#steven hyden

[backlogbooks]

recruited liam for a moody album cover picture with Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, which was a really fun read about music rivalries!

[fairest]

“The individual barely has time to consume his own cultural products, never mind other people’s.“

— Baudrillard, 1990

[rosewatergrapefruit]

Alert the press @discotec @ President Biden @ UN

[kurtcobainindresses]

meanwhile people are kicking screaming and throwing up wishing for an oasis reunion.....get on the right side of history babes!!!

[lilyvalerieorchard]

If anyone of you interacts with any irredeemable media such as

Steven Universe

She-Ra

The Owl House

Star Vs The Forces Of Evil

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Legend Of Korra

Ducktales

Gravity Falls

Helluva Boss

Hazbin Hotel

Young Justice

Gargoyles

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sailor Moon

Dragon Ball Z

All anime

All manga

Harry Potter

X-Men

G. Willow Wilson's run on Ms. Marvel

All modern Cass Cain/Batgirl story post-One Year Later

All modern Peter Parker/Spider-Man story post-One More Day

Super Mario Bros

The Legend Of Zelda

Wolfenstein

Doom

The Last Of Us/The Last Of Us Part II

Uncharted

Ratchet & Clank

Jak & Daxter

Sly Cooper

Metal Gear Solid

Tomb Raider (old and new)

Final Fantasy

The Original Star Wars Trilogy

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Star Wars: Rebels

The Last Jedi

Lord Of The Rings

The MCU

The Mad Max saga

The Evil Dead Trilogy

Braveheart

Lethal Weapon

All films by Francis Ford Coppola

All films by Roman Polanski

All films by Woody Allen

All films by Terry Gilliam

All films by Brian De Palma

All films by Quinten Tarantino

All films by Stanley Kubrick

All films by Tim Burton

All films by Rian Johnson

All films by Don Bluth

All films by Steven Spielberg

All books by Stephen King

All comics by Dan Slott

All comics by Donny Cates

All comics by Jason Aaron

All comics by Jeremy Whitley

All comics by Grace Sina

All comics by Tom Taylor

All Comics by Tom King

All comics by Scott Snyder

All comics by James Tynion IV

All comics Brian Michael Bendis

All comics by Tini Howard

All comics by Vita Ayala

All comics by Joshua Williamson

Music by Michael Jackson

Music by Janet Jackson

Music by Prince

Music by Madonna

Music by The Beach Boys

Music by The Beatles

Music by Mozart

Music by Bach

Music by Beethoven

Music by Hyden

Music by Handel

Music by Wagner

Music by Dvorak

Music by Holst

Hideo Kojima

Greg Weisman

Weird Al

Rebecca Sugar

THEN YOU ARE AN EVIL NAZI ENABLER WHO MUST BURN!

[iwanthermidnightz]

Ask me why so many fade but I’m still here✨

[stephenmalkmusofficial]

Top Albums of 2023

Hello everyone!

It's that time of year again! For me personally, it's been a hectic year, but an exciting one too. I did my best to keep up with new music, and listened to new albums with pretty good regularity, however I didn't find myself revisiting a lot of new records, at least not yet. In the list to come, I definitely see most of them as growers, records I'll fall in love with in the years to come, that already have left a strong impression on me. Just this year alone I spent a lot of time with 2022 releases I adored like Alvvays' Blue Rev and Panda Bear & Sonic Boom's Reset, and another record I'll give special mention to in a minute. I'm hoping to fall more in love with these records, and all the records I missed this year! Let's dive in

My Favorite Record from 2022 That I Listened to For the First Time in 2023: MJ Lenderman - Boat Songs

Ripping off this gimmick from Steven Hyden, who actually put this record tied for the #1 spot last year (with Big Thief's fantastic double album that was in my own top 10). I really became enamored with the alt-country sound this year, and this record was just the perfect scratch for that itch. The songs veer from aching to rocking, sometimes in the same track. My absolute favorite song of the year was "You Are Every Girl to Me" on this album, which evokes such strong feelings in me it's hard to describe. MJ had a big year being part of Wednesday, but I'm excited to see where he goes next as a solo artist!

