Hello, friends and fellow travelers! The world sure has become interesting these past few years. As if it wasn’t already. Here in Gondwanaland, Mystics Anonymous has mostly been quietly trucking along, writing and recording new songs as time allows. But every once in a while, we poked our heads out and shared a little something […]
Author Archives: admin
R.E.M. Lost Its Religion
It was 28 years ago today… “Losing My Religion” was released as the lead single from R.E.M.’s Out of Time. Warner Bros was pretty disappointed in the band’s choice of lead single. When I first heard it, it sounded like a step back for the band to me, but I grew to love it. What […]
Goodbye, 2018 and Hello, 2019!
For Mystics Anonymous, 2018 was a year bookended by two things: in February, we played a full-band show at the wonderful Hawks & Reed Performing Arts Center right here in Greenfield. There, we played some tried-and-true favorites, as well as a brand new song and a few surprise, first-time covers, the latter of which was […]
Automatic!
Automatic for the People turned 25 last year. The reissue box set sounds great, and reveals how timeless this work is. My children can’t help but react to each song—my daughter’s flailing during Monty Got a Raw Deal is actually a pretty good Stipe impression, and she’s never seen him do it. The famous 40 […]
The Year Is Dead. Long Live the New Year!
Goodbye, 2017… and hello, 2018! What happened to 2017? It seemed to go by so fast. It was definitely a year for a lot of personal events in my life, both positive and negative, but throughout the year, I managed to squeeze in some Mystics Anonymous music-making. Check it out: In January, Mystics released the […]
Course Correction
Some of you might remember that I announced 2017 as the year of my De-Tunia project. This was a concept I’ve had in the back of my mind for a while, returning to a more experimental recording approach built on layers of rhythms and pure play. The idea was to share works in progress throughout […]
Goodbye, 2016… Hello, 2017!
For Mystics Anonymous, 2016 was pretty eventful. We finished up our new EP, She Wanted the Future, and released it halfway through the year in June. In addition to the usual download and CD versions, we had a limited edition version that came with a 10-page comic book illustrated by Ingrid Steblea. That was partially […]
Goodbye, Leonard Cohen
We lost another one. It makes sense that we’re going to be losing more and more music icons as the generation from the heyday of rock n’ roll continues to age, I guess. Just another sad reality we have to get used to. And sad reality was Leonard Cohen’s stock in trade. Or maybe sad […]
The Problems with Whiplash
Those who know me know that I am not only a music geek, but I am also a film buff. I studied film, both formally and informally, and consider it one of my passions. A great film, for me, is almost the perfect artistic expression, combining writing, visual artistry, acting, and sound and music. Being […]
Rock ‘n Roll Heresy
Is Keith Richards the most over-rated rock guitarist of all time? Between all the stories of his nodding off during recording sessions, and that open G tuning that makes those riffs he plays, well, easy… the answer may be yes. But even moreso than those examples, I find the biggest example—for me, anyway, is the […]