Found an old sketchbook of mine.  This one holds much of my doodles, self-absorption, pondering and other such brain spew from my last year in high school till well into my sophomore year of college.  The stickers that adorn it reflect much of what I was listening to back then, including bands like NOFX and Rancid whose CDs I've since completely removed from my collection.  There's even a 311 quote scrawled on the outside pages that makes me want to cringe.  Inside is a ticket stub from my first Henry Rollins (autographed) spoken word gig along with a college newspaper article on the show, an assessment of an Oasis gig written on top of a sticker I picked up at the merch table and an illustration inspired by Fugazi 's "Waiting Room." The photo of Frank Zappa was a Xerox from the Weasels Ripped My Flesh CD that I taped to the cover.  On top I wrote the Joe's Garage quote: “Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth...

To whom it may interest, Apologies for the lack of content recently.  I was either inundated with my 9-to-whenever, handling responsibilities at home or I was on vacation.  I promise to be active this week.  Much by way of music has found my inbox during my absence, so I will try and disseminate as much as possible.  Thanks as always for your readership.  Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

In tribute to this day away from the office, job site, cab stop, trucker depot, post office, town hall, street corner... etc., here are some work related tunes that I hold near and dear.  Enjoy: Frank Zappa : "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" R.E.M. : "Finest Worksong"  Subhumans: "Get to Work on Time" John Handy: "Hard Work" Tom Waits: "I Can't Wait to Get Off Work" Louis Armstrong: "That Lucky Old Sun" Black Flag: "Clocked In" Dead Kennedys: "At My Job" Saccharine Trust: "Mad at the Co." Elvis Costello: "Welcome to the Working Week" Howlin' Wolf: "Work for Your Money" John Lennon: "Working Class Hero" Minutemen: "Working Men Are Pissed" Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Like everyone, much of my relationship with music is rooted in where I was and who I was when I’d first heard/been more or less irreversibly altered by whatever album from whichever musician/band.   This is true of all of us who recall certain feelings or events once a certain note is plucked and the gears begin to turn and twist into an apparatus of reminiscence and sometimes longing that results in bliss, tears or vomiting.   For me, twenty years ago isn’t a wellspring of fond remembrances, though that was the year I began to build my CD collection.   I graduated from my tape deck to a boombox with dual decks and a CD tray, which would later enable me to spend countless hours in what I remember as a perpetual cycle of revelation and mix tape assembly.   This isn’t to say, though, that cassettes weren’t still investigated and sought after.   After all, I could still play both and cassettes were cheaper than CDs at the time.   My m...

Excuse the inactivity.  I feel like I've been both tired and/or sick for a full month.  Currently, I'm on a regimen of throat lozenges, penicillin and soft foods while my throat recovers from whatever made it decide to be both red and painful.  Fevers and cold sweats aren't necessarily conducive to critical listening or written analysis.  Sleep deprivation doesn't help much, either.    I do, however, have reviews in the works and requests for promos out, so I hope to have some new material up soon.  I'm also in the process of pulling together a Mix Tape entry, (because I haven't written one of those in a while), and another No Ripcast should be out this week. If you missed the last one, you can find that here . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Last Valentine's Day , I found songs with "Love" in the title to celebrate the occasion.  This year, I did the same thing, but then decided that I would ALSO try and find some that might be a tad on the offensive side.  Think of romance purely in terms of its physical motivations without the warm and fuzzies, (at least in terms of the emotional warm and fuzzies). Enjoy the playlist and, if you'd like, recommend some more. Ciccone Youth (Sonic Youth) — “Addicted to Love” Nina Simone — “Since My Love Is Gone” Pantera — “Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills” Pixies — “La La Love You” PJ Harvey & John Parish — “Black Hearted Love” Queen — “Get Down, Make Love” Rollins Band — “Love Song” Sic Alps — “Love Is Strange” The Slits — “Love Und Romance” Sly & The Family Stone — “Love City” Thelonious Monk Quartet w/ John Coltrane — “Sweet & Lovely” Them Crooked Vultures — “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I” Tom Waits...

