A bunch of my new music-themed posts and discussions are up!
The latest roundup of me and my big mouth talking music...
I’ve never been the most, um, concrete when it comes to time and scheduling. That said, I’m getting better. I’ve got so much stuff on the burner it’s like all the pots are bubbling over while I’m frantically darting from stove to counter to sink to phone to hit the “go-back-10-seconds” button on whatever podcast I’m streaming. Here’s a roundup of the latest finished stuff…
My thoughts on Dweezil Zappa’s new mix of Deep Purple’s 1972 classic Machine Head (clip above), where I discuss the new-mix phenomenon as a whole. (Machine Head superdeluxe reissue details here.)
a highlight:
Next, I talked about Ronnie James Dio’s whole career, specifically filtered through last year’s deluxe reissue of Black Sabbath’s 1982 double-live album Live Evil, Dio’s 2021 autobiography, and the 2022 biopic Dreamers Never Die. What’s funny is that I sat on my video for months and it turns out that it required minimal editing.
Just this morning, I had a Q&A/anniversary piece on Morphine’s final album, 2000’s The Night, run on PopMatters. The Q&A is just a fraction of my two-hour-plus interview with Morphine saxophonist Dana Colley, who I consider to be one of the most important sax players in the history of popular music. Stay tuned for the full video…
About two-thirds of the way through the song, Colley enters the picture for the first time to play a saxophone solo. Supremely fluid and lyrical as always, Colley’s lines fill the otherwise heavily overcast soundscape with streaks of golden light. Looking back, his solo functions as a brilliant sunset for a band, a decade, and an already-fading sense of promise around independent music.
Finally, I put together a handy-dandy cheatsheet/streaming guide to the ‘90s alt-metal band Barkmarket. I got inspired to do it after I recommended the band to Bandcamp Daily editor Zoe Camp and she expressed interest. My guide has links to all their studio albums in chronological order, along with every complete live recording I could find. For my money, Barkmarket made some of their era’s most compelling music.
Barkmarket put out 6 albums and 2 EPs before breaking up in ‘98. The stuff on Rick Rubin’s label (American Recordings) is more full, more lavishly produced, and more "metal" sounding, while their other stuff is more noisy/experimental in line with the stuff on AmRep from the same period. FYI, the big-budget Rick Rubin stuff doesn't sound "commercial" by any means. It's a unique mix of alt-metal and noise — VERY abrasive — but also quirky with a touch of something that's almost like a warped Delta-blues but not quite, and also with the kind of arty mentality they had all along.
And, whoa, the cover of the new Little Simz EP Drop 7 looks a lot like the FeedbackDef logo! That’s awesome. I’ll hafta review it…
<3 SRK