about my favorite book, 'Lonesome Dove', and dudes.

More modern prog bands need to expand their influences beyond the Big 3. Dominic Sanderson's reach is VERY wide, making this is my favorite Prog album of 2025.

Mean Mistreater continue to be in steady rotation thanks to their fun, fast, no pretension heavy metal.

May you find music that gives you release this week. Here's a playlist of songs that are currently doing just that for me.

Adhering to a daily writing commitment for music isn't as important as your mental health, and letting the music wash over you with no intent other than to heal. Thanks, Sharp Pins.

Like stoner/psych rock? Here's a list of 12 great albums in that vein that came out this year.

Missed hitting PUBLISH on this last night due to overall crappiness in the health department. So bonus: two quick reviews today, starting with Ashenheart who play through some serious old school black metal.

Who knows what the heck is going on in the CoF camp, but at least before all that we got a fun record from the band.

Happy Saturday. This week's playlist had me filtering all the songs in my music library with the word "time" and choosing an hour's worth of tunes. I'm happy with the results. Been forever since I heard Angels of Light.

What's your comfort music? For me it's pretty much what The Vintage Caravan deliver on their latest album Portals.

I'm way too tired to proof this tonight, so any grammar errors you find should be taken as intentional to mirror the spirit of the new Osees record, which took a while to grow on me.

Quick and lean is this look at King Witch, who provide some of the best trad doom and swaggering heavy metal you'll hear all year.

On this page you'll find nine clearly AI James Gandolfini biographies that were published after mine. It's absolute madness and authors have no power. Don't buy books from Amazon. Buy them from @mzspress.bsky.social or @bookshop.org or your local bookstore or even fucking B&N but not goddamn Amazon

Almost forgot I didn't get a review out today. Short and sweet: the jam collab between Nolan Potter, Yoo Doo Right, and Population II is psychedelic krautrock heaven to my ears.

Current mood/philosophy at the moment. Also, hot take: after repeated listens to the new Stereo, Mono, and Atmos mixes, turns out Axis: Bold as Love is phenomenal no matter how you hear it.

Dwellers have big AiC vibes while embracing a Midwest vibe I can't get enough of since discovering.

I'm still waiting for the promised second half of this new Sykofant album, but for now I'm happy with the first half playing over and over again.

(Un)Focused Definition Ep. 79: Listin’… Hello. I'm knee deep in building out lists for end year and have - at age 52 - a pajama party I have to go to tonight. So lots to prepare (my wife is insisting the dirty sweats and John Coltrane hoodie I slept in will NOT suffice for a social event) which…

It's the end of a long week, I'm deep in a jazz picnic, and have the new sunn O))) blasting in my headphones. See you in the cosmos.

Just under the wire, I get in a quick few words about one of my favorite metal releases this year. Which surprised me. I like when that happens.

Late with this one because it started as a review for a completely different album. Then I doom scrolled on YouTube. Mistake...

Time to get started on prepping December’s Cinema Dual…

Hiromi was completely unknown to me prior to this year. Man, what an introduction Out There is to her work.

Kicking off December's all 2025 reviews with the latest from Savannah's Star Period Star. Fun progressive pop that really works in the instrumental department.

Between the Buried and Me are back, revitalized, and putting out some of the most expansive music of their career on The Blue Nowhere.

Gearing up fora month of new music writing, I took the lazy man's way out and created this week's playlist out of recent late might listening habits.

Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen Mose Allison’s 75th birthday Europe during their “Final Countdown” tour Nine Inch Nails’s first “final tour” Dillinger Escape Plan’s final show Metallica’s …AJFA tour

Happy Thanksgiving to those who partake. I'm thankful to have gotten a few quiet moments to check out the new Deerhoof before the food madness begins in earnest.

It's been a while since I dug into the Japanese jazz scene of the early 70s, so let's rectify that with this killer set from guitarist Kiyoshi Sugimoto.

Spent the last hour discovering then falling down the rabbit hole that is the music of Laura Nyro. If anyone needs me, I’ll be down in New York Tendaberry… youtu.be/JRzs-OtL6gw?...

If you had told me this was the year most of my favorite albums were by young bands hitting that punk/pop/swaggering emo rock vibe I'd be shocked. Yet here we are with the latest from Militarie Gun, and I can't get enough of it.

RIP Udo Kier, a true original 📽️ his one and only social media post:

You want some Sonic Youth worship but without the emotional baggage? julie are a trio of kids channeling that energy, and it's an interesting kickoff to a hopefully long and varied career.

"Norwegian Prog, Chris? I'm shocked!" is something no one is saying. The latest from Magic Pie is stuffed with so much great guitar you will believe in miracles.

Dumb fun's on the menu for this week's playlist, featuring obvious and not-so-obvious songs that I love without a lot of critical thought.

The deep folds of space on psych rockers Naxatras's fifth album have helped center me in rough waters, and has what I look for when I debate formats like digital vs vinyl.

Not a whole lot to say about this wickedly fun, nostalgic jazz/rock ride. I love it; might be the most fun record I've discovered this year.

Back in Aug I grabbed the latest from Bask because @ninecirclesblog.bsky.social needed some last-minute content. Knew nothing about the band. Now it's vying for first place on my 9C EOY list.

It was an honor to write Tatsuya Nakadai’s obituary at The Beat. My favorite movie actor and one of the great actors in Japanese cinema, maybe the greatest. www.comicsbeat.com/obituary-tat...

One of my favourite movies genres is 'absolutely pissing it down.'

If you want to share the joy you can get it here: libro.fm/audiobooks/9...

If you're a metal fan, it's possible EOY season starts with your grumbling about the omissions on the annual Decibel Top 40 unveiling. I take a different approach and use it to check out what I'm unfamiliar with. That's this week's playlist in a nutshell.

Another Moon Letters review, this time for their excellent third album, released back in June.

Nice to know the Onion still reflects my tastes and tendencies on occasion.