TURNSTILE, WYMAN PARK DELL, 05.10.2025 [Anything for a Weird Life] May 13, 2025 Columns Tim wades into the completely packed Wyman Park Dell for Baltimore standard bearers Turnstile's surprise concert benefiting Healthcare for the Homeless. DAVID THOMAS (1953-2025) [Anything for a Weird Life] May 6, 2025 Columns In the middle 1990s, when I found out that Pere Ubu named their 1978 album Dub Housing after architecture in Baltimore, I was inspired to name my A TALE OF TWO SHOWS [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 29, 2025 Columns Tim reports on two very different gigs from last weekend. DUNDALK HERITAGE FAIR 1976-2024 [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 22, 2025 Columns Tim mourns the working-class fesstival of his youth THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE BEATLES' NO L [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 15, 2025 Columns Tim checks out a posthumous release from a mysterious Baltimore supergroup IT'S NOT TOO LATE [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 8, 2025 Columns APRIL IS THE COOLEST MONTH [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 1, 2025 Columns Tim gives us the rundown on Baltimore shows to catch this month SCENE REPORT: GUNS N' ROSES WITH SKID ROW, 1991 [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 25, 2025 Columns One more turn in the road toward the Weird Life AN EVENING AT THE HOUSE OF CHIEFS [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 18, 2025 Columns A hardcore show? On a Tuesday night? Tim investigates. ON THE PERILS AND PLEASURES OF THE ARCHIVE [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 11, 2025 Columns My dad died in June of 2023. As proceedings can take some time after that fact, my family spent this past weekend beginning the process of WHAT DO WE DO NOW? [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 4, 2025 Columns Tim's notes on some recent Baltimore Happenings FURTHER READING: "Dystopia" (2008) & "Life is Abuse" (2023 reissue) by Dystopia [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 25, 2025 Columns Tim fills in some gaps in his punk CV ON THE EVENING OF FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH, 2025… [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 11, 2025 Columns …the following events unfolded. Each, to me, was tied to a larger thing. As I got off work, a friend contacted me to see if I could hang out. She LIVE! TONIGHT! SOLD OUT! [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 4, 2025 Columns I did not attend the music festival this past weekend. The show was sold out. Of course, this is 2025. I had many messages letting me know the TO ZINE OR NOT TO ZINE? [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 28, 2025 Columns This weekend, following a certain trail guided and guarded by the punks I asked, I attended a zinefest. I made my time brief and my presence light. DAVID LYNCH 1946-2025 [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 21, 2025 Columns Tim bids farewell to the best to ever do it with a celebration of the music in Lynch's films. FURTHER READING: "Chung King Can Suck It" by Judge [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 14, 2025 Columns Tim considers the reissue of a rare record that probably never should have existed in the first place. #SQUATTHEPHARMACY IN 2025 [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 9, 2025 Columns IMPRESSIONS OF A NOISE SHOW [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 17, 2024 Columns It is that time of the year. As stockings are hung by the chimney with care, as folks rush from store to store looking for that perfect last-minute CRATE DIGGING: The Future of Music Media is on Wax [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 10, 2024 Columns High-speed vinyl market got you down? Tim has a hot tip for the next big trend in physical media HOW TO TELL YOU ARE GETTING BURNED OUT ON SHOWS [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 3, 2024 Columns Tim is tired. HEMLOCK, HEIGHT AND THE RETURN OF UNDERGROUND HIP HOP TO STATION NORTH [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 26, 2024 Columns Doc #000: KILL A GARAGE ROCKER FOR PUNK [Garage Punk Dossier] Nov 21, 2024 Columns When you see the Buddha on the road, kill him. When you become the Buddha, keep your head on a swivel. ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE UNDERGROUND, HERE AND ELSEWHERE [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 19, 2024 Columns Tim checks out A MIND BLOWN IS A MIND SHOWN by Plastic Crimewave CRATE DIGGING [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 12, 2024 Columns Tim's modest proposal for new vinyl variants BACK TO YOUR DAY JOB: LIFE AFTER TOUR [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 5, 2024 Columns On returning to Ithaca after a long journey AN EVENING WITH MUSCLE, BALACLAVA AND THE JULIA SET [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 29, 2024 Columns Tim soothes the Sunday Scaries with a great gig at Holy Frijoles. Photos by Sam Levin & Jon Hughen. AN EVENING AT WAX ATLAS [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 22, 2024 Columns I recently had the chance to meet up with some old friends and check out the new Wax Atlas. Wax Atlas is not new, but they are now in a new TRIPPER "FACELESS" EP RELEASE [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 15, 2024 Columns Tim wades back into the morass of Baltimore hardcore WHICH BAND SHOULD PLAY WHEN? [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 8, 2024 Columns In my prior band, many years ago, as