Sequencing 2021

Take a trip inside the mind of psychedelic rock legend Dave Wyndorf with Monster Magnet’s A Better Dystopia – a delightfully psychotic selection of proto-metal and late-era psych songs that fit the band like a glove! With wonderfully obscure song choices and excellent sequencing, the mighty Magnet pay homage to some of their favorite songs of all time, crafting another exciting and unique listening experience alike what they’ve become famous for. While the album marks a new frontier for Monster Magnet as their first covers record, this is not your typical set of standards released to pass time. Wyndorf is at the top of his game on A Better Dystopia – howling, crooning, speaking… whatever it takes to get the emotional message of these very special tunes across, delivering each lyric in his own inimitable style.

Evership are driven by visionary Shane Atkinson (keyboards, drum, vocals) and singer extraordinaire Beau West. With the support of bassist Ben Young and guitarists John Rose and James Atkinson, Evership has all of the ingredients to realize Atkinson’s ambition. The inspiration at hand is the book "The Uncrowned King" by early 20th century author Harold Bell Wright. This allegorical story unfolds through West’s voice as he describes the pilgrim’s search at the Temple of Truth, a quest where the journey is just as important as the destination. Opener “The Pilgrimage” sets the stage with sweeping orchestration and grand melodic ideas sung by West with a voice like a breeze. It’s a pretty classic prog template for opening a concept album, truth be told, and fans of Kansas, Styx, ELP and the like will feel right at home…

If Lana Del Rey's 2021 album Chemtrails Over the Country Club felt like the atmospheric post-script to her 2019 master statement Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Blue Banisters comes off like the addendum to the post-script. Released just seventh months after its predecessor, Blue Banisters isn't too far removed from the midtempo, woozy tones that defined that album. The 15 tracks here span about an hour running time, and generally stick to the familiar framework of sad-hearted torch songs for a burning world that Lana has built her entire discography on. Closely inspecting the songwriting, production, performance, and sequencing choice on Blue Banisters, however, reveals some moments of quiet evolution.