A few months ago, I began to collect quotes from independent record labels and artists who are involved in the reemergence of cassette tapes in the digital marketplace.  It resulted in a two-part article for No Ripcord .  You can find the articles below. Part 1 Part 2 Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

My Daddy’s a DJ... ...so nothing is his. An enthusiast’s view In an admirer’s biz. Fusing together A melodious muck. Arguing the difference Between the bad and the suck. Through dust and through board Are stacks of his wares. A collection of things And he knows what's there. From passion to fashion; From cut to create; Every song, every word, Every flaw, every date. My Daddy’s a DJ... A talent for zip. A fondness for pop, His achievements a blip. A platter of spin, A needle to spark. The conversation a blur, The relationship stark. Our connection not there, His attention remiss. Our bond's episodic As we hug or we kiss. I wage my rebellion, My path’s looking bright. His soundtrack is all He can offer my spite. My Daddy’s a DJ... And his passion’s missed out. Though expert in sound, His life is in doubt. His hours invested, His ears taking toll. His lack of a presence, Leaving a hole. I grew up too fast. My days turned to years. Hi...

For any of you that have been reading Letters From A Tapehead over the last year or so, you may have noticed an occasional review or two for new music either released or reissued on cassette. The underground’s favorite format has persisted to exist even though tape decks and boomboxes are scarce and the technology itself has been written off as obsolete. Cassette-centric labels have sprung up and, along with the LP, basically defied the push by digital media to dominate the marketplace with convenient, mediocre MP3s and wipe out the production of tangible, high quality formats. Okay, we’re talking cassette tapes so, realistically speaking, the MP3 isn’t in any danger of losing the battle. But, the appeal here is that the cassette culture of years ago is finding its second wind, tape swapping and marketing with regard to underground and local music scenes being, in its essence, the first wave of what was to become file sharing. With this in mind, I’ve been locating and compilin...

Hearts and flowers, chocolates and ribbons, diapers and arrows. In recognition of today, I’ve selected a bunch of songs with “love” in the title. Now, will these songs completely embody the spirit of Valentine’s Day? No, I didn’t promise that. Enjoy... Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — “I Let Love In” Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band — “I Love You, You Big Dummy” Black Flag — “I Love You” Bo Diddley — “Who Do You Love?” The Gun Club — “Fire Of Love” Charles Mingus — “I X Love” Thelonious Monk — “I Love You (Sweetheart Of All My Dreams)” Mr. Bungle — “Love Is A Fist” Tom Waits — “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You” Johnny Cash — “Give My Love To Rose” Motörhead — “Love Me Like A Reptile” Chet Baker — “That Ole Devil Called Love” John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman — “My One and Only Love” Sly & The Family Stone — “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” Minutemen — “Love Dance” PJ Harvey — “To Bring You My L...

Henry Rollins turns 51 years old today. When I discovered Henry Rollins, I was a freshman in high school. My version of this time in my life wasn’t full of wide-eyed teenage wonder or endless nights glorifying in my pubescent freedom, chasing the opposite sex while gleefully unattached to job or responsibility. In fact, when any adult told me that high school was the best time of their lives, I didn’t understand how that was possible. I was two years into the public school system, still incredibly insecure and unsure of myself and where I fit. Without getting into too much detail, home really didn’t provide any safety net or sanctuary. I had friends but wasn’t really in a position to see them too often. So, between home and school, which was all there was, I remember feeling very alone. The 1994 concert was performed with Helmet and Les Claypool 's Sausage . Amazing night. Now, every teenager goes through a period of feeling misunderstood. Your parents and other t...

As the wonderful web has granted humanity the gift of impersonal and sheltered interaction, it’s also allowed our worlds to grow exponentially from a virtual standpoint. Online communities are plentiful, your various interests shared and cultivated by message boards, social media, webzines, blogs and a multitude of other opportunities to either enlighten or burden others with your opinions. Record junkies, a geek demographic underrepresented by the self-serving commercialism of the music industry, (an industry that still subsists upon the hard-earned green shelled out by this demographic), has benefitted from this worldwide connectedness, allowed to converse and debate, review and snub, publicly promote as well as denounce. But, as FM radio, MTV and Top 40 have always been the easily manipulated tastemakers for mainstream “don’t give a shit about music” America, the Internet has a tendency to be pushed in certain directions as well, adoration a flag continually staked into the ev...