Honorable Mentions: The Replacements - Tim (Let It Bleed Edition) M83 - Fantasy Alan Palomo - World of Hassle Greg Mendez - Greg Mendez Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS

10. Sufjan Stevens - Javelin

I've been a Sufjan fan for a long time now, probably around 8 years or so. I've always admired his ability to capture such intimate feelings with such sweeping and varied instrumentations. His last full length under his own name, The Ascension, came out in 2020, when a lot of new music wasn't really sticking with me. The Ascension had the same vastness that I came to know in Sufjan's work, but it felt slightly distant. Javelin closes that gap. From social media posts, it seems like Sufjan has had a tough year, and this record is about grappling with pain and loss. Removed from that narrative, the songs here build and grow with such beauty that although I've only listened in full once, I'm almost saving myself from the full wallop I know this record will give me once I really dive in. Thank you Sufjan, for everything.

Crucial track: "Shit Talk"

9. Squid - O Monolith

Squid are an exciting band to come out of the vibrant post-post(-post?)-punk scene in England. I really liked their 2021 debut, Bright Green Field, but it was sprawling and epic, and it could feel tough to revisit. O Monolith takes everything that was great about BGF and builds on it, while also focusing in a bit more. With 8 songs at about 40 minutes, this record experiments with post-rock-esque tension builds, vocoders, and engaged, involved guitar work. I feel like these songs will work well live as well. Excited to see how this band continues to grow!

Crucial track: "Siphon Song"

8. Wednesday - Rat Saw God

I know, I know, how surprising. I am not immune to Wednesday's Rat Saw God being on my year end list. Despite not having listened to this record a ton, I can definitely already feel like this is going to go down as a critical cornerstone of where alternative/guitar-oriented rock music will go for maybe the rest of the decade. As I fell in love with MJ Lenderman's Boat Songs, I grew to appreciate this record more and more. With huge, crushing fuzzed-out electric guitars mixed with beautiful pedal steel, it's really hard to resist this record's charms. Even revisiting their 2021 record, Twin Plagues, was a delight. Can't wait to listen to it more!

Crucial track: "Chosen to Deserve"

7. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES

Another hyped up album I couldn't help but put on my list. While not being super long to begin with, this record flies by, and it can be hard to miss everything. I've been a fan of Danny Brown for awhile, and have skirted around JPEGMAFIA's work, so this was a good introduction to hear them work so well together. JPEG's production here is insane, and both are firing at full mischievous speed. Just check out that sample at the end of "Fentanyl Tester".

Crucial track: "Fentanyl Tester"

6. Mitski - The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We

Yay! Mitski! After the kind of underwhelming Laurel Hell from last year, this record finds Mitski back at nearly full strength. Again, my weakness for pedal steel bleeds through, and I love Mitski experimenting with a new, more acoustic and natural sound. This is another record I haven't listened to more than once or twice yet, but I'm still excited to fall more in love with it. She's back!!

Crucial Track: "Bug Like an Angel"

5. The Tubs - Dead Meat

As a huge fan of bands such as Los Campesinos! and Martha, I've always had a soft spot for British rock bands with heart. The Tubs are no different, and in my year-end revisit, this record really stood out to me. It has the jangle of old British folk and early R.E.M. with the propulsion of Joyce Manor, not forsaking sweet melodies and harmonies along the way. At 28 minutes long, I insist you give this a spin!

Crucial track: "That's Fine"

4. Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World

For a long time, Yo La Tengo admittedly did not click with me that much. I'm not sure what changed, but their ability to vary between raucous, distorted shoegaze to calm, reflective instrumentals really stuck with me. On This Stupid World, they've once again found that sweet balance. Bolstered by arguably one of the best concerts I went to this year, I've really come to love this record a lot.

