Rookie of the Year Cheap Wine By Matt Marrone • September 14th, 2018 A hootenanny revival becomes a gothic short story after a song about booze and memories best forgotten.
Aretha Franklin and the Price of Excellence By Malindy Hetfeld • September 10th, 2018 I was punished for telling my high school music teacher to take Aretha Franklin’s name out of his undeserving mouth.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – August 2018 By Astrid Budgor • September 4th, 2018 It’s hard to argue against the rise of antifa black metal bands. But then, it’s hard to extricate current stylings from black metal’s past too.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – July 2018 By Astrid Budgor • August 16th, 2018 What can I say, it’s a death metal kind of month.
Mini-Operas in Grind and Glitch By Levi Rubeck • July 26th, 2018 How grindcore taught me to appreciate Tierra Whack.
Daughters Split Open Their Satanic Chrysalis By Levi Rubeck • July 18th, 2018 This country has had no shortage of crusty street preachers, split-lip soothsayers crawling across glass-littered asphalt to cough up a truth few are brave enough to bear.
Ill Considered’s Sublime Echolocation By Levi Rubeck • July 12th, 2018 I watched Lost Highway alone at midnight, on a sweltering Northern California summer evening, and when it was finally over I only really retained two thoughts.
Rookie of the Year Finding the Holy Grail. Again. By Matt Marrone • July 6th, 2018 The folk rock band The Innocence Mission has faded into obscurity, but its small, cult-like following continues to do some crazy things in the name of fandom. Or maybe it’s just me.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – June 2018 By Astrid Budgor • July 5th, 2018 This month in metal sees the awaited return of a few fan favorites and a band named after a freaking Bloodborne item.
Exploits Feature Praying By Amanda Hudgins • July 2nd, 2018 “You had better hope that a higher power is ready to someday forgive you, it says, because I am not.”
The Swamp Sweat of Young Widows By Levi Rubeck • June 20th, 2018 Young Widows tweaked their smoldering incantations from album to album, and DECAYED does more than collect the detritus.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – May 2018 By Astrid Budgor • June 12th, 2018 Astrid hates living in Tampa. These new metal records offer her blistering solace.
Red Hare Refuses to Fade By Levi Rubeck • June 6th, 2018 What can be expected from a community mostly fueled on youthful energy? Life hits with a closed fist, and subsisting against the grain is suspiciously similar to a real job. Except working for yourself has even worse benefits.
More than a Mix Tape Maker By Brock Wilbur • June 1st, 2018 It is a weird delight to be able to interview Liz Lawson, who started her career on shows like Dexter and House and True Blood: shows that I consider outstanding more for their licensed tracks than for their original soundtracks.
Exploits Feature Art vs. Artist By Khee Hoon Chan • June 1st, 2018 There comes a point where death is too good for the artist.
A Feel-Good Composer By Brock Wilbur • May 22nd, 2018 Brock Wilbur chats with composer Joel Corelitz about his work.
The Music of War – An Interview With Composer Wilbert Roget By Brock Wilbur • May 17th, 2018 Brock Wilbur chats with composer Wilbert Roget about his career and the process of scoring Call of Duty: WWII.
Rookie of the Year Four Days With First Aid Kit By Matt Marrone • April 26th, 2018 Through analytics, Matt Marrone discovers a favorite album he didn’t realize he had.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – April 2018 By Astrid Budgor • April 24th, 2018 Spring is here, so Astrid turns to wintry black metal to ward of the Florida sun.
A Conversation with 2 Mello By Brock Wilbur • April 10th, 2018 Unwinnable grabs a few minutes of 2 Mello’s time to discuss tributes, remixes, games, queer noir and finding success in the infinite expanse of modern internet music.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – March 2018 By Astrid Budgor • April 4th, 2018 The latest metal gems unearthed on Bandcamp.
Rest In Power Caleb Scofield By Levi Rubeck • April 4th, 2018 A memorial for Caleb Scofield, bassist of heavy metal crushers Cave In, Old Man Gloom, and Zozobra.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – February 2018 By Astrid Budgor • March 14th, 2018 There are no gatekeepers here at The Usurper. Witness: Necronomidol, the most metal thing you’ll hear this month.
Hot Snakes Carves the Surf By Levi Rubeck • March 7th, 2018 Rick Froberg still hollers in the key of vinegar.
Cascading through the Mud with Coalesce and Meatwound By Levi Rubeck • February 28th, 2018 It was orchestrated chaos that kept even the die-hard karate kids in the pit at bay, which is no small feat.
Hamilton is an Eating Disorder Battle Anthem By Ellen Ricks • February 21st, 2018 It was a rough year. Then again, every year is a rough year when you’re slowly committing suicide.
Best of 2017 Unwinnable Listens to the Best Music of 2017 – Finale By Team Unwinnable • January 30th, 2018 The Can You Hang? Challenge is over. This year’s lesson? Even good music can be a punishment.
The Usurper Noteworthy Metal – January 2018 By Astrid Budgor • January 29th, 2018 Introducing The Usurper, in which Astrid Budgor selects quality metal to tear up your ear holes every month.
Best of 2017 Unwinnable Listens to the Best Music of 2017 – Part Three By Team Unwinnable • January 23rd, 2018 The Can You Hang? Challenge proves to be almost too pleasant an experience and two members of Team Unwinnable reveal that they couldn’t hang.
The Cranberries Baseball Association: Remembering Dolores O’Riordan By Matt Marrone • January 16th, 2018 Matt Marrone shares an unusual memory of Dolores O’Riordan, the Cranberries and baseball videogames.
Best of 2017 Unwinnable Listens to the Best Music of 2017 – Part Two By Team Unwinnable • January 15th, 2018 The gang continues to find great new songs during the Can You Hang? Challenge. Has Unwinnable’s collective taste in music gotten better?
Eat the Rich and Dance By Levi Rubeck • January 9th, 2018 What better way to roll out 2018 than immediately accounting for what one may have missed in 2017.
Best of 2017 Unwinnable Listens to the Best Music of 2017 – Part One By Team Unwinnable • January 8th, 2018 Team Unwinnable enters this year’s Best Music gauntlet and finds it…kind of nice? Caution reigns, though: the other, dog poop covered shoe of other people’s taste in music is bound to drop soon.
Rookie of the Year Music Loves, Too By Matt Marrone • December 29th, 2017 You’d think for Twin Peaks super fan Matt Marrone, the soundtrack to the third season would be a shoo-in for his favorite album of the year, but that isn’t the case.
Best of 2017 The Best Music of 2017 By Team Unwinnable • December 28th, 2017 Every year, our Best Music list is the most eclectic. This year, there was barely a consensus at all.
List-O-Mania – December 2017 By Team Unwinnable • December 26th, 2017 All the stuff that filled Team Unwinnable’s free time this month – now with TV and Movie categories!
Battle Jacket The Best Metal Albums of 2017 By Casey Lynch • December 25th, 2017 In the final installment of Battle Jacket (we’ll miss you!), Casey crowns the metal king of 2017.
Unwinnable Presents ChristmApocalypse: The Final Conflict By Team Unwinnable • December 22nd, 2017 Ho-ho-ho. The end is nigh.
The Burnt Offering Stranger Songs By Stu Horvath • December 6th, 2017 With soundtracks, sometimes too much of a good thing can be terrible. Evidence: the in-your-face 80s soundtrack of Stranger Things 2.
List-O-Mania – November 2017 By Team Unwinnable • December 5th, 2017 Books, music and games to help you pass the time as you get ready for the holidays!
