Last Friday I didn't get around to a real recommendations post both because I was busy and because none of the new releases I checked out did much for me, save the new Health album. Tomorrow will be another busy day for me and I get the sense that new releases are winding down for the year, so I put together some recommendations of albums I'm revisiting as I start planning my best of the year list. Most of these were released before I started this little blog, so this will be my first time writing about them. But before we get to the old stuff, I've got one recommendation for new music that came out this week. 

Last night I went to what is almost certain to be my last concert of 2025, a bill of local metal bands at an instrument store/school/coffee shop called Klash Coffee. I had never heard of any of the bands playing, nor had I been to the venue before. But I had a free night and it was a $10 cover (with Toys for Tots donations also strongly encouraged), and a friend agreed to go with, so we braved the subzero temperatures to go check out the show. I'm incredibly glad I did. 

Yesterday, I missed my weekly recommendation post, which I'm happy to say has been quite rare. This was partially due to it being an unusual day for me - I was at home doing things around the house rather than playing music in the course of my day job. But more significant is the fact that I just didn't care for pretty much anything I checked out. I gave several new albums a listen, and most I shut off before finish.

The only album I made it through in its entirety was Conflict DLC by Health. Health is a weird band for me in that I've seen them live and have liked many of their individual songs, but none of their albums in full have sucked me in the way my favorite bands have. They're also such a sprawling band that it's hard to get a handle on their catalog - they're incredibly prolific and have albums, compilations, EPs, collaborations, and soundtracks. This new album is apparently all tracks that were supposed to be included on their last album, Rat Wars. In short, its hard to know where to start with Health. That said, this is a strong collection of songs. In particular, the song "Shred Envy" reminds me of White Zombie, which is always a good thing. Maybe a Rob Zombie collaboration is on the way! 

TL; DR: Listen to the new Health album.

It's Friday, and today's selection of new releases is... bizarre. But, we like bizarre around these parts. We'ce got covers, EPs, collabs, singles, and compilations, oh my! Click through for weirdness!

Fitness and music are two of my major interests, but if anyone follows me on Bluesky, they'll know that politics occupies a similarly large portion of my brain. Sometimes, two of these three major interests converge, and today is definitely one of those moments. Yesterday, I learned about the Turners, members of German-American gymnastics clubs called Turnverein. It strikes me that Americans could benefit greatly by emulating this German movement from the 1800s, and not just physically - maybe I'm being a hopeless optimist, but I think that embracing the teachings of this movement could go a long way towards healing some of the bigger sociopolitical issues in our country today. 

I wasn't planning on writing a post today, considering the post-Thanksgiving Turkey coma. But, I find myself with some time on my hands, and it's a pretty solid release day. What tipped me over the edge was the discovery of a couple solid Bandcamp finds, so away we go!

It's a super short one this week, because real life is dumb. 

For the last several weeks I've been pretty good about writing about one of my two chosen lanes. There's been plenty of metal content on this little site. The fitness side of things... not so much. This won't be the first time I've written about this and it won't be the last, but I'm in the midst of a little fitness fail. Today is Tuesday, and I made it into the gym both today and yesterday, but today's workout was a struggle. That may be because the previous two weeks were a mess - I got in one or two workouts in each of those two weeks. And in the weeks before that, I was getting in my five workouts a week, but concerned that I might be plateaued. My lifts weren't progressing. Some were maybe even moving backwards. And with the holidays upon us, I know I won't be able to hit some things as hard as normal. 

Had I not stalled out, I would be finished up with my current 12-week program by now. Instead, I'm on my third attempt to get through week 10. But like SpongeBob, I shall persevere. He's honestly a great fitness role model! The little dude just doesn't quit and has a great attitude no matter what challenges come his way. Plus, he seems very comfortable in his own skin (does he have skin?). 

I'm going to channel my inner SpongeBob. I'll get through this program in fits and starts, but I'll get it done. Then I'll keep thing up with "maintenance" workouts as much as possible through to the new year, when I'll start my next program, full of confidence that I'll get through this fitness low point and come back stronger than ever. Just like SpongeBob would do.

Then I'll celebrate with a Krabby Patty, because life is about balance. And let's be honest, they look tasty as hell. 

It's a big, weird day in heavy music, filled with big, weird releases from big, weird bands! I've got not one, not two, but three collaborative albums on my list today, as well as some other stuff. New music ahoy!

This is going to be shorter than my typical concert recap because of a crazy busy day, but I caught (most of) Boris at the Fine Line in Downtown Minneapolis last night. They were in town for their 20th anniversary of Pink and brought Wisconsin-based stoner band Bongzilla along for the ride. Boris is a band that I had been meaning to check out for a long time, but they seemed to tour fairly frequently, so it never seemed urgent to catch one of their shows. But the stars mostly aligned, so I grabbed a ticket a couple weeks ago. I'm glad I did - the show ultimately sold out despite some other concerts around town that would seemingly compete for the same audience. But was it worth it?