Crucial Track: "This Stupid World"

3. Avey Tare - 7s

Avey Tare has always been my favorite member of Animal Collective. His 2019 record, Cows on Hourglass Pond, is my favorite solo release from anyone in the group. Avey has apparently been sitting on 7s for a little bit now, and I'm so glad it's in the world. Avey continues his unique blend of experimentation with profound moments of beauty, melody and depth. He's also been working more with the bass guitar on his and AnCo's latest albums, and it really works well on tracks like "Invisible Darlings" and "The Musical". Hey Bog is an epic in a year full of Animal Collective epics. Very happy with this one!

Crucial Track: "Lips at Night"

2. Animal Collective - Isn't It Now?

Animal Collective have always inspired a dedicated, eager fanbase. After a few years doing their own things, the four core members of the group have reunited to make an ultimate "for the heads" record, with Isn't It Now. Last year's Time Skiffs built on a lot of things the band as a four-piece did well, and made it more melodic and accessible (again, Avey's bass playing and Panda Bear sitting behind a proper drum kit have changed their sound in a way you wouldn't expect), however this record takes it one step deeper. As typical with Animal Collective records, the band often plays songs that will appear on the *next* record on tour for the one they just put out. As a result, when I saw Animal Collective twice last year, they played most of the songs that ended up on this record. However, I did not fall victim to demoitis, and these songs sound magnificent. Definitely their densest record, but full of rich sounds, melodies and just the right amount of melancholy. Really really love this one.

Crucial Track: "Genie's Open"

1.Jeff Rosenstock - HELLMODE

Jeff Rosenstock is my favorite musical artist. For nearly 20 years, everything he has put out, whether under his own name with his backing "Death Rosenstock" group, Bomb the Music Industry!, or Antarctigo Vespucci, has been great to amazing punk music. On HELLMODE, his first full-length since moving to California in early 2020, has Jeff more level-headed and reflective than ever, but also bursting with the sheer kinetic energy that has made his work a joy to listen to and experience since i became a fan in early college (seriously, go see Jeff live if you can!). There's a maturation here that doesn't sacrifice his passion in the slightest. This feels like a big budget record, but in all the right ways. Songs like I WANNA BE WRONG, 3 SUMMERS, and LIFE ADMIN capture the feelings of trying to work through your own life with so much crashing down around us. This has been the most in-love I've been with a new record in a long time, where I could really not get enough of it in the first month when it was released.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Here's hoping to a peaceful, loving and fulfilling 2024. Much love to all!

[sinceileftyoublog]

GBV 40

Photo by Allison Ryder

BY JORDAN MAINZER

It's a popular wink-wink-nod-nod joke among the diehard Guided By Voices fanbase that dedicated GBV fandom is #notacult (but kind of a cult). You'd think that Robert Pollard and company were in on the joke, considering they decided to celebrate 40 years of the band's existence at a venue built by a 14-group Masonic Temple Association, which is a true story and not the name of the band's new single. As a full disclosure converted GBV head who has in the past attended Heedfest, the band's long-running fan weekend chock full of cover sets and Miller Lites, this first weekend in September absolutely felt like an extension of it, a full-on celebration of all things Guided By Voices. Celebrity superfan Paddy Considine came from overseas with his son Joe, playing a covers set at the Yellow Cab Tavern in Dayton's Oregon District. During the encore of GBV's first night at the Dayton Masonic Center, Scott Marshall (of Chavez fame), Matador Records Director of Digital, A&R Jake Whitener, and GBV manager David Newgarden presented Pollard with a "Most Valuable Lead Singer" trophy. Even Dinosaur Jr.'s J Mascis, normally reserved, gave the crowd a half-hearted "G! B! V!" chant during the band's opening set. Miller Lites at the venue (along with most other beer) cost a measly $6 per can, a bargain in 2023. During the second night, Pollard took a moment to thank the alcohol distributor, who may or may not have been stocking his personal cooler full of beer bottles and the once-again passed around Jose Cuervo. What's for sure is those bottles were fueling Pollard's high-kicks, 2022 busted knee be damned. Always different, always the same: It was The Fall. Is it now Guided By Voices?

