Worship and Tribute

Active Child - The Voice of an Old Friend

2010-03-02T19:56:00.000-08:00

Active Child is really good.

The Voice of an Old Friend

Spires - Flowers and Fireworks

2009-05-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

These guys sound sort of like Mesa Verde, which means this fairly impressive LP is sitting in the shadow of The Old Road. Their differentiating point is that they much prefer working with harmonic minor and trying to sound slightly evil and menacing among all of the epic builds rather than sweet and wistful. They really aren't that original but bring solid music nonetheless.

Flowers and Fireworks [2009] - Download - Review

Phoenix - "1901 (Customised by DLID)"

2009-05-30T01:49:00.000-07:00

I've been avoiding posting straight mp3s or just regurgitating remixes made on the internet, but I'm thinking about opening up Worship and Tribute MEDIA to all different formats, rather than just full albums and sputnikmusic reviews. It's essentially because this remix of Phoenix's "1901" needs to be shared with the world. Ironically, this song has been over-remixed by every clown with Ableton Live into techno versions, crunk versions, etc. This version chooses a simple, fuzzy TV on the Radio-inspired beat and tosses soft electronic harmonizations into the mix and lets the vocal performance take over from there. It's nicely understated, but completely bouncy and life-affirming in the way all remixes of pop tracks should be.

Download

I'm going to try to update this late with a streaming version in the browser window. If anybody has any hosting suggestions I'd love to hear them. I'm only really familiar with imeem and lala, which both have limitations.

Angelo Badalamenti - Music From Twin Peaks

2009-05-30T01:26:00.001-07:00

It's hard to talk about the excellence of this soundtrack without getting into the excellence of the show, so my first recommendation is to just watch Twin Peaks for free online. One of the show's aesthetic drivers is that its satirizing the melodrama and backstabbing that exists in soap operas. The show knowingly has stilted dialogue and character relationship, there's always a mystery to solve or a love affair driving irrational behavior, and the show is even filmed with those daytime TV cameras that make everything look really flat. The music perfectly complements that visual and narrative motif. The music is either sweeping and grandiose, employing strings and even a harp, or mysterious and coy, using sultry horns and lounge jazz drums. However, as in the show, there is a lot more complexity to the music than what initially meets the ear. It's not geared towards just lampooning, but also aims to craft serious art and complex thematic construction. Angelo Badalamenti has worked with Lynch before in a similar fashion on other soundtracks like Blue Velvet so if you've enjoyed the music other Lynch movies, this should be right up your alley.

Music from Twin Peaks [1990] - Download Part 1 Part 2 - Review

Brainworms II: Swear to Me

2009-05-28T08:06:00.001-07:00

Brainworms, a favorite of Zen and the Art of Face-Punching, are apparently one of those bands that lose a lot of their verve when recorded. Their live show (which I am not privileged enough to have witnessed) is their identity and despite a really enjoyable release in What Is Worse?, I feel like something is potentially missing. There is also something missing from Swear to Me in that despite being pretty equivalently good to their previous efforts, it suffers from being just that: similar. Brainworms play post-hardcore that is infused with a little more punk energy and slightly acerbic emo take on production and vocal delivery (thought not melodramatic). They're sort of like Comadre, but instead of sounding like skinny 20-somethings, they sound like they look: burly and with beards. Swear to Me is a great album but is not offering anything new to develop Brainworms' signature sound.

Brainworms II: Swear to Me [2009] - Download - Review

Maudlin of the Well - Part the Second

2009-05-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

Maudlin of the Well released three now-legendary LPs from 1999-2001 that blended death metal, free jazz, and progressive in a varied and beautiful way that had only been hinted at by bands from the early 90s like Cynic. Toby Driver, leader of Maudlin of the Well, decided to fold Maudlin of the Well and create Kayo Dot, a band that used MotW's innovations as a starting point to explore even more seamless avant garde combinations of the aforementioned genres. In the process, Driver had to shelve a few significant but unfinished song ideas that he has recently recorded thanks to generous donations from his most loyal fans. The resulting recording, Part the Second definitely feels like the "next step" after 2001's Leaving Your Body Map, but really integrates ideas from throughout Driver's career and even some unexpected influences. Part the Second is a beautiful and intelligent album, with maybe only a few acoustic tracks missing for the sake of sating an old Maudlin of the Well fan's nostalgia for a verbatim revisiting of ideas on the three previous LPs. Regardless, make sure you experience Toby Driver past, present, and future.

Part the Second [2009] - Free Download - Review

De la Soul - Are You In?

2009-05-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

De la Soul has always been one of my favorite hip hop groups, which is why I was surprised that Are You In? totally slipped under my radar. This album has been positioned as a one-off foray into more electronic or dance-oriented music. The backing retains De la Soul's good taste but strips it of its brassy funk feel in favor of sometimes inorganic electronic production. Complementing that is De la Soul expanding their vocal and lyrical quipping to include weird repeated phrasings, which I guess is meant to emulate repetitive dance hooks. This album is an enjoyable release but can't touch classics like Stakes Is High or The Grind Date due to the formatting and willful genre experimentation.

Are You In? [2009] - Download - Review

Silversun Pickups - Swoon

2009-04-14T00:12:00.001-07:00

I never had an iPod throughout college so when I went to the gym to TOTALLY SHRED IT UP my pump up music was whatever random stuff was on the radio there. One time I was finishing a set of BR00TAL incline bench and was psyched out and started laughing when an ad said, "Buy the only best collection of holiday tunes for your loved ones: The Josh Grobin Christmas Collection." I almost crushed my face on that one. Anyways, my junior year every day I'd hear one amazing song on Albany's alternative rock station, "Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups. The Siamese Dream nostalgia mixed with an earnest if quirky vocal performance won me over day after day as I got HELLA swoll (okay I'll stop now). Their debut LP, Carnavas never found its way onto my playlist because I was afraid they'd be one hit wonders. To make up for my trepidation I made sure to get Swoon as soon as possible to atone. I have been thoroughly impressed. All of the Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine throwbacks are intact and tactful and once again the vocals have given Silversun Pickups their own unique sheen. Swoon is one of those mainstream albums that avoids creating an obvious single because any song on the album could be a respectable radio hit. The only way this album could be more of a pleasant surprise is if "Lazy Eye" hadn't been caught in my head for the entire winter of 06-07.

Swoon [2009] - Download - Review

Trophy Scars - Bad Luck

2009-03-29T16:58:00.000-07:00

Trophy Scars released a terrible album in 2006's Alphabet. Alphabets. However, their most recent album, Bad Luck, is a complete turnaround that attains unexpected synergies between the post-hardcore success of their early discography and the wayward experimentation that ruined A.A. This album reminds me a lot of Cursive in its ability to work horns and strings into a post-hardcore/indie framework without veering into a bombast or melodrama that isn't designed and intended. Hopefully, these guys will only continue to develop their new sound in coming releases. They asked me to remove the links from their previous albums so I'm not going include a link to a free download here, but instead link to a page where one can purchase the album.

Bad Luck [2009] - Purchase - Review

Group Bombino - Guitars from Agadez, Vol. 2

2009-03-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

Group Bombino is a Tuareg folk / rock group out Mali and Niger who were recently recorded for Sublime Frequencies' Guitars from Agadez series. The album's first half is completely acoustic and features more of the Tuareg folk melodies that are traditional to musicians of this ethnic group and this area, and the second half is more of a blend of Western and Tuareg traditions with electric instrumentation and more rock, blues, and psychedelic influences. I go more into the ethnomusicological implications of the album and how it balances its influences in my review (linked below). It's an incredibly enjoyable album but will pretty much go overlooked by 99% of the hip blogspot reading community, which is a shame.