The 21st, as always, is dedicated to Frank Zappa .  Crank up the volume, all ye loyalists of Frank.  Crank up the volume.  The man would've been 71 years old today. Photo by Jerry Schatzberg, New York City, 1967 Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Joyful Noise is beginning a subscription service in 2012, patrons of which will receive single-sided, limited edition, clear Flexi-Disc releases by artists like Of Montreal , Deerhoof , Richard Swift and some others.  Responsible also for a number of cassette reissues this year by Dinosaur Jr. and Of Montreal, give Joyful Noise credit not only for digging long gone music formats out of obscurity, but for trying to reinvigorate the physical music market with these oddities.  They play on a normal turntable, too, so it's not like you need to find a specialty item to play the music, (I imagine some people are still struggling to find tape decks for many of the cassette releases that have emerged over the last couple years).  As far as my personal connection to Flexi Disc vinyl?  Years ago, when I was a child, McDonald's had a contest requiring you buy some food, which then awarded you a chance at a million dollars.  You were given a small, square, super-flimsy ...

A massive undertaking to say the least, No Ripcord recently posted a 5-part series compiling the quantified results of what 34 writers considered to be the top 100 debut albums.  I contributed five of the 100 blurbs posted.  There are aspects of this list that I outright oppose and others I can get behind.  There are also albums that really should've made the list and an "honorable mention" accompaniment is being developed so to make sure some the omissions, many of which are fucking criminal, at least get some due. Now that all five parts of the series are posted, give them a look when you get the chance.   Part 1 (100-81) Part 2 (80-61) Part 3 (60-41) Part 4 (40-21) Part 5 (20-1) Have a gripe?  Me too, so feel free to comment or discuss. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

John Timmons, owner of ear X-tacy, called it quits recently.  This weekend, the store is open for its last two days of business ever. NPR interviewed Timmons for their "Hard Times" series , which focuses on our economically challenged America, interviewing people who've been hurt the most.  He blames ear X-tacy's closure more on the economy than on downloading and acknowledges the resurgence of consumer interest in vinyl, which is oddly reassuring since his earlier issues in keeping the store afloat had more to do with file sharing and loss of patronage thanks to the box stores .  But, the store's closing is a huge loss for the indies and I can only offer Louisville my condolences. A documentary called Brick and Mortar and Love covers ear X-tacy's struggles and also looks into the future of the independent record store.  I'm not sure when it's out, or what the status is regarding the film's progress, but a trailer is available. ...

Not that I should need an excuse to post anything by my favorite of Wu-Tang 's MCs, GZA/The Genius , but an interesting press release came my way this week detailing a lecture he'll be holding at Harvard next month.  Also, there will be a new GZA album out in 2012.  All info is courtesy of Life of Death PR and Management.  GZA TO LECTURE AT HARVARD IN DECEMBER NEW LP DUE IN 2012 VIA BABYGRANDE RECORDS   Gary Grice aka GZA/The Genius , a founding member of rap supergroup the Wu-Tang Clan , will lecture about his Clan, his craft, and his creativity on Thursday, December 1 at 4 p.m. The lecture, hosted by the Harvard's Black Men's Forum, will be followed by Q&A and is open to the public. Grice's collaborators dubbed him The Genius because of his talent as a rap lyricist. His solo effort, Liquid Swords is considered one of the best albums to come out of the Wu-Tang camp. The album was selected as one of The Source Magazine's 100 Best Rap Albums of all...

Since putting out Deerhoof Vs. Evil earlier this year, Deerhoof have been releasing split 7" collaborations steadily since.  Their newest split with David Bazan spawned a cover contest , so I took the opportunity to pick up my sketch book (which I hadn't done in months) and some watercolor paints (which I hadn't done in years) and come up with a couple options.  I'll know if they're selected by the end of the week, but figured they might be cool to post in the meantime.  I don't do too many art-releated music posts. Some sketches: Finished submissions: Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Eindhoven psych rock band, The Devil's Blood , will be putting out a new album, The Thousandfold Epicentre , in early 2012.  An 11-something minute documentary about guitarist/founder, Selim Lemouchi , was recently released.  Discussions include his bouts with being rock bottom, his temporary hiatus from playing music, his art, his songwriting and his decor.  The man bleeds on the wall of his homemade altar as a way to show his appreciation for creative accomplishments (like writing a good song) and he remains very reserved while explaining this stuff. Info, links and video come courtesy of Earsplit PR. Holland's music video portal, FaceCulture.com , recently launched a mini-documentary centered around THE DEVIL'S BLOOD mastermind, SL. The subtitled video takes place in SL's home in Eindhoven and at Speedfest, and focuses on writing music, live, death, vice struggles and more. Check it out HERE . Metal Blade Records recently announced its union with the eclecti...