Posts by Ryan Dillon

Recently, rock music has seen its fair share of band members launching into wildly successful solo careers. Wednesday’s MJ Lenderman has become a beloved folk-rock figure, Geese’s Cameron Winter’s 2024 debut paraded his vocal acrobatics straight into the hearts of critics and fans alike, and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard drummer, CAVS, is building […]

Reporting to you live from the Old Caustic Factory, the team is bringing in the night shift to help out with this bustling morning of fresh releases. After giving our team the day off to celebrate Record Store Day (we all hope you checked off everything on your RSD wishlist), we’re back in full force […]

“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley is one of the more recognizable and beloved songs of its era. The multi-platinum single, with its stirring gospel-tinted vocals and hypnotic production, launched this newly minted duo into a stratosphere only a select few celebrities get to inhabit. From several placements in major motion pictures and TV projects, the song […]

Samples in Hip-hop can double as maps to wild, breathtaking places. Sometimes, it’s the sample itself that opens your eyes to a new band from the past with a wealth of releases to dig through; other times, it’s the fact that two artists from different eras of Hip-hop found the same spirit in an old […]

A lot has happened in folk music since The Milk Carton Kids first debuted their unique, simplistic brand of it over a decade ago. The duo of Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan has experienced just as much change throughout their storied career as a singular entity providing ethereal acoustic folk to the masses. Massive soundtrack […]

Five years ago, Michael Cavanagh, long-time percussion expert for psych-rock powerhouse King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, made his solo debut under the CAVS moniker with a self-titled effort. The ten-song drums-only effort was an exercise in the drummer’s ability to capture a listener’s attention with exclusively drum patterns, resulting in a groovy, atmospheric effort […]

Much modern soul and jazz music seeks to honor the cherished legacies of these genres. Over the past few years, artists have been emerging from corners of the internet, tipping their hat to the heyday of these genres by seemingly imitating their heroes. While these artists and albums are not things to ignore, they leave […]

Necessity is the mother of invention, but ambition gave birth to innovation. Located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, sits a welcoming, artist-run venue that refuses to comply and ventures to the furthest reaches of live music to unearth the next chapter for itself and the medium as a whole. KC’s recordBar, co-founded by […]

Despite the ever-rising temperatures blasting through our open doors and cracked windows, it feels like Christmas time over here at the Old Caustic Factory. While we’ve seen some terrific singles and albums being released, our team has been buzzing about April 18, the long-awaited 2026 edition of Record Store Day. The lovely day when your […]

In 2004, late-nineties indie rock darlings, Modest Mouse, became unlikely fixtures on the Billboard charts. Their Good News For People Who Love Bad News LP produced the now-classic pop-rock anthems “Ocean Breathes Salty” and the genre-defining “Float On,” skyrocketing the Isaac Brock-led outfit to the forefront of popular music and cementing their storied legacy among […]

The Crusaders, also known as The Jazz Crusaders, were a prolific jazz fusion group that withstood the test of time during their legendary run from 1960 to 2010. Their colorful, often overlooked discography is brimming with innovative moments, landing them several Grammy nominations and the love-struck eyes of jazz/soul/funk fanatics around the world. Some of […]

Opening a live music venue is a difficult process, but preserving a legacy is a different beast entirely. The crossroads of these two otherworldly undertakings land in North Hampton, Massachusetts, at the historic Iron Horse, originally opened in 1979. The iconic space has been through more lives than could fit in a book, boasting several […]

We are reporting to you live from a beautiful day here at the Old Caustic Factory, where Fridays start our work week. Our machines are burning red from all of these fresh releases, but not to fret, our technicians are here to ensure that yet another jam-packed New Music Friday goes off without a hitch. […]

The idea that a tool is only as useful as the one holding it doesn’t necessarily apply to the art of sampling. Sure, only producers with an innate ear for melody and rhythm can unearth an entire instrumental from one simple element of a classic song, but when the tool at hand is a creative […]

Staying positive is an incredibly difficult skill to maintain. With all the negativity and palpable tension thickening the air, stirring up a fog so dense we sometimes forget to look at our fellow humans and share a smile, being the one to break the mold and share a technology-free moment with someone, or anything, is […]

Escapism is a fickle beast to control. When used properly, it can serve as a meditative retreat in your day-to-day life when a minute is all you need, but when it overtakes you, you become distracted and detached from your sense of reality. For Rachel Lime, the singer/songwriter/producer, time seems to be suspended in her […]

New Orleans is known for its musical innovators and contributions to the art form, but a legacy as storied as this must start somewhere. In another area of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, specifically, a new chapter of the state’s musical legacy is beginning to bubble to an unignorable level. The capital of Louisiana is slowly becoming […]

It is hard to believe we’ve arrived at our first Caustic of April, but thankfully, for both our loyal readers and us, the release schedules have kept up with the ever-increasing speed at which the sand of time trickles to the bottom of the hourglass. Yes, 2026 is moving by at lightspeed, which makes the […]

Charley Crockett has always been a prolific artist, stretching the limits of his imaginative approach to country, which toes the line between tradition and the lofty. Recently, though, the long-standing troubadour has been releasing distinct, genre-altering releases, starting with 2025’s Lonesome Drifter and Dollar A Day, which arrived a few short months later. These two […]

Part of the art of finding a sample is understanding the nuances of the songs you’re hearing and the thought process of expanding these indistinguishable moments into pure magic. It isn’t always the hook of a classic funk song that grabs the attention of the producer, and it isn’t always the driving melodies of a […]