Brian Varney – Page 15 – Lollipop Magazine

Judas Priest – Electric Eye – Review

May 23, 2004

Though it takes nothing away from the majesty of the band’s finest rock, the videos are every bit as bad as I remember. Also included are six rare performances recorded for BBC television, 1975-1980.

Baby Plays Around – Review

May 23, 2004

Once I began to view the book as a story and not a typical rock book, my initial question was answered. Stapinski may not be a rock star, but she’s a terrific, funny writer, and a good storyteller.

Turn On Your Mind – Review

May 23, 2004

Turn On Your Mind is an expanded reprint of DeRogatis’s out-of-print first book, which was originally published in 1996 with the title Kaleidoscope Eyes.

Pelican – Australasia – Interview

April 12, 2004

An interview with guitarist Trevor de Brauw

Blacktail – Styrofoam Island – Review

March 22, 2004

Blacktail reminds me of Keelhaul, if the mathy metal influence was replaced by a love of AmRep noisefuckery and/or Touch and Go-era Butthole Surfers.

Black Helicopter – That Specific Function – Review

March 22, 2004

Monstrously sluggish tempos, the thud-heavy, stuttering beats and ponderous basslines keeping more or less the same speed and emotional heft on every track as the guitars drone compellingly and the vocalist intones the words in a spoken monotone.

The Hidden – The Hymnal EP – Review

March 22, 2004

Seven edgy but catchy little numbers, the frenzied but slightly off-center energy of the band’s attack bringing to mind both Fugazi and Di’Anno-era Iron Maiden.

Explosions in the Sky – The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place – Review

March 22, 2004

Truth be told, I probably prefer this band to Godspeed You Black Emperor, simply because the music on The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place is simpler, more efficient, and more pure in its evocation of formless beauty.

Throttlerod – Hell and High Water – Review

March 8, 2004

Hell and High Water coheres better than its predecessor, helped by the record’s impeccable production, everything sounding huge and beautiful and crushing.

Mark Lanegan Band – Here Comes That Weird Chill – Review

March 8, 2004

In addition to the synthesized percussion, you get chunky, jaggedly-distorted guitar, clanging, lurching percussion, and even some distortion on the vocals.