2014 In Review

I would just like to thank everyone who has read and contributed to RTTM in 2014 for making this a great first full year on the web. This blog has become much more than I could have ever imagined and it wouldn't have happened without all the help I've had. Thank you again and here's to an even better 2015! ~Kitty

Playlist of the Week: Junior Highcore

by: Sabrina G

Remember all that alt rock that came out between like 2004 and 2009? Of course you do! Here’s betting your iPod nano was full of this stuff! I didn’t have an iAnything but I know I kept my Windows Media Player overloaded with Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Evanescence… and I still love it. Maybe I don’t listen to it quite as heavily as I once did. But I definitely enjoy it all. So here’s a playlist that might aid in a journey though Hot Topic filled days of past.

Review: Nightmare Revisited

Nightmare Revisited- Various Artists

by: Sabrina G

In the spirit of Halloween and all things October… I decided to do a review of a very interesting album. Flash back to me in eighth grade (goth makeup, lots of black, obsessed with the macabre and a Hot Topic junkie – it’s funny how little has changed if I’m being perfectly honest). I remember being beyond excited for the release of this album.

Playlist of the Week: Top 20 Weird Videos of the 1990's

by: Sabrina G

The 90s were a really excellent time. Especially for weird, bizarre, unsettling, surreal, and just plain creepy music videos. I spent far too long watching music videos (I’m pretty sure I’m scarred for life thanks to Aphex Twin) to decide on my top something. I did top twenty.

Local Buzz: Among the Clouds [Arizona]

by: Sabrina G

Being a resident of Arizona, I can testify that our music scene is… less than thriving. Our history? Moderately killer. Prior to Y2k, The Mason Jar was one of the hottest tickets around; Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Ramones, Joan Jett, Jane’s Addiction, Soundgarden… lots of great shows were played there in its heyday. Meat Puppets, a band that’s probably best known for sitting in with Nirvana during their unplugged set, hail from Brophy Prep in Phoenix.

Playlist of the Week: Our Current Jams

To keep our readers updated on the RTTM family here is a collection of some of our writers' current jams. From long time favorites that never leave the circulation to some not-so-guilty pleasures here's an insight into what we're listening to these days.

A Tribute to Tommy and the Ramones

by: Sabrina G

I’ve never written any kind of ‘in memoriam’ thing. I don’t know how. And I doubt I can without sounding a bit sappy and over the top… relying on clichés and being incredibly redundant. But… I’m writing about a man who was one fourth of a band that played loud, hard, fast punk rock music (well the focus is actually on that band). I don’t think traditional sap has a place here. While I’m pretty broken up over the passing of Tommy Ramone, last surviving member of one of the best damn bands to have ever formed… I’m not going to let my mild emotional distress into this. It’s terribly sad. It’s affecting me in a big way. I’ve been crying on and off since reading the news. And thinking about it is pretty painful. The four founding members of one of the most influential punk bands are now all dead. It’s undeniably tragic. But I think it’s best to focus on the legacy they left behind.

Playlist of the Week: Geeked Out

by: Sabrina G

Because I’ve spent a weekend attending my city’s incredibly rad Comicon… I thought I should do kind of a geek themed playlist. I couldn’t represent everything I’m a fan of simply because some music things are limited. But I’ve got some superhero themed songs, sci-fi, some vampire slayer themed things, a few tracks from a certain horror themed musical, and wizard rock.

Review: Everybody Loves Our Town [Mark Yarm]

by: Sabrina G

Everybody Loves Our Town is most likely the only book on grunge that I’d recommend anyone interested in learning about the history of the genre. I’ve leafed through a few college textbooks and reference books concerning the history of alternative rock and they fell short. I may have gotten a bit nit-picky but between three different texts, I found a lot of incorrect dates, misspelt band members names, incorrect album titles, and several other errors that I saw to be somewhat major.

Review: Enclosure [John Frusciante]

Enclosure- John Frusciante

by: Sabrina G

 The best way to preface this review is a quote from John: "Enclosure, upon its completion, was the record which represented the achievement of all the musical goals I had been aiming at for the previous 5 years. It was recorded simultaneously with Black Knights' Medieval Chamber and as different as the two albums appear to be, they represent one investigative creative thought process. What I learned from one fed directly into the other. Enclosure is presently my last word on the musical statement which began with PBX."

Review: PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone [Frusciante Countdown]

PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone (which will be referred to simply as PBX) was a very different album for John Frusciante. At least, that’s what most of his fans thought. The more I listen to the releases leading up to this, the less of a surprise it is. It’s solidly an electronica album.

Review: The Empyrean [Frusciante Countdown]

The Empyrean- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Review: Curtains [Frusciante Countdown]

Curtains- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Review: A Sphere in the Heart of Silence [Frusciante Countdown]

A Sphere in the Heart of Silence- Frusciante/Klinghoffer

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

A full-fledged Frusciante/Klinghoffer collaboration, A Sphere in the Heart of Silence (which will be referred to as ASHS) brings the best of two amazing musicians out. Every song was written by both John and Josh… the lead vocals were split up… ASHS is simply pure collaboration between two geniuses.

Playlist of the Week: Tax Day

by: Sabrina G

I had one of those kind of lame ideas that you follow through on anyway – a playlist about Tax Day. I was listening to the Kinks and it just kind of hit me. Maybe it’s a weird playlist theme but I thought “why not?” and went for it. The songs on this playlist are either literally about taxes, money in general, or can be associated with the subject enough (namely ‘Soon Forget’ and ‘Mercedes Benz’). I recommend listening to this while the fear of an audit looms over your head. But, hey, no more TurboTax until next year!

Review: Inside of Emptiness [Frusciante Countdown]

Inside of Emptiness- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Inside of Emptiness is the fourth record released in the series of six albums released by Frusciante in 2004. I skipped over numbers two and three because one is technically an Ataxia album and the other is an EP.

Review: To Will To Death [Frusciante Countdown]

To Will To Death- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

During a break in the Red Hot Chili Peppers schedule, Frusciante announced plans to release six albums in six months. This is the first in that slew. Following the long and expensive production of Shadows Collide With People, he decide to bang out those six albums in a minimalist manner.

Review: Shadows Collide With People [Frusciante Countdown]

Shadows Collide With People- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Shadows Collide with People is typically regarded as being John Frusciante’s most accessible album. Out of all the other albums in his discography (prior and subsequent), it was the most expensive to produce.

Review: To Record Only Water For Ten Days/From The Sounds Inside [Frusciante Countdown]

To Record Only Water For Ten Days/From The Sounds Inside- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

This is a two-for-one review.

To Record Only Water For Ten Days (abbreviated to TROW) is something of a landmark release for John Frusciante. Not only was it his first album recorded while sober, but it was also the first to really incorporate elements of electronica.

Review: Smile From the Streets You Hold [Frusciante Countdown]

Smile From the Streets You Hold- John Frusciante

[Countdown to Enclosure]

by: Sabrina G

Ah. Smile From the Streets You Hold. This is an odd release. The album itself is highly sought after, given the very limited period it was on the market (August 1997 to sometime in 1998). It’s one of the more expensive titles in the Frusciante catalogue, copies can be upwards of $30 on eBay (I lucked out and got mine for $3.50 at my local record store. Let that be a lesson in supporting your local record store, kids). However, despite the mad rush to own the album… it’s typically regarded as the worst in John Frusciante’s discography. That is, of course, entirely a matter of opinion.