Monday LXXXXIV Best of 2013 part 1

Just some stuff that's not Yeezus, Reflektor, or Sunbather.

Mylets - Recton (2013)

Mylets is a one-man math rock excursion by Henry Kohen. Using the power of loop pedals and a super catchy vocal arsenal, Mylets is a simple meets complex listening experience. A must for any fan of Tera Melos, Girlfriends, Boyfrndz, Monster Machismo, or Adebisi Shank.

Favorite track: "Hungover Tehran"


Last.fm

Listener - Time is a Machine (2013)

I was surprised to see that Time is a Machine did not receive much attention after the large praise that Wooden Heart got a few years back. Still, Time is a Machine is not far behind where Wooden Heart left off and will certainly hold up in time for when people really start listening again.

Favorite track: "Eyes to the ground for change"


Last.fm

The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever (2013)

2013 was definitely The World is...'s biggest year to date. From the raise of the shitty "mememo" terms to someone behind Buzzfeed figuring out there's still a genre called emo and it doesn't suck, The World is... seemed to be the front runners of a cool new thing. They have a really long ridiculous name and just as ridiculous lineup, why wouldn't they be the stars of the next "emo revival" generation? Hell, maybe next year The World is... will be on SNL!

Whenever, If Ever really is a solid album though whether you wanna believe the hype or not.

Favorite Track: "Fightboat"



Serengeti - Kenny Dennis LP (2013)

Serengeti's alter ego, Kenny Dennis returned this year with a bang when the Chicago native dropped his LP on the world.  K.D.'s repetitive and sometimes incoherent rap style puts me in a hypnotic trance that makes me want to watch old NBA games and play Sonic on my aunt's Sega Genesis.

Favorite track: "Directions"

Along with Kenny Dennis's LP, Serengeti also released Saal, C.A.B. (a follow-up to C.A.R.), a single featuring a b-side about "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, and his Yoome project's (along with Renee Louise Carafice and Tony Trimm) June album.

Last.fm

Russian Circles - Memorial (2013)

Russian Circles just being Russian Circles. The groovy post metal lords even throw in a little number featuring vocal duties by Chelsea Wolfe which resembles a True Widow track that never was.

Favorite track: "Memorial (Ft. Chelsea Wolfe)" and "Lebaron" (for the more traditional RC experience)



Last.fm

Honorable mentions/already talked about:

Foxing - An Albatross
Toasted Plastic - June Highs
A Great Big Pile of Leaves - You're Always On My Mind
Phantom Glue - A War of Light Cones
One Hundred Year Ocean - Where Were You While We Were Getting High?
Rosetta - Anaesthete
The Reptilian - Low Health
Leveret - Infinity

So... what's left?

12 Days of Nostalgia For Tomorrow Christmas

Something about being away from home has caused me to miss the little things in life... Normally I wouldn't be excited about covering by blog with Christmas related posts and being in a 'seasons greetings' mood. Bahumbag! But I miss the simpler times nowadays; the times when I had nothing better to do but wait for Santa to show up at my house (even though I never had a chimney), eat my cookies, drink (most of) my milk, and hopefully leave me the right action figures I had asked for.

So, in the spirit of the great horned hunter god, the Christmas ham, Krampus, Satan, and Saint Nick himself, I present The 12 Days of Nostalgia For Tomorrow Christmas! Sit back, relax, drink some eggnog, and get excited about Christmas again!

Day 1.

Music:

Listener & Dust - Just in Time for Christmas (2005)

Yes, Listener has a Christmas album. But it's not the same 'talk music' Dan Smith that we all know from Wooden Heart. No, in 2005 Dan Smith was still rapping and rapping well for that matter... even if it was about Santa and behaving for the good list. Of course that's not really what this Christmas related album is all about; it's actually much more about real topics like faith, the true meaning of Christmas, poverty, consumerism, and other more serious things than 'hey, it's Christmas! Here's a generic Christmas carol because there's no real-world problems during X-mas".

You don't have to be a religious person to appreciate this little gem either, just remember that Christmas, like any other day, or any other season, will never be perfect. It can actually be a really shitty time...

But let's not dwell on that.

Listener is also accompanied by his friend and Deepspace 5 mate, DJ Dust AKA Nate Corrona of Mars ILL who can be heard on the last track, "That Leaf Sure is Heavy, But You Have to Turn it Over" (I believe).



Love it or hate it, this is an original Christmas album. Anyone can cover 8 classic Christmas tunes - and they do i.e. every pop star who has ever been popular ever. And while not a lot of folks are listeners of Dan Smith for his Deepspace 5 Christian rap days material, it's still him. I mean isn't talk music rap, anyways?

Interesting things to note: Dust is a name of 18 different artists according to Last.fm and, according to Wikipedia, DJ Dust's real name is Adolf Hitler. I kid you not! That sure puts a damper on this whole Christmas album thing if that is true...

Dan Smith's official site (cleverly titled 'thedancemyth')
Last.fm (Listener)
Last.fm (Listener & Dust)

Bonus:

This year for Christmas, Santa Claus is not going to be giving out coal for all you boys and girls on the naughty list. Nope, instead those of you who decided to misbehave this year will receive and must watch beginning-to-end, A Christmas Story 2.

