brian

Artist: Mike Keneally (with Andy Partridge)

Album: Wing Beat Fantastic

First, I got two careers to quickly summarize here. Mike Keneally — former “stunt guitarist” for Frank Zappa’s touring band — comes across as a friendly, goofy man who simply happens, by dint of hours a day of practice, to be a jaw-droppingly brilliant guitarist. His playing has gotten more understated and subtle over his solo career. This matches the trend in his songwriting, which has developed […]

Artist: Yakuza

Album: Beyul

Yakuza, from Chicago, are a heavy metal band, and Beyul is a heavy metal album. Encyclopedia Metallum, normally a definitive web source, disagrees, which I’m told was an active, debated decision. I’m not quite sure what *else* they make, then, of Oil and Water, which barrels along at a quadruple-speed attack of distorted bass, drums, and squalling clarinet, before a commanding Rob Halford (Judas Priest)-like singer (= tuneful wailer) enters. The fierce trebly […]