Leeds – Everything’s Dandy – Official Nerfed Llamas Review

Leeds – Everything’s Dandy – Official Nerfed Llamas Review Another best album that you’ve probably never heard of… I am breaking radio silence (no new posts since January!) to spread the gospel about an album that was released this week that might be flying underneath your radar: Leeds – Everything’s Dandy. Quick aside: In case you were wondering, I am doing quite well and writing like a typenado: that’s a tornado made of typing! I finished my first ever novel project last month, which I am querying to literary agents right…

Let’s Celebrate #GlobalJamesBondDay By Ranking All The Bond Songs! @007

Let’s Celebrate Global James Bond Day By Ranking All The Bond Songs! October 5th has been Global James Bond Day since 2012. In that time, it has been customary for the production team behind the 007 films to release the theme song for the next Bond flick, starting with Adele’s Skyfall. Being as the latest Bond film has not started filming yet and as such there will be no new theme song unveiled this year, I thought it might be a good bit of fun to rank the Bond songs in…

Essential Listening: Christopher Anton #payitforward @Chris_Anton

Essential Listening: Synthpop Christian, Christopher Anton! Reach Out And Touch Faith! For the entire month of June I am “paying it forward” to a handful of creatives that I believe truly deserve some recognition. I’ve covered a lot of different acts, primarily rock artists, and one awesome country band. Now it’s time to get your feet moving with some hard hitting dance beats! Bringing this week of musically themed celebrations to a close, I felt that it would feel good to end on an upbeat and inspirational note. Christopher Anton…

Essential Listening: The Mavericks #payitforward @MavericksMusic

Essential Listening: Defiantly Independent Country Band, The Mavericks! Fine Providers of Music For All Occasions! The last couple entries have been rock n’ roll bands, so today we are going to go a little country. Although, to be fair, it would be a tad disingenuous to call the Mavericks purely a country band. They are one of those 1 in a million bands that started out definitively as one thing, and then reemerged on the other end as something else (and frankly far better) altogether. I find transformations like their’s…

Essential Listening: Islands #payitforward @NickfromIslands

Essential Listening: Indie Darlings, Islands! Purveyors of Fine Sonic Soundscapes and Cheerfully Macabre Pop/Rock Tunes! Yesterday we went neo-glam with Spacehog (see that post here), today we are switching to the layered indie pop/rock band Islands. All month long I’m paying it forward to a variety of friends, bands, video games, and movies that I feel deserve a pat on the back and a signal boost. I’m always on the hunt for new bands and sounds to keep my ears satisfied. A decade ago, a friend of mine, Jesus Torres,…

Essential Listening: Spacehog #payitforward @SPACEHOG

Essential Listening: Glam Mavens, Spacehog! Effectively the Last Bastion of Glam Rock on the Planet Last week I paid tribute to some personal friends of mine who had been making some seriously awesome things happen, 2 musicians: Craig Kotfas and Rody Hillman with full LP album releases, as well as 1 film maker: Bobby Baham who has released a variety of short film projects. This week I will be focusing on a small group of professional recording artists who have put out some tremendously great music, and have remained successful, albeit mostly…

People Getting It Done: Singer/Songwriter & Horror Guru Rody Hillman #payitforward

I Love It When I See Friends of Mine Getting Creative Things Done! Today’s spotlight is on the living laser: Rody Hillman! Yesterday was all about the beacon of positivity: Craig Kotfas. So, it’s only right and fair that I bring balance to the force by highlighting the shenanigans of my favorite force of darkness, the sarcastic drummer/zombie/laser : Rody Hillman. Rody has been continuing to work on his various projects, even through wild adversity, and that’s part of why his and Craig’s story are so inspiring. These are not the…

People Getting It Done: Singer/Songwriter & Improv Meister Craig Kotfas #payitforward @CraigKotfas

I Love It When I See Friends of Mine Getting Creative Things Done! Today’s spotlight is on Craig Kotfas! Today, and for the next couple days, I’m going to hand pick somebody from my ever widening circle of friends and known associates and highlight some of their accomplishments. The goal is twofold: first to shine a light on some wonderfully talented individuals, and second; to tell them thank you for being a source of personal inspiration. These are the folks whose stories inspire me to try and find the time…

The Monkees – Good Times: The Official Nerfed Llamas Review @theMonkees

The Monkees – Good Times: The Official Nerfed Llamas Review – Still Monkee-ing Around After 50 Years If you had told me on January 1st 2016 that not only would the Monkees release a brand new album (their first new album in 20 years) but that it would be a serious contender for my album of the year, I would have told you that you were crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Monkees. Their brand of jangle-bubblegum-pop from the sixties is a tremendous list of amazing songs. Daydream…

Best Albums You’ve Never Heard Of: The Rentals – Seven More Minutes #moog @therentals

Best Albums You’ve Never Heard Of: The Rentals – Seven More Minutes Some records fit us like a glove, regardless of whether or not the lyrics or narrative match up with our life experience. These albums transcend normal connective barriers on the basis that the content has transferable relatability. For me, The Rentals second LP release: Seven More Minutes is that type of album. Whereas a lot of the album deals with a seemingly ongoing long term off and on again relationship with an eccentric American man (front man Matt…