Tag Archives: USA

Educated Owls – The Fires of Dead Stars (2026); Glassing – From the Other Side of the Mirror (2024)

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Good day, friends!

I guess.

I mean, after all, it is Monday. And as we all know, the Iron Sheik (R.I.P.) would probably have had some choice words to say about that on Twitter (R.I.P.).

In typical Monday fashion, it’s time to play catch-up from last week. Specifically, there was a brand new album released last Friday that I was planning to share with you all, but then — well — you know.

That new release comes to us from Washington (D.C.)’s Educated Owls, a name that may seem familiar to you from a handful of compilations that have been featured on this site over the past couple of years.

And as an added bonus, we’ll also check out the latest (albeit coming up upon two years since it was first released) from Austin (TX)’s Glassing, who also may be familiar to you from a couple previous releases we had discussed.

 

Educated Owls – The Fires of Dead Stars (self-released, 20 March 2026)

 

Glassing – From the Other Side of the Mirror (Pelagic Records, 26 April 2024)

 

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SoftSun – Daylight in the Dark (2024), Eternal Sunrise (2025)

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Hello, Dear Readers! Hope you are all having a splendid Thursday.

Yesterday I told you about this weekend’s Mojave Experience festival taking place Friday and Saturday in the California desert.

Well today, I’d like to call your attention to another group who will be making an appearance in the Yucca Valley this Friday night (20 March): SoftSun, a collaboration between Norwegian bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen (also known for her solo act Pia Isa as well as being a member of Superlynx (reviewed here) and Californian guitarist Gary Arce (whose other band Yawning Man will ALSO be at the Mojave Experience on Saturday) with the trio rounded out by a different drummer on each of their first two albums.

 

SoftSun – Daylight in the Dark (Ripple Music, 08 November 2024)

 

SoftSun – Eternal Sunrise (Heavy Psych Sounds, 07 November 2025)

 

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Secret Cutter – /// (2025); Blunt Knife Castration – Blood & Oil (2026)

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It IS once again Bandcamp Friday, so if you’ve had your eye on something in your wishlist — or if you hear something today that catches your fancy — it’s a good time to make that purchase, since 100% of the cost ends up going straight to the artist!

For all my good friends and casual acquaintances out there reading these words: I’ve decided to close out the week with one album that was released last March by a band from the other side of the state that we’ve been fans of for a long time here in the Valley, and one that was released last Friday by an artist from the other side of the Atlantic whom we’ve only just learned about when they recently reached out by email. In both cases, we 100% guarantee you will love what you hear, or we’ll refund every penny you spent on your free subscription to valleyofsteel dot net.

 

Secret Cutter – /// (self-released, 20 March 2025)

 

Blunt Knife Castration – Blood & Oil (Remorseless Records, 27 February 2026)

 

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Bog Wizard – Journey Through the Dying Lands (2024), Satanik Panik (2025)

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It’s Bandcamp Friday once again — hope you all are having a happy one!

Feels like a good time to check in on our Michiganian friends Bog Wizard. Back when we published a review of their 2020 and 2021 releases, there were a few specific references to the “Satanic Panic” of the late 20th century. Well, since that time, the band went and released a whole damn album named for that concept. They also put together an album with literary tie-ins, both of which are highly recommended for you to check out!

 

Bog Wizard – Journey Through the Dying Lands (self-released in collaboration with Madness Hearts Games, 25 October 2024)

 

Bog Wizard – Satanik Panik (self-released, 31 October 2025)

 

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1994 Called…

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The Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen (RIYL: Soul Asylum, Dig)

 


 
Corrosion of Conformity – Deliverance (RIYL: a rendering of Master of Reality dripping with southern-fried sludge)

 


 
Sugar – File Under: Easy Listening (RIYL: Matthew Sweet, Urge Overkill)

 

I know all of you are looking at the title of this article, then looking at those three album covers I posted up there, and immediately you’re saying “Hey wait a minute, wasn’t Gentlemen released in 1993 though?” And you’re absolutely correct, it did hit stores in the fall of that year, on the heels of the title track’s music video hitting the airwaves, but my recollection was that this Queen City band really started getting attention around the time this (their fourth album)’s second single dropped in early ’94.

In any case, the point of this article is to draw attention to a trio of bands who are embarking on major 2026 tours, each including a stop in Pittsburgh, any which would have been a huge deal to my ninth-grade self. And my BMG Music Service membership.

See below for full lists of dates, along with some relevant links. Enjoy!

 

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Aint Pancakes – Love Your Neighbors (2025)

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Every day we hear about people doing shit like this and we love to see it and it fills us with joy and momentarily restores our faith in humanity, but at the same time we hate that people HAVE to do shit like this, which once again makes us wonder if the world wouldn’t be better off getting hit with another dinosaur-extinction-level asteroid.