conversations began over the evening’s set order, the drummer would make sure it was known: we, The Legendary YOUR FIRST SCENE REPORT [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 1, 2024 Columns You are in a basement in Pasadena, Maryland in a house off Goose Neck Road. The basement is large but spare and well kept. It is Friday, March 19th, SCENE REPORT: Twig Harper @ Current Space [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 24, 2024 Columns No matter which calendar you follow, as of this weekend, it is officially fall in Baltimore. This can only mean one thing: more events, festivals, IN PRAISE OF BALTIMORE SHOWPLACE [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 17, 2024 Columns On the heels of the DIY show listing's fifth anniversary, Tim sends up a vital Baltimore institution IMPRESSIONS OF SHINY FEST 3 [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 10, 2024 Columns It is the day after the third Shiny Fest, and I can’t stop thinking about balloons. Shiny Fest’s intent was not only to tout its own roster and SUMMER 2024 RECAP [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 3, 2024 Columns Tim's back from his summer sabbatical with a look back at a busy summer in Baltimore music. Truth Cult (Last Show) [Anything for a Weird Life] May 28, 2024 Columns Tim's elegy for a standout Baltimore band Reflections on Series Two: How Does He Do It? [Anything for a Weird Life] May 21, 2024 Columns Tim's thoughts on wrapping up another marathon run for his weekly column Steve Albini 1962-2024 [Anything for a Weird Life] May 14, 2024 Columns “Rules be: No past, only present. No cheating; if it doesn’t happen that day, I won’t write about it. No explanations; if it doesn’t make sense to Mayday [Anything for a Weird Life] May 7, 2024 Columns It is clear: we are so back. In Baltimore City, every weekend and weekday there are multiple cultural events to choose to attend this month. This A User's Guide to Universal Order of Armageddon (Numero 221) [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 30, 2024 Columns Tim's notes on Numero Group's double vinyl release of the indispensible Baltimore hardcore band's underappreciated catalog. Tape World: O.K. Let's Rock with... Nirvana Apr 9, 2024 Columns Tim returns to Tape World to examine a mysterious Nirvana bootleg On the Importance of Infrastructure [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 2, 2024 Columns Tim illuminates the importance of our unseen support structures Spring Break Scene Report [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 26, 2024 Columns Tim surveys some of the Baltimore music that deserves your attention Social Media and its Discontents [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 19, 2024 Columns The internet as we know it won't last forever. Tim investigates. In Praise of Phantomime [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 12, 2024 Columns Saturday night remains a potential portal to other realms. How to Write a Song [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 5, 2024 Columns After listening to some old songs and writing some new ones, Tim has a few thoughts on the process. Tape World: The Six O'Clock Alarm S/T Feb 27, 2024 Columns You can't find everything online. Suffer Well, Rejoice Better with Bruce Springsteen, Pt. II [Praise Music for a Secular Life] Feb 21, 2024 Music & Criticism & Columns In this continuing rumination on The Boss, Lish Ciambrone sets her sight on 1992's Lucky Town. A Return to the Arbutus Record Show [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 20, 2024 Columns I returned to the record show a new person, transformed by years of questing that began here, back in the 1990s. Suffer Well, Rejoice Better with Bruce Springsteen, Pt. I [Praise Music for a Secular Life] Feb 14, 2024 Music & Criticism & Columns Lish Ciambrone spends Valentine's Day ruminating on the Boss's less-appreciated autobiographical work, starting with his 1987 album Tunnel of Love In Praise of Black Celebration [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 13, 2024 Columns Tim visits a new Baltimore institution Impressions of Disturbin' the Peace 2024: Day Two [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 6, 2024 Columns What a difference a week makes. Baltimore City was on the edge of pandemonium on the afternoon of Sunday, January 28th. And I had to get down close Impressions of Disturbin' The Peace 2024: Day One [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 30, 2024 Columns It is 10 AM the day after Day One of the Fest, and my body and my mind are reeling. What I did, essentially, was stand alone in the back area of In Praise of ROCKER [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 23, 2024 Columns Now is the winter of our discontent. First Bandcamp, now Pitchfork. A universe of eulogies, think pieces, and final heckles swirl around this newly Tape World: Death Grips, Exmilitary CS [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 16, 2024 Columns Tim remembers the early shock of Death Grips' debut mixtape In Praise of the Matinee Show [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 9, 2024 Columns I kept confusing people. I said I was going to a matinee. They thought I meant a movie. But the band Body Farm was returning to town and they were I Sing the BODY Electric [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 2, 2024 Columns Let Tim have this one thing, please. In Praise of Novelty [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 19, 2023 Columns On Wednesday, December 13th, the show’s flyers