I honestly can't put into words how excited I am for this album. So I'll just leave this here, and let you guys know that the new Mountain Goats album is coming out March 29th. You probably aren't reading this part though, as you're now looking for clean pants. Don't worry, I'm pretty sure that's a typical response. I hope so anyways, otherwise I might be a bit embarassed now!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Toro Y Moi - Causers of This
Year: 2010
This is the one of the albums that got me interested in minimal electronic music. I love laid back music of almost any kind, and this album is no exception. They use cool little effects to accent the already interesting music, like fading it in and out with the beat. Some people might find that disconcerting if they were looking for a more dance-oriented electronic album, but it really makes the album even more unique. The vocals are used sparsely and are rather sing-songy, but they just add to the whole "chill" vibe of the album. A perfect album to take a break from the day and just relax.
Samples:
Sounds like: James Blake, Caribou, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, Two Door Cinema Club, The Temper Trap (bit of a stretch)
Rating: 7/10
Monday, January 24, 2011
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zerø Kanada
Year: 1999
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is one of those bands that everyone with a vested interest in music should give a shot in my opinion. Indie kids will latch onto the sheer pretentiousness of the band and their music, metal fans can latch onto the great rhythm section and the power of GY!BE, classical fans could enjoy the great use of orchestration and the grand scale of the pieces. I could go on and on. Slow Riot is actually an EP by GY!BE, consisting of only two songs (Moya and BBF3), for a total of over 27 minutes of music. This particular album stands out because to me, it's essentially taking an album like Life Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! and cutting down the length to make it a more easily digestible listen. There's still the beautiful buildups leading to the incredible, spine chilling, goose bump raising climaxes that make this band so amazing. I mean it, if you're a fan of music, pretty much any kind of music, do yourself a favour and look into this band.
Samples (actually the entire EP):
Similar to: (The) Slowest Runner (In All the World), Red Sparowes, Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Maudlin of the Well
Rating: 9.5/10
Why? - Elephant Eyelash
Year: 2005
For the last while, Why? has been one of my absolute favourite bands of the past decade, if not of all time. Yoni Wolf has such a unique style to songwriting, singing/rapping, and just everything he does within this band that it's instantly recognizable as his. This particular album is really starting to grow on me, it's a lot more stripped down than his later albums and a bit more indie rock-ish. You'll still hear tons of lyrics that fit right in with Yoni's strange style, like "I'm fucking cold like a DQ blizzard You act like a slut but you're really a freezer", among others. It's quirky, super catchy and memorable, and appealing to quite a diverse amount of people imo.
Samples:
Similar to: cLOUDDEAD, Reaching Quiet, Hymie's Basement
Rating: 10/10
Sunday, January 23, 2011
La Casa Fantom - Ingen Ny Dag
Genre: Crust/Screamo
Year: 2006
This is a record that's very hard to pin down. La Casa Fantom have a sound that I haven't heard before (obviously similar bands, but with big differences), and it's kind of tough to digest at first. After a couple listens though, it's quickly becoming one of my favourite crust records. They manage to create dynamics and diversity within their own sound that you don't hear a lot of within the genre, and it doesn't sound forced at all. The vocals aren't particularly standout within screamo or crust, but the structures and overall instrumental style are very unique and dark. Oh, and did I mention this band is just two dudes?
Samples:
Stillheten Skrik
Rømmer til skogen
Similar to: Black Uniforms, Catharsis, Saetia, Reflections of Internal Rain, Witch Hunt
Acid Bath - Paegan Terrorism Tactics
Genre: Sludge Metal
Year: 1996
The only sludge metal I ever used to listen to was prog sludge, so this album was quite a bit different for me. I really like how it combines the harsher, sludgy vocals I had grown to love, and heavy stoner metal riffing, with vocals and riffs that are more akin to grunge than anything else. So to me anyways, it's like if grunge went the extra mile in trying to sound dirty and heavy, which is awesome! I'd say it's a relatively accessible record, as the harsh vocals don't come into play as much as other sludge bands tend to use them. So check it out!
Samples:
Bleed Me An Ocean
New Death Sensation
Similar to: If Alice In Chains or Nirvana combined with early Mastodon.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
NIck Cave and the Bad Seeds - Let Love In
Year: 1994
I've been listening to this album a lot lately, and I still can't figure out what other bands sound similar. When I first heard it, I was like "woah, it's almost like a post punk Andrew WK from the 90s!". Then later what came to mind was actually a more experimental Meat Loaf (Bat Out of Hell specifically), with a few similar themes and just a similar flair for drama and over-the-top choruses and whatnot. And the great things is: you could listen to this album as many times or more than I have and still have no idea what I mean, it's such a varied record with a very unique approach to the music that anyone can draw different conclusions from it.
