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

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

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

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

Off Minor - All 2008 Releases

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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]

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

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

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