various artists - Heavy Nuggets Vol. 4 (13 Sabbath Inspired Tracks)

Rabbit, rabbit, my friends. We've made it this far into 2026; let's keep going. Happy June.

An old friend of mine, the last person I attended high school with who I still stay in contact with, celebrated their 50th birthday last weekend. When I think of bands like BORIS and Sleep and the Obssessed, I think of him. Where I dove deeply into the the numerous branches of punk, he explored the world of metal. So when I'd want to know if it was worth picking up a new record from Sunn O))) or Boredoms, I'd turn to him. Matt's a fountain of information, and has impeccable taste. Just a good dude.

Happy birthday, old pal. I wish I'd been back home to celebrate you in person.

Discogs

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various artists - Heavy Nuggets Vol. 5

Another year has nearly passed, and what have we discovered? In my case, it's that I'm willing to spend money on Hawkwind and Pink Fairies records. This is neither an expected nor an unwelcome development. I certainly wouldn't have put money down that I would have gathered a deeper appreciation of late 60s/early 70s speed-fueled dirt rock (and their 90s children). Yet here we are, nearing 2026 and me turning this up as loud as the knob will let me.

For what it's worth, that's a cool Who-related helmet on the cover on this card sleeve.

Discogs

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various artists - Take Your Medicine::A Heavy Dose Of Sonic Overload

I do a fair amount of my writing on Sundays while I'm doing laujndry adn avoiding more focus-intensive chores. The trade-off here is that Mrs. Mummy plays one of her numerous YouTube playlists, comprised of the outer edges of international popular music. It pushes me back to the familiar; not that I don't love NewJeans or whatever Mexican pop princess she's playing, but I does force me consider what I'm going to share, and why.

Take this 1996 compulation from Boston's Wonderdrug Records. I was familiar with a few of the names on this comp when I snagged it online for a $1 a few months ago: Scissorfight, Slughog, and Honkeyball, to name a few. I knew the label itself was of the same area, temporally and geographically, as Big Wheel Recreation and Tortuga Recordings, although they covered a different piece of the heavy music world. This is more stoner rock/desert rock/acid punk than I listened to back then. While most of these bands wouldn't be out of place on an Eyehategod or Nebula bill, I'm still not sure it holds my interest so far after the fact as bands that came out on AmRep or Man's Ruin during the same time.

Discogs

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Baroness - demo

I mentioned it a ways back about that time Baroness jumped on a show I booked at the second Talking Head, how they only got a few songs played in the course of an hour on account of failing gear. But they ripped those few songs, and I got their demo for my trouble, and then about three years ago I sold said demo for something like $50, and, phew, is this sentence going on long.

This two song demo was recorded a few months before Baroness recorded "First". They cut early versions of "Tower Falls" and "Coeur" with Pavement drummer Steve West (?!?) in his Marble Valley Studios (I'm guessing in Charlottsville?), and dropped them onto a CD-R with the delightful artwork you see below. Only John Dyer Baizley remains from that initial Baroness lineup, and the band records now under their own Abraxan Hymns imprint, distributed by Warner Music Group.

I remember being really stressed out by them playing, but digging it because it was heavy, and then not really being curious about seeking out their music again. Very off brand for me. But I guess Mastodon and High on Fire filled that niche in my earbrain at the time, and now I'm thinking maybe it's time to give it another go.

Discogs

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