Guitars from Agadez, vol. 2 [2009] - Download - Review

Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen

2009-03-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

It seems like Cursive have really been mislabeled by the press and as a result by potential listeners who are squeamish about genre tags like emo or indie. Cursive's early career found them taking many left turns away from the sound developed by bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and Christie Front Drive and creating a brand of indie that was heavier and had much more intricate guitar arrangements (Domestica) than that of their peers. As a result they got lumped in with the early 2000s resurgence of post-hardcore that grew out of Grade's and Refused's multi-faceted legacies. They were always outliers from both of those crowds and eventually aligned themselves more with their labelmates Bright Eyes by embracing introspective indie (The Ugly Organ) that was influenced by the singer-songwriter genre. They took off and ran with indie's textural and orchestral possibilities and became a parody of their previous styles by writing abstract pop songs (Happy Hollow) that attracted the attention of the pitchfork crowd after years of being championed by Alternative Press as an (ugh) emo band. Their newest album, Mama, I'm Swollen is a return to form circa 2002 (in between Domestica and The Ugly Organ that has been indelibly altered by their forays into indie, pop, and singer-songwriter. Lead songwriter Kasher is self-flagellating in his typically maudlin fashion, but the backdrop reconciles the experimentation of their recent albums with the potent immediacy of their earlier style. Mama, I'm Swollen is a rare kind of album in that encapsulates Cursive's entire career without feeling like a rehash. Forget about any unwarranted labels attributed to Cursive and lay your prejudices down; they are a genre unto themselves and deserve a listen.

Mama, I'm Swollen [2009] - Download - Review

Deftones - White Pony

2009-03-03T21:37:00.001-08:00

Seeing this album upped at Staring at the Apocalypse and remembering my sadness that Deftones' bassist Chi Cheng remains in a coma (which is less morbidly but still disappointingly delaying the upcoming album Eros), has incited me to post White Pony, one of my favorite albums of all time. Like all good albums, this album has meant different things to me at different periods of my life. When it first came out, I was an 8th grader who mostly listened to music as some kind of angst outlet, which made heavy and angry tracks like "Elite" and "Korea" really move me. As I grew out of that phase and delved into learning how to play guitar, the instrumental performances popped out at me. Carpenter's guitar is typically simple, but he uses distinctive and interesting chord voicings and when he and Chi lockstep with Abe's ornamented fills, Deftones really rock. As I learned more about singing and songwriting, Chino's characteristic approach to texture and his expansive range blew me away. Even now, as I learn more about music production, Frank Delgado's soundscapes pop out at me and give new revelations about White Pony's depth and mysteries. This album truly transcends genre and its best moments are the ones that diverge most from Deftones' metal lineage. This album comes highly recommended, even to (or rather, especially to) those who have already made their mind up about what metal or the Deftones are about.

White Pony [2000] - Download - Review

Sholi - Sholi

2009-02-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

Sholi is a band that really flies under the radar despite being signed to the relatively high profile and soon to be defunct Touch and Go / Quarterstick Records. Their style is a combination of a lot of different bands. To distill it to something concise, they sound like a lot of late 90s indie artists like Karate or Cursive but with more willingness to experiment with being more abstract in the instrumental performances as well as more conventional in their harmonic progressions. The singer / guitarist Payam sounds quite a bit like the singer from Minus the Bear, and there is definitely something shared between the two bands. This album has really impressed for with its diversity and instrumental performances. Definitely worth checking out.

Sholi [2009] - Download - Review

Dan Deacon - Bromst

2009-02-24T17:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry for being so MIA, but I've been working hard. Dan Deacon's 2007 album Spiderman of the Rings aligned him with artists like Girl Talk for being dance / pop music favored by indie kids that didn't come from Western Europe. There was something demographically appealing in Deacon's nonstop beats and Nintendo sounds. Do yourself a favor and google "spiderman of the rings site:blogspot.com" and read some of the descriptions, "batshit bubblegum pop" being one of my favorites. It seemed like people approached that album for the sake of novelty or irony or whatever. Deacon's newest album, Bromst, does a lot to sustain that legacy and you will read countless blog posts that fixate on that. However, there's something very different about Bromst's ability to absorb and assimilate folk / world influences that makes his propulsive rhythms feel downright tribal as opposed to "bubblegum" and his melodic and textural choices eclectic rather than just layers of epileptic computer noises. Bromst uses technology as a kind of musical encyclopedia, quantizing and crunching together folk traditions that otherwise wouldn't go together, much less with contemporary indie dance music. Bromst really transcends any corners Deacon may have worked himself into with Spiderman and is my favorite album of the year so far.

Bromst [2009] - Download - Review

Dr. Who Dat? - Beyond 2morrow

2009-01-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

Here's the aforementioned album by Jneiro Jarel, aka Dr. What Dat?, entitled Beyond 2morrow. Jneiro has always thrived on creating leftfield beats with a unique sense of flow and texture, but now his production is starting to sound more and more like Flying Lotus, which can be viewed as both a good a band thing; good because Flylo is awesome, but bad because it's sad to see Jneiro have any reduction to his own weirdness and originality. There are only a few tracks here that have vocals, and Jneiro is an able rapper. This album wasn't everything I wanted it to be, but it's definitely an interesting album and a good placeholder for anybody waiting for another fully realized blend of production and rapping.

Beyond 2morrow [2009] - Download

The Shape of Broad Minds - Craft of the Lost Art

2009-01-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

To commemorate a new album by Dr. Who Dat, I'm actually going to post about one of Jneiro Jarel's other projects (on which the good doctor "makes an appearance"), The Shape of Broad Minds. This project is supposedly a hip hop super group, but is really just a combination of all of his different rap personas on one unified album. The beats are ridiculously inventive and off the wall, but it pays off more often than not as in the strange sluggishness of "Electric Blue." Even a flanged and mod wheeled cowbell tone sits well in the mix.

Craft of the Lost Art [2007] - Download - Blurb

Tera Melos - Idioms vol. 1

2009-01-12T17:29:00.001-08:00

Tera Melos lost their drummer Vince in 2008 and only recently picked their replacement John Clardy (aka Dolphin Starbeam) from the drummer store. Instead of releasing a new LP, they're "getting tight" by playing a covers album. Instead of rendering all of the songs in the crazy Tera Melos style, they actually keep it pretty simple (relatively speaking) and produce a fast indie / punk album out of songs originally by The Beach Boys, The Clash, The Pixies, Weezer, and Polaris. Surprisingly enjoyable if only a palette cleanser / appetite whetter for whatever new original material these guys put together.

Idioms vol. 1 [2009] - Download

I feel like this is also a good time to mention the lunacy that is Snakeville, a film produced by Nick Reinhardt of Tera Melos and some other friends. The film is a 75-minute ensemble of characters interacting in a small, rural town (transparently based off of their hometown area in Roseville, CA). Its style is pretty similar to Kids in the Hall, with a few actors playing 3/4s of the roles, often in drag or absurd outfits. The sense of humor is even stranger than that found in similar sketch comedies (thanks to the inclusion of lactating male high school athletes and an obese (also male) guardian angel squeezed into a tutu). Snakeville is its own beast rather than a tribute to offbeat sketch comedy and definitely deserves to be checked out. Maybe the best part of it all is that there are a few moments where beautiful cinematography or surprisingly profound dialogue enters into the mix, sort of like Brad Neely's "Babycakes" series. The movie is rough around the edges and is fairly anti-climactic (really the plot is super thin), but there are moments of lucidity and lunacy alike that make this worth checking out. The trailer is embedded below.