Samples:
Sounds like: The two descriptions above, and a more modern version of The Doors.
Rating: 10/10
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
MetalSucks Presents: NYC Sucks, Vol 1 Compilation
MetalSucks released the first of two compilations they put together of some of the best (in their opinion) extreme bands from NYC, and are releasing it for free to try to spread the word about these awesome bands. I thought I'd help it along and reblog it!
Here's the track listing:
1. East of the Wall, “The Ladder”
2. Made out of Babies, “Invisible Ink”
3. Tiger Flowers, “Cuts”
4. Black Anvil, “The Evil of All Roots”
5. Naam, “Frosted Tread”
6. Batillus, “The Children of the Night Make Their Music”
7. Meek is Murder, “Sundowners” (demo)
8. The Binary Code, “Encircled”
9. Castevet, “Stones”
10. Hung, “Desert of Sad”
11. Wizardry, “The Falconer”
12. Pyrrhon, “King of All Tears”
13. Mutant Supremacy, “Epitaph”
14. Incendiary, “Victory in Defeat”
2. Made out of Babies, “Invisible Ink”
3. Tiger Flowers, “Cuts”
4. Black Anvil, “The Evil of All Roots”
5. Naam, “Frosted Tread”
6. Batillus, “The Children of the Night Make Their Music”
7. Meek is Murder, “Sundowners” (demo)
8. The Binary Code, “Encircled”
9. Castevet, “Stones”
10. Hung, “Desert of Sad”
11. Wizardry, “The Falconer”
12. Pyrrhon, “King of All Tears”
13. Mutant Supremacy, “Epitaph”
14. Incendiary, “Victory in Defeat”
Converge - Petitioning the Empty Sky
Year: 1996
Converge has been one of my favourite metal bands since I heard Axe to Fall in '09, yet I'd never listened to anything pre-Jane Doe. I know a number of people who really dig their older stuff so I gave this record a shot. After just two listens, I've decided it's my second favourite Converge record, it's so fucking RAW. Also, listen to the riffs! They're all over the place, and make you want to run into a mosh pit and split some heads. When quite a few people talk about Converge, a description I've seen come up a few times is "hardcore kids with some leftover Slayer riffs", which almost sums up the band. This record seems to have quite a bit more math-y riffs and structures than their newer stuff, which is a cool switch. One thing I noticed about this album that was quite a bit different from their newer stuff was the mix of the vocals, which was quite a bit lower than in their newer stuff where they're more to the forefront. I actually kind of prefer this style, as Converge's vocals are meant to be thought of as just another form of percussion (in my opinion) rather than drowning out everything else. Still love everything I've heard from them though :)
Samples:
Similar to: Botch, Integrity, Trap Them, Throats, Coalesce
Rating: 9.5/10
Wolf - The Black Flame
Year: 2006
I just heard about this album two days ago while reading MetalSucks (killer blog btw), and I love when a review totally gets it right. I checked it out, and it's great! Very much made in the spirit of classic NWOBHM, these guys still bring some new stuff to the table. I love the cheesy lyrics and vocals, with this kind of music it just fits perfectly. And the riffs.. holy shit the riffs are great, every song is filled front to back with fantastic memorable riffing and solos. Most of the time, if I call a band a throwback band it's typically not a positive thing, as there's so many copy-paste bands out there it's insulting to the originators. But I think that with The Black Flame, Wolf managed to create a record that many of the old schoolers would be able to appreciate and love, as well as something that is modern enough for any fan of metal.
Samples:
Similar to: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Sacred Blade, Ghost
Rating: 7.5/10
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Minor Threat - Complete Discography
Genre: Hardcore Punk
Year: 1989
In my opinion, this album is still the crowning achievement in hardcore. It's a compilation of all of Minor Threat's studio works (they only stuck around for 3 years), for a total of 26 songs. If that sounds like a lot to you, you need to hear more hardcore :P All 26 songs together makes the total length of the album about 47 minutes. The songwriting is amazing, and I have yet to find an album that pumps me up like this one does, especially the first half of the album. This is the band that started the Straight Edge movement through their lyrics, and the band that countless hardcore bands since have copied in an attempt to find the magic they had. Blazing fast chords and punk beats, shouted pissed off vocals, and extremely short songs of sheer emotion and anger, all while bashing "the man" and refusing to bow down to society.
