Author: Nicholas Kula

Under the guise of invention, metal has quietly stagnated. When a metal band wants to take a leap of faith outside the bubble of its genre, it needs a fancy new genre label in order to legitimize it.

For those of us over 30, the feeling of musical obsolescence is one we know all too well: It’s a jarring experience to survive enough years on this planet to witness the first rehashing of the music you grew up with. Those of us born in the early ’80s first checked for gray hair when synth-pop got big again. Unfortunately, we’re about to do it again.

We live in an era in which software pirates float aimlessly along the high seas of the Internet, seizing and pillaging any errant piece of software that comes their way.

Every city in America has its musical secrets—they’re known, but never spoken of. One of Portland’s is Grouper, a one-woman show that is much more accomplished than your average listener might think, especially if she or he isn’t in on the secret.

If you’re not familiar with the work of Mike Patton, I would normally say something to the effect of, “stop what you’re doing and look him up.” In this case, however, Patton has touched so many different musical acts over the years that I’d feel comfortable rolling the dice on the premise that you’re already familiar with the man’s work.

As a music critic, I’ll never understand the appeal of a top 10 list. If you’re a music writer who gives all genres a fair shake (which I am), the list inevitably tends to look a lot like everyone else’s.

It is all too common for bands to form out of sheer boredom, and that’s exactly what Crystal Castles used to sound like. Used to.

Back in 2008, Crystal Castles came under some intense fire in Canada for repurposing free, instrumental chiptunes tracks and having vocalist Alice Glass shriek over them.

Everyone has one of those friends that talks about how “music sucks these days,” and further, how the only good stuff still being made is from established bands. Unfortunately, this mentality seems to infect younger and younger people as time drags on.

All Hallows Eve is upon us, and what better way to revel in its demonic delights than with black metal, a longtime obsession of mine?

If this is the first time you’ve ever heard the name Dan Deacon, then I implore you to stop reading immediately and familiarize yourself. Not for the sake of getting you, the reader, up to speed; no, because the man’s music should be celebrated by everyone with ears.

Green Day is a band that spans generations. It’s no easy feat for a group to stay commercially viable as long as Green Day has. But about four albums ago, many listeners across these generations started thinking the same thing: “I can’t believe this band is still around.”