Snakeville Trailer

Interview / Show Review With Toby Driver (Kayo Dot, Tartar Lamb, Maudlin of the Well)

2009-01-08T00:03:00.001-08:00

Hey I just put up two articles on sputnikmusic. One is a review of / column on a live show Kayo Dot played in San Francisco on October 8, and another is an interview with Toby Driver. The interview is both given as a transcript and as a dialogue woven in with the prose of my review / column. No download links in this article, just words and pictures.

Show Review - here

Interview - here

Efterklang - The LPs

2009-01-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

Efterklang, a studio quintet and a live nonet (which includes the newly popular Peter Broderick) from Denmark, have been labeled as post-pop, but in an effort to avoid recently fashioned genre prefixes and suffixes I'm just going to say that they're a post-rock band who have an affinity to messing around with electronic and analog musical devices (such as sampling CD skipping sounds to create the beat for "Predator and Prey"). Both of their full length albums are very nice and apparently they have an album coming out some time in early 2009 (which is now I guess - Happy New Year).

Tripper [2004] - Download

Parades [2007] - Download

Top Albums of 2008

2008-12-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

I made a big fat list on sputnikmusic that has a lot of write-ups and streaming music and a few other nice goodies. All of my editorializing should be read there. This blog post is going to be a lot simpler. I'm going to have the list of albums and links to their downloads. Enjoy.

1. Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness - Download Disc 1 - Download Disc 2
2. Blue Sky Black Death - Late Night Cinema - Download
3. Son Lux - At War With Walls and Mazes - Download
4. Girl Talk - Feed the Animals - Direct Download
5. Loma Prieta - Last City - Download
6. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound - Download
7. Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Vols. III & IV - Air & Earth - Download
8. Dela - Changes of Atmosphere - Download
9. Mesa Verde - The Old Road - Download
10. Metaform - Standing on the Shoulder of Giants - Download
11. Feral Children - Second to the Last Frontier - Download
12. The Loved Ones - Build and Burn - Download
13. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges - Download?
14. PSY/OPSogist - Suffused With Static - Download
15. Ghostlimb - Bearing and Distance - Download
16. Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday - Download
17. Extra Life - Secular Works - Download
18. Aussitot Mort - Montuenga - Download pw: SirensSong.blogspot.com
19. Blue Sky Black Death - Jean Grae: The Evil Jeanius - Download
20. Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist - Download
21. Flying Lotus - Los Angeles - Download
22. ...Who Calls So Loud - ...Who Calls So Loud - Download
23. Pygmy Lush - Mount Hope - Download
24. Kayo Dot - Blue Lambency Downward - Download
25. The Flashbulb - Soundtrack to a Vacant Life - Download

And again if you want to get fancy and do some reading / listening please go here: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/feature.php?id=5509.

Black Milk - Tronic

2008-12-14T22:31:00.001-08:00

Though I wasn't all that blown over by Black Milk's Tronic, on the word of Jared Dillon and a few other sputnikmusic staff members, I felt compelled to post it here. Black Milk is pretty balanced as an mc and producer, never getting too weird with his beats and lyrics, while never feeling stale. Definitely a good album and it will make an appearance on more than a few year-end lists.

Tronic [2008] - Download - Review

In Pieces - Learning to Accept Silence

2008-12-08T21:24:00.000-08:00

This post comes by request of an e-mail I received (feel free to do this - e-mail is on the right hand margin in the disclaimer). In Pieces' Lions Write History is one of my favorite albums of all time. Learning to Accept Silence, their only other album, is slightly less mature, sounding more of an obvious project of the post-hardcore of the time (2002), but it still has some amazing tracks. To this day, "A Fitting Lie" is probably their best track of all time. These guys sound a lot like old Thrice and old Hopesfall. This week is also an apt time to post this link because an ex-In Pieces member (Dan Barrett) will be making a reappearance later this month when I post my top 25 albums of 2008. Enjoy.

Learning to Accept Silence [2002] - Download - Review

PSY/OPSogist - Suffused With Static

2008-11-24T12:50:00.001-08:00

PSY/OPSogist is a self-made producer working out of rural Virginia who makes hip hop in the vein of DJ Shadow. He has a great taste in sample material (after talking to him I found out he uses The Mars Volta and The Doors) and uses them to great effect. His songs can range from raw and lo-fi to lush and flowing. The album Suffused With Static is one track, meant to be listened to continuously and PSY does a good job of segueing between individual tracks. PSY also makes all of his music free and available online so pass this on to your friends.

Suffused With Static [2008] Download - Review

Dela - Changes of Atmosphere

2008-11-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

Dank French hip hop that is highly jazz influenced. He makes good use of American rappers, namely Supastition and Talib Kweli. The overall sound is ridiculously smooth and chill, as if Chick Corea gave Dela lessons in sexy flute and Rhodes tones and De la Soul gave him lessons in beatmaking.

Changes of Atmosphere [2008] - Download - Review

Ganon - As Above, So Below

2008-11-12T21:45:00.001-08:00

Ganon is a post-metal band from Michigan who essentially sound a lot like Isis. They bring nothing new to the table but write killer songs. As Above, So Below is their 2nd full length album.

As Above, So Below [2008] - Download - Review

Gospel - The Magic Volume of Dark Matter

2008-10-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Gospel is the most inventive band to ever be associated with emo. Though that's a lofty claim, I think I'm off the hook because of emo's inherent narrowness, and the fact that Gospel isn't really an emo group. When they broke up in 2006, apparently they were working on the follow up to The Moon Is a Dead World. The only artifact of that creative process is the bootleg The Magic Volume of Dark Matter. It was recorded on February 2nd, 2006 and shows Gospel going deeper down the psychedelic, progged out rabbit hole they were first exploring on their debut LP. The song is 23 minutes and runs through a ridiculous number of section changes, them jamming out all the while. Though it's a rough cut and there's probably a lot of improvisation, the track is absolutely awesome and serves as a pleasant if underwhelming swan song for Gospel's too short career. Thanks to Jared from Last Train to Cool for the look on this one. Included is the bootleg and a live video of the performance.

The Magic Volume of Dark Matter [2006] - Download

Part 1

Part 2

Aussitôt Mort - Montuenga

2008-10-30T21:49:00.000-07:00

Aussitot Mort's debut EP, Six Songs flew completely under the radar of most fans of the label's particular brand of hardcore. However, with the release of their follow up, Montuenga, Aussitot Mort are poised to do a lot more with their adventurous take on the French emo sound. The delay effects are ridiculous, the production is awesome, and the song still retain enough classic emo catharsis to make this a compelling listen. My apologies on the password. That's the only copy I've found that has all 8 songs instead of the random non-encrypted ones that decided to only include 6 of the tracks.

Montuenga [2008] - Download (pw: SirensSound.blogspot.com) - Review

Blue Sky Black Death / Jean Grae - The Evil Jeanius

2008-10-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Only in the past 48 hours has the genius (no pun intended) of this album really sunk in. There were two initial humps for me to get over: i) the production by Blue Sky Black Death compresses their trip hop gone post-rock style into something more mainstream and accessible and ii) Jean Grae's female voice and sedated but impassioned tone of voice. Both feel like reductions of the bombastic combo that they could be, however driving around while listening to this record, as the rain and fog has started to pile up in the Bay Area recently has taught me that this reserved and chill album is best when it's reclining and coy. The best tracks feature Jean Grae languidly laying down her lyrics while BSBD throw around a few low key guitar licks and a smooth beat. Definitely recommended.

The Evil Jeanius [2008] - Download

Mesa Verde - The Old Road

2008-10-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Mesa Verde's new album, The Old Road, is a notable progression from their previous release. Their two previous albums I own have been a little too derivative, standing on the shoulders of the Saetia's of the emo world without adding that much to the mix. By making their music a little more epic and brooding, while giving it a sweeter production value, they now sound like Explosions in the Sky playing emotional hardcore (except never boring). Their echoed guitar melodies and shouted vocals are more expressive and evocative as a result of this subtle but meaningful change. For me this beats out ...Who Calls So Loud's (ex-Funeral Diner, a band that nearly perfected epic, melodic emo) debut LP but doesn't have the versatility and freshness that Loma Prieta's album Last City does.

