Samblage – A Decade in Review

I’ve done year-end reviews before, but not a full decade retrospective. I was talking with my friend Geoff, who used to compile what he called ASSEMBLAGE, a yearly compendium of his 100 top songs of the year. He’d send out a zip file with all the songs, and an iTunes formatting file to make sure […]

Give Me Sabroso or Give Me Tacos!

Another great year at the Gringo Bandito Hot Sauce Sabroso Festival! I got there early and chatted with my cousin & her fiancée. They had just finished eating tacos while the beer tents were in full swing. It was an absolutely beautiful day for a punk rock show! First up was Denver’s own Dendrites, kicking […]

ThURGHsday! #14 – Dead Kennedys

As with many of the bands in URGH!, this was the first I knew or saw of Dead Kennedys. I didn’t know they were punk rock. They just seemed weird. Well, Jello did, anyway. The bass player and guitarist simply seemed geeky. Jello’s intro monologue for the song “Bleed For Me” didn’t make a whole […]

Your Older Brother’s 2017 Year-End Music List

After the loss of David Bowie and Prince in 2016, 2017 turned out to be a good year for music. I don’t know if everyone stepped up their game to fill in the gap (not that anyone could fill for those two) or if it was the political climate, but I really enjoyed the music […]

Essential Vinyls for the New Record Player – The Top 10

A friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook with one of my favorite conversation starters: “Random music question for you.” Favorite because I know the discussion to follow will be a lot of fun. It just has to be. After my reply asking what’s up, she continued: “So I just bought a record […]

ThURGHsday! #13 – The Go-Go’s

Once again we return to a superstar band that wasn’t a superstar band when this was filmed in 1980. (Content warning: crowdsurfing woman getting her shirt tugged at) The Go-Go’s debut Beauty and the Beat was released in early July of 1981 and was RIAA certified double platinum the following year. They were already gaining […]

That “10 teenage albums” thing

Because why not? So here’s my “10 albums that made a lasting impression on you as a teenager” thing. I think I did this fairly recently, but what the hell. Rules are: only one per band/artist. Don’t take too long and don’t think. (I made my list of albums that were released when I was […]

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Rockies

Paul Humphreys & Andy McCluskey – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark In a year of seemingly unending ups and downs, 2016 held one of my personal and professional high points. I was granted an in-person interview with two of my all-time musical heroes, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. Best […]

Greg Humphreys Lucks Out – Part 2 – The Interview

As I said in my previous post, Greg Humphreys and I spoke for about 2.5 hours earlier this year. I hadn’t spoken to him since 1993 when I interviewed him for the San Diego fanzine 360°. I’ve cut some of the small talk here and edited for clarity, but this is most of the conversation, […]

Greg Humphreys Lucks Out – Part 1

The Greg Humphreys Electric Trio‘s Lucky Guy fall tour kicks off this Friday, September 23rd at the Brooklyn Americana Music Festival, the Carolina Ramble & Reunion on Oct 1 and continues through the Carolinas & Georgia in early October. Go see them live!! The transcript of my interview with Greg about his career will post on Wednesday September […]