Category: Music

Concerts, albums, music, guitar… music! You know! MUSIC!

Helmet / Silver Cord Sessions

It was back in the mid-90s, on the irreverant US adult cartoon Bevis and Butthead that I first encountered Helmet. The song was “Wilma’s Rainbow” and I was hooked.

The eponymous hosts were commenting on how ordinary the band members looked, and that if you saw them walking down the street, you wouldn’t realise how cool they were. Cos they’re in a band.

Ladies and gentlemen – and Betty… and Wilma – Helmet live at Silver Cord Studio, New York in March 2025.

Track listing

00:00 Wilma’s Rainbow
04:15 I Know
08:04 Milquetoast

Band

  • Page Hamilton—Vocals and guitar
  • Dan Beeman—Rythm guitar and backing vocals
  • Dave Case—Bass and backing vocals
  • Kyle Stevenson—Drums and backing vocals

My albums of 2025

Screenshot of MusicBee showing the album covers of the 12 albums I acquired during 2025.
The albums I acquired in 2025

My annual review of the music from this year that I’ve enjoyed listening to most. This is my top ten albums of the year:

  1. Death Rattle—The Moral Chokehold
  2. Lights of Vimana—Neopolis
  3. Cooktaroo (Steve Lawson and Millie Turner)—Saviour in the Dark
  4. Krysthla—The River
  5. Machine Head—Unatøned
  6. Dream Theater—Parasomnia
  7. Alulta—Merok
  8. Steven Wilson—The Overview
  9. Hollow Leg—Dust and Echoes
  10. The Breathing Method—After Everything Else
Continue reading My albums of 2025

RIP Brent Hinds (1974–2025)

For the last few days, I’ve been reeling at the news of the sudden and untimely death of former Mastodon guitarist and co-vocalist William Brent Hinds.

By all accounts, he was a force of nature. A wild character. And a fabulously inventive guitarist and vocalist. I feel thankful that I have stood in the same room as him on a couple of occasions and marvelled at Mastodon’s unique brand of rock n’ roll.

When big characters who have burned so brightly in life are suddenly and cruelly extinguished, life suddenly feels fragile. But now is the time to rage against that darkness and live life to the full. This week I have been doing that to soundtrack of Mastodon.

There’s an open wound placed upon my heart in anger’s rage
If we open up a spirit, it’s a spirit that can bleed

— “Seabeast”, Mastodon from Leviathan (2004)

Sending love and condolences to his family and friends.

Rest in peace, Brent Hinds.