Approaching Oblivion

Zak Riles is mostly known for his creative contributions and song-writing for the psychedelic groove band Grails, whom are based out of Portland, OE; yet often overlooked is this solo CD released in November of 2008 by Important Records. If you listen closely and compare certain songs from this release to early Grails material, you will notice similar riffs and elements that were eventually adapted and altered to play with the full band. The most blatant example would be Sand/Silk Road Origin which is practically identical to Silk Road found on Grails’ release Burning Off The Impurities . That being said, Riles still manages to pulls a serious amount of individuality and uniqueness out of himself and into this solo-release. The first and last tracks are filled with bright finger picking guitar riffs that pull influence from greats like John Fahey and Leo Kottke. However, in between these bright and cheerful songs lays something much deeper and more profound. With

2 new Dreambox tracks off of the EP that will be released on Nomadic Behavior Records. Bandcamp

"Hi Everyone, We're pleased to announce that our fifth album will be coming out this April. It has six songs and its called Take Care, Take Care, Take Care. It was recorded on a pecan ranch in West Texas by our good friend and frequent collaborator John Congleton. Esteban Rey did the artwork. The music on it feels different than anything else we've done before and we're very excited for you to hear it. Anyway, here is the track list: 1. Last Known Surroundings 2. Human Qualities 3. Trembling Hands 4. Be Comfortable, Creature 5. Postcard from 1952 6. Let Me Back In" Take Care, Take Care, Take Care from Explosions in the Sky on Vimeo .

I was fortunate enough to ask Cullen Gallagher a few questions about his music project Modern Silent Cinema. Cullen and I have worked together musically for the past 2 years. He's a great guy, with unique tastes that seem to know no bounds. We've worked together on music projects in the past (he plays bass on multiple recordings of mine and is the other half of Dreambox). His prolific attitude in regards to writing music is outstanding, he's constantly producing his own records and providing reviews for various film and novel blogs. AO Blog highly recommends that you take the time to read through this series of Q&A's, and more importantly, make sure to tune in to Cullen's songs. AO: How did MSC come about? How many releases have you made since the inception of the project? CG: It started back in 2004, when I moved back to Maine after leaving NY. So, Shoot the Piano Player was basically broken up at that point, and I didn't have a band and I wanted to

Listen to or Download: Father Midnight which is an 12 minute droner off of the upcoming release Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 scheduled to be released on Southern Lord records February 7th. NPR says: "it's all there, slow as syrup, heavier than a boulder strapped to your back." ...and I have to agree. Being a long-time Earth fan, I've been awaiting their new material for what feel like ages. The excellent use of spacial sound structure, dissonant harmonies and lingering tones that are found throughout the legendary The Bees Made Honey In the Lions Skull and Hibernaculum albums are certainly still prevalent and progressing within this new material. Dylan Carlson's spacious, loopy and circular motifs continue to be prevalent in his songwriting, along with his dirty toned guitar riffs and excellent use of volume dynamics. Though these components to Earth's sound remain the same, a new element is now at play; cellist Lori Goldston (who

Michael C. Ruppert is the founder and former editor of From The Wilderness, a newsletter and website dedicated to investigating political cover-ups. He is now CEO and President of Collapse Network, Inc. On August 16, 2006 Ruppert announced that he was leaving the United States, citing years of harassment for his ongoing dissident activities. Here is a video of Ruppert addressing the spokesman of the CIA about his knowledge of the US Government selling and buying drugs in undocumented and secretive ways.