Photo by Allison Ryder

Yes, the same spirit pervades GBV: In a recent beginner's guide to the band, Uproxx critic Steven Hyden described them as having "one foot in the bowling alley, and another foot in the art gallery," whether that's the band's early R.E.M.-indebted material, lo-fi golden era, Aughts arena rock attempts, or the current, arguably most prolific late-career lineup. The quartet of guitarists Doug Gillard and Bobby Bare Jr., bassist Mark Shue, and drummer Kevin March is certainly the most formidable group of instrumentalists to ever back Pollard, and his songwriting on this lineup's albums has notably embraced the proggier, more epic side of his forebears. During the band's anniversary concerts, they paid curatorial attention to these newfound favorites just as much as the "Motor Away" and "Tractor Rape Chain"s: the tempo-changing "Alex Bell", bopping "Dance of Gurus", and even absurdist poem "Razor Bug", delivered a capella by Pollard and Shue. Pollard also admitted how the band tackles the old imperfections, joking that March made sure to play all the original studio version "fuck-ups" from "My Impression Now".

But GBV also had work to do. This year so far, they've released two albums, La La Land and live-to-tape gem Welshpool Frillies, and purportedly (shocker) have two more in the can. Only this band could garner this much crowd enthusiasm by opening a four-decade celebration with the first three songs from their latest album, but when they're as good as the jagged "Meet the Star", cascading "Cruisers' Cross", and Cheap Trick-meets-Crazy Horse ripper "Romeo Surgeon", it doesn't really matter, does it? The sets in general were treated like a normal GBV marathon, featuring but not overwhelmingly dominated by their most recent output. Gillard's trademark guitars chimed through the sludgy "Seedling", while La La Land's "Queen of Spaces" offered a necessarily languid breather between "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)" and "Motor Away". To my pleasure, on night two, the band played La La Land closer "Pockets", a song about exactly what you think, that nonetheless exemplifies Pollard's ethos: As long as you have a sense of wonder and a penchant for songwriting, you can maintain constant creativity. Songwriting can be a daily exercise.

Built to Spill

Throughout the celebration, Pollard expressed thanks for past and present incarnations of GBV (joking that the current youngins help him up the stairs) as well as the other bands joining the celebration. The inspired lineup was a mix of 90's contemporaries (Dinosaur Jr,, Built to Spill), Dayton connections (the birthplace of Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom and Dino J.'s Lou Barlow), and new indie rock royalty (Kiwi Jr., Wednesday). Dinosaur Jr., Marshalls stacked upon Marshalls, treated the crowd to eternity-long fuzz jams heavy on their earliest albums, from "Gargoyle" and their faithful "Just Like Heaven" cover to "The Lung" and "Freak Scene". The next night, Built to Spill also offered a set with plenty of guitar solos and extended intros and codas, respectively bookending the set on the slow-burning "Stop The Show" and eternal "Carry The Zero". As for their (sort-of) cover, they chose The Halo Benders' "Virginia Reel Around the Fountain" and not Heartless Bastards' "The Mountain" since, well, the real thing had played right before them.

Heartless Bastards

Heartless Bastards are not a band you'd normally associate with 90's indie rock, though I wouldn't have expected Built to Spill bassist Melanie Radford to sing Wennerstrom's part so convincingly last time I saw BTS. Wennestrom and Martsch came out with Heartless Bastards on night two for "The Mountain", but I saw where the Texas-via-Ohio rockers fit in with the band lineup even more on other songs. Yes, their brand of blues-rock is unique, not quite punchy, certainly eschewing raw psychedelia for grooves or high and lonesome country. But while Wennerstrom's throaty singing led the hazy "Photograph", the song's instrumental outro with gorgeous guitar work snuggled beside Wednesday and Built to Spill. And the chugging back catalog highlight "Gray" came across almost like a GBV ripper with keyboards.

Kiwi Jr.

