Ranking Scott Kelly's Mastodon Songs

You may have heard there's a new Mastodon album coming soon.  Emperor of Sand will be released March 31, and the three advance tracks have me excited for a 'Don album for the first time in what feels like forever.  In anticipation of the new record, I've been listening to a lot of Mastodon, which inevitably means I'm hearing some Scott Kelly.  The Neurosis co-frontman and guitarist has appeared on every Mastodon album since Leviathan (and has confirmed an appearance on Emperor of Sand), and his presence typically results in his track being one of the stand out songs on the album.  So I decided to rank Kelly's Mastodon collaborations and ruminate on each one, if only because March 31 seems like too long to wait to write anything about Mastodon.

Exclusive Interview - Steve Von Till (Neurosis)

The other night, Mick and I were able to sit down with Steve Von Till, singer and guitarist for music legends Neurosis.  It's been a few days, but I still can't fully comprehend that this interview actually happened; Neurosis needs no introduction around these parts, and for my money they are the most influential band in heavy music over the past 30 years they've been a band.  We spoke with Steve about the band's longevity, how they manage to continually produce consistently excellent material, and some changes he would make to elementary curriculum if given the chance.  Check it out below, and be sure to catch Neurosis on their current US Tour, their first major tour in the country since the turn of the century.

Bucket List Shows: The Bands I Need to See

I'm fortunate to live in Chicago, a city that has a staggering number of music venues across all shapes and sizes, including multiple joints that pull in a terrific number of metal bands.  Rare is the tour that misses Chicago, and even then, there's a 99% chance the band is playing Milwaukee, which is a short drive north.  Like I said, fortunate.  That said, occasionally there are shows I miss out on, for any number of reasons, and that makes me sad; I love seeing bands live, and I love seeing bands I love live even more.  In thinking about some of the gnarly concerts coming up, I started thinking about the bands I've missed over the years, and came up with my ten "Bucket List" bands, the bands I most want to see before I shuffle off this mortal coil (hopefully not anytime soon).  I stayed away from bands that have broken up (or Isis would have made the list) or older bands whose members aren't going to do it (same for Pink Floyd).  A few honorable mentions before we get this show on the road: Tool, Meshuggah, Lamb of God, Anathema, Sleep.  All would be amazing to see, but they don't quite crack the Top Ten.  So... here goes!

Seasonal Genres: Autumn

My favorite thing about living in the midwest is the dichotomy between seasons.  Hoot and holler all you want about year-round 70s and sunshine, SoCal; I like my winters frigid and my summers so hot and humid you feel like you're walking through soup.  I love the first crisp autumn day, when the initial hints of winter arrive on the wind, and the first warm day of spring, when the shorts and skirts announce that we've survived another winter (and we want people to see our pasty, pale legs).  Each season offers its own unique features and activities as well: ballgames in the spring, beach days in the summer, Oktoberfests and haunted houses in the fall, and counting your digits to make sure you didn't lose any to frostbite when you took the dog outside for two minutes in the winter.  I LIKE the differences, and most importantly, I like the different soundtracking options that present themselves for each season.  Obviously, you can never go wrong listening to any genre of music at any point in the year, but we all know there's a musical sweet spot that exists, that time when your music lines up with your moment PERFECTLY, creating a near-orgasmic sensation of elation and serenity deep inside your cold, dark heart that didn't even know it could feel anymore.  Over the next few days, I'll be looking at the songs, genres, and bands that hit that sweet spot for each particular season.

Albums of the Year, Then and Now (2003-2007)

Ah, December.  That magical time of year when the blogger’s fancy turns to letting you know their favorite albums of the year in a long, drawn out list.  Fear not; this is not that list.  That list will be released sometime within the next few weeks.  This is more of a primer, a dual post to get you started thinking about what “Album of the Year” really means while at the same time giving you an unasked for history of my listening tastes over the past decade… and more importantly, how things have changed in hindsight.