started to appear, altered, on my timeline. The venue had been crossed out and a dreaded phrase had In Praise of Repetition [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 12, 2023 Columns Imagine a crowd gathered, chanting, one person leading the chant below over a bullhorn. “What do we want?” “Small, incremental but meaningful Impressions of Acme Corporation's The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 5, 2023 Columns With the lights out, it's less dangerous Tape World: Evil Spirits S/T Cassette [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 28, 2023 Columns Tim's Proustian remembrance of Baltimore Past, spurred by a 2009 noise-sludge cassette The Thanksgiving Truce Holds...for Now [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 21, 2023 Columns It is that time of the year again. The “last show for a while” local band shows have happened, the “in town for the holidays” one-off shows are When Should Your Band Break Up? [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 14, 2023 Columns Bands break up. Tim surveys the possibilities. See You at The Bean: Impressions of Tripper's EP Release Show [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 7, 2023 Columns You know a Baltimore venue has come into its own when it has a nickname. Tape World: Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 31, 2023 Columns Tim remembers a 1989 cassette purchase Why Bandcamp Matters [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 24, 2023 Columns A eulogy of sorts When should a band record in the studio? [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 17, 2023 Columns Tim's sage advice for young bands An Open Letter to the Person who Mugged Me [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 10, 2023 Columns Hello, How are you? We met about a week ago, on a Monday evening. You know where. You were the one that was hit by a car and then heckled by the Found Sound Reviews [Anything for a Weird Life] Oct 3, 2023 Columns If you would like your release to be reviewed by Tim Kabara, donate it to your local thrift store. Whartscape: A Look Back [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 26, 2023 Columns As Baltimore City wades through the remnants of a tropical storm no one could have predicted as statistically likely and begins to process a The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval [#12] Sep 22, 2023 Columns Introspection looks something like an autopsy. I watch from above and take note, in the wings of the operating theater. You could come closer and Artscape: A Look Back [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 19, 2023 Columns This week Tim looks back at Artscape, a legendarily mismanaged Baltimore institution. Men's Recovery Project, or The Pain of Being Pioneers [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 12, 2023 Columns On Sunday, July 17th, 1994, I made my way to Richmond, Virginia to see my friends’ band open up for Bikini Kill. In 1994, pre-Internet, info was What I Did on my Summer Vacation [Anything for a Weird Life] Sep 5, 2023 Columns Hello my name is Tim Kabara and I am going to write about what I did on my summer vacation. I filed my last BRUISER column on Memorial Day weekend. The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval [#11] Sep 1, 2023 Columns I can hear the earth breathing. The land comes alive, the flowers bloom after having their fill of the rain. The gnats are ecstatic. In my mind’s The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval [#10] Aug 18, 2023 Columns The window is being disassembled right before my eyes. I pass another hothouse summer, in here, under glass. I am waiting for the orchids to bloom. The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #9 Aug 11, 2023 Columns There is a river of light cutting through the underground. The fields are being laid out and planned and planted. The drivers spit out the seeds A Good Long Scream with the FU Review [Alternative Currents #4] Aug 8, 2023 Columns The FU Review is a bi-yearly literary journal. Their editions are stylish, slim and feature poetry, prose and everything in-between. About a month The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #8 Aug 4, 2023 Columns This is a very liminal way to experience the world. The dust clears from the day. What was all-encompassing only moments ago fades like it was all The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #7 Jul 21, 2023 Columns I’ve got the world caught in a frame. That moment in time was an absolute construction. Another miasma of boardwalks and the light bearing down. I The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #6 Jul 15, 2023 Columns There is an all-encompassing humidity, a heart in jungle territory. The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #5 Jul 7, 2023 Columns The library looks like it belongs to one of those unreal metropolises. There is the maze of concrete and the industrial-bred deep sea ferns. A World of One's Own [Alternative Currents #3] Jul 4, 2023 Columns On finding space at home and abroad; an encounter with a feral poet. The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #4 Jun 30, 2023 Columns May the summer only get hotter, may the nights emanate a breathless warmth. The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval #003 Jun 23, 2023 Columns It’s volcanic the way the world keeps so much pressed down. To Seek the Gnossian Shore [Alternative Currents #2] Jun 20, 2023 Columns Erik Satie & the new face of Berlin's club scene The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval 002 Jun 16, 