Writing about music in lieu of human interaction
Support the Bukit Bail Fund (which describes itself as "a coalition of individuals supporting those incarcerated in Allegheny County Jail") by purchasing BAIL, a compilation album released by the newly established Helpin Aht! Records. 100% of the proceeds will be donated. BAIL features acoustic protest ballads, punk screeds, and noisy lo-fi dirges from a number … Continue reading Helpin’ Aht! Records – BAIL
School of Seven Bells-Alpinisms (2008, Ghostly International) School Of Seven Bells was a band that I first listened to because I liked their name. The moniker, drawn from a mythical Colombian pickpocket school, sounded intriguingly dreamy and magical, and I hoped that the music would follow suit. My parents got the band's 2008 debut Alpinisms … Continue reading School of Seven Bells-Alpinisms
Winter Moon-Make Real, Make Believe (2019, Kozmik Artifactz) The return of Swamptina, for those who missed her the first time around A few weeks back, Bored In Pittsburgh featured the sonic sledgehammer “Who Are You” by Melbourne, Australia’s Winter Moon, and the character of Swamptina Aguilera was born. Swamptina is the pseudonym that I bestowed … Continue reading Winter Moon-Make Real, Make Believe
Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010, Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella) Before I even get into the music talk, I just want to say, for the record, that I was as disappointed as anyone when Kanye hitched his wagon to the deluded, wheezing horse that is Donald Trump. That being said, it is worth noting that Kanye … Continue reading Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Midori Takada-Through The Looking Glass (1983, RCA//2017 reissue, WRWTFWW and Palto Flats) I first found Through The Looking Glass, a cult favorite release by criminally underrated Japanese experimental composer Midori Takada, while (surprise, surprise) looking at a Pitchfork list. I feel like a consistent, slightly embarrassing theme has arisen when talking about how I find … Continue reading Midori Takada-Through The Looking Glass
Tacocat-NVM (2014, Hardly Art) I first found out about the Seattle, WA group Tacocat back in college while trolling an ever-present-in-my-past-and-probably-my-future-too yearly Best Of list on Pitchfork. I was scrounging around for songs I could add to my infamous freshman year study playlist; the song that ended up making the cut was the surf-rock styled … Continue reading Tacocat-NVM
James Lawrence Wolf and Raven Bauer Durham-The River And The Rain In It (2019, self-released) The other week, I wrote about “Building A Beehive,” a beautiful piece from seasoned Virginia multi-instrumentalists James Lawrence Wolf and Raven Bauer Durham. I managed to get in contact with Wolf himself last week, and he was kind enough to … Continue reading James Lawrence Wolf and Raven Bauer Durham-The River And The Rain In It
Bon Iver-22, A Million (2016, Jagjaguwar) I first listened to the music of Bon Iver (the project fronted by Justin Vernon) when “Woods”(off 2009’s Blood Bank EP) was recommended to me on an “iTunes Essentials” playlist (do those even exist anymore?) that featured songs with vocoder and autotune. I was attracted to the song’s densely … Continue reading Bon Iver-22, A Million
Japandroids-Celebration Rock (2012, Polyvinyl) I first heard Japandroids after their 2009 debut Post-Nothing was heavily plugged by Pitchfork (of course). Like most music I listen to, I first decided to give it a shot because I liked the band’s name. At that time, my ears were unaccustomed to the lo-fi sound, and my reaction was … Continue reading Japandroids-Celebration Rock
Lord Huron-Lonesome Dreams (2012, Iamsound) When I was a freshman in college (so spring of 2014, I guess), I pulled three all-nighters within the span of a week in order to study for finals. I had never experienced anything like it; I holed myself up in the basement of my shitty dorm for hours on … Continue reading Lord Huron-Lonesome Dreams
Bored In Pittsburgh 