Better Over Time: A Review of Dream Theater’s Distance Over Time

I remember that night back in 1994 clearly. “Take The Time” was playing on my father’s stereo at home. It was during the song’s lengthy instrumental workout that I made this innocent observation: “Boy, these guys write long songs.” My father’s response? “Well, they love to play.” It was an endearing thing to hear as… Continue reading Better Over Time: A Review of Dream Theater’s Distance Over Time

Explicit Content: A Review of Xiu Xiu’s Girl with Basket of Fruit

It’s a rare thing to come across something completely unfamiliar in modern music. Some would claim that the golden age of musical exploration is behind us — the 60s through the 90s. Every kind of music possible has already been found and done, and now groups are doomed to constantly recycle old styles. Some critics… Continue reading Explicit Content: A Review of Xiu Xiu’s Girl with Basket of Fruit

Album Review: Chris Lastovicka’s Fortune Has Turned (Remixed)

Originally released in 2005, Chris Lastovicka’s classical album Fortune Has Turned now has a new and improved version coming out in April via Ahari Press.  The compositions for piano, strings, horn, and voice offer listeners a stark, emotional journey into the human psyche. Says Lastovicka of the quest to remix and remaster, “When I was thinking about who… Continue reading Album Review: Chris Lastovicka’s Fortune Has Turned (Remixed)

Album Review: Thunderbird Divine’s Magnasonic

Thunderbird Divine’s debut full length Magnasonic, released on CD this month through Connecticut label Salt of the Earth Records, offers four tracks of spaced out stoner rock grooves that are sure to please genre enthusiasts.  But what distinguishes this Philadelphia outfit from the pack? First of all, TBD experiments with nontraditional instrumentation right from their… Continue reading Album Review: Thunderbird Divine’s Magnasonic

HEXVESSEL Delivers Thoughtful Pagan Folk with All Tree

Sometimes I’m jealous of artists who have “rich heritage,” living in storied places bursting with legend, alive with the magick of olde…  And meanwhile, here I am in suburbia, the native mythology of my location annihilated centuries ago, my own “heritage” a mishmash of European cultures I have no connection with, and my natural habitat… Continue reading HEXVESSEL Delivers Thoughtful Pagan Folk with All Tree