Top Albums, Shows and Songs of 2013

When I’m old, fat and (hopefully) happy, I will probably look back at 2013 as a pivotal blip in my life, where I lost one of the most important things to me—something I had been planning my entire adult existence around for some eight years—and was suddenly forced to forge a new path on a new map. Opposite directions, graduation, crumbling, cynicism, and the renouncing of my faith in what I thought was my home. Yes, more downs than ups this time around, but if everything was perfect, I’d never feel anything (the balance will allow). To my beautiful lady, supportive family and the following bands, albums and shows that consistently found a way to lift me up from wherever I had fallen this year, I am forever thankful.

Interview - Tera Melos

After plenty of miscommunications about when exactly I should call Tera Melos' bassist Nathan Latona, I discovered time zones can dissolve even the firmest of plans. I maintained resolve, though, texting the musician to find out when he could have a chat. And when he asked me if ten o'clock worked, I sent him back a big thumbs-up.

The interview/conversation was a blast, and I hope you readers get as much out of it as I did. Nathan's clearly a great guy, and that fact makes me respect genre-benders Tera Melos even more.

Artist of the Day: Tera Melos

Tera Melos has progressed immensely in the last eight years. Hark back to 2005, where one can find a wildly confident math-rock-esque group toying with instrumentation like a kid on a playground. Tera Melos' self-titled album was all over the place, in terms of both cohesiveness and scope. After all, the album ended with a 20+ minute experiment into how expressive full-fledged noise can be.