The Old Road [2008] - Download - Review

Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus

2008-10-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus is a compilation album of sorts. Mingus, probably the most famous jazz bassist of all time, compiled an album of retakes on some of his most classic tracks like "Haitian Fight Song" and gave the tracks new titles and slightly new vibes. So this album is a greatest hits album for people who hate the sterility of greatest hits. Every song has a little extra life and verve in it as a result of the newer recording session. At the very least, it's a good place to start with Mingus because of the variety and musicianship.

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus [1963] - Download - Review

Grails - Doomsdayer's Holiday

2008-10-13T14:03:00.000-07:00

Grails' 2004 album Redlight ruled in all possible ways. Their 2007 album Burning Off Impurities did not. They shifted from being a concise post-rock band to a psychedelic jam band that tossed in Eastern instrumentation all over the place. Short of assuming Grails went on a pilgrimage to India and met Ravi Shankar, I'll just say their musical direction changed. Doomsdayer's Holiday does something to reconcile those two worlds. The Eastern influences and jamminess are no longer endless and open-ended and as a result the songs have regained organization and arc. This album comes highly recommended for fans of post-rock, classic rock, or prog looking for something very different.

Doomsdayer's Holiday [2008] - Download - Review

Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles

2008-10-08T16:14:00.001-07:00

Though Empyrean Isles predates Hancock's most famous and true blue exploration into modal territory it captures the lighter, more delicate feel of those later classics like "Maiden Voyage" on tracks like "Oliloqui Valley" and "Cantaloupe Island." "The Egg" is a particularly interesting track. It's organized around a mercurial lead melody that moves in and out of harmonic minor sounding modes and traditional modal structures. The massive solo section is defined by huge open arrangements and long solos. The bass solo is particularly nice at complementary that drawn out and impressionistic feel. The alternate tracks are ace too. Another great album in the spirit of Maiden Voyage.

Empyrean Isles [1965] - Download

Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage

2008-09-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was never 100% down for most of the bebop I played when learning how to not suck at jazz guitar, so it was refreshing to end my college jazz career on a performance that featured Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" and Wayne Shorter's "Mahjong." I have more of a natural tendency towards modal jazz both in my soloing style and in personal taste, and I've been relistening to Maiden Voyage nonstop recently. Look to see some more jazz based posting in the coming weeks. No reviews for any of these because I'm lame and only have reviews for poopty contemporary music. But ya, check out this album, it's unbelievably fresh and it's 40 years old.

Maiden Voyage [1965] - Download - Allmusic Blurb

Nahvalr - Nahvalr

2008-09-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Nahvalr's self-titled album is the second release for Enemies List records, home of Have a Nice Life. Nahvalr is a self-proclaimed "opensourced black spiritmetal" project. What that means is highly ambient and fuzzed out black metal where anybody can contribute. Yes, anybody. If you have an aiff file of some evil sounding guitar riff you wrote when you were 14, send it in and Tim and Dan will work it (tastefully) into the music. The results are interesting and nicely mixed together, but the music is dense, difficult, and incredibly elusive. Also, next on the list for Enemies List is a project called Giles Corey, a solo work by Dan that is more in the spirit of HANL than Nahvalr that will likely be recorded and ready early 2009.

Nahvalr [2008] - Download - Review

Extra Life - Secular Works

2008-09-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

What happens when you mix Dirty Projectors, pre-tonal Western classical, math rock, Zs, Kayo Dot, and a ton of other non sequitir influences? Apparently Extra Life's Secular Works is an appropriate answer. This album is by far the most challenging (and confusing) album I've heard this year. The album has been met with positive but non-committal reviews that praise the album for its originality but can't wrap themselves around the breadth of the ideas.

Secular Works [2008] - Download - Review

Feral Children - Second to the Last Frontier

2008-09-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

There's always one indie band every year that "does it right." That is, they're not trying too hard, are good songwriters, and generally know how to play their instruments / are good at production. It's looking like Feral Children will take the cake this year. They sound like a combination of The Blood Brothers, Modest Mouse, Animal Collective, and Meneguar. Enjoy the midtempo jams.

Second to the Last Frontier [2008] - Purchase - Review

...Who Calls So Loud - ...Who Calls So Loud

2008-09-02T01:20:00.000-07:00

Funeral Diner was a great band. Portraits of Past was a great band. If we are to learn anything from Matt Bajda's career, his new group ...Who Calls So Loud (a Charles Dickens quote of all things) will be pretty rad. Their sound is not far removed from Funeral Diner, but these guys are less into the expansive song structures and have some more concision to their blend, though they can open it up from time to time. I was hesitating posting this only because I thought I was going to review it a few weeks ago, but I got lame. In short, album rules and will be enjoyed by all skramz fanz. Enjoy.

...Who Calls So Loud [2008] - Download

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles

2008-08-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

I first discovered Flying Lotus (Flylo from here on out) through their previous LP 1983. At first it struck me as oddball instrumental hip hop that enjoyed electronic blipping and unconventional beats, but as the grooves sunk deeper into me, I realized that with Flylo, it's more about creating thick, ensconcing atmospheres than anything else. It was my responsibility to let myself get into the flow. Now, on Los Angeles they've really streamlined their sound. Any blipping and beeping contributes directly to the beat and flow of the music instead of just because surface production. The album is a bit homogeneous as a result but is a great piece of new music and is a distinctive listen.

Los Angeles [2008] - Download - Review

Planets - Planets

2008-08-29T02:11:00.000-07:00

Planets, what can I say about you? Crazy, hypertechnical math rock from Napa, CA where the bassist uses an octave pedal to emulate guitar sounds as well as bass sounds and the drummer might as well break his drumset every time he plays. They play in full body white spiderman suits and project tweaked ass movies onto themselves and a screen behind their set. It's pretty great in the spirit of Hella and Tera Melos. The reason I'm being so loose and unofficial with my description is because I delve into the whole thing quite a bit in my article on Northern California Math Rock for Sputnikmusic, so read that.
Planets [2007] - Download

The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound

2008-08-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Along with The Loved Ones' Build & Burn, The Gaslight Anthem's newest album, The '59 Sound is the best punk album of the year so far. There's a tinge of folk, rock, and country in their traditionally punk sound. I'd liken it to a tighter Against Me! with a lot more reverb or a looser version of The Loved Ones. They definitely thrive off of meat-and-potatoes aesthetics. The style can be affected at times, but the songwriting is too great to ignore. This comes highly recommended.
The '59 Sound [2008] - Download - Review

Off Minor - All 2008 Releases

2008-08-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

If you don't like Off Minor you probably suck. They are one of those few bands in the emo genre who provide consistently cutting edge music with their distinctive sound that blends together early 90s screamo, late 90s emo (thanks to their former band Saetia), and slight jazz influences. Though their newest LP, Some Blood, really only is "some," this post is the "all" of their recent recording sessions. The split with Killie picks up older tracks that have only recently been recorded ("Some Clown") as well as new material. Their sound is strangely low key and complacent on these recordings. While on previous albums they sounded as if they were actively trying to be "experimental" think of the blatant jazz noodling and guitar noise on "The Heat Death of the Universe" from Heat Death of the Universe. Now, their sound is much more relaxed and nonchalant. They are almost matter-of-fact with their progressive musicianship and songwriting, which lends a refreshing unpretentious edge to these records. Right now, I'm not that hot on any one release in particular, but the collection as a whole, provides quite a few killer tracks. A must-hear for any fans of interesting, heavy music.

