Thursday, June 4, 2026
MANGABROS' SHIVACROWBLACK: REDEFINED & RENEWED
Mangabros (Craig Manga and his skillful bandmates) have assembled a vivacious, Frankenstein-cobbled variant of their 2018 album, Shivacrowblack. (In truth, Shivacrowblack is the sister album of Soulcoalblack, and the combination comprises what's been coined The Black Album.) As it stands, Shivacrowblack's old and new parts have been juxtaposed, thus building a strident, revisionist playground for listeners.
As carryover nods, the tracks, "Malice in Kinderland" and "Tomboymilk," remain warm and jittery friends: bookends (in truth) that aren't situated at either end (though celebrated by the Mangabros core) and important in prompting their companion compositions, which have been torn from the same, tormented cloth.
We're talking tunes about being caught, of being accused, and in "'z' (Pink Frame)," "'z (Here I am, There You Are, Here We Are Together)" and the contemplative "Zapruderloop," things get real gentle and pretty (in both lyrics and vocals), taking the idea of violation to a fresh, (dis)heartening restart.
"Mancandy" reflects their beleaguered refrain, and though the composition works as an incidental sequel, it evades lamenting an outcast state by elevating one. It knows what it is, why it is and refuses to change. Its quality is all the harsher for it, and in that harshness, a sardonic euphoria bleeds.
There are other tracks that cut the same strand and do so in an arguable, Keroauc style, by setting their zeal to asphalt. The classic "Motorcycle Death Song (Hypercube/Psychomania RMX)" is a perfect case in point, as is "Kowalczyk," which begins with jagged, glitch chords, only then to crash and burn into giddy derision.
This destructive undercurrent, sometimes enacted fast and at other times slow, resumes in the annihilating "Sons of Sam"; the eerie, album prelude, "e Zekiel"; and the noir-ish "Semtexing." (Each is effective in bracketing the album's body.)
On the flip side, other examples are either dance-club or midway oriented, as in the manic "Mile-Long Club (Acid Trip)," the sloppy but tasty "The Ketchup Kid (Fogtrucker Zero)," the quick-to-the-draw "Semtexting (Microchip Junkie's Faded World RMX)" and the album's carny-topped masterpiece, "Mr. Pinch," which is sheer, seaside decadence. (If the Mickey Rooney headliner, Quicksand, were ever made modern, "Mr. Pinch" would be its perfect flavoring.)
Such varied yet connected tracks are what fans have come to appreciate from Mangabros. The album's arrangement needn't be taken as thematic, but more so therapeutic. It grazes deep levels of the human spectrum and settles in a place that, while doleful and judgmental, births one mighty damn mean mirth.
🛝
Shivacrowblack 2026 is available for immediate play at
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
SISKO & FATHERHOOD
For the advent of Father's Day 2026, I've decided to honor Avery Brooks' Benjamin Sisko, since a foe I know once dismissed him as, well, unlikeable. Why unlikeable? According to the detractor, it's because the character is defined by a garden-variety crutch: He's a father.
You heard right. A father! In Sisko's case, it means not only providing for his son, Jake, but all those stalwart members of DS9. Sisko's stellar attributes matter little, according to his denouncer, for his overriding, fatherly categorization simply isn't avant garde. It's just a little too plain and simple.
For the record, this same dolt once said that men are far too "put upon" by society. In other words, they're forced to reach virile standards they may not desire. Why wouldn't any man, no matter his interests, ambitions, sexual preference or political affiliation, want to live up to (or better yet, exceed) expectations: i.e. prove himself by contributing to life's grand and purposeful plan and with that, maybe, just maybe, be a father within the bold and bountiful scheme?
Lots of men are fathers. The person who denounced Sisko had a father. I have one. It's disrespectful to downplay their everlasting value and virtue due to their patriarchal roles.
Sure, some fathers are deadbeats. Some are cruel. Some are lazy. Some are drunks. However, most hit the mark when it comes to fulfilling their obligations.
Sisko fills the paternal bill and then some. That my opponent claims otherwise just make me like the captain and commander more. Such makes me revere the sanctity of fatherhood more.
So, folks, there's my take on the matter. Please consider it as Father's Day approaches. Contrary to what an insecure smart aleck proclaims, the emblematic Sisko and the good men he represents deserve the commemoration.
Happy Father's Day!
EIGHTH TOWER'S NIGHT FALLS: STORIES INSPIRED BY DAVID LYNCH'S TWIN PEAKS
Eighth Tower Publications, courtesy of Raffaele Pezzella, presents Night Falls: Stories inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks, a bountiful, Dark Fiction curation that pays homage to the revered filmmaker's specialized stylings, in particular the breakthrough, television saga he co-created with Mark Frost.
The stories are written by J. Edwin Buja, Michael F. Housel, Chris McAuley (who also acts as the volume's editor), Nora B. Peevy, RDJ Armstrong, Niyyah Ruscher-Haqq, Erica Ruppert and Carri Wiggins. Each tale commemorates a facet of Lynch-ian thought and/or lore, with ideas and motifs that touch upon both the weird and the wonderful.
Many had hoped for more Twin Peaks before Lynch's untimely passing. Alas, such wasn't to be, but Night Falls: Stories inspired by Twin Peaks may be the next best thing to extend the saga's offbeat allure.
Order a copy today, and why not also obtain the anthology's audio accompaniment? The Night Falls album features a host of avant-garde artists and the inventive tracks they've composed to celebrate Lynch's unorthodox spirit.
EIGHTH TOWER'S NIGHT FALLS: MUSIC INSPIRED BY DAVID LYNCH'S TWIN PEAKS
Eighth Tower Records' Night Falls: Music Inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks lives up to its label, for it summons a wealth of vibrations that place the listener in a rich, surreal sector.
The ambient tracks are, in fact, both reality changing and soul affirming, with each artist, each creation, tapping existential necessity.
The contents are listed below, with artists on the left; compositions on the right:
1) 400 Lonely Things - Butterfly
2) Joel Gilardini - Traces to Nowhere
3) Kabra - Black Soil
4) David Kovacs - Dreaming in grey
5) Mario Lino Stancati - Fire Walks Through Wires
6) Paolo L. Bandera - Agente Atomico Episodico
7) Yousef Kawar - Whispers in the Black Lodge
8) Rapoon - Snowqualmie falls
9) Mark Hjorthoy & David Strother - A Rabbit In the Moon
10) Oubys - For Julee
11) Richard Begin - Dale Cooper's Doppelganger
12) Glass Isle - Haze
13) Beyond the Ghost - Velvet Curtain
David Lynch's concepts are vast and open for interpretation, as are the contents of this album. If one holds a hankering for the strange and interpretive, then Night Falls: Music Inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks is worth a try: the most unique cup of audio coffee that one could ever sip.
⛰
Procure both digital and CD editions today:
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