Author: Tim Sommer

Music Journalism 

Jann Wenner, Bruce Springsteen and Me (Well, Not Really Me)

September 22, 2022September 24, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment 2022, 92nd St. Y, Bruce Springsteen, Hootie and the Blowfish, Jann Wenner, Jim DeRogatis, Rolling Stone, the New York Observer

Why the ex-Rolling Stone publisher’s response to HootieGate was total nonsense

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Glam Rock 

A Funky Little Boat Race: Mott The Hoople’s All the Young Dudes at 50

September 19, 2022September 20, 2022 Tim Sommer 7 Comments 1972, 50th anniversary, All the Young Dudes, David Bowie, Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Mott the Hoople, The Clash, The Kinks

What makes it one of the weakest albums from one of the greatest British rock bands

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Experimental Folk Heavy Metal 

Heilung: Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow in the 10th Century

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Black Metal, Bo Diddley, Drif, Edith Tudor-Hart, folk, Heilung, Krzysztof Penderecki, Pink Floyd, Season of Mist, Soviet Union, The Beatles, The Who, United States

The Northern European folk-metal collective have made the first truly great album to emerge from the Neo-Primtive Movement

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Rock 

When Eddie Cochran Invented the Modern 

September 2, 2022September 2, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Dave Davies, Eddie Cochran, Generation X, Heilung, Manic Street Preachers, MC5, Motörhead, Pixies, Sex Pistols, Somethin' Else, The Kinks, The Monks, The Trashmen, The Who

Looking back at the exact moment Rock ‘n’ Roll was transformed forever

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Music Journalism 

What Are Your Rock Stars Going to Say?

June 29, 2022June 29, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Bill Kunstler, Billionaire, Brecht, Money, Rachel Maddow, Rock Star, Roe v Wade, Steve Earle, Tom Hayden

We only promised you a raised fist, not the revolution it was a symbol of

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Art Pop Experimental Rock 

The Shimmer Shiver That Knows All

June 22, 2022June 22, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments 2022, Colin Newman, Gliding and Hiding, Malka Spiegel, Swim, Wire

With Gliding and Hiding, Malka Spigel has made one of the most beautiful new/old albums of the decade

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Pop Punk Television 

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Bay City Rollers

June 13, 2022June 13, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment Bay City Rollers, David Bowie, Doctors of Madness, Dr. Feelgood, FX, Glen Matlock, Hawkwind, John Lydon, Malcolm McClaren, Paul Cook, Pistol, Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, Steve Jones, Stuart "Woody" Wood, T.Rex

Stuart “Woody” Wood talks to us about the connection between the Rollers and the Sex Pistols

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Hard Rock Psychedelics Rock 

Are Hawkwind The World’s Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Band?

April 11, 2022April 11, 2022 Tim Sommer 2 Comments Dave Brock, Glenn Branca Ensemble, Hall of Mountain Grill, Hawkwind, Jam Bands, King Kong, Lemmy, Lemmy Kilmister, Sonic Youth, Space Ritual, Star Trek, Star Wars, Stereolab, The Feelies

A new collection affirms the brilliance of post-Lemmy Hawkwind

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Punk 

Misfits Or Martians: Walk Among Us Turns 40

March 29, 2022March 29, 2022 Tim Sommer 1 Comment 20 Eyes, Blue Oyster Cult, Danzig, Doyle, Glen Danzig, Jerry Only, Klaus Nomi, Misfits, The Bongos, The Contortions, The Misfits, the Offs, The Raybeats, the Speedies, the Student Teachers, Tina Peel, Walk Among Us

The debut LP from Lodi, NJ’s horror punk kings has been out of print for years; does it deserve a resurrection?

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Beatle Music Journalism 

Where are Our War Beatles?

March 21, 2022March 21, 2022 Tim Sommer 3 Comments Chuck D, Crisis in Ukraine, Dave Grohl, free elections, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Langford, picket lines, protest, The Beatles, Ukraine, voting rights, war, Woody Guthrie

How current events highlight the utter impotency of Rock and Pop

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Heavy Metal Music Journalism 

Voices Under Siege: “We Really Need to Close the Sky”

March 7, 2022March 7, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments Crisis in Ukraine, I Miss My Death, IMMD, Kyiv, Olena Kryvoviaz, symphonic metal, Ukraine

We speak with Ukrainian singer Olena Kryvoviaz of IMMD from inside war-torn Ukraine

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Hard Rock 

Happy 50th, Blue Öyster Cult!

February 17, 2022February 17, 2022 Tim Sommer 3 Comments 1972, 50th Birthday, Amon Duul II, Atom Heart Mother, Blue Oyster Cult, Captain Beefhart, Columbia Records, Deep Purple, Imaginos, MC5, Rolling Stone, The Grateful Dead, The Stooges, Yardbirds

What if the MC5 and the Grateful Dead had been one band?  

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Music Journalism 

The Only Rock & Roll Hall of Fame That Matters is the One in Your Heart

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022 Tim Sommer 2 Comments 2022, Blaine, Carl Palmer, Chad Smith, Cosimo Mattassa, Dolly Parton, Hal Blaine, John Bonham, Kate Bush, Keith Moon, Leon Russell, Mitch Mitchell, Neil Peart, Nile Rodgers, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Roger Taylor, Stewart Copeland, The Clash

(And a few words about musical excellence)

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Music Journalism 

Dear Bruce Springtseen and John Mellencamp: What the Actual Eff Were You Thinking?

February 2, 2022April 3, 2022 Tim Sommer 83 Comments Bruce Springsteen, Did You Say Such a Thing, John Mellencamp, Van Halen

Their collaborative single is strictly a one-eyed pinch off a popular Van Halen hit

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Classical Electronics 

ALBUMS: Grace, Gravity and the Sad/Happy of the Strange and Simple

January 27, 2022January 27, 2022 Tim Sommer 0 Comments 2022, Bjarni Biering, Charles Ives, Curious Music, John Cage, La Monte Young, Moondog, The Andvaka Suite

Icelandic composer Bjarni Biering engages us with everyday beauty

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