2023 Columns A smoky week unfurls The Weather Report with Juliette Sandoval 001 Jun 8, 2023 Columns In this new column, Juliette Sandoval tracks the weather Confessions of an Authorized Schriftsteller [Alternative Currents] Jun 2, 2023 Columns In his first column for BRUISER, Thomas Huntington lays out his plans for a series on history's artists working on the fringe and the creative life of Berlin Loners Club: A History in Three (or Four) Shows [Anything for a Weird Life] May 30, 2023 Columns Tim wraps up Series 1 with a retrospective on one of Baltimore's many short-lived but vital show spaces. Time to Say Goodbye for the Summer [Anything For a Weird Life] May 23, 2023 Columns I was eating Indian buffet with some old friends when the topic of this column came up. I broke the news. The last column in “series one” will be How Not to Go to Shows [Anything for a Weird Life] May 16, 2023 Columns Tim reviews the proper way to take a rain check Going Underground at the Undercroft [Anything for a Weird Life] May 9, 2023 Columns Tim visits Baltimore's only all ages venue Found Sound Reviews [Anything for a Weird Life] May 2, 2023 Columns If you would like your release to be reviewed by Tim Kabara, donate it to your local thrift store. So You've Been Memed [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 25, 2023 Columns It’s finally happened. You did not plan for it, as you can’t, but you always knew it was a possibility. You have entered into the realm of Meme! Finding Peace in the Valley [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 18, 2023 Columns Tim surveys the fresh happenings of Le Comptoir Du Vin's back bar How Many Times Should a Baltimore Band Play Baltimore? [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 11, 2023 Columns The answer used to be easy. You Are Not What You Own [Anything for a Weird Life] Apr 4, 2023 Columns You can't Fugazi the Internet. Spring Show-verlode [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 28, 2023 Columns Baltimore music blooms in spring. Take your anti-histamines. Leaves Turn Inside You: Seeing Unwound Live 1993-2023 [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 21, 2023 Columns The flyer came in the mail. Universal Order of Armageddon was playing with some band called Unwound in the basement of the 169 house on Friday, July Underground Show FAQ [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 14, 2023 Columns So you’re decided to go to a show at a non-traditional venue in the Baltimore underground. Great! Here are some of the questions you may have. Found Sound Reviews [Anything for a Weird Life] Mar 7, 2023 Columns If you would like your release to be reviewed by Tim Kabara, donate it to your local thrift store. Welcome to Uzumaki [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 28, 2023 Columns A girlfriend once said to me “Experimental music? That’s a stupid name for it. Isn’t all music an experiment?" Past, Present, and Future [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 21, 2023 Columns Tim scans the changing tides How to Use Spotify [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 14, 2023 Columns We know you've heard vinyl is making a comeback, but what about streaming music? How does that work? I Hear Vinyl is Making a Comeback [Anything for a Weird Life] Feb 7, 2023 Columns Is it, though? Scene Report : Saturday, July 2nd, 2016 [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 31, 2023 Columns The first preview of Tim's book-in-process about the Baltimore Music and Arts Underground spring 1993 - fall 2016. This passage covers a surprise Dan Deacon show at the Crown. Haunted by a Friendly Ghost: The Return of The Hated [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 24, 2023 Columns “On April 18, 1918, a meeting was held at the home of Joseph Urban of Earleigh Heights for the purpose of establishing a Volunteer Fire Department.” Recent Show Observations [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 17, 2023 Columns Tim Kabara went to two very different shows in the first weeks of the new year. Found Sound Reviews [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 10, 2023 Columns If you would like your release to be reviewed by Tim Kabara, donate it to a local thrift store. TOP TEN [Anything for a Weird Life] Jan 3, 2023 Columns Tim Kabara's Top Ten retrospective In Praise of Bella Hayes [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 20, 2022 Columns The Pandemic has sucked. The Pandemic continues to suck. But some artists have pushed and made and made-do and somehow even toured while underground Saturday Night and Sunday Morning [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 13, 2022 Columns Tim Kabara's lament for a great show that didn't happen. Eight Days a Week? [Anything for a Weird Life] Dec 6, 2022 Columns Tim Kabara considers show scheduling in the weekend-focused Baltimore scene. Found Sound Reviews [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 29, 2022 Columns If you would like your release to be reviewed by Tim Kabara, donate it to a local thrift store. The Nowhere Feeling of Holidays [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 22, 2022 Columns Tim Kabara ruminates on the Baltimore DIY scene's holiday season Letter of Recommendation: Suzanne Doogan [Anything for a Weird Life] Nov 15, 2022 Columns Tim Kabara sends up Baltimore poet, musician, artist, and quality human Suzanne Doogan Anything for a Weird Life: "Why I Go to Shows" by Tim Kabara Nov 8, 2022 Columns Baltimore music scene fixture Tim Kabara introduces his new column for BRUISER.