It's hot and it's black

It's hot and it's black

It's hot and it's black

story by Celia Herrera

She looked like she stepped right out of the pages of a fashion magazine and onto the stage at Rock Island nightclub. "Caf‚ Nuba!" she announced, and without delay the crowd responded, "It's hot, it's black!"  more  >>>

re(tro)view

Barking up the wrong tree can be a precarious thing. Self-indulgent and unkind, Chicago's Tusk knows the consequences of looking for something that isn't there. Released in August of 2004, Tree of No Return is Tusk's aural documentation of a maddening descent into oblivion. It's a mess of noise and guttural guitars, shaky screams and bass tones to move bowels. It's like camping in the woods with a serial killer on the loose and the sunrise hours away.

Not quite doom metal, not quite stoner rock, and just barely on the artsy hardcore side, Tusk reaches for experimentation. They blend moody atmosphere with heavy beating and come out with blood on their knees.  more   >>>

frank zappa album review

In a documentary filmed after the death of Frank Zappa in 1993, a film crew descended into the late musician's vault. The underground space, devoted entirely to his audio and video recordings, was so vast that the visitors were forced to don miner's helmets in order to navigate its labyrinthine depths.

Vautlernative records, headed by Zappa's widow Gail and engineer Joe Travers (dubbed impressively as the "Vaultmaster") is dedicated to exploring this largely untapped resource.  more  >>>

The rhythm of the road

I love to drive. Piloting a well-tuned machine through a high-speed technical corner is pure bliss. A great drive connects me to my soul, but my soul feels its best when it has a good soundtrack. Music invigorates everyone's soul, but I think it's best served while racing a 12-second car down a mountain pass. Driving is just better when it has a sublime soundtrack.

I've driven all kinds of cars, from a Geo Metro to single-seat formula racecars, and the best by far are those with great audio systems on board.  more  >>>

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