Split With Killie [2008] - Download

Some Blood [2008] - Paypal Donation Download - Review

Instrumental Hip Hop Double Feature

2008-08-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

Metaform's Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, though obviously influenced by the developments of artists like RJD2 and DJ Shadow, does quite a bit to refine the formula of creating trippy hip hop. The production has never been better, full of funk breaks, slick guitar, sensual saxophones, and some unexpected synthesizer moments. There are also some sweet sweet vocals thrown into the mix as if accompaniment. The 45-minute album spread over 19 tracks is essentially a song-by-song testament to why digital manipulation music can feel lush and organic.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants [2008] - Download - Review

Blue Sky Black Death's Late Night Cinema is the spiritual successor to DJ Shadow's Entroducing, but with a lot more detail. The slow-churned beats, which take odd cues from mainstream rap beats, build throughout the course of each track, and along with the varied backgrounds, feel more like post-rock in trip-hop clothing than anything else. Every song builds to a gorgeous crescendo out of a simple trip hop refrain. One of my favorite albums of the year so far.

Late Night Cinema [2008] - Download - Review

Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader

2008-08-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

This album sort of snuck up on me. I had never been one of those Cap'n Jazz fanboys (always liked them though), and I didn't expect to be hooked so hard by a revamping of the Cap'n Jazz style. Overdone vocals, a lot of hammer and pull clean-tone guitar riffs, and an upbeat drum and bass combo. It's pretty great and has a shot at being on some year end lists if people pay attention. As of right now it has sort of flown under the radar and has been categorized as more of a fun or nostalgic release.
Some Kind of Cadwallader [2008] - Download - Review

Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett

2008-08-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

Venetian Snares is a prolific breakbeat artist who usually appears on my Top 15 lists at the end of the year for one reason or another. He throws around a lot of different styles. For example, his most recent album, Detrimentalist is a throwback to old drum'n'bass and reggae samples from the purported earlier days of breakbeat sampling, but with VS' typical flare for asymmetric time signatures. This album is a huge contrast to his previous LP, which was essentially modern classical, with only four tracks out of fifteen that featured computerized drums. Everything else are strings and other "classical" instruments. Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett is Venetian Snares' masterpiece. It combines the aforementioned modern classical style with jazz samples (all from Hungarian composers), and VS himself programs the breakbeats that make the backbone of these unusual but wonderful sampling decisions. The result is epic, grandiose electronica that feels like it has one foot in a rave and the other in a symphony hall. Read my review to get more details about both the process of composing the album and the details of the sound VS forged.
Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett [2005] - Download - Review

Upsilon Acrux - Galapagos Momentum

2008-07-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Upsilon Acrux are particularly weird considering their "math rock" status is non supported by nearly as many time signature and tempo manipulations as similar bands like Tera Melos and Hella. The raison d'etre for UA is their near constant guitar tapping. Sure the drumming has its neat accent variations and that stop-start dynamics are very pronounced, but the focus is on the acrobatic fretwork. There are moments where I love this, and moments where I am very underwhelmed. At the very least, UA are a band to give a listen.

Galapagos Momentum [2007] - Download - Review for Previous Album

Giraffes? Giraffes! - More Skin With Milk-Mouth

2008-07-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Math rock from Santa Cruz with a good mix of melody and psychodelia in the mix as well. In the spirit of Norcal math-rock it feels both jam-packed, as if it's an endless listen, but then ends all too soon. The band is just a drummer and guitarist, both of whom can play the other's instrument, which likely leads to nicely interwoven composition strategies. I've only listened through once but it sure is fun.
More Skin With Milk-Mouth {2007] - Download - Review

Loma Prieta - Last City

2008-07-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

The previously poopty Marin County emo band Loma Prieta went through a line-up change, an aesthetic change, and a huge leap in maturity. Their new album Last City is pretty much the best album in the emo/screamo/post-hardcore genre ring since The Kidcrash's Jokes. Of course I'm making this assertion after only three or four enthusiastic listens but so far so good. Their sound is highly influened by both the European bands like Daitro and Sed Non Satiata (think of all the slow, arpeggiated sections on the album) all filtered through a music more chaotic, yet also music, Ampere vibe. The songs are shorter, more varied, and ultimately more exciting than anything put out in the emo scene in the past year. Here's to you Loma Prieta.

Last City [2008] - Download - Review

Ghostlimb - Bearing & Distance

2008-07-10T12:50:00.000-07:00

Ghostlimb needs no introduction. Their albums have both been under 20 minutes, so they should suffice on their own. Hardcore played fast, hard, and furiously. The new album is a little bit more diverse and somehow more pissed off (read my review for full details). HIghly recommended and will likely be on my Top 10 of 2008 list.

Bearing & Distance [2008] - Download - Review

The Kidcrash - Discography

2008-06-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

Your favorite new post-hardcore band The Kidcrash has put up every single album they've recorded FOR FREE. This included demos and EPs (one that features Beirut's Zach Condon, also a New Mexico resident). No reviews will be linked in this post, but feel free to read my two part interview with Kidcrash's enigmatic and charismatic drummer, Buster Ross.
Discography
Interview Part I - Part II

Circle Takes the Square - Ritual of Names [Live]

2008-06-20T02:09:00.000-07:00

When I first heard the rough demos for "Ritual of Names," a 12-minute long track from CTTS' upcoming album, I was highly disappointed. However, after seeing the version performed in Brooklyn that they posted on their studio blog, I have to admit that I'm very impressed. In the live setting, the song has ferocity and build instead of just black metal harmonies, and I imagine when the song is given the proper recording, it'll sound awesome. Sounds great so far.

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

2008-06-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

So I figured, why not be one of the first people to offer up a free download of Girl Talk's new album. The direct link is below but so is the donate link and I expect everybody to do so. So far, I'm struck by how downtempo it can be, especially as the album starts off, as well as how much classic rock is sped up and thrown in. Upon first listen, my favorite is the end of "Set It Off," but it's going to change. My review will be up by the end of the day PST. In addition, I'm linking to my interview/article with Gregg Gillis from this past April. Enjoy! It's great so far!

Feed the Animals [2008] - Direct Download - Donate - Review - Interview

Prime Meridian - Januaries: 2006-2008

2008-06-11T11:50:00.001-07:00

Though this may be a little absurd and self-indulgent, I'm posting my own music. I've never really gotten a band together though I write music and sometimes record. My school has a part of the school year called Winter Study, where we only take one ungraded class. I always went out of my way to take classes that fed into recording. The EP I've posted here is a collection of songs I wrote for the various classes I took, the exception being the first track. The overall sound is very ambient though the final track really expands on "ambient" as a genre by have a much longer arc. I even used a click track. There is no review for this album so I'll provide some helpful (and once again, self-indulgent) liner notes for each track.

All songs were composed in Pro Tools using only the following gear: PRS Santana SE guitar, Line6 Pod Processor, Line6 Tonecore Pedal Echo Park.

1. "Rusting a Perfect Day." This track was written outside of the context of a class. I started messing around with different melodic techniques using features of the Echo Park pedal in F# minor and just started layering parts of different lengths that all ended up propelling the song towards its crescendo.

2. "Hexagrams" gets its name because it was done for the class "Math and Music." It uses serial tranformations of the unordered hexachord (01457) and was composed in a loose adaptation of the twelve tone tradition. The general sound of this chord, when treated as a pitch set that can be used in a scalar fashion, is a mix of phrygian and hexatonic giving the song its somewhat "exotic" melodic lines.

