Writing about things that do and don't exist
A few words about a few local tracks that hit the spot this week ### SoulfulTone - Insecure A gentle, honest self-reminder--featuring a silk smooth instrumental--that there's no time limit on becoming the person you aspire to be. More from SoulfulTone Follow on Instagram Video by brutalist.001 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkjtmoYBYCk ### Dream The Heavy - Flame A … Continue reading Weekly Wrap-Up 03.29.24
Rave Ami's new album is the spirited and disheveled No Arc. On a record full of disorienting textures, "Alice Does A Kickflip In Wonderland" may be the most kaleidoscopic. A thrumming bass boosted way up in the mix is the most discernible instrument here. What surrounds it is an echoing clamor from which recognizable tidbits … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Rave Ami – Alice Does A Kickflip In Wonderland
Constant Hell's latest features grindcore inspired by crimes (and a Misfits cover). "Endangerment." "Distribution." "Theft." "Public Intoxication." "Assault." "Arson." "Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight." With the hopeful exception of the Misfits cover, the song list on Crime Grind reads like a typical Friday night on lovely Carson St. One can easily picture … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Constant Hell – Theft
Pittsburgh-to-Cali transplant Pacing released a single with Career Woman's Melody Caudill on Lauren Records. "Me and my friends, we don't like men / But we got boyfriends," is an objectively great chorus. The wry observation, delivered in harmony alongside acoustic strums, handclaps, and mischievous giggles, encapsulates the whispered-secret feeling of a song that balances a … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Pacing – Boyfriends (w/ Career Woman)
Wyborn's new EP is a dazed rush of feeling. There's a character in the movie Coraline whose name is Wyborn, and at one point the movie's titular protagonist refers to this character as "why-were-you-born." "Why were you born?" feels like one of the animating questions behind "Wicker Eye," a song that explores the disorienting nature … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Wyborn – Wicker Eye
A few words about a few local tracks that hit the spot this week ### Westinghouse Atom Smasher - Green Angel From the rustic piano flourishes to the plaintive guitar licks, everything about this song evokes "lonely cabin flickering by torchlight" imagery, even when the distorted melodic squeals come in. More from Westinghouse Atom Smasher … Continue reading Weekly Wrap-Up 03.22.24
Today's exercise features a staff email from a definitely fictional university in a definitely fictional city. PARTICIPATEMODULEQUEUE RATE Participate in the University’s Day of Service. Check yes at the bottom of this email to seize this opportunity. Pay to be bused into Breezedale, a less-fortunate chunk of the city. You may have become familiar with … Continue reading Random Word Generator 03.21.24
Metal brawlers throw down the gauntlet with an EP called The Price of Disloyalty. The EP's six tracks bristle with furious defiance, stomping and bellowing until smoke shoots from their ears. The contorted beatdown that is "Every Day is a War" serves its guitars two ways: Relentless Barrage of Body Blows and Melodic Air Raid. … Continue reading Daily Yinz – No Reason To Live – Every Day is a War
Molly Alphabet's new single offers benediction to the broken. I've never been a fan of Cops. I see the show as an example of an especially American brand of perversity, one that sanctions the treatment of people's actual lives--their struggles, their tragedies, their mistakes--as fodder for ad revenue and YouTube LOL compilations. Country artist Molly … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Molly Alphabet – Grandma’s Old Thoroughfare
Choo Jackson's latest is the eclectic Under Tha Ocean is Outerspace. The artwork for Under Tha Ocean reminds me of a panel Bill Watterson might have drawn for Calvin and Hobbes. Like that beloved comic strip, Under Tha Ocean tackles weighty topics with a sense of wide-eyed mischief. Opener "All Forgivin," one of the album's … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Choo Jackson – All Forgivin
Bored In Pittsburgh 