Over the years, I've come to enjoy listening to music on vinyl. I'm a big fan of the collection aspect behind the whole thing. Trying to be one of the first to snag a limited edition pressing, or reading the album's liner notes and learning more about the band. It adds another level to the listening experience, with the best vinyl packages giving you a peek into the lives and tastes of the artist. But above all else, it's important to me that I have tangible copies of my favorite albums because I'm the type of person to associate music with memories. And owning the music behind the memories i ..read more

Over the years, I've come to enjoy listening to music on vinyl. I'm a big fan of the collection aspect behind the whole thing. Trying to be one of the first to snag a limited edition pressing, or reading the album's liner notes and learning more about the band. It adds another level to the listening experience, with the best vinyl packages giving you a peek into the lives and tastes of the artist. But above all else, it's important to me that I have tangible copies of my favorite albums because I'm the type of person to associate music with memories. And owning the music behind the memories is ..read more

One morning, a couple months ago when the air was wringing its hands with the remains of January’s brine, I took to my standard routine of stretching before heading out on a walk. After rolling my yoga mat onto the floor and pushing up my blinds to flood my bedroom with the ever elusive Cleveland sunshine, I found myself yearning for a change in the songs I’d been habitually greeting the day with. Luckily, I was guided by having a slight mumble of the kind of feel I was in search of for this particular morning’s flow and decided to take a chance on it. Full of intention and empty of a second ..read more

Existential dread is inherently relatable, but that doesn’t make it catchy. No Yonder does. Their debut album, autofocus, is full of anthemic longing—a collection of indie rock toe-tappers that urges the audience to sing along to our sorrows in impervious harmony. Lead singer Brad Gerke’s lyrics are self-deprecating and delightfully detailed while remaining faithful to stick-to-your-ribs melodies. In “Steel Trap” he writes, “I used to be a sharp one/Now I’m as dull as they come/If you add up my parts/You’ll get a whole lot less than the sum”. Lines like these display a knack for rhythm in lan ..read more

One spin through the record felt like meeting a group of old friends for the first time. With his latest album, Wild Azaleas and Other Tall Tales, Tyler Key has crafted a collection of story songs steeped in tradition and marching steadfastly forward. Fresh yet familiar. Comforting yet surprising. The LP spans the narrative spectrum from amusing anecdotes in “Spice of Life” to murderous epics in “Last Rites”, with each song carving its own seat at the campfire. It’s no small feat to write an album that’s rich in lyricism and ultimately joyful. Each tall tale comes filtered through the voice o ..read more

I didn’t realize how much I’d missed the ringing in my ears until the smell of stale Pabst welcomed me into Smith’s Olde Bar. I hadn’t gone to a show in over a year. It wasn’t the lineup of local bands that drew me out of my studio apartment. It was everything orbiting the stage. The chatter of a couple complaining about the flat Sprite in their plastic-cupped cocktails. The struggle for a perfect place to see the drummer and bass player make intermittent eye contact. The limitless potential of an open tab in a crowded room. Of course, the first cough in the audience sent me scrambling like a ..read more

It takes one confident kid to hear the finger-defying intro of “Eruption” and think, That’s what I’m going to do when I grow up. Luckily for those of us less dexterous than the late great Eddie Van Halen, there’s plenty of real estate on the spectrum of musicality to lay claim to. Garage and punk rock pioneers set out to prove anyone who knew 3 chords and had a quarter-inch cable could plug in and make waves. But it wasn’t always easy to capture that lip-pierced lightning in a bottle. Artists hoping to harness the energy of a Saturday night at CBGB’s would likely have to cut a record at a stu ..read more

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