3. "Pearl Silos" was written for an independent study on electronic recording styles. A friend and I had written three hip hop / pop songs in Digital Performer and needed another track, so I offered to write another ambient one in the spirit of tracks 1-2. The result was a further refining of the ideas on the first two tracks. It benefits from having the through-composed layering of "Rusting..." with the disassociation from perfectly tonal practices of "Hexagrams," though the piece in indebted to E as a pitch-center, if not a tonal center.

4. "Odalisque" is more sprawling and was composed against a click track. It has a D/A modal flavor. The structure of the song is three-fold. First the song builts up its component parts in the spirit of post-rock. Then the tonality dissolves as the twelve-tone background ambience overtakes the tonal center (though the main repeated guitar remains), and finally the song returns to its post-rock self with a guitar solo in the spirit of "Muffin Man" by Frank Zappa that takes the song to its close.

Januaries: 2006-2008 [2008] - Download

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

2008-05-30T10:21:00.001-07:00

My apologies for letting this blog fall off the face of the earth. I've been graduating from college so I haven't been paying much attention to the music world. I'll be picking it up again for the summer. But more to the point, My Morning Jacket is a surprisingly major label indie/rock band from Louisville, Kentucky. They have the typical reverby vocals of indie bands like Band of Horses but have a heavier, more rock and roll centric sound, though southern rock influences do emerge a la BOH. My Morning Jacket also have a nice psychedelic edge at times, which makes them appealing to Pink Floyders. This album is recommended though it still hasn't sunk in for me quite like their previous two albums, Z and It Still Moves did.

Evil Urges [2008] - Download - Review

Son Lux - At War With Walls & Mazes

2008-03-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

Son Lux's At War With Walls & Mazes is right now my top album of 2008 (probably tied with Have a Nice Life's Deathconsciousness). It's a compelling mix of soul, pop, glitch, and trip hop composed by solo artist Ryan Lott. The production is gorgeous. Highly recommended.

At War With Walls & Mazes [2008] - Download - Review

Polar Bear Club - Sometimes Things Just Disappear

2008-03-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

After Polar Bear Club's debut EP came out in 2006, everybody amped them as the next big thing, or at least the next Hot Water Music. This LP is underwhelming but has a few nice track. I have mostly posted this to be a completionist and hook up fans.

Sometimes Things Just Disappear [2008] - Download - Review

Murder By Death - Red of Tooth and Claw

2008-03-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

Murder by Death released their fourth LP (if you count the LP released as Little Joe Gould) this past Tuesday. The album is a continuation of their idiosyncratic Johnny Cash meets Cursive style. This album is worse than their amazing 2003 LP, Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them but is still a welcome addition to their discography. Download password is mp3zzz.blogspot.com.

Red of Tooth and Claw [2008] - Download - Review

Trophy Scars - Discography

2008-02-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

Download links were removed at the request of the band

Trophy Scars is a band I've been both very hot and very cold with. I've been following them since 2003 and I consider their early stuff to be top notch post-hardcore, and Hospital Music to be one of the best post-hardcore releases of all time (unfortunately it's only an EP). Since that album though I've been decidedly overwhelmed, particularly with the mediocre Alphabet. Alphabets. Here is their discography for better or worse.

Sand in the Sea [2006] -

Note: This album is a compilation of Darts to the Sea plus B-sides and demos from their EPs.

Alphabet. Alphabets. [2006] - - Review

Goodnight Alchemy [2005] - - Review

Hospital Music (for the Aesthetics of Language) [2004] - - Review

Darts to the Sea [2002] -
(No artwork - see Sand in the Sea)

Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust

2008-02-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

Do Make Say Think's You, You're a History in Rust is one of those albums that missed my Top 15 of 2007 list purely by me being slow to the punch (sorry Ghostlimb). This is a gorgeous album that propels its post-rock songwriting with folk, indie, and alternative influences rather than baroque orchestration or grandiose theme and variation style builds. There is always the semblance of a melodic hook or a regularized chord progression underneath the complex, but grounded arrangements.

You, You're a History in Rust [2007] - Download - Review

Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness

2008-01-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

Truly falling in love with an album usually happens once a year for me. My most recent heart-melting came at the hands of the shoegaze/post-rock/dark ambient/industrial band Have a Nice Life, who released their double-disc concept album last week. It came in a slim DVD case and had a 70+ page booklet explaining the life and writing of a near-mythical 13th century Italian writer and zealot, Antiochus. The music is absolutely stunning. Considering how DIY and heartfelt this release is, I hope everybody actually purchases it. It's only $11 for a very generous and complete package. Go to the label's website to put in an order.

Deathconsciousness [2008] - Review - Review
Disc One: The Plow That Broke the Plains - Download
Disc Two: The Future - Download

The Cape May - Glass Mountain Roads

2008-01-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

I heard about The Cape May by way of a press packet. I like Steve Albini and he was producing this album so I decided to give it a few whirls. I'm glad I did. It is really subdued and powerful not unlike an indie version of Engine Down. This band has a wonderful sense of how to brood without being dark or depressive. As far as I know this is their first LP but something tells me it's their second. The second track, "Old & Early Numbers" is one of my favorites of the year.

Glass Mountain Roads (2007) - Download - Review

Top EPs/Splits of 2007

2008-01-14T14:29:00.001-08:00

I excluded releases that weren't EPs or Splits from my Best Albums of 2007 list so I made a special feature for all of the great EPs that came out this year. There were mostly sweet skramz stuff. Tera Melos made the list twice and both The Kidcrash and Daitro almost doubled down too. I made the downloads into two packages so that everybody can sample a bunch of stuff.

1. Comadre / Trainwreck Split
2. Drowning With Our Anchors - Demo
3. Tera Melos - Drugs to the Dear Youth
4. Envy - Abyssal
5. The Kidcrash / Coffin Dancer Split
6. Ampere / Daitro Split
7. Tera Melos / By the End of Tonight - Complex Full of Phantoms
8. Twain Harte - A Sunny Place for Shady People
9. Aussitot Mort - Aussitot Mort

Top EPs/Splits of 2007 Albums 1-4
Top EPs/Splits of 2007 Albums 5-9

Top 15 Albums of 2007

2008-01-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

Here are my top 15 in a streamlined form. To read little blurbs about my favorite albums go here.

1. The Kidcrash - Jokes - Download - Review
2. Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Volumes I & II - Fire & Water - Download - Review
3. The Pax Cecilia - Blessed Are the Bonds - Download - Review
4. Justice - † - Download - Review
5. Hot Cross - Risk Revival - Download - Review
6. Ghastly City Sleep - Ghastly City Sleep - Download - Review
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows - Download - Review
8. Hopesfall - Magnetic North - Download - Review
9. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice - Download - Review
10. Meneguar - Strangers in Our House - Download - Review
11. The Dirty Projectors - Rise Above - Download - Review
12. Between the Buried and Me - Colors - Download - Review
13. American Steel - Destroy Their Future - Download - Review
14. Venetian Snares - My Downfall - Download - Review
15. Modern Life Is War - Midnight in America - Download - Review

Honorable Mentions: Ghostlimb - Ghostlimb (only just a mention because I found out about it too late), Burton Wagner - 21, Meet Me in St. Louis - Variations on Swing, The Cape May - Glass Mountain Roads, Little Brother - Get Back

Meneguar - Strangers in Our House

2008-01-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

Meneguar is a slick ass indie band from Brooklyn, NY. This was my 9th favorite release of 2007 (I may yet get links for this entire list), beating out The Dirty Projectors' Rise Above as my favorite indie album. These guys play a highly guitar-centric brand of riff-rock. They are really fun not unlike a more serious, genuine version of The Strokes.

