VoS-Adjacent:
Hypomanic Daydream - The Yearning - Fiadh Productions - 18-07-25 - Tailspin of the Atmosrider — Pure emotion perfectly wielded to create something entirely not of this universe.
Titanic - HAGEN - TAR / MM / UOH - 05-09-25 - La Dueña — Visionary enigma unwillingly charms the world with compositions that pierce both the heart & the brain.
Gorycz - Zasypia - Piranha Music - 03-10-25 - Wybacza — Cathartic hymns that would make Griderman, Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party blush as they sail down the Łyna in a burned out barge.
SANAM - Sametou Sawtan - 19-09-25 - Constellation Records - Hamam — Elemental brew of the morphemes concocted out of memory, anguish and ablution tenaciously rippling in a fiery dabke to the cacophony of indurated boombox speakers.
Phantom Spell - Heather & Hearth - 18-09-25 - Cruz del Sur Music - A Distant Shore — The invocation of the old to bring forth a lush future full of baroque wonder and razor sharp riffs & twin harmonies.
Non-VoS Adjacent
Gwenifer Raymond - Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark - 05-09-25 - We Are Busy Bodies - Jack Parsons Blues — Crisp virtuosity funneled through a jagged tunnel of poison-tipped blades and the somber march of strings plucking infinity.
Širom - In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper - 03-10-25 - Glitterbeat Records - The Hangman’s Shadow Fifteen Years On — Breathing the smoke of life through a creature born on the shores of a parallel universe filmed with a vintage lens concocted of light and barbed wire.
Hateful Abandon - Threat - 10-02-25 - Sentient Ruin Laboratories - Scavenger — The bitter roar and stomp of concrete obliterating everything in its wake while the hum of the city sedately rolls on in the background.
Various Artists - Tehrangeles Vice (Iranian Diaspora Pop 1983-1993) - 17-10-25 - Discotchari/Critique - Man Va Tou — Tears and laughter all laid out on the dancefloor of life and in a Firebird zooming down the 405 in ecstasis and sorrow.
црвених цветова - хорошее настроение - 11-07-25 - Independent - автоледи — The banalities of life inside the ever-twisting vacuum of boiling stars landing down on the heads of passerbys deep in the existential dread of their uncertain fates presented as a nervous smile masquerading as the “good mood” of walking ghosts.
Favorite Concert 2025
Julian Lage Trio (Julian Lage, Jorge Roeder, Joey Baron) [Village Vanguard, 07-05-25] Restraint of three kinetic flamethrowers aimed directly at your subconscious.
Favorite 2025 Theater Movies
Weapons Simply because it felt like the heyday of movie-going with every emotional gamut being run in the audience—from shrieking to laughing to gasping. Went in blind.
Relay Dynamic ping-pong between the main leads that recalls a modern version of “The Conversation” with sobering results.
Favorite 2025 Streaming Movies
Universal Language Interzone between Tehran and Winnipeg and that’s just scratching the surface, Universal Language is a slow burn that singes your prefrontal cortex as much as it blazes the imagination.
Riff Raff Ensemble cast from Dito Montiel that seemed to be universally frowned upon by critics similar to the hype-hate around supergroups. Gritty, hilarious and at times heartfelt.
Favorite 2024 Book
Jesse Lonergan - DROME A reimagination of creation myths the whole tome is insightful crafted work of art worthy of any bookshelf.
