Vinyl Review: "Smalltown, Midwest, USA" by The New Old Fashioned

Smallltown, Midwest, USA

So, it's been a minute hasn't it? Newer readers used to my daily double posting may have been a bit miffed to see that it's been a week since my last big piece of righteous music journalism.

For that, I'm sorry. To my readers, to my contacts, and to the bands who've so wonderfully sent me interviews to work up to pass along to you.

It's been a helluva couple weeks and because of that, no fingers on keys has happened and that sucks.

But, back today with another vinyl review. This is the first time that I've posted back to back vinyl reviews which isn't exactly a good thing...see above.

Today I'm sharing the latest record by Dayton, OH's, The New Old Fashioned. They're an Americana band from just a couple states over. On a personal note, though my travels have taken me to Ohio more times than I can count, never once have I been to Dayton. No star on my map.

LP Review: "Retro. Revamped." by Whiskey Kiss

Retro. Revamped.

Ice cream is a big deal in our house.

There is absolutely no time that we do not have any and that we are not eating it.

Mint Chocolate Moose Tracks is the preferred flavor in our home twixt myself and the little short girl who lives in my house.

This is the supreme flavor of ice cream because it is fully formed. There's no need to add stuff to it, on top of it, etc.

Chocolate sauce, M&Ms, Magic Shell (save caramel), whip cream, or any other thing you put on ice cream is overkill. Mint Moose Tracks are full of every bit of those toppings, but it's all swirled in there ready to go.

My wife, disagrees, as is her wont. Recently, the family had a carton of Mint and a carton of Peppermint Moose Tracks. She put magic shell or chocolate syrup onto her ice cream and then the aforementioned short girl who lives in my house did the same thing....

LP Review: "Reckless Son" by Matt Butler

Reckless Son

From now on, around this time of  year, your friend and humble narrator will be a bit melancholy. Not because of the loss of summer, because Winter is the best season, but because of another kind of loss.

So far, it's only been a year since we lost you.

It's probably true that we have all lost someone to substances. If not someone in our immediate family or friends, there's a very good chance that you've been touched by this kind of loss.

As I write this, it was recently the anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death. Many are still mourning the loss of Prince and countless others whom drugs and alcohol have claimed.

I'm no temperance movement advocate, but let's all try to remember when we're playing with fire. Even legal substances can be lethal. Perhaps even more so, because I can get a fifth of 190 proof liquor for a mere twenty dollars and not worry about being shot or mugged by the cashier at the local grocery store.

Album Review: "Altars & Offerings” by De Los Muertos

Altars & Offerings

St. Louis, Missouri has always had a unique place in music history, especially when it comes to the blues, beginning with the genre’s local pioneers and innovators of the 1920s, through a confluence of talent descending on the St. Louis area during the 1930s and 40s and culminating in the merging with and transition to rock-n-roll, best exemplified by the revolutionary styles of Chuck Berry and Ike and Tina Turner in the 1950s.  

This fine tradition is not dead, and it is still proudly displayed by local acts such as De Los Muertos.  Although, geared further towards the rock end of the rhythm and blues genre, and containing elements which are more modern than what was available to the 1950s ear, the influence of the St. Louis blues rings true throughout their six song album “Altars & Offerings”.  

This blues influence, mixed with elements of rock, alternative country, Americana and soul produces a unique sound the Gateway City can be proud to claim. 

Although it may be somewhat of a disservice to the band, the temptation to compare new acts to ...

Album Review: "The Wild Mercury" by Vandaveer

The Wild Mercury

It's interesting to think about how far we have come, not just as a people, or a nation, but as a species.

Humanity has existed for millions upon millions of years, albeit in very different forms.

It's interesting to think of how much humanity has seen, experienced, and sadly lost.

How popular are shows, books, and movies that discuss the idea of travelling back into the past, or just those set in the past.

We argue over the minutiae of what was right, what was wrong, and people acted back then.

Music used to be a thing people did to entertain themselves, their families, etc. Think back to watching A Christmas Carol, Fezzywig himself played the violin at his own Christmas party.

Music does not have to be a part of the machine.

Album Review: "Boroughs EP" by Boroughs

Boroughs

New band.

Old timey music.

Boroughs are a self described Americana roots musical collective from the sunny state of California. (Where else right?)

As we all know, nearly everything under the sun has been done and done many times over. What I'm seeing in the music world these days is a great many bands returning to the roots of music.

Be it 90's Death Metal, 50's Rock'n'Roll, Delta Blues, and so on and so forth, what's old is now new again. As it once was, it always will be.

So, let's check out our new friends. They've only been at this for a year.

Album Review: Self Titled by Quiet Hollers

Quiet Hollers

I remember seeing an online post by some anonymous people on the net giving their top ten lists for the end of the year, probably around 2010-ish.

It was very hard for me to believe that these people had acquired enough albums to people an entire list for a top ten, much less the ones that didn't make it.

Good lord, how little I knew then.

If I had to guess, I'd wager there are more albums being produced today than in music's "heyday." Even being the small fry that I am, I am constantly deluged by managers, labels, PR,c ompanies, bands, and friends of bands to check out their music. (This is not a complaint. Don't stop!) What's hard is how in the world do I start?

I try to bring you the best music that comes across my desk, and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I fail. So today, I bring you a press photo with a band bend on worldwide destruction in the Pacific Rim.

Album Review: "Blue Funk" by Labors

Blue Funk

What is music?

It's basically the same question as to what is art?

Art is an interesting thing, because we find the need to compartmetalize everything. This band is death metal. That one is in country.

That's a Western band, but it ends up getting all crazy and silly when it becomes entirely too specific.

In the introduction email I received from Labors, they told me that they're a band that plays Midwestern Americana. Now, I'm not making fun of the label they chose.

Like many bands in our modern world, what's old has become new and what's new has become old, and what's brand new is what happens if when you combine the old and the new and get this new kind of pudding....with Snickers in it.

Album Review: "Important Things Humans Should Know" by Dirty Bourbon River Show

Important Things Humans Should Know

What is music?

I saw an internet meme recently that said art is how we color spaces and music is how we color time.

Thinking about music as coloring time is a very interesting concept to me. It's amazing how some kinds of music are lost to time and how some kinds of music transcend time.

The Stoner/Groove/Doom Metal movement was a way to bring back the music of Black Sabbath after being painted by Cream.

There are many other kinds of music where antiquated styles are taken and done up in a more modern fashion. Then there are artists who take a genre of music that just no longer exists and breathe life into it again.

Today we consider the latter in the form of Dirty Bourbon River Show.