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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 111 (1.11.2019)

VincentLeave a comment

playlist - mixtape

There are some people whose presence on this earth are so large that you can’t imagine living in a world without them. For the world of rock music, Neil Peart was one of those powers. When I was a young man I thought I couldn’t stand Rush, mostly due to my distaste of Geddy Lee’s voice. Thankfully I got over myself eventually, but even in my days when I didn’t like the band, I always counted Neal Peart as one of the best drummers I’ve ever heard. There’s no one, Rush fan or not, who I ever heard call him anything less than the best. I’m sad we won’t hear any more of him, but his legacy will be here forever.

Here are some tunes.

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– Vincent

Best of 2019: Chris’s Honorable Mentions List

Chris2 Comments

Best of 2019

No meandering preamble.  Too much of 2019 was utter shit, and music was the salve to my battered and bruised soul.  Last week I touted 19 albums that helped me cope with the personal and global tragedies that the year brought, and this week brings another 15 records that, while not formally ranked all can on a given day act as my #26, or even my #1.  Don’t try to find reason or logic in a list.  Not only is it all subjective, but it’s all subject to change on a dime, on a given moment when the axis spins and tries to buck you off into orbit, and all you can cling to is the fragment of a melody, a riff or a lyric that tethers you to the world, keeps you grounded and ready for another day.

Enough.  Let’s do this.   Continue reading →

Best of 2019: Charles’s List

Charles Randall2 Comments

Best of 2019

Every year I come up with a list of albums, and every year I have trouble trying to firmly rank them. Also, doesn’t everyone just scroll to the end to see what the best album is? I know I do. So here’s my list where the first entries are the best, and it gets decidedly fuzzier after that. But one thing is certain, every album on this list is one of the best albums of the year. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

(ed: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or just happy Wednesday, whatever. Consider this a break from the family deal where there’s too many bags of torn gift wrap and cousin Eddie is playing banjo on your last nerve. Enjoy Charles’ picks and check all these out seeing as you’ve got all those gift cards and/or extra cash burning a hole in that pocket.)

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 106 (11.23.2019)

VincentLeave a comment

playlist - mixtape

Welcome again, ye chosen few, to another edition of the Nine Circles weekly mixtape.  There are a ton of good songs represented here by our almost full-house amount of contributions, so there’s bound to be something down there that will catch your ear.  Grab a cup of something strong dive in.

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– Vincent

CURSED IMAGERY: The Week in Album Art (June 21, 2019)

Dan2 Comments
cursed imagery

Three weeks in a row! Never thought I’d get to this point again. I guess it is easier to keep up with posting when you’re working a three-12-hour-shift nursing schedule than a traditional 9-to-5. Hard to not find enough time to rag on a few album covers with that schedule.

The trouble, this week, was finding album covers that deserved to be ragged on. Since our debut post a couple weeks ago, the well of standout album covers (good or bad) has dried up a bit. Not totally, of course, but…we’ve been forced to get a bit more creative in our selections. There are even some I’m gonna be complimentary of this week! Crazy, huh?

Anyway, enough rambling — hit the jump for my album art highlights from the week of June 21-27!

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