Moby's newest single, "Too Much Change," feels like a really promising work in progress. Pared down from the album version's 10-minute runtime down to just over 3 minutes, we're left with a single version that fails to perform as well as the original⁠—despite that version also suffering from the same problem. The intro is pleasant, featuring breathy vocals by Apollo Jane, backed by melancholic piano and light percussion. In this edit, the soft tropical club beats start ... read more

 In 1971, United States president Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs." The true purpose of this so-called "war," however, had little to do with curbing drug use. Its true purpose was significantly more nefarious; The mass targeting and imprisonment of the anti-war leftists ("hippies") and black Americans was its true purpose, according to Nixon official John Ehrlichman.¹ ² In a conspiracy uncovered by journalist Gary Webb, the CIA planted ... read more

 Daniel Graves has, for better or worse, changed up Aesthetic Perfection's sound for nearly every album. While I admire it when an artist experiments and refuses to repeat themselves too often, sometimes it just doesn't turn out right. Case in point, Aesthetic Perfection's new(ish) single LAX.

 I loved A Violent Emotion, with its raw, visceral, high-pitched growls and its impressive blending of aggression and melody. During this time, however, Daniel Graves noticed that the way he was ... read more

 The Autumn Effect is the most well-known album by 10 Years, an alternative band from the United States that made it big for a little while with the song "Wasteland." Remember that song? You probably do if you're a North American my age, since it was played on the radio quite often back in the mid-2000s. Rightfully so, I might add—it's pretty well-written and holds up even now. At least, to me.

 But how does the album hold up? In a way, nearly every song here is a ... read more

 Guitar Vader's big first break was when ten of their songs appeared in the Japan-exclusive video game Roommania #203. Their fanbase expanded, and the band capitalized on this with Die Happy!, a compilation of their previously-released material. It was this release that led Hideki Naganuma, a director and producer of music working at SEGA, to discover the band and include two of their songs in the successful Dreamcast game Jet Grind Radio: "Magical Girl" and "Super ... read more

 It didn't take long for Fuel to get the attention of modern radio rock stations following the release of the singles from their debut album, Sunburn. Post-grunge was still dominating the airwaves, and Fuel had the hooks, the distinct vocals, and the radio-friendly aggression necessary for success. "Shimmer" received extensive airplay, and after just over two years, Sunburn was certified Platinum by the RIAA. More importantly, this is one of the first albums I grew up with, and ... read more

 Gnome was a '90s one-man black metal project from Japan, formed by someone going by the name Masanori. Masanori also went by the name Woods when they were busy with their other black metal project, Hurusoma. Gnome's Under the Black Moon is a short demo that really shattered a lot of expectations that I had for it, in regards to both its content and its quality. Side A of the cassette is mostly forest-inspired black metal, while side B contains instrumental dungeon synth inspired by the ... read more

 The band UMBAH has always been in a weird spot for me. In my early teenage years, I had some tracks from TRILOBETH laying around that I enjoyed. The songs were fairly strange industrial metal with an alien theme and a very "cyber-like" sound. I eventually forgot the band existed, though, and rediscovered them in college with the release of their album ASTRONOMICON. It was the same kind of surrealist hyper-future space metal that was featured on TRILOBETH, but I didn't really ... read more

 In the 2000s, rock radio was dominated by dime-a-dozen post-grunge acts with driven yet melodic guitars and vocalists sporting goatees and soul patches. These bands made music for people looking for something slightly heavier than Nickelback but balking at anything that was actually "too metal," usually only going as far as listening to heavier alternative acts like Five Finger Death Punch or Killswitch Engage. Virtually indistinguishable from their contemporaries, Breaking ... read more