Mesa Verde - The Old Road

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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