Music
Essays, blog posts, playlists, and more focused broadly on music. For more playlists visit my Spotify profile.
- 2022 Photo Dump ()
Photos shot September 17, 2022 at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa (for the Iowa State Cyclones vs. Ohio Bobcats football game), plus some shots from The Flying Elbow in Marshalltown (and the Mr. Mac’Man and Bang! Bang! burgers). Photos taken Saturday, June 18 at Mini Pines Miniature Golf Course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photos […]
- villin: “yezzir” ()
The “yezzir” beat was made using GarageBand, Audacity and an Akai Professional MPK Mini MKII. The video was made using Premiere Pro with audio and video samples including Pharrell Williams from Snoop Dogg’s “Let’s Get Blown” music video, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Kevin Durant’s interview on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David […]
- villin on the Fringe Radio Show, Round 2 ()
On Monday, June 20 host AL-D invited me to select another hour of music for his radio show, which hit the radio airwaves on Radio Free Nashville, featuring 20 tracks from Nashville artists: 1) Kaby & Brian Brown “Showstopper” (produced by Ohdee)2) 2’Live Bre feat. Kyle Jefferson “Put The Work In”3) Jody Joe “Nonchalant” (produced […]
- villin: “v-sides” ()
<a href=”https://villin.bandcamp.com/album/v-sides”>v-sides by villin</a> The v-sides EP includes three tracks I made in January of 2022 using the BeatMaker 3 iPad app, released as a collection on May 1. “styles” samples the “Which Cup” loop from thricedotted’s 2021 Music Loop Variety Pack!, while “ching ching” samples the #11 loop from Hip Hop Makers‘ “Free Synth Sample Pack.” Listen on Bandcamp […]
- villin on the We Own This Town Podcast ()
For well over a decade, We Own This Town has been a staple in Nashville, putting local music in the spotlight via their blog and podcast. I was asked to take part in WOTT’s 300th podcast episode, selecting a track for the milestone mix, which went live April 19, 2022. To celebrate, I went with […]
- villin on the Fringe Radio Show ()
On March 7, 2022 host AL-D invited me to select an hour of music for his radio show, which hit the radio airwaves on Radio Free Nashville, featuring 19 tracks from Nashville artists: 1) B. Cooper “The Introduction” (produced by Dirty Rice)2) Negro Justice “G.T.S.H. (Got That Shit Honest)” (produced by JustVIBEZ)3) Mike Floss “Never […]
- villin: Nashville Lunch Counter Sit-Ins ()
This past month I’ve dedicated myself to learning more about the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins, which began in February of 1960. Moved by the process, I’ve made a two-part audio/video collage in tribute to the heroes who so greatly impacted our city (and nation). Part one (released February 2, 2022) is titled “peace, quiet and […]
- villin: “king’s breath” ()
The “king’s breath” beat was made with a sample from YAVANE‘s “Vocal Chords,” using the Beatmaker 3 iPad app. The video uses excerpts from “The Flow of Zen” with Alan Watts, retrieved from the Internet Archive. The track also features a brief audio clip from a separate Alan Watts recording, in which he says, “And […]
- Jimi Hendrix Memorial & Park (Seattle, WA) ()
Photos taken Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at the Jimi Hendrix Memorial in Renton, Washington and Jimi Hendrix Park in Seattle, Washington.
- The Orb & Orbital ()
The Orb and Orbital have been vaguely conflated in my mind for as long as I’ve been aware of the two groups. Thinking back, I’ve owned Orbital’s 1996 In Sides and the Orb’s 1997 release Orblivion, but can’t seem to mentally reference much beyond a few tracks from either. All the same, the Orb’s 1990 […]
- Moonshake, Rebecca Moore, Sebadoh, Spin Doctors & the Spinanes ()
I don’t know where I came up with the idea that The Trouser Press or Noise from the Underground were to be important in my life, but they’ve certainly proven as much in terms of influence over a lifetime. As best I can remember I came across both books in the late-’90s, but I don’t […]
- William Tyler ()
As William Tyler wrote me for an interview in 2011, “I think anytime I find myself settling into a pattern of consistency I start panicking. So while, yes, there is a certain framework of tools and methods that you need in order to be able to do linear things like touring or even recording an album, […]
- Nick Cave ()
Several weeks ago a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds concert played on my TV while I went about my chores around the house. Even at his most vulgar, there’s something comforting about Cave’s voice. For every “Stagger Lee” there’s a “God is in the House,” tugging at heartstrings and easing the mind back to […]
- Beastie Boys ()
Who knows where some seeds get planted, but in the past six months or so I attended a Buddhist temple for the first time in my life. A friend invited me to an open house at his Tibetan temple, and in trying to learn more about Buddhism I took him up on the offer. I […]
- The Chemical Brothers ()
It looks like one of my favorite stores growing up in Calgary, Soundsaround, shut down in 2012. I have some good memories from that place, specifically the Southwest location where I remember picking up a lot of electronica albums that weren’t available elsewhere in town. In the mid-to-late ’90s this meant acts like Fatboy Slim, […]
- Jack White & Henry Rollins ()
I don’t remember the age, but my hunch is I was somewhere in the junior high years, though it might have been late-stage elementary school. Whenever it was, I would ditch hanging with family and congregation members after church to go listen to music in the car. I don’t know why I didn’t listen to […]
- Def Jux, El-P & Aesop Rock ()
The other day I revisited some memories of a 2007 trip I made to New York, which brought to mind a stop I made on that same visit to the office of the now-defunct Definitive Jux record label. For the life of me I can’t remember his name, but a connection I had at the […]
- I Don’t Believe You ()
The night was nearly over by the time she joined the band on stage, but something opened up within me as Tristen encouraged the audience’s participation. With a gentle bob to her knees she stared into the crowd and crooned, “I don’t believe you, I don’t believe you.” It’s just a song, but it’s hardly […]
- Kris Kristofferson at The Basement East (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of Kris Kristofferson taken May 16, 2018 at The Basement East in Nashville, TN.