I guess this is just the world we live in now. Happy Thanksgiving Eve, y’all.

 

Aint Pancakes – Love Your Neighbors (Philip K. Discs, 15 November 2025)

 

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Xoth “Exogalactic Actuality” Tour || ABA Community Weekend

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Hey there! I’ve got two (completely unrelated) things to bring to your attention today, both of which might interest you if you live in or around the Pittsburgh area, and one of which might still interest you if you are in any of several other areas throughout the eastern or central United States.

First up:

 


 

ABA‘s Pittsburgh Community Weekend

20 & 21 September, 2025

Join the American Birding Association for a fun weekend of birding in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

On Sat. morning, Sept. 20, we will bird together at Hartwood Acres Park where we will explore the trails around the estate buildings, meadows, and mature woodland areas. In the afternoon, we head over to Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve for two presentations, one by Brian Shema and the other by Nick Stahlman, hosted by the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. In the evening, come down into the city and join us at East End Brewing for a little urban birding and socializing over pizza and local drinks on their outdoor patio.

On Sun. morning, Sept. 21, we will visit Frick Park, one of the area’s top birding locations, to look for fall migrants. Later we will gather at the Frick Environmental Center for a fun presentation by Mike Fialkovich, president of the Three Rivers Birding Club.

All bird walks, talks, and workshops are free and open to the public (with cash bar/food during the evening social), but registration is mandatory. The ABA’s bird-friendly SongBird Coffee will be served before and after each bird walk and presentation.

We are grateful for the support of Vortex Optics, who are providing a variety of excellent Vortex binoculars for participants to use during our field trips. There are limited binoculars available for loan, and we will distribute them on a first come first served basis, so sharing might be needed and appreciated.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow bird enthusiasts and enhance your birding skills. Sign up now and join us for an unforgettable weekend!

 

All of the locations listed here are local hotspots for bird activity — especially Frick which has been buzzing with reports of migrating warblers and flycatchers over the past few weeks. As stated above, all of this weekend’s events are FREE, you just have to sign up here. I’ve been looking forward to this ever since the ABA first announced it early this year, and I hope to run into some friendly faces over the two-day gathering!

 

* * * * *

 

and next:

 


 

Xoth – “Exogalactic Actuality” Tour 2025

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Coffin Womb – Godless (2024), The Trauma Process (2025)

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If you haven’t figured it out based on your email inbox bursting at the seams, It Is Bandcamp Friday.

Before we all head out for the weekend, real quick let me call your attention to two releases (one from early last year and one from early this year) by Pittsburgh’s Coffin Womb, self-described as “A bunch of losers who just want to ruin your day.”

 

Coffin Womb – Godless (Syrup Moose Records, 23 February 2024)

 

Coffin Womb – The Trauma Process (self-released, 10 January 2025)

 

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Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Worlds Within Live (2021); Jason Blake feat. RWB – Candles Burn (2024)

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Good afternoon, y’all. Last time, we talked about the most recent release by Canadian neofolk trio Musk Ox and the news that their music was being featured in the CBS medical/mystery drama Watson. (In case you missed it, episode 2, which broadcast about two weeks ago, set their song “Weightless” against a montage wrapping up the various storylines near the end of the show.)

Anyway, at that time I had promised more music from Musk Ox members would be forthcoming, and so here we are. The group’s cellist (and co-writer/arranger) Raphael Weinroth-Browne put out his first solo record back in 2020, which at the time was met with plenty of acclaim on this website. But the following year, he released a brand new version of the whole thing re-recorded live, which we’ll take a look at here. And to cap things off, we’ll also check out an EP the cellist created in collaboration with Chicago-based Warr guitarist Jason Blake, just about eleven months ago.

 

Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Worlds Within Live (self-released, 02 July 2021)

 

Jason Blake featuring Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Candles Burn (7d Media, 05 April 2024)

 

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Welcome to the Spectrum (2024 Compilation)

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Dear gentlepersons of the internet: once more I bid you hello and good day. Things have been pretty quiet around here for a bit, which has been (as per usual) the result of extensive craziness happening BTS IRL. So much, in fact, that I’ve missed the year-end deadline for compiling my year-end list by a couple of weeks now. I’ve got it narrowed down to a manageable collection of contenders, just need to revisit them to cut that number in half and then put them in order — which I’ll hopefully accomplish in the near future, now that I’ve finally emptied my inbox of everything from 2024.

Speaking of which, over the past two months we’ve been dormant here, Food Desert Recordings put out another of their esteemed fundraising compilations, which I’ll take a rare minute of downtime to bring to your attention. Welcome to the Spectrum benefits The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a very worthy cause, since unlike some other well-known organizations, it does not view Autism as a disease to be cured or eradicated…

 

Various Artists – Welcome to the Spectrum: A Compilation to Support the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (Food Desert Recordings, 27 September 2024)

 

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