RSS Feed Update And Other House Cleaning

To those of you who subscribe to the RSS feed of this website, I just rolled out an improved feed, so you may want to update your RSS reader. The new URL is https://thebigreason.com/feed/

Don’t Fear the Soprano

I picked up the ukulele some years back because I wanted an instrument I could bring places with me more easily than I can my double bass. I’ve gotten pretty into it, and recently had a custom instrument built for me. When you have the opportunity to completly spec something out, you really explore the possibilities and form some opinions. Believe me, I have some opinions. But first, some background.

New Music Tuesday: Benji Hughes, Songs in the Key of Animals

This record initially caught my eye for the awesome watercolor cover. It didn’t really do it for me at first, and I was going to skip this week, but I found myself actually listening to it quite a bit. I think you should listen to it, too.

I’d Be Astonished If I Were Amused

In which I also played bass some ukulele, and sang some harmonies. This was my first time recording music in many years. Many. As in, before people really used computers to do it at home. This was released last September, so I thought it was about time I mentioned it here.

New Music Tuesday: Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Arc

Another band previously off my radar, Agoraphobic Nosebleed (ANb), has a new EP and it’s a welcome kick-off to the new year; And likely a kickoff to a new obsession for me.

Top Music Of 2015

My last.fm scrobbler was half cocked this year. I dove into Apple Music which doesn’t scrobble streaming music, but I think this is still an accurate representation of my listening for the year.

I Sold Out

My song “The Creekside Serenade” is featured in the new Nugget Markets Instagram spot.

New Music Tuesday: Drug Cabin, Wiggle Room

My wife found this record over the weekend. She has a keen eye for wicked shit. I’m not sure how she stumbled upon this one, but I lit up as soon as she did. Drug Cabin’s Wiggle Room is like Ween made a whole record of all psychedelic songs. I consider myself pretty much the biggest Ween fan there is, so this is really saying something. The best part is that this is actually their second album this year, so it’s like Ween made two records of all psychedelic songs!

Have Misophonia? The Problem Is Misophonia

A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal published a piece by Elizabeth Bernstein that didn’t go over very well with the misophonia community. I have been asked for my thoughts on this article by a few friends, and now that I’ve had a few weeks to gather them, I think I finally have something useful to contribute.

New Music Tuesday: Beach House, Thank Your Lucky Stars

Thank Your Lucky Stars is the second album this year from shoe-gazer duo, Beach House. Do people call it shoe-gazer music anymore? I always thought that was stupid. Regardless, their previous album, Depression Cherry, was released just a few months ago. Both records were recorded at the same time. While I do find this to be a pretty bad ass feat, I’m not going to go into comparisons here. I’ll let this one stand on its own.

New Music Tuesday: Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, Coulda Shoulda Woulda

Confession: I haven’t been following Holly Golightly since Thee Headcoatees disbanded in the late 90s. This was a grave error on my part. Coulda Shoulda Woulda is the eighth release by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs. I have some serious catching up to do, and that’s just what I’ve been doing the past few days.

Why Isn’t Daniel Romano The Biggest Fucking Deal In Country Music Yet?

A few weeks ago, I got an alert from my Bands in Town account that Daniel Romano would finally be in Northern California. Kristyn and I have been waiting for him to come around for years, so we immediately jumped on the opportunity before it sold out.

New Music Tuesday: Billy Talbot Band, Dakota

Billy Talbot is the bass player for Crazy Horse. That’s not how I know of him, though. Despite the fact that I’m a bass player, I don’t really pay much attention to bass players. I pay attention to songs, and these caught my ear this week.

New Release Tuesday: PaRtY CaNnOn, Bong Hit Hospitalisation

Last week, a Bay Area Deathfest concert poster made the rounds on Twitter in the graphic design circles I run in. You can probably guess why. PaRtY CaNnOn is a stoner goregrind (party slam?) band from Dunfermline, Scotland, and they released a new record this year. Let’s review it!

New Music Tuesdays

From the early 1990s through the turn of the millennium, I worked for a music distributor. During this time, Tuesdays were the day all of the new releases came out, and the Fridays prior were when we received our shipments of these new albums. Because most music is sold digitally now (and likely to help curb file sharing), the industry recently changed Street Date to Fridays.

New Music Tuesday: Leigh Nash, The State I’m In

Switching gears from the satanic (I’ve been listening to a lot of that new Ghost record lately) and moving across to the other side of Christianity, Leigh Nash has a new country record. Actually, much like her Sixpence None the Richer hits, none of these songs are overtly Christian, but I needed a creative digression.

New Music Tuesday: Legendary Shack Shakers, The Southern Surreal

I have to admit, I’m struggling to like this one. I like the swampy dirt vibe they are going for here a lot, but I’m a little disappointed by the execution.

New Music Tuesday: Ghost, Meliora

Finding new music is one of my favorite pastimes, and I hope to document more of it here. Yesterday I stumbled upon Ghost’s (formerly Ghost B.C.) new album, Meliora.

Bleed

Apple Music

The consensus is that the Apple Music unveiling bombed yesterday, and so will the service itself. The incoherence of it all was disappointing coming from Apple, but is pretty on par for the recorded music industry.

June 2015 Gigs

I’m ramping up the gigs this month. Mark needs a new ukulele.

How To Do A Sound Check

I was cruising YouTube this evening, you know, getting some tips to hone my live sound skillz, when I found this!

Coffee Cups

Every morning my wife gets this coffee cup out for me, and every day I put it back and get the other one.