Samples:
Out of Step
Bottled Violence
Similar to: Like I said, this is the band that almost all hardcore punk bands have mimicked since, so if you like any of them you'll like this. And have probably heard this :P
Rating: 9.5/10
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Yann Tiersen - Rue des Cascades
Genre: Modern Classical
Year: 1996
I don't listen to a lot of modern classical, but Yann Tiersen is amazing. He creates very interesting, upbeat music that can appeal to all sorts of musical tastes, whether they actually come from a classical background or if they just finished listening to Piece of Time for the hundredth time. This album is mostly instrumental, featuring lots of great piano centered pieces. Two of the tracks feature Claire Pichet singing and it fits great with Yann's compositions. This is a great intro to modern classical, at least it was for me.
Samples:
Comptine d'été n°1
Rue des Cascades
Similar to: Classical? :P I need to find more before I can compare it.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Dear Landlord - Dream Homes
Year: 2009
Pop punk at it's finest, these guys write songs that are catchy as all hell, strumming those chords and shouting along with all their hearts. I lovelovelove choruses like the ones these guys write: simple, singalong anthems that get you pumped up whether you're walking along or driving down the road. Lyrics of rebelling against those who think you're worthless, and trying to make it through life, are delivered in a fun, high energy way. Not a particularly groundbreaking album, but who ever said an album has to be totally new to be amazing?
Samples:
Similar to: Screeching Weasel, Anti Flag, Teenage Bottlerocket, Titus Andronicus
Rating: 9/10
James Blake - s/t
Genre: Art Pop/Post Dub/Experimental
Year: 2011
One of the cooler experimental electronic records I've heard (which is admittedly not very many :P). James has an interesting voice, a kind of melancholic, soulful singing voice that is often laced with effects. Typically, I don't like autotune, or anything related to it, but I feel that his use of it adds to the overall sound instead of replacing it (he sings often enough without any effects that you know he actually can sing). Instead, I think of his use of autotune as similar to that of Cynic, as a unique use of vocals to create something unique. So now with that disclaimer of his autotune use out of the way.. Great record! Musically, it's very ambient, toned down electronic with some interesting beats. The vocals could be seen as repetitive, but it really adds to the emotion of the music (bands like The National do this a lot, to great effect). Many people won't appreciate this album at first, but it's one of the first great albums of 2011 in my opinion.
Samples:
This album's not actually out till February 7th, so there's no samples :(
Rating: 8/10
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Damned Things - Ironiclast
Genre: Hard/Stoner RockYear: 2010
This album's still pretty new to me, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. It had lots of hype built up around it, as this band is a "supergroup" of sorts. It's got two members from Anthrax, two members of Fall Out Boy (the two actually talented members of the band), and the singer from Every Time I Die. I had heard from many different people who dug all those bands, and thought this album sucked HARD. Now, I don't think this album is creative.. At all :P But, it's fun, catchy, and Keith's singing has improved immensely over the years. If you're looking for a hardcore/metal album that sounds like Anthrax meets ETID meets Andy's kickass drumming, you won't dig this :P but as I said, fun album.
Samples:
Similar to: If you like ETID or Anthrax, or something slightly edgier than radio rock, you'll probably enjoy this.
Rating: 7/10
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Misfits - Static Age
Genre: Punk RockYear: 1997 (recorded 1978)
"I got something to say! I killed your baby today, and it doesn't matter much to me, as long as it's dead." I can't get enough of this album, it's freaking infectious. Every song makes you wanna sing along, Danzig has a great voice for big sing alongs. The guitars are fuzzy and bouncy, and everything just fits for a great punk record. I hadn't ever heard this record until about a month ago, but I've seriously been missing out, and so are you if you haven't heard it!
Samples:
Sounds like: The Ramones with a huge ripped dude shouting at everybody.
Rating: 9.5/10
Mirror - Recollection EP
Year: 2010
Here's a great math rock band from Japan, the best I've heard since I first heard toe. I love the combination between the overly technical math-y styles and the more chill, emotional side. Really interesting guitar and drums, pretty complex yet it doesn't sound forced, just happy and upbeat. The songs don't wander either, they sound like songs instead of just meandering jams that some math/post rock bands are prone to.
Samples:
Similar to: toe, Giraffes? Giraffes!, Ghosts and Vodka, Tera Melos, Mouse on the Keys
Rating: 8/10
The Blog Is A Go!
I'm itching to get started on a review or two, but I thought first I'd clue a few people in on what the hell my blog name means. Listen to this :)
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