Rewinding 2023 | Tinnitist’s Top 123 Albums (Part 4: M-P)
The older I get, the harder it gets to put together a year-end list. Not because I'm becoming more musically discriminating in my dotage. Quite the opposite. Every year,...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | OMG Sphex!
It happened again: I inherited a box of dusty old records with a treasure inside.
If you ever come across some obscure Canadian vinyl you've never heard of before —...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Boombox Favourites
I couldn't do my own music without the incredible advances in home recording technology in the past decade. Not only can I not afford to work in a traditional...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Baby, Can You Drive My Car?
One thing which complicates my own band practices is our bass player doesn't drive. In fairness, it doesn't really complicate things for me — the guitarist drives him. Still,...
Thunder Pie | My Life in Country Music (Part 1)
The decision was made without my input. I would be riding with Dave, the owner of the camp, my stepdad’s best friend. Dave would put me in a spot...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | The Musicians Remain The Same
This year my appreciation of Jimmy Page broadened. As he is for millions of others, the guitarist has long been one of my favourites due to his unique, incredible...
Thunder Pie | Two Blinking Specks Over Town Last Night
“Out there the world is immense and sudden.”
— Jason Molina.
Every day now, I seem to fall more and more away from feeling like I’m going to understand. It is...
Thunder Pie | My Rock-n-Roll Heart
“When you're with a group of semi-psychotic people, you kind of lose track of reality; it's almost like being in some sort of cult or something.”
— Tommy Ramone
Now I’m...
Thunder Pie | Little Largemouth Summertime Star Splash Blues
We fish for fish that are small and weak.
Henry and me are both massive by comparison; he's six and scrawny, which makes me even more of a force; look...
A Completely Unsolicited Suggestion For Musicians
Overheard at the band meeting: “Shit! We paid that publicist thousands of dollars to send our album to critics and bloggers, but nobody wrote about us. How come?”
Well, maybe...
Thunder Pie | Pink Wasp
“Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and...
Thunder Pie | Q&A Vol. 2
Hello. As promised, here is the second half of the Thunder Pie Q&A!!! Thanks again to everyone who wrote me with so many thoughtfully crafted questions or kind words...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Your Little Art Collection
There are some albums I buy solely for the artwork. And I don't mean, "Hey, that looks cool... Here's hoping it is!" I'm talking about records I buy with...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | I Cast Thee Out!
It used to be that "getting cancelled" was something that only happened to the likes of Manimal, My So-Called Life, The Green Hornet, Archive 81 and The Tick. But...
Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Frankenstein Albums
I don't have a problem with The Beatles’ "last song" Now & Then being made and released, Sure, it's a ‘Frankenstein’ track — one cobbled together and brought to...
