This Track Is Fire!

Sometimes things in life go to shit, but if you are fortunate you have at least one person in your life that you will always be thankful for. So, to cap off this week of being thankful, I wanted to say how very thankful I am for my partner, Shalee. And I Want to thank you For giving me the best day Of my life Oh Just to be with you Is having the best day Of my life I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the people that you love.

I get that this is a love song, from a man to a woman, and it definitely fits my theme of giving thanks this week, but I have to be honest here: Led Zeppelin always reminds me of my father, now 11.5 years passed. Thanksgiving is all about family, and during the holidays it's wonderful to spend time with those that you love so dearly, but as you get older you also start to recognize more and more often those people that are no longer there. Be thankful for the time you have. Tomorrow at dinner I will think of the fact that we always teased by dad about not liking gravy, until that one year he grabbed the gravy boat and poured it all over his food just to, well, just to do something my father would do. And then we'll watch the Lions game and remember all of the dozens of time we did that in the past with him and my grandfather, Marion. Then, later still, we'd all play Trivial Pursuit as my Uncle Dan, grandpa, grandma (Nanny), and my dad, all since passed, would drink, eat des...

This song often reminds me of loss; I think I first discovered before my maternal grandfather's funeral and it really hit me because I had experienced a fair amount of loss in the previous 18 months: I had gone through a divorce, a friend of mine's wife lost her battle with cancer, and I lost two uncles and a grandfather. Do you realize That everyone you know someday will die? And instead of saying all of your goodbyes Let them know you realize that life goes fast It's hard to make the good things last You realize the sun doesn't go down It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round But paired with that sense of loss is realizing, yes, we are all mortal and will therefore die, that one should appreciate, and yes, be thankful for the people in our lives and cherish the time we have with our loved ones. I will miss those people not at the table with us this week as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, but I am also thankful for the time I had with them, a...

This album has been out for over a year, and honestly, I don't think it has received the attention, nor the acclaim, that I think it should have received. I love the old school (now) synthpop bands like OMD, PSB, Depeche Mode, etc., etc., but these bands of the current wave are putting out quality music that, in my opinion, stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the classic synth bands. No band exemplifies this better than Black Nail Cabaret. Each of their albums has shown growth, none more so than Chrysanthemum , their most recent release. That's not to say that these newer synthpop bands are a glorified tribute to what came before. Rather, it's clear that BNC grew up listening to those bands I mentioned and were inspired to create something in that fashion, but their own way through their own influences. Honestly, I had a hard time picking between this track and "Totem and Taboo" because they're just that good. ENJOY! Chrysanthemum (Deluxe Edition) by Blac...

Here's all of the music that I covered for the month of June, 2025. As always, I highly encourage you to actually  purchase  the music that I share here on this blog.  Enjoy!

Full disclosure, I had actually written up a completely different entry for today, but on Monday morning my friend Peter sent me this song and a message saying, "I don’t know if you’re familiar with this band or song already, but there is so much to like about this." My response to him? "Holy shit!" I knew nothing about Ecca Vandal two days ago, but every so often you hear a song that in the first few seconds makes you go, "fuuuuuuuuuuuck." This is one of those songs, and yes, it is straight up FIRE! And don't you worry, the original post I had for today will be posted on Friday, I just had to post this track as soon as possible. ENJOY! MOLLY by Ecca Vandal

  Here's all of the music that I covered for the month of July, 2025. As always, I highly encourage you to actually  purchase  the music that I share here on this blog.  Enjoy!

There was this wonderfully weird time in the 90s when British rock bands infused their songs with dance music. For me, it was wonderful. Sure, there were hits and misses, but in my opinion, this is one of the better ones. While I get that Happy Mondays were pretty huge in the UK, other than this song I don't think tey made much of an impression here in the States. But at least we got this, and it's a gem! And, pardon me for the dad joke, but HAPPY MONDAY!