- Please Yourself ()
December 2017… There was a little voice inside me saying, “Don’t do that because, really, who the fuck are you, anyways?” but in August I sent Ron Gallo an email asking for an interview. “Aside from your music,” I wrote him, “I’m really interested in talking about some philosophical ideas… for instance, I’d read (or […]
- On “October Rust,” or: Goth at Heart ()
Technically I’ve been to two Type O Negative shows, but my memory of both sets is practically non-existent. The first time around was when the band co-headlined a brief tour with Cradle of Filth, which stopped in at The Quest Club in Minneapolis in the fall of 2003. At the time, Cradle of Filth’s set […]
- On “Push the Sky Away,” or: Barriers to Entry ()
I’m thinking back to all the bonus discs that used to come with the CDs I purchased. Sometimes they weren’t bonus discs, add-ons to a single CD, such as CD-ROMs. You’d insert the CD into your computer, hope that a compatible version of Quicktime was downloaded, and away you’d go. Primus’s Rhinoplasty, for example, had […]
- Beyond Trinity Lane ()
“I heard Bruce Springsteen say something along the lines of ‘the beauty of a song is that the meaning changes from person to person.’ So why take that away from people by spelling out how I wrote this exactly about that? I’ve done that, but I’m starting to lay back on it a little. A song can mean […]
- We Live to Survive Our Paradoxes ()
“As the Tragically Hip’s lead singer and lyricist,” wrote CBC’s John Mazerolle last month in memoriam of the group’s frontman, “[Gord] Downie was the face and voice of a band whose discography sold more than eight million copies. The band’s propulsive, muscular rock, coupled with intense live performances and Downie’s cryptic, literary lyrics, allowed the […]
- FJØRA Interview ()
Born in Canada and now stationed in New York City, FJØRA isn’t a traditional “Nashville artist,” despite the roots of her debut release being firmly planted in the city’s musical landscape. Having moved to Nashville to attend Belmont, she expanded her presence in the city’s scene following her graduation last year, establishing herself within an […]
- Jon Santana ()
“I used to get kind of stressed about my age,” says Jon Santana, sitting outside Steadfast Coffee in Germantown, reflecting in between sips of a coffee soda. “Especially when I was twenty-one [or] twenty-two. I was like, ‘Zedd’s twenty-three – I got two more years! I gotta make it!’” But that sense of artistic dread […]
- Magnetic Forces ()
“Lots of people think they’re thriving, and all they’re doing is surviving,” reflected Aaron McNutt (aka MC Nutts), speaking of his rhymes on Magnetic Forces’s “VITAL VINYL.” “And I’ve been there, so I recognize that.” The meaning behind McNutt’s personal favorite from the duo’s new album, The Vision on Multiple Occasions ÷x+-, eclipses his prescribed […]
- Iron Maiden at Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN) ()
Photos of Iron Maiden taken June 13, 2017 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.
- Kevin Kendall ()
“I always half-assed doing something in those first seven years,” says Kevin Kendall, reflecting on his time in Nashville prior to relocating to South Western Mexico in 2014. “The Mexico thing was me deciding to do something different, and I wasn’t sure if I was coming back here or not.” Having moved to Nashville from […]
- Through the Woods and Far Away ()
The ghost of scarcity plagues this town. As a child, growing up in Illinois playing music with your family, your vision of success peaked with the concept of being paid to play music. The utmost achievement was a few dollars collected in return for a performance. But our dreams all tend to shift, and in […]