Wednesday

And then there were the up and comers. Toronto's Kiwi Jr. combined the instrumental concision of GBV with the storytelling of a band like Wednesday. They took from their three very good records, concentrating on their Sub Pop albums Cooler Returns and Chopper in their brief set, contextualizing "Maid Marian's Toast" and "The Sound of Music" (about insurance fraud and Christopher Plummer), easing the crowd into a night of clatter. Wednesday, meanwhile, was the unabashed non-GBV highlight of the entire festival, the band that converted the unfamiliar and justified those of us who have hyped them up. Their quintessential country-gaze was on full display from the moment they queued up the buzz saws of "Hot Rotten Grass Smell". "Chosen to Deserve" was the bonafide ne'er-do-well anthem, the song of the summer for the bad kids, Xandy Chelmis absolutely slaying on pedal steel. Of course, lead vocalist Karly Hartzman's drawl-cum-yodel was the perfect medium to communicate stories of people dying in Planet Fitness parking lots, getting electrocuted by your own house, and toothless men on oxygen tanks smoking cigarettes. But it was "Bull Believer" that absolutely brought the house down, tears in the eyes of people who had never heard the song before. In a rare move on a normally apolitical GBV stage, Hartzman decried the nadirs of the nation, from the return of student loan payments to the policing of Black and Brown and LGBTQ+ bodies. She invited the crowd to scream along in anger as she beckoned "Finish him!" Perhaps that's what even implored Pollard to, out of nowhere between "Twilight Campfire" and "To Keep An Area", declare, "We live in a shitty country...Everything is crooked as fuck!" It was a small moment, perhaps inconsequential, but one that really hammered down for me that after all these years, Pollard's done what he's always done: change.

[glass-needles-and-futurisms]

Bellamy has described The 2nd Law as a “Christian gangsta-rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient rebellious dubstep and face-melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia.” Actually, it’s a lot more convoluted than that. “Panic Station” is like an outtake from an unreleased Rush album from 1986 produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, except really odd. The torch-y balladry of “Explorers” imagines a scenario in which Celine Dion performs Jeff Buckley’s Grace in its entirety while riding a flaming seahorse through downtown Las Vegas. The very pretty “Save Me,” one of two songs sung by bassist Christopher Wolstenholme, dials it back a bit, crossbreeding Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song” with the opening track from Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity.

— Steven Hyden, "The Meaning of Muse", Grantland, 2 October 2012

A fascinating mixed review of The 2nd Law. While I disagree with some of the individual song opinions, it's still a surprisingly great overview of the band's genre-mashing and how they fit into the larger music landscape of the time.

[rainbow-murderers]

WILLIAM GEORGE 'BILL' BONIN

THE FREEWAY KILLER

Born: January 8, 1947. Willimantic, Connecticut, USA

Died: 12:13 a.m. February 23, 1996 (aged 49) Executed by Lethal Injection. San Quentin, California, USA

Religion: Catholic

I.Q: 121

Psychiatric Diagnosis: Bipolar Disorder

Physical Diagnosis: substantial damage to prefrontal cortex may have reduced his ability to hold back violent impulses. Extensive scar tissue noted on head and buttocks.

Criminal Charges:

16 counts of murder

5 counts of kidnapping

5 counts of sodomy

1 count of oral copulation

1 count of oral copulation

1 count of rape

1 count of forcible copulation of a minor

1 count of attempted kidnapping

11 counts of robbery

1 count of mayhem

Span of killings: May 28, 1979 – June 2, 1980

Country: USA State: California

Date apprehended: June 11, 1980

Final Meal: Two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas, three pints of coffee ice cream and three six-packs of regular Coca Cola.

