It’s Cold. Stay In. Drink Coffee. Make Art.

Just a little reminder that we’re going thru a bit of a cold spell here in the Midwest. Supposed to last through the week. Currently in the pre-Dawn hours the windchill is making it feel in the negatives. This is not conducive to wanting to leave my bed, let alone my house. Yesterday I spent […]

‘Emergency!’ : The Tony Williams Lifetime

Tony Williams was my first jazz drummer hero. I discovered him on Miles Davis’ Nefertiti, which was the first Miles Davis album I bought. I loved his nuanced playing; intricate and informed while still having a lot of power behind the set. When Nefertiti was released in 1967 Tony Williams was all of 22 years […]

Check IN : Greetings From Thunderdome

The only thing missing from America’s post-apocalyptic dystopia would be that big old mushroom cloud to give us the right amount of burnt-up mutants, rebuilt 70s muscle cars into destruction derby cruisers, and of course the great Tina Turner(RIP). The bombs have yet to drop and there seems to be plenty of gas(and more on […]

Lovelock’s ‘Business And Pleasure’

So do you remember that scene in Tom Holland’s great Fright Night when Chris Sarandon’s suave and terrifying vampire Jerry Dandridge seduces Charlie Brewster’s girlfriend Amy Peterson back at his lair? The music playing was sexy, sultry, and mildly disconcerting, a vibe of both “come hither” and “run for your life” all in the same […]

Set The World Afire

Just when you think you’ve gotten past one major calamity, of course another decided to pop up and say “Hold my beer…”. What’s going on in the country that I call home is beyond the pale. Armed, masked weekend warriors pulling brown-skinned people off the streets and disappearing them is really bad. For one it’s […]

Greetings From Planet Flu

Well it didn’t take long to catch one of the many awful viruses that are floating around. Started the week out okay coming back from the holiday break, but by Monday evening I started feeling sore all over. Muscles in my chest and back felt like I’d been used as a punching back, and my […]

Songs From Dreams, New Year Here, And What Else Is New?

Hello all, we’re officially out of the holiday season and back to the grind. I’m not terribly excited about getting back to the grind, but what are you gonna do? Nothing, that’s it. It was a lovely time off. Seeing all the kids in one place was great. Christmas Eve, our oldest and their partner […]

2025…Smell Ya Later…2026…Be Gentle

We are at the last day of 2025. It wasn’t the worst year for me, but it most definitely pushed me to the brink a few times. I know there is no perfect year, but since 2021 there have been more calamities than joy. This year brought some health scares with my daughter, as well […]

Daniel Lopatin : Marty Supreme Soundtrack

I was always kind of got bent out of shape when a period movie would use contemporary music for it’s soundtrack. Or even if it was a movie that took place in the 30s and they used music from the 60s or 70s just seemed off-putting to me. It distracted me from the movie itself. […]

Complex Distractions Presents Favorite Albums Of 2025 : All The Rest

We’re getting real close. It’s been an incredibly vital and fruitful year for music. I’ve bought as much jazz and experimental records as I have anything, which made me think I should cut these lists up into separate posts. Making a top 50 with everything together seemed daunting, so splitting them up made it a […]