That's right! This year Hollywood not only tried to recycle old toys to movies (again) and 80's flix that the kids today don't know about, they also did THIS. This right here is just plain silliness. Than again, one man's angry rant is another man's (my) pleasure. I actually don't find these things as horrible and "OMG my childhood has been raped in its terribly metaphor-ed anus " as internet people badger on about with shitty things like this. I understand why these kinds of blasphemy-inducers are conceived; it's a cheap way to make some quick money and piss people off. Seriously though, no one asked for this piece of presumable garbage but hey, I might actually make the best of it and watch the damn thing. I won't pay for it or anything but I may have to witness just how bad it really is for myself. Because I'm human... I love watching horrible things.

For anyone who would like to hear more about the sequel to probably the best Christmas movie ever made, I'd suggest checking out the review on Wrestlecrap.com, a site that is usually dedicated to the very worst of pro wrestling - which there is never any shortage of. Trust me.

I don't want to give anything away.. but at one point, a supposedly 15 year old Ralphie, supposedly since he looks old enough to drink through this movie, ends up doing this:

Courtesy of Wrestlecrap

Merry first day of Christmas everyone!

Monday XXXIII

Music: yes.

Holagrams: no.

2049 - Torches (2010)

2049 was a screamo band from Cleveland, Ohio that experimented with La Dispute story-telling vox and sporadic keyboard action. Torches, is a little all over the place with ideas but they all seem to be things people like and have heard before. I'm not too sure how much of the direction they had on this one they continued on with in Old Phyrexia (just a two song EP) but all came to an end in summer 2010 when they called it quits, so we'll never know what else they had in store for us.

Shit happens.

RIP Dead Man's Clothes.

Last.fm

Diving - Places And The Objects You Find There (2010)

Their name is Diving and they have a duck on their cover. What's there to hate?

Definitely not the fact that they also play twinkly math rock, of course...

Last.fm

Listener - Wooden Heart Poems (2010)

Since it's the last day of April, which is national poetry month, here is Listener's poetic masterpiece, Wooden Heart. This time though, it's the more stripped down and even more "talk music" version that does include some acoustic guitar here and there but is mostly just Dan Smith reciting his little spoken word numbers from the original Wooden Heart with no instrumental accompaniment. Definitely a must have for anyone who likes Listener or poetry! Hope you guys had a good April by the way.

Last.fm

Various Artists - Making Music's For Pussies #001 (2012)

Girlfriends, one of the various artists on this compilation by Big Scary Monsters, tipped me off to this super sick thing of super sick awesomeness on his Facebook page. It's a compilation that you can get free when you buy a shirt with that very same cover art like the one up there on it! Being the impulse buyer/secret wrestling fan, I instantly started marking out and bought the thing as fast as I could find the add to cart button. Forgetting that Euros are less than American dollars and things shipped overseas is a little more expensive, I was a little put back by what I had done when I finished my order and saw the receipt but it's really not that bad, considering I was so pumped about the shirt I forgot about the music, and in the end it comes out to be no more than the price of a brand new, vinyl LP. So yeah, it's totally worth it.

For the compilation and the music itself, I haven't gotten the package yet at this time of typing and usually don't like to give away the surprise of a new CD (or in this case, digital download), so I haven't listen to it yet. But, I can say that Tall Ships, Socks And Shoes Off, Crash of Rhinos, Girlfriends (just "Untitled #3", so no surprise there), and Oh No! Yoko will be on it along with some other new names I've have previously not heard of like, Killington Fall, Bear Cavalry, Delta/Alaska, Doctrines, and Adults, The Elderly And Children.

I may have not listened to it yet, but feel free to give it a try yourself. While you are at it, buy the shirt! See if I care... You'll surely have the honor of owning the same shirt as the writer and creator of this blog. Cheers!

Buy the 10 track comp and pink and blue Ultimate Warrior/Making Music's For Pussies T-shirt here.

PS: can't wait to see what they got in store for the #002!

PSS: did I mention I'm fucking pumped!!!

Insert crazy Warrior ramblings here.

Listener

Listener is a spoken word type monster of a project by Dan Smith and Chris Nelson. They call it "talk music" and I call it  beautifully emotional and powerful music that will rip your heart out just see if it still beats like it did when you were a small child and actually cared about things with all your might. Dan Smith (not to be confused with Dance Myth of Red Medicine) isn't out to poetically impress you with his hip mustache but convence you to just listen to the stories and imagery that he is capable of spitting out. The way the lines are delivered is like getting punched my words... or a thesaurus (take your pick).

Listener - Wooden Heart (2010)

Along with Dan's mad spoken word chops there is also the mostly overlooked work of Chris Nelson, who puts all the music together that accompanies but not necessarily backs up the spastically moving talker. The music behind Dan is just as conveying and moving as the lyrics, while not stealing the show or overloading the picture that is being thrown up on the already dirty canvases of our minds.

Dan Smith has also cut his teeth with the hip hop collective of Deepspace 5 as well as one half of the hip hop duo known as Labklik according to wikipedia.

Every line he speaks is for you the listener. So shut up and listen.

My good friend, Pat once read Seatbelt Hands at a little poem reading session and boy, did it gave me goosebumps...

I read Avril's mall punk classic, Sk8er Boi.

Last.fm
Official site
You've got beat blood in your mouth and lies in your artichoked heart