Defense Mechanism-Lump Sum and Then Some; No Sides Records, 2026

 

It has to be acknowledged that No Sides Records is genuinely interested in presenting a diversity of aesthetic output and if you're doubting that statement Disaster Amnesiac begs you to look no further than their most recent release, Lump Sum and Then Some by Defense Mechanism. This Indianapolis based project presents eight tracks of generally good feeling electronic music that features flavors that cleave to brighter and sunnier side of the Avant Garde musical zone. As I've listened I've heard J Pop and J Fusion, video game bits, cascading rainbows of digital click and glitch and what is presumed to be Chip Core (a style I know next to nothing about). All of it done with what seems to be an ear towards fun times and most likely dancing. If one streams this album or perhaps plays the 3 inch CD version, one will surely find plenty of opportunities in which to move that booty along with being intrigued by its instrumentation and the implementation of said instruments. Tight arrangements characterize each and every one of the tracks on Lump Sum, which gives the record an impressive progressive Pop sheen. This music was clearly and cleverly thought out and produced and it's really breezy and fun. Play it after you dig into some of No Sides Records' darker releases as a way of bringing back some mirth into your sonic cloud!

Live shot(s) #225!

 

Shots taken at Wave Archive Tucson, 5/31/26. 

Below: Scott Jenerik brought psychick saz meltdowns with film about Icarus. 

Above: Shin Chida. Hardcore Noise brutalist fuck yeah!

Below: Mike Meanstreetz/James Fella Duo found discrete spaces within their duo actions.

Wave Archive remains a place of questing. Happy to have seen it again after an age. 

Live shot(s) #224!

 

Shots taken at Crooked Tooth Brewing Tucson, 5/29/26.

Below: Moramarco! bring a distinct Bisbee vibe with their Southwestern sounds.

Above: Cat Mountain. Tight Folk rockin' band. Vinyl out! 

Xopher Davidson/Jacob Felix Heule-Resolution; Sirr-ecords Records, 2026

It's never not good news at Casita Amnesiac when word of new auditory creativity from Jacob Felix Heule arrives, as it has recently in the form of Resolution, which documents recent collaboration with Xopher Davidson. Across three long-ish tracks, this tandem team sets up some very righteous droning action from their varied and well considered instruments. Disaster Amnesiac saw Jacob play live on a fair amount of occasions back in the twenty 'teens and can sort of visualize the rig that he well could have been coaxing for many of his statements: a large bass drum turned on its side, resonant metals placed upon its surface, probably a cello bow. Surely Heule has added a few other pieces to this basic ensemble, but even if he hasn't, he has the skills at improvising which assure that just the right sound or silence is utilized as a way to serve the overall mix of the pieces. It's less clear what type of instruments Davidson handled during the recording of what sounds like a sectioned edition of one longer improvisational meeting. Ring modulators? Guitars/amplifiers? Synthesizers? Synth pedals? However they were accessed, it's just better to let the imagination run wild and to enjoy the inwardly visual aspects that recordings such as Resolution evince. It's very clear that Xopher Davidson and Jacob Felix Heule have great simpatico as an improvising duo. Their method sounds by no means rushed or forced. Instead its sounds emerge in manners that benefit from patient, more slowly paced moves. This allows for their impacts to be heard and felt. Find a method with which to quiet your mind and much sonic enjoyment can be had from the deep spaces explored by the two Oakland CA-based sound artists. People in north eastern Alamda County are advised to take in any of their live appearances! 

Sonny Rollins RIP

 

A fine, fun memory of Sonny Rollins, circa 2009. Mrs. Amnesiac and myself attended a concert performance by the now passed on tenior saxophone titan at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco. He had a trio for the evening, one that featured Al Foster on drums. Wish that I could recall the bass player but that's just not happening. The group came out, briefly acknowledged the audience, and proceeded to play a looooooong piece. Seriously, they played for ages, with Sonny in particular going off on his horn, extending melodic fragments and twisting ideas until they became some other idea, spiraling off and out into zones of Jazz bliss. It drove the people in attendance wild, that's for sure. It's not recalled by me as to whether that one song took up the entirety of their first set: it may have. That was the one time that I saw Rollins live, for better or worse. He stayed admirably true to the music that he loved for decades, and now that he's left this place America has lost one of its last standing practitioners from that remarkably strong culture that developed in the 20th Century, if not the last. Thanks for sticking around for so long, Sonny, and thanks for all of that beautiful playing you laid on me and a couple of thousand others that night on California St. back in the aughts. 

Live shot(s) #223!

 

Taken at Che's Lounge 5/24/26.

Below: Mark Pierce/Mad Mindy played shorter songs with cutting Punk Rock vocals and surreal lyrics that suggested time spent out on the highways.

Above: Mark Pierce/Joe Peña/Joe Novelli taking liberties within the American song form from a Southwest vantage and really doing it effectively. The perfect soundtrack to a surprise rain storm, come up from the south and west. 

Cello adds such richness to any music in which it is featured.

Ace and the Soulless-s/t; Ghost Rhythm Records 006, 2026

 

After a recent, tight live set from Ace and the Soulless at the really groovy Chicago Bar in Tucson, Disaster Amnesiac approached guitar player Johnny Soulless about the CDs that they had mentioned being on offer. I had no cash but Johnny just let me take one gratis. Many thanks are in order from me to that really great guitar player. It probably would have been the case that Ace And The Soulless got an enthuse session at this eighteen year blog. That Soulless suggested I "mention it online or something" sealed that deal. In what appears to be this group's debut physical release, the listener is treated to ten tracks of rockin', rooted and rollicking Rock 'n Roll. Ace Reztone plays the upright bass on all tracks, and of course this gives their sound that gritty blend of percussion-attained melody which can be achieved from the instrument in capable hands. Disaster Amnesiac will ask the reader to refer to the ways in which Bill Black's playing effected the Sun Records sessions for Elvis's early trio as a marker for that. Adam Galleano keeps his drum playing pleasingly simple throughout. His drumming frames the songs' forms and keeps their paces going on all tracks. Yet another Tucson drummer that lays it down with an elegance that never misses. Since we're talking about the instrumental approaches here it must be stated that Johnny Soulless is a fantastic guitar player. His tones on the vocal parts of this album's tunes are seductive to the attentive ear, and his solos rip and rampage when he takes them, even as their relative brevity appears necessary to Ace and the Soulless' aesthetic. In the vocal department, the contrast between the singing styles of Reztone and Soulless must be noted. The former has a clear, well annunciated delivery while the former gives a raw alto growl. The back and forth presentation of these disparate ways of Rock 'n Roll chant are astute in that the listener never tires of either. It's worked for a lot of different bands. The lyrical concerns range from explorations of self awareness to barroom flirtation to hard times laments and these are, as we all know, lasting topical themes within just about any American music in general and Rock 'n Roll specifically. If that makes you uncomfortable or offended I'd be willing to guess that the dudes of Ace and the Soulless would shrug and play on. During Where The Hell Johnny Soulless begs the question of where in the hell Rock 'n Roll is these days: c'mon my guy, it's in your hands! Tucson people are well advised to catch Ace and the Soulless within the lounge setting. If they hit your town, dittos!