Identified Victims:

1. Thomas Lundgren (13): May 28, 1979

2. Mark Shelton (17): August 4, 1979

3. Markus Grabs (17): August 5, 1979

4. Donald Ray Hyden (15): August 27, 1979

5. David Murillo (17): September 9, 1979

6. Robert Wirostek (18): September 17, 1979

7. John Doe (19–25): c. November 1, 1979

8. Frank Dennis Fox (17): November 30, 1979

9. John Kilpatrick (15): December 10, 1979

10. Michael McDonald (16): January 1, 1980

11. Charles Miranda (15): February 3, 1980

12. James Macabe (12): February 3, 1980

13. Ronald Gatlin (18): March 14, 1980

14. Glenn Barker (14): March 21, 1980

15. Russell Rugh (15): March 21, 1980

16. Harry Todd Turner (15): March 24, 1980

17. Steven Wood (16): April 10, 1980

18. Darin Lee Kendrick (19): April 29, 1980

19. Lawrence Sharp (17): May 17, 1980

20. Sean King (14): May 19, 1980

21. Steven Wells (18): June 2, 1980

▶️ The Freeway Killer (documentary)

[ifjanetranit]

I read a book! Let me start off by saying I was just out of college when Pearl Jam became huge. I was 22, I had just started my first real job that didn’t require donning a name tag, I was married, and I was living in the Seattle area-ish. Pearl Jam was a big deal. Over 30 years later, I still work for the same employer, I’m still married (same dude), I still live in the Seattle area-ish, and I still (occasionally) listen to Pearl Jam. I am not one of those people who ever thought Pearl Jam was lame or uncool. Perhaps because I am lame and uncool. I also clearly stick with things. Steven Hyden is a music critic and he didn’t interview Pearl Jam for Long Road because, as he points out, Pearl Jam wrote their own book in 2011. He’s just a know it all rock critic who thinks he knows rock bands and their cultural impact better than they do. He set up his book like a mixtape. Sold! Hyden spends a lot of time talking about Ten, Pearl Jam’s 1991 breakthrough album. He shares how Pearl Jam might have seemed overrated or not that cool compared to Nirvana at the time if you lived in Seattle, but to kids like him in the Midwest in the prehistoric age before the internet, Pearl Jam seemed VERY cool. Hyden breaks down the 90’s rise to fame, the story behind Pearl Jam’s five drummers, the post-Kurt fallout, the Ticketmaster debacle, how they put Vitology on vinyl (an eccentric move back then when vinyl was headed for extinction), how “Betterman” became a singalong, and some other 90’s gems. He delves into the bootlegs and talks about how Pearl Jam became a jam band in the 2000s. Lastly, he points out that as of this writing all band members are still alive, even the ones who are no longer in the band, which — sadly — is very unusual for bands of that era. As a Gen X Pearl Jam fan I found Long Road very engaging although I know this book isn’t for everyone. I give it 15 “Yellow Ledbetter” guitar solos. #ireadabook https://www.instagram.com/p/CnzWGagLM0aFcBWY1KoujLrzgyGAKkqeKjVZgI0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chansonsinternationales]

Les 40 ans de Born in the U. S. A. | Douze nuances d’Amérique et de Bruce Springsteen | La Presse

[rosewatergrapefruit]

Reading that rock n roll star is the greatest called shot in music history even when I’ve read it a hundred times >>>>

[eitmonline]

EITM Playlist 2/15/24

d4vd - Leave Her | 6:11

Boeckner - Euphoria | 6:26

Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching | 6:31

Housewife - I Lied | 7:02

Waxahatchee - Bored | 7:33

Drake ft. Sexyy Red & SZA - Rich Baby Daddy | 7:44

Kittie - Eyes Wide Open | 7:49

Noah Kahan - Forever | 8:26

The Struts - How Can I Love You | 8:50

U2 - Atomic City (David Guetta Remix) | 9:29

IDLES - Grace | 9:40

Coldplay - Yellow | 9:45

Soundgarden - Rusty Cage | 10:16

Soundgarden - 4th Of July | 10:45

[darksecretmedia]

Bory's new single "We Both Won" is on Uproxx's list of the best tracks of October: https://uproxx.com/indie/steven-hyden-favorite-music-of-october-2023-dusk-bory/

[stephenmalkmusofficial]

Steven Hyden saying he’s traveling to Milwaukee to see Bob Dylan twice this weekend…I really feel like he’d do numbers on here