We’re back with more Halloween heavy metal fun, as I Penguin Pete my way through Decibel Magazine’s Precious Metal – 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces. In this book, Decibel magazine arranged interviews with the band about the making of landmark metal albums all over the scene; I was m... Keep reading →

It’s spooky season, Halloween time! So far this October I’ve been zombified by a test of a government emergency alert system, and produced our “Average Joe Travels the California Inscape” audio-fiction podcast through yet another October (Keep reading →

Every now and then, when you thumb through the top-40 hits of days gone by, you run into a song whose popularity is a puzzle. How, you ask, did this song get to be so popular? History, a cruel mistress, tends to bury cultural contexts while leaving their culminating fad phenomenon intact. Thus, we have the almighty novelty song, the favorite of radio station morning Djs looking for ... Keep reading →

I usually avoid jumping on the bandwagon eulogy whenever a famous celebrity passes. For one thing, I got tired of a music blog becoming an obituary. For another, it’s the one kind of celebrity news you’re never in search of; social media spreads the news of celebrities passing like hot butter on pancakes. But I also kinda reserve the right to poke around at the current big story ... Keep reading →

Tiger got to hunt. Penguin got to find Vonnegut references in music.

What is Welcome to the Monkey House? Well, it depends on your advanced search options: are you looking in music or literature? If you’re looking in literature, you’re talking about the short story collection by legendary and much-missed author Kurt Vonne... Keep reading →

Well, what happened to that summer? It went by in a flash of wildfires and heat waves, naturally. It’s time now for the autumn rite of passage, the return to school – and with it, these hot rock picks to stick on your headphones and get yourself in the mood while you shop for 3-ring binders and #2 pencils.

And remember, this is the beginning of school ... Keep reading →

You know that movie starring the Bee Gees? No, not Sergeant Pepper’s, I mean the other Bee Gees movie. No, not Saturday Night Fever. The one where Barry Gibb played Prince Frederick, King of Cucumb... Keep reading →

I guess I have to start out saying “R.I.P. Pee-Wee Herman,” Paul Rubens, (August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023). I would have written a whole post in tribute, but, like, everybody else in the world beat me to the keyboard as usual when we lose a real legend. But Pee-Wee fits into today’s topic, because of the beloved classic films “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure&rdquo... Keep reading →

Simon says the band of the day is Sparks! Sparks just this year – 2023 - released their studio album The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte, a title absolutely drenched in coffeehouse post-COVID weltschmerz. Critics from Metacritic to Pitchfork have raved about how palatable and fresh Sparks has remained over ... Keep reading →

I hope all you beautiful cosmic blueberries aboard Spaceship Earth and hanging in there! And as always, I beg the readers’ enduring patience; my schedule with this blog has been sporadic. On the bonus side, I have the best excuse for random post dates here, because my energy is spread across multiple freelancin’ gigs. Like, there’s more that I don’t talk about –... Keep reading →