I've been aware of Yusuf Islam (fka Cat Stevens) for as long as I can recall. I remember that I had a friend in high school that adored him, but other than cursory knowledge of his hits I admit that I did not know much about him nor his oeuvre. That changed slightly this past Spring/Summer. I went to a vinyl/CD sale here in town and fingered through various vintage albums when I came across Teaser And The Firecat  for the small sum of $5. I had started my affinity for vinyl recorded and pressed during the 70s because those albums and the songs on them were produced for vinyl, and honestly, I think they sound better on said medium. Sure, the cover was a bit beat up, but the record itself was in pristine collection, so for a five spot, why not? Again, I was familiar with the hits on this album, but I had never sat down and listened to it from start to finish, especially not on vinyl. Dear reader, in a very short span of time this became one of my favorite albums to put on. As to the ...

  Here's all of the music that I covered for the month of August, 2025, except for SPC ECO "FRI-20-2020," which can be found on Bandcamp (embedded below). I highly encourage you to actually  purchase  the music that I share here on this blog.  Enjoy! SPC ECO "FRI-20-2020" is on Bandcamp, but not on Spotify: FRI-20-2020 by SPC ECO

This is a young blog, so I am hesitant to highlight a band more than once, but at the same time I want this blog to naturally reflect those songs that I am currently enjoying. So, while I've already linked to multiple songs by Pixel Grip ,  Nine Inch Nails, and Boys Noize already this year, we can add HEALTH to that list now . I think one of the things that I like about HEALTH in particular is that they are so hard to pigeonhole. Are they metal? Are they industrial? Are the electronic? Are they noise rock? The answer is an emphatic YES to all of the above, and more. This is the first single off of their forthcoming album Conflict DLC  and if the entire album is like this I will be a very happy man indeed. I can feel my face melting already, and for me, that's a good thing. Enjoy! CONFLICT DLC by HEALTH

Here's all of the music that I covered for the month of September, 2025, except for Snowbeasts "The Snow," which can be found on Bandcamp (embedded below). I highly encourage you to actually  purchase  the music that I share here on this blog.  Enjoy! Snowbeasts "The Snow" is on Bandcamp, but not on Spotify: The Snow by Snowbeasts

  Can you tell that I just listened to a live Erasure album this past weekend ( The Neon Live , if you're curious)? There was a time, when I was young and very stupid, that I didn't like Erasure simply because Vince Clarke had the audacity to leave my favorite band, Depeche Mode. As I said, I was very young, but more importantly, very stupid. At some point in my early 20s I got over myself and started really enjoying Erasure more and more. I finally saw them live when they came to Grand Rapids in 2018 (thanks to the ever-wonderful Shalee) whereupon I realized how truly and deeply I love them, because I sang along to each and every song. But for me, this will always be my favorite. Happy Monday!

Here's all of the music that I covered for the month of October, 2025. I highly encourage you to actually purchase  the music that I share here on this blog. If there's interest in me sharing this via other services, please let me know. I went with Spotify not because I use them (I don't), but because most people do. Enjoy!

  By this point you probably realize that I already love synthpop as well as most of its derivations over the years, whether it's Futurepop, Synthwave, or Darkwave. So, of course when I hear this track, that sounds like it escaped from the 80s with a slightly sinister sheen to it, you know I'm all in. Enjoy, but you know, in a gothy kind of way.

As you're probably getting used to by now, I am not exactly sure where I heard this song. I just know that I heard it somewhere, pulled out my phone, tapped on Shazam and BOOM! now it's part of my collection. Like my friend Jason, I tend to be a fan of these songs that start kinda slow, not overly loud, but then builds to a lovely crescendo. I also very much like songs that sound like they're happy but are actually quite dark. The juxtaposition does it for me. So yeah, I like this song, it's fire! Enjoy!

  Full disclosure here, I might  be a touch biased as To The End is the name by old college friend, David, uses for the music he posts on SoundCloud. He either posts stuff or sends it directly to me, and many more times than not I really like what he sends me. I admit that Dave's creativity inspires me. He simply must create, whether it be photography, music, or his ephemeral blog, it just has to come out of him. When it comes to my own creative endeavors I often wrestle with whether something is good enough to post. I'm not saying that Dave doesn't do that, but his output is impressive. And to top it all off, he puts out quality shit, like this track here. What else can I say, this track is fire. to the end · today is not a good day to be a pussy