“I wish that I could swim and sleep like a shark does. I’d fall to the bottom and I’d hide till the end of time.” ~ “Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark)”, Unknown Mortal Orchestra This album records the faint echoes of psychedelia transmuted through layers of ocean. It’s lo-fi in the way that phone […]Read This
The Faith of an Infidel [3]: On the Way
Part of an ongoing series about religion and philosophy. Read Part 2 or view all the posts. As I write I can look out my hotel window on the mountains to the south of Rohr im Gebirge, a tiny hamlet of 500 people, one hotel, and seemingly no restaurants, nestled in the alpine foothills of […]Read This
Solipsists Anonymous [1]
Welcome to Solipsists Anonymous. Let’s go around the room and introduce myself.
The Faith of an Infidel [2]: God has a sense of humor and other hypotheses
Part of an ongoing series about religion and philosophy. Read Part 1 or view all the posts. My first appointment on my arrival in Vienna was breakfast with a Catholic mother (whom I will call “Jess”) and her two-and-a-half-year-old son. Jess was born in Croatia when it was a part of the Socialist Federal Republic […]Read This
Rail Gaze Review: Surprisingly Awesome
When I first heard that Gimlet Media was releasing a podcast named Surprisingly Awesome that would attempt to make ostensibly boring topics seem awesome, I rolled my eyes. The idea of teasing out the kernel of an engaging narrative from the sea of science, politics and culture surrounding us has been implicit in the structure […]Read This
Organic Tinder
Will: I can’t bring myself to use Tinder. All the people I’ve had romantic attachments with, I met organically.
Kyle: Tinder can be organic. You just have to meet at vegan restaurants.
“Something” in the way he plays attracts me like no other guitar solo
A lot can happen in 32 seconds. In the case of George Harrison, you can find the notes of a guitar solo that neatly, in its meandering way, distills the essence of longing for spiritual and emotional connection. What is it, in the notes of that solo, that paints what the rest of the music […]Read This
Anarchists may not like it, but cameras are everywhere
The noise of the demonstration subsided to a dull roar. Occasionally the sharp “Bang!” of a teargas canister leaving a riot gun echoed through the streets of Rudolfsheim, Vienna’s 15th district. I walked down Löhrgasse to Felberstraße, turned left and saw a crowd of “Anti-Faschisten,” maybe 70 or 80 people strong, jogging down the street […]Read This
This Must Be the Cover
Welcome to “Cover Me This,” where the obviously bored writers at the Rail Gaze compare covers of a classic song and hopefully discover that some of them of are pretty good. This week: Conor Fellin takes on “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)” by the Talking Heads. Hope you have some cream handy, because […]Read This
Rail Gaze Review: Why Are You OK
As perennial Band of Horses fans, Conor Fellin and Will Boogert both knew that they would have strong feelings about the band’s new album “Why Are You OK.” So rather than let one person have all the fun, they thought they would write a dialog about the new album. Conor: So I think for me […]Read This