Record #653: Nathan Edwin – Ghost Friends Forever (2012)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

When I first met Nathan Edwin, it was like a nexus in the universe.

The paths we weaved through similar childhoods, musical tastes, general vibe, same first name, and choice of college converged in an intersection that was one part admiration, one part friendship, and one part bitter rivalry.

And while we may have moved apart musically, there was a  moment in time where we were both employing the same sort of subdued, scrappy folk rock that drew as much from legends like Dylan and Guthrie as it did more contemporary voices like Bright Eyes and Devendra Banhart. Luckily, Nate stuck around that vibe a lot longer, which is good since he was way better at it than I was anyway.

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Record #652: Late Bloomer – Things Change (2014)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

To further showcase just how much I’ve been slacking on this blog, this record was sent to me at the same time as Jet Black’s wonderful L’Ere du Vide, which I got before Christmas.

Admittedly, it was a little hard for me to give this record the time it deserves, buried as it was under a deluge of Christmas records that I was spending more time with. But as I’ve listened to this bit of rambunctious alt-rock, I’ve fallen in love with it.

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Record #651: Jet Black – L’Ère du Vide (2018)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

As broad as I like to think my musical tastes are, there are times that I might actually be pretty predictable.

Take for example my love of dark, guitar heavy, shoegaze inspired indie rock. So infamous am I for my love of this aesthetic that around Christmas, a friend messaged me this album on Spotify saying I would probably like it.

Later that same day, another friend sent me a vinyl copy as a present.

They were both very correct.

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Record #650: The End of the Ocean – -aire (2019)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Post rock is typically a patient genre. Bands build elaborate landscapes of cinematic splendor and emotional catharsis that evoke the heights and depths of the human experience. But this usually takes a while: it’s not unusual for a post rock tune to sail right past the seven-minute mark—or even the ten minute mark.

But on -aire, The End of the Ocean achieves the same evocative heights without wasting any time.

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Record #649: Driving Slow Motion – Arda (2019)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

One of the most interesting things about post rock is that as clear as the conventions of the genre are, it’s a rare thing for a band to put out a record that hits all the right notes without seeming derivative.

But on their debut full-length, Texas natives Driving Slow Motion offer up a brand of heavy post rock that feels fresh without adding too much to the tried-and-true post rock formula.

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Record #646: Baroness – Red Album (2007)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Baroness Red Album vinyl review

After falling in love with Purple a few years ago and Gold & Grey more recently, I’ve decided that it’s high time I dig deeper into Baroness’ celebrated back catalog.

And with just a precursory listen to their first three records, they’ve established themselves as a band that can do no wrong. This is clearly displayed on their debut full-length, Red Album, a nonstop, heavy metal tour-de-force.

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The 2010s: Best Of A Decade

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

The 2010s were an odd decade. We endured the end of the world several separate occasions, between various crackpot pastors and the long-speculated Mayan Calendar. We lost a number of legendary performers, including many of the best to ever live (Prince, Bowie, Lemmy, etc). We watched terrorism and fascism rise as the lines between truth and opinion blurred and vanished. Memes rose and fell like empires.

And in the midst of it, an onslaught of incredible music was released. Personally, my record collection grew from under a hundred to over a thousand. My tastes shifted drastically and corrected course throughout the course of the decade.

Reducing those ten years to fifty records feels like a fool’s errand, but here I am.

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