Strangers in Our House (2007) - Download - Review

Ghostlimb - Ghostlimb

2008-01-10T21:45:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I listen to hardcore bands and they just throw around a bunch of dissonant notes and make super sparse but beefy breakdowns. Ghostlimb is heavy as fuck at all times without sacrificing melody. The album has 11 songs and is 15 minutes long. "Palimpsest" is a perfectly complete 55 second hardcore nugget. These guys also don't take themselves completely seriously with descriptions of their music on myspace being "Influences: none, traffic; Sounds Like: unreasonably mad" unlike other similar sounding artists (Celeste's Influences: SHORA, BREACH, NEUROSIS, ISIS, DATURAH, BRAZEN, CALLISTO, TIME TO BURN, SYSTRAL, ACME, FORCEED, KNUT, ANANDA, NOSTROMO.......). The result is a hardcore album that understands that brevity and brutality can coexist with melody and sensibility. Also, this music isn't for pussies. Excuse the obnoxiously large album art. It's EPIC.

Ghostlimb (2007) - Download

Tera Melos (Are Freaks)

2008-01-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry to stray from my norm of just posting albums but these live videos of Tera Melos merit an aberration.

From a set in San Jose, CA

Excerpt from "Last Smile for Jaron"

New track

From a set at Modified

"Spoonful of Slurry"

"When Worms Learn to Fly"

Compilation of TM going crazy

They are so good at their instruments.

Team Sleep - Team Sleep

2008-01-07T14:28:00.001-08:00

Team Sleep is the trip hop side project of Chino Moreno, singer of the Deftones. The music ranges from more traditional sounding rock in the style of the Deftones to more abstract electronic and drum and bass stuff as on the track "Staring at the Queen." I saw these guys live at Slims in San Francisco on December 16 and was particularly impressed by their drummer, Zac Hill, who is the active drummer in a lot of impressive Sacramento based bands, most notably Hella. Below is their only release. Their next album is in the works but has no official date to be recorded or released.

Team Sleep (2005) - Download - Review

Girl Talk - Night Ripper

2008-01-04T18:10:00.000-08:00

Girl Talk was praised by my friends back in early 2007 / late 2006. I really liked what I had heard at the time but never bothered getting the album of the moment, Night Ripper, because I figured I'd just get to hear it every time I drank or something. The album phased out of my friends' playlists in March and it took me until October to pick it up myself. Since then I've listened to it nonstop. Seriously it has probably 20+ plays in that short time. This is the best pop / electronic album I've ever heard other than Daft Punk's Discovery and Justice's †.

Night Ripper (2006) - Download - Review

In Pieces - Lions Write History

2008-01-04T14:07:00.000-08:00

Lions Write History surprised me in the late summer of 2005. I had been a fan of their previous LP, Learning to Accept Silence, though I had always considered In Pieces to be a poor man's Thrice. Upon getting this album, and relistening to their previous work, I realized that In Pieces have a lot more depth to their songwriting than I had initially thought. Lions Write History is their masterwork, featuring an immaculate vocal performance and memorable passages saturating every track. This album is a 5/5 album for me personally and can probably impress even the most jaded fan of post-hardcore. Ex-members are in a slew of current bands. One of which, Have a Nice Life, is interesting shoegaze/post-rock/doom that I'll feature in the next few weeks when I get the advance of the album. For the time being, check out their myspace.

Lions Write History (2005) - Download - Review

Shotmaker - Complete Discography 1993-1996

2007-12-30T16:51:00.000-08:00

Shotmaker was a mid-90s band that blended together the more chaotic style of the emerging California screamo scene with more traditional emo and post-hardcore. They favor a lot of dense chord voicings and rhythmic patterns though they trend towards having melodic vocals and lead guitar lines. The bass is particularly dynamic being riff-based, harmonically important, and also rhythmically pounding. Apparently members are now in a band called Three Penny Opera.

Complete Discography 1993-1996 (2000) - Download - Review

Venetian Snares - My Downfall

2007-12-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Venetian Snares managed to release his most recent LP My Downfall, somewhat under the radar. Venetian Snares, who usually gets reviewed by sites like Pop Matters and tiny mix tapes, just hasn't been given a seat on the hype train for this album. It's hard to see why not because My Downfall is a logical continuation from his most critically acclaimed album Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett. On this album, VS, trades in his typical, highly electronic breakbeat in favor for the sake of exploring the atonal soundscape of modern classical music. As opposed to Rossz..., which was about a 50-50 mix of breakbeat and sampling of modern classical artists, My Downfall almost drops breakbeat entirely. The album isn't as likable in the traditional VS sense (the album doesn't have any electronic blips or video game noises), but the tracks are still intelligently composed and show off a new, subdued, and fairly sophisticated side of VS' eclectic sensibility.

My Downfall (2007) - Download - Review

Drowning With Our Anchors - Demo

2007-12-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

Really good emo from the Bay Area. They've only released this demo and I don't know if anything else is going to come of it. They have ex-members of the other great band Makanda who may also make an appearance here.

Demo (2007) - Download - Mini-Review

Life At These Speeds - Discography

2007-11-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

Life At These Speeds were a short lived punk/emo/indie (oh really they didn't make it?) band from Oregon. I saw them play at an anarchist bookstore two years ago so I picked up their self-titled album and ultimately their 2006 LP, To Your Health. Both are great, fun albums but the self-titled is slightly better, though the best songs of the two are both on To Your Health, in the poppy "Blocking Out the Stars" and "Not So Long Ago." Then general sound is a mix of punk and the classical emo style. The result is sort of like midwest indie but without the sentimentality and heart-on-sleeve values. Also they have a slightly rougher if more fun attitude.

Life at These Speeds (2004) - Download - Review

To Your Health (2006) - Download - Review

Burton Wagner - 21

2007-11-26T22:09:00.000-08:00

November 25th has come and gone again, which means another album from Burton Wagner, the DIY post-rock artist who releases an album every year on his birthday, November 25. While his previous releases, In the Realms of the Unreal and A Sentinel's Eyes, have been concept-based, his new album 21, is much more song based. Each song is named after and composed for a day that occured over the past year. As a result there is a pretty wide variety of sounds and emotions that change from song to song. The album sounds like a mix of the post-rock of his previous releases but with more pop, alternative, and shoegaze thrown in. This album doesn't push any envelopes after a titanic release lke ASE but each song is beautiful and memorable. Review to come shortly.

21 (2007) - Download - Review

Grails - Redlight

2007-11-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

Grails is a chameleon of an indie band. Their most recent two releases have been psychedelic and jam-based while their 2004 LP, Redlight is oddly taut post-rock with modal inflections. Just based on personal tastes I gravitate towards the tight, composed pieces rather than the expansive jams, but their discography is interesting nonetheless. Redlight has a few goofy tracks but some killer ones too. Overall this album is beautiful. I've been sort of vague about its merits so definitely check out the review for a more detailed look at what these guys sound like.

Redlight (2004) - Download - Review

Karate - Unsolved

2007-11-18T21:41:00.000-08:00

Karate is a midwest indie band in the spirit of Mineral and Boys Life, except some of the chord progressions and guitar inflections are jazz influenced. I've only listened once but I'm really liking it. Thanks to Astronation for this recent update.

Unsolved (2000) - Download

Little Brother - Get Back

2007-11-12T21:13:00.000-08:00

Little Brother played the homecoming show at my school (Williams) this past weekend. I went in not expecting much as previous homecoming shows have sucked pretty hard (think The Virginia Coalition), but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm a big fan of De la Soul and I hear a pretty significant De la influence here. They just released a new album back in September, Get Back, which is awesome upon first listen. I think I'll write up a review some time in December so I'll update the "review" link then.

