1. Have fun listening to and writing about new music. I reserve the right to have fun and write about other things as well.
2. Help underground artists reach a handful of cool folks with a discerning ear and a wide range of taste -- and yeh, after 9 years, I'm talking about you, friend-o! Turns out you're cool af.
3. Bandcamp, Youtube, and Soundcloud links are the easiest way for me to share your stuff. If you want me to disseminate your awesome sounds to my extremely limited audience, send me a Bandcamp, Youtube, or Soundclound link.
4. I want to keep up with the blog in a way that it doesn't become a headache for me.
So after kvetching about it for a good two or three years I finally tried my hand at actual music reviews. The end all be all of that experiment was, it made keeping up with the blog feel more like an assignment, or a job, than a fun way to listen and share music I like and my dummy thoughts. And jeeze, all I wanna do is have fun -- doing something actively not fun is just not in my DNA, if I'm not doing it as a transactionary precaution so I don't end up homeless. Thanks Capitalism!
Moving forward, I'll probably get a wild hair to do actual critical reviews every now and then, but mostly I'd rather listen to something, say 'hey that's cool,' share it on the blog with a quick note on where the artists are from and what kinda music it is, why I think it's cool, and move along.
If you contact me and I don't respond or post about your tunes, I hereby apologize.
I'm currently playing Cyberpunk 2077, and really getting into it. In upcoming posts if I rant a little about my leftist politics, or reminisce about some old music video or album I enjoy, don't give me shit about it.
That's all I was doing with CNQ for the longest time anyway. Maybe there is a place for CNQ in the current 2021 music-related blogosphere. Maybe some people like the same stuff I like, and enjoy suggestions.
Since its inception in 2012, CNQ has been ad-free. So there's that.
Syf Records is a DIY label from Poland. The catalog is 9 releases, all noisy lo-fi weird shit. Some of it snythy. I've really been enjoying it, especially this:
Plaguestate is hardcore scream-o stuff from the Bay Area. At first the vocals turned me off, that type of screaming typically is just not my bag, but by the end of this 4 song EP, I was impressed. Recommend a listen:
From Buffalo, NY's Swimming Faith Records, the score to an invisible horror movie Surf punk excellence:
The 12" is still available on Big Neck Records out of Virginia:
Holy mackerel, the Mangfather Bob Katz's new album, "Six Cans of Olives" is an inspriation. Just absolute magic:
Finally, don't forget to check out the new Bordellos and Salem Trials from Metal Postcard Records:
