Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward) in 19970. Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage. Does it make me, a sober person, a hypocrite to write a 4/20 column? No. It’s not my fault all the best music is either about or made by people on pot.…

FUZZ (Ty Segall, Charles Moothart, Chad Ubovich), “III.” Among noise buffs, fuzz is considered the most extreme form of distortion, often completely blowing out a signal with staticky white noise (think of the bass sound that begins Norm Greenbaum’s 1969 hit “Spirit in the Sky”). Similarly, among Ty Segall…

The Technicolor Dream Coat. Photo by Quinn Gill. David Gill. Original art: Julia Kovaleva. “It’s more than a feeling (more than a feeling) When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling) I begin dreaming (more than a feeling)” – “More Than a Feeling”…

Ty Segall, “First Taste.” Ty Segall is a very busy man. The Laguna Beach garage rocker filled last year with Freedom’s Goblins, covers album Fudge Sandwich and his collaboration with White Fence, Joy. First Taste clarifies once again that Segall has yet to spread himself too thin, slathering on his brand of fuzzed-out, dirty…

Who knew that the makers of the first electric guitars did so with ‘This is Spinal Tap’ in mind? Distortion is an electronic effect produced by overloading an audio circuit. This simple excess of electrons is responsible for everything from Chuck Berry’s overdriven twang to Jimi Hendrix’s chewy fuzz,…

After last week’s expansion to 10 songs from 1970, we’re back to the traditional five. Not because there aren’t as many choices–the shortlist was 19 songs–but because I don’t trust myself to have any future restraint if I don’t. So you’re welcome, because otherwise you’re staring down the barrel of…

Andrew W.K. is an advice columnist, game show host, motivational speaker, former club owner and musician. Though he’s best known for his 2002 hit Party Hard, the musician part had nearly been pushed to the back burner; his last tour was five years ago and his last album was released…

Photos: Ian Young By all accounts 2016 was a shitty year. But amid the chaos were much needed distractions in the form of live music. This year I traveled to Iceland, Chicago, Indio, Los Angeles and Seattle to attend 110 shows and eight festivals, watching and photographing more than 250 bands. Here’s…