These albums, my favorites of 2017, didn't merely stay with me. They didn't just stay in rotation or live on my phone. They were part of my life, the subject of many a moment. They haunted me delightfully. They were the products of artists who made music to make people feel things and were very much successful when it came specifically to me. When it comes to the subject of … [Read more...]
Psychic Temple – “Dream Dictionary” (Video)
One of the bands in which we delight around here, Psychic Temple, that most chill, ecclectic, hard to define group led by guitarist Chris Schlarb, has been celebrating their latest release, IV, which is quite exceptional if I do say so myself. To keep the whole feeling going, Schlarb has just released a new music video for the song "Dream Dictionary" featuring Terry Reid on … [Read more...]
Psychic Temple – ‘IV’
Over the years, I've found myself eagerly devouring each album guitarist/vocalist/bandleader/cult leader Chris Schlarb releases with his group, Psychic Temple. His progressive melding of jazz, folk, and hazy rock has a laid back sensibility that can only come from Long Beach, California. In that regard, it's hard to nail down exactly what kind of music Psychic Temple makes, … [Read more...]
Psychic Temple – “Turn Off the Lights” (Video)
Next month, guitarist/bandleader/cult leader Chris Schlarb and his group, Psychic Temple, are releasing IV, the group's fifth album (if you're counting Psychic Temple Plays Music for Airports, which released shortly after III). More and more, the multi-genre music, so hard to nail down but so beautifully lush, expressive, and designed, particularly as Schlarb steps out more as … [Read more...]
Ben Gray’s Favorite Jazz Albums of 2016
A quick pre-amble: jazz is so diverse that it’s near-impossible to compare and rank the "best" albums of the year (Editor's note: which is why Nextbop refers to these lists as our "favorites" as opposed to "the best", because words are important). How does one rank Julian Lage, Darcy James Argue, Takuya Kuroda, and Brad Mehldau against each other? The answer of course is that … [Read more...]