Get Back (2007) - Download

Envy - Abyssal

2007-11-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

This is the new EP from Japan's Envy. For the unitiated, imagine if it was still cool to like Explosions in the Sky and there were some Hydra Head Records influences. This particular release is short but sweet and follows in the footsteps of their last LP, Insomniac Doze, which used a lot more soft textures and major keys than their previous releases did.

Abyssal (2007) - Download

Maudlin of the Well - Discography

2007-11-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

Maudlin of the Well was Toby Driver's first project that existed while he was studying at Hampshire College. They released three massive LPs that got more melodic as they progressed.

My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustible (1999) - Download - Review

Bath (2001) - Download - Review

Leaving Your Body Map (2001) - Download - Review

Kayo Dot - Discography

2007-10-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's Toby Driver post sort of invtes me to complete his personal discography. I'll start by posting albums by Kayo Dot. Kayo Dot was formed as a reinterpretation of Driver's previous project, maudlin of the Well. He wanted to drop their metal name and reputation in favor of something new so he could pursue more abstruse and challenging musical territory. Kayo Dot plays unlike any band out there, yet is oddly palatable. They seamlessly combine elements of metal, jazz, post-rock, and modern classical. Their LPs are 5 tracks apiece but each lasts just over an hour ensuring expansive song structures that complement the surreal and engaging soundscape. Choirs of the Eye bears more of a resemblance to the material on maudlin of the Well and is more overtly metal and post-rock and was released on Tdazik. Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue is much more subtle and bizarre and was released on Robotic Empire.

Choirs of the Eye (2003) - Download - Review

Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue (2006) - Download - Review

Kayo Dot / Bloody Panda Split (2006) - Download

Toby Driver - In the L...L...Library Loft

2007-10-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

Toby Driver is the frontman and primary composer for Kayo Dot (formerly maudlin of the Well). In the L...L...Library Loft is his first solo release. He composed these four pieces as an auxiliary to Kayo Dot. He consdered the content to be even too "out there" for his primary project, which itself is unusual avant garde metal. This album plays like an interesting blend of 20th century post-tonal music and the phase shifting of Steve Reich, all with that Toby Driver touch. Fans will be able to link this release to those of Kayo Dot and more recently Tartar Lamb but this release is singular and amazing in its own regard.

In the L...L...Library Loft (2005) - Download - Review

Comadre - Discography

2007-10-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

Comadre is a band from Radwood City, CA. They play a mix of emo and punk and are really really really fun. Enough said.

The Youth (2004) - Download - Review

Burn Your Bones (2006) - Download - Review

More Songs About the Man (2006) - Download - Review

Comadre / Trainwreck Split (2007) - Download - Review

Crowd surfing to "Celly Cell" (I doubt you can see us but Victor and I are on the far right wall)

Maps and Atlases - Trees, Swallows, Houses

2007-10-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Maps and Atlases are an indie band from Chicago. However, instead of donning American Apparel gear and dicking around with banjos and electronics, the members of this band spent their time practicing two-handed tapping and listening to midwest indie from the late 90s. Imagine if Minus the Bear's old sound was sped up and jammed together with the rhythmic intensity of a band like Hella or Tera Melos. That is, all with acoustic guitars interspersed with the electric, making them sound like a technical version of Braid more than anything. Maps and Atlases are great. Exhibit A: their only formal release, Trees, Swallows, Houses. I saw them live this past summer with The Fall of Troy and Rx Bandits and they played a few new songs from their upcoming LP that pretty much shred as well so look out for that release.

Trees, Swallows, Houses (2006) - Download - Review

Jaga Jazzist - The Three LPs

2007-10-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Jaga Jazzist is a band from Norway with post-rock song structures but instrumentation and harmonies that draw mostly from the worlds of jazz and electronica. I first caught wind of them by sampling the beautiful track "Swedenborgske Rom" from What We Must. I was an immediate convert and listened to that one track probably 40 times in the first week I had it. Their other two albums are weirder and less aerial but have hundreds of interesting nooks and crannies to explore.

A Livingroom Hush (2001) - Download - Review

The Stix (2003) - Download - Review

What We Must (2005) - Download - Review

Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Volumes I & II - Fire & Water

2007-10-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

Thrice has been my favorite band for quite a long time now. I first heard Identity Crisis and The Illusion of Safety in 2002 at the tender age of 15 going on 16. I have since had to anticipate three of their album releases. I picked up The Artist in the Ambulance in Alaska after having been on a month long camping / community service trip that left me out of touch with civilization. My reintroduction was via that album. Then, I snagged Vheissu off of a leak, which somewhat sated my need to hear the album as soon as possible. I ended up buying that album twice, once to get the vinyl of "The Weight of Glory" and another time to get the limited edition version. Now we come to The Alchemy Index. Anticipation has sucked. First of all they're cutting the release into two segments, further prolonging the painful wait. Also, Vagrant Records was very careful in making sure this thing didn't leak; the CDs given out on promo were copy protected. But I woke up today and found the whole album streaming on their myspace. It's pretty awesome. It's going to take some digestion time and it's the biggest departure for Thrice yet. Upon first listen though, it seems like a great album. I enthuse you to purchase the album. My pre-order should be arriving on Tuesday from MerchDirect along with a free t-shirt.

The Alchemy Index: Volumes I & II - Fire & Water (2007) - Download - Stream - Review

Get excited for the Earth and Air discs as well, which should be released in Spring 2008. They sound really good so far based off of teaser videos and live performances.

Air Sonnet

Untitled Air Disc Song

"Come All You Weary" (Earth Disc)

Gospel - The Moon Is a Dead World

2007-10-10T22:22:00.000-07:00

Gospel is a band that surprised the hell out of me. I think I was linked to a song by another band back in the day because I remembered my first impression of Gospel was that they were turgid and bland. Nothing could be more unbefitting of Gospel's awesome mix of emo, post-rock, and prog. Imagine the towering scope of an album like As the Roots Undo by Circle Takes the Square without pretention or loftiness and an odd sense of rhythmic structures and a drummer that absolutely kills. There are even flourishes of keyboards and weird effects that aren't incongruous with the more emo songwriting. A really singular album that I'm sad I only got into about 3 weeks ago. They have since broken up and The Moon Is a Dead World is their sole LP.

The Moon Is a Dead World (2005) - Download - Review

The Kidcrash - Recent Discography

2007-10-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Kidcrash is a band that has gone through constant reinvention. They began humbly (with Beirut's very own Zach Condon as a frequent member) and their first LP, New Ruins, a pop punk / midwest indie type album that was released on Lujo Records (The Fall of Troy), to some positive response. The band since has disowned their older sound and have been crafting their current "mathy" sound since at least 2005. Their newer incarnation has yielded a stunning LP (Jokes) and two splits (to the best of my knowledge).

Split with Coffin Dancer (2007) - Download

Split with Arse Moreria (2007) - Download

Jokes (2007) - Download - Review

These releases can be purchased through the labels Init Records and Denovali Records. A super cheap copy of Jokes can be found here.

And lastly, here's a red hued video of them performing "Turtlelephant," the first track from their LP.

Tera Melos - Discography

2007-10-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Tera Melos is a band from Roseville, CA (outside of Sacramento). They play instrumental music that can best be described as a mix of math rock and post-hardcore. They have only released one proper LP (Tera Melos) from when they were a four-piece, but have since released an EP (Drugs to the Dear Youth) and a split CD with By the End of Tonight (Complex Full of Phantoms) as a three-piece. They are pretty awesome live. I saw them in 2006 at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco when they still had Worm in the band. So, below are three albums, two of which have reviews I've written, and a staged live performance of the first two tracks from Drugs to the Dear Youth.

Tera Melos (2005) - Download - Review

Drugs to the Dear Youth (2007) - Download - Review

Complex Full of Phantoms (2007) - Download

A Live Video of "40 Rods to the Hog's Head"