ALBUM REVIEW: Painted Shield – Painted Shield 3


Painted Shield are notable for featuring Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam/Mother Love Bone/Green River) on guitar and a bunch of friends. Painted Shield’s origins can be traced to 2014 when it was suggested by Daniel Field a mutual friend of Mason Jennings and Gossard that the two work together. They put out a 7” single “Knife Fight”/Caught in a Mess” and then…nothing, until the pandemic hit in 2020.Continue reading


Season Three of “The Bear” Features Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys, Refused, Smashing Pumpkins, James, Radiohead, and More


Season three of the acclaimed FX/Hulu show The Bear is streaming all of its episodes. The series, set in the world of restaurants and chefs in Chicago has always had excellent music and this season is no different. The new episodes feature songs from Nine Inch Nails (and several tracks by Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Beastie Boys, Refused, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Taylor Swift (a repeat artist over three seasons), Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Kate Bush, and more. Starring Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, star of the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic), and also counts celebrity cher and Hardcore Metalhead Matty Matheson in the cast as well.Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Graywave – Dancing In The Dust


Starting out as a solo project for singer and multi-instrumentalist Jess Webberley, Graywave have released two previous EPs – Planetary Shift in 2021, followed swiftly by their first for Church Road Records, Rebirth in 2022. Continue reading


CONCERT REVIEW: Little Miss Nasty – Whitney Peyton – The Risqué Renegades Live at The Wild Buffalo


Before you read another word, please remember that these shows need to be seen in person. As much as I love video, it will never capture the intensity or entirety of an event. The experience is immeasurable and necessary.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Prisoner – Putrid – Obsolete


Technological horror, the literal or metaphorical collision of organic life with machines, from JG Ballard to David Cronenburg to Akira, there’s something so compelling (and often terrifying) about the welding of machine and flesh. The jaws of the thresher know no remorse, while the body is destined to suffer in its grip. Such thoughts occur listening to Putrid / Obsolete (Persistent Vision Records), the latest record from Richmond, Virginia’s extreme-metal unit Prisoner. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Ministry – HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES


Ministry’s long career began back in 1981 and has seen many different incarnations over the proceeding 43 years with the one constant of producer/singer/multi-instrumentalist Al Jourgensen steering the ship throughout. It’s fair to say the band have had to navigate some severely choppy waters over the decades, with a revolving door style policy of other personnel joining the larger-than-life frontman in his lifelong musical pursuit, and with various controversies never too far away.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Today Was Yesterday – Today Was Yesterday


The expert, intricate and intriguing Today Was Yesterday (Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group) finds the eponymous duo spreading their wings, unboxing various goodies and displaying many talents, in cahoots with guitar greats Alex (Rush) Lifeson, guesting on six of the 10 tracks, and Robby (The Doors) Krieger, on another.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Chelsea Wolfe – She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She


Chelsea Wolfe’s seventh solo full-length (and her first in around five years), She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She (Loma Vista Recordings), seems to represent something of a rebirth for Wolfe, both in terms of thematic content and sound.Continue reading