Camera Obscura’s ‘Look To The East, Look To The West’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 05/16/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

The Glaswegian chamber-pop quartet’s comeback record finds the group nestling back into its comfort zone, soothing the soul like the band used to. Read my full review on FLOOD‘s website.

METZ’s ‘Up on Gravity Hill’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags , on 05/11/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

The Toronto noise-punks’ fifth LP sees their familiarly angular guitars working through melodies that range from ear-sweetening to atonal, furthering the mystery that is the Sub Pop band METZ. Read more on FLOOD.

Orbit Culture Plan to ‘Come Back Big’ in 2025

Posted in Interviews with tags , on 05/09/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

The Swedish metal band is eager to proving they aren’t just another melodic death-metal band from the country that brought legendary status to the subgenre. Read more of my interview with them courtesy of Music Connection.

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum ‘Got on Top of a Pile of Festering Rat Carcasses’

Posted in Interviews with tags on 05/07/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Don’t believe that headline? Check out my feature on the wild — and wildly unclassifiable — band in my Music Connection profile.

Inter Arma’s ‘New Heaven’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags on 05/04/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

The Virginia sludge quintet’s fifth album, issued via Relapse Records, exhibits Inter Arma’s penchant for probing the innards of metal and reconstructing it into a seamless new visage. Read more on FLOOD.

Flipside Fest’s Fall Festivities Fizzle for 2024

Posted in News with tags , on 04/29/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

In another setback for the struggling music scene in Boise, Idaho, the promoter of Flipside Fest announced today that they have canceled this year’s installment of the event.

The promoters behind the festival, The Duck Club, said the multi-stage, multi-day event will happen again next year. Nevertheless, the cancellation of Flipside Fest 2024 is the latest black eye for concert organizers in Boise, following one of the most lackluster Treefort Fest events in recent memory.

“Don’t worry, Flipside friends: We will be back!” read a post on the website for promoter The Duck Club. “You may be asking, ‘Why is Flipside taking a year off?’ To put it simply: the Duck Club team needs a bit of a summer break.”

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Drahla’s ‘Angeltape’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags , on 04/27/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Drahla’s sophomore album, released via Captured Tracks, sees the Leeds-based trio overcoming grief over instrumental flourishes that recall yesteryear while artfully resisting the lure of entering a time machine. Read more of my album review on FLOOD.

Congrats To Tim Heidecker For Joining Bloodshot

Posted in Comedy, News with tags , on 04/24/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Rat’s off to ya too for the new record you’re putting out later this year. Best see a doctor first, though, Tim (not Dr. San)!

High On Fire’s ‘Cometh The Storm’: Two Cent Review

Posted in Album Reviews, Reviews with tags , on 04/22/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

After a relatively long wait, Matt Pike’s sludge-metal outfit High on Fire return with their most adventurous, pigeonhole-smashing, and idiosyncratic release to date. Here is my FLOOD review.

Boise’s Music Scene Just Can’t Get It Together

Posted in Essays with tags , , , , on 04/15/2024 by Kurt Orzeck

Over roughly the past decade, the most popular conversational topic among music fans living in Boise is how the city’s live-music scene continues to build in size and strength, attracting more national acts to perform here than ever before. Locals begrudgingly admit the growth is due to the influx of fresh transplants and the economic boon those newcomers have bequeathed to a city, even if it might forever be referred to as a merely “up-and-coming” place.

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