The first thought I had after clicking on grafted, i am's sample-heavy opening track "sun-dry" was damn, this sounds awfully familiar in the vocal department. Once I got to the second track "the outstanding debt"though, I knew right away that this was Sam Judd's (formerly of Cattle Drums and Monster Machismo) new project. A new project that mixes Sam's vocals in with all sorts of different sounds not explored with his previous band Cattle Drums.
grafted, i am's self title is a short one with only five songs, but with the math-y guitars, banjos, duel vox, and art punk (if that's a think) vibes - grafted, i am keeps you both intrigued and asking for more. That being said, I hope there will be more!
Every wondered what it would be like if Blink 182 jumped into the twinkle daddy game in 2014? Well, Pete Davis AKA Invalids has the answer in his virtuoso-has-nothing-on-me cover of "Lemmings" from Cheshire Cat (1996).
Pharmakon - Bang Bang from Bestial Burden (bonus track)
I first heard Nancy Sinatra's original after witnessing it in Kill Bill Vol. 1 when I was too young to really appreciate either. This version by Sacred Bones noisemaker Margaret Chardiet definitely would have fit right in with Tarantino's revengesploitation fetish.
Not as different as the Blink 182 cover above, but this Blue Album Weezer cover is a very fun rework of a song that gets barely any recognition. Props to You Blew It! for making a song that could easily fit in a future Tony Hawk game (I can wish) as well.
The Body & Thou - Terrible Lie (live from Gilead Fest)
While I will never actually know what this song sounded like (recordings were destroyed by the sheer power and heaviness of this performance and only a Youtube video surfaced), I'm gonna have to go with this video over the original by Nine Inch Nails.
These Arms Are Snakes - Energy Drink And The Long Walk Home from Sex Beat
The original is actually less synth-y than this final recording ever made by post hardcore legends, These Arms Are Snakes. This track was originally going to be released on a Split with another band that came about after Botch's breakup, Minus the Bear, but it never saw the light of day. The aforementioned original is by Lost Sounds, a band featuring Alicja Trout and Jay Reatard.
This Record Store Day Nirvana tribute was another release that took years to finally materialize. While it also includes a never-before-released track by These Arms Are Snakes (covering "Heart-Shaped Box"), I have to give praise to the now-defunct Black Math Horseman for their re-imaged apocalyptic doom cover of "All Apologies". I also have a very soft spot for dueling female/male vocals.
Chance the Rapper - Wonderful Everyday (Arthur Theme) [ft. The Social Experiment]
This is not your everyday cover of Arthur's Theme song by Ziggy Marley. I might elaborate on this more later when I talk about my favorite albums of the year but something about listening to a lot of reggae music including the original Arthur's Theme went from being a playful joke to really getting me through some bummer summer moments. This song might not be reggae or even a straight-forward cover, but it still has that uber-positive message to it. Plus, it's sung by Chance the Rapper, someone who is never always positive-sounding (see his next single: "No Better Blues").
There's people that say they like metal and don't listen to Black Sabbath in 2014. I Know, I've read it online. Luckily for you, I got the memo and wanted to remind you that it's still cool to listen to Black Sabbath - including their 1971 release Master of Reality. Once you are done listening to Master of Reality check out this incredible two-part sludge cover of "Orchid" and "Lord of this World" by Graves at Sea.
Portland, Oregon's SLOTHS could not have released this Slint cover at a better time. Along with Slint's documentary entitled Breadcrumb Trail released this year, the grown-up kids from Kentucky decided to get back together and have a real reunion tour. I can't say I have been to too many reunion shows in my day, but I wasn't gonna miss this one. SLOTHS incredible rendition of "Breadcrumb Trail" will forever remind me of finishing a day of finals in Northern Maine to my lone trek through Boston traffic for the perfect parking spot. The Show? Well, Slint will remind me of that...
Bonus:
Have you heard Primus's re-imagination of the Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory soundtrack? I had not until I watched this fan-made sync-up of the classic 1971 movie with Primus and the Fungi Ensemble's Willy Wonkarenditions:
Some solid solo math stuff from Nnamdi Ogbonnaya of Illinois. When Ogbonnaya is not doing solo stuff or swag/meme-rapping he has been known to drum, do vocals or even play bass for The Para-Medics, Water Houses, Pisces at The Animal Fair, Nervous Passenger. He's even been in My Dads, Itto, and was the mastermind behind Richard Def & the Mos Pryors.
Lucas Brode is a guitarist/composer from New York who has also played bass and many other instruments for cool New York bands such as Jerkagram and Hannibal Montana. Brode's completely solo release, prixvyou is filled with amazing guitar work ranging from math rock to jazz and worldly music. Very minimal but still quite interesting to listen to not only as a student of music.
Lucas Brode also makes meditation music which can be found on his bandcamp as well as prixvyou above.
100 Onces are a two dude math rock a la pre-vocals Tera Melos, Piglet, Giraffes? Giraffes!, and other rad mostly instrumental math rock superstars that we've come to love. With that being said, you should already love 100 Onces.
I was looking through the archives and noticed that I haven't talked about these folks on here yet. I also noticed that this blog is like three years old now. That's pretty nuts!
Get acquainted with 100 Onces and celebrate the three year existence of being nostalgic for things that haven't happened, right now!
New Jersey math punkers, Toasted Plastic are back and have four new tracks for you to listen to. TP/ST is very much an extension of where 2013's June Highs left off, which I have no complaints about as June Highs was one of the coolest releases I heard last year. Don't take my hype-induced blabber for it though, listen to this yourself and see what you think. TP first-timer or not. Do it.
I Guess This Is Growing Up is only part 1 of a 3-part project dedicated to bands covering the most pop punk bands of ever, Blink 182. The project includes some familiar names like Slingshot Dakota, Invalids, and Dads as well as some unfamiliar names in Tir Asleen, Lions, and We'll Die Smiling. Wanna know the covers?
Well here they are: "Man Overboard", "Lemming", "Wendy Clear", "Adam's Song", "Stay Together For The Kids", and "Dammit".
Wanna know who covers which? Here's one:
Who will be on the next one? Will all the covers be Blink 182 songs? Will someone cover my favorite Blink 182 song? Will Spraynard have a song?
In honor of the first day of spring, albeit rainy spring, I present to you a band that will be sure to keep you going through these rainy day before the real sunshine takes over and we have summer for a month.
This is, or was, K.C. Milian, a short-lived Italian screamo/post rock that mostly falls under the instrumental side of things, although there are a couple songs in their catalog that include vocals, but are really only used to complement the music. Speaking of their catalog, this is all of it; this album features everything, I'm pretty sure, that K.C. Milian ever released.
This band reminds me so much of the bands that I first got into when I started to read blogs and listen to music online. I think that even if you aren't a fan of screamo/emo but are a fan of things like American Football, twinkly stuff, and early math rock noodling, one can easily find comfort in K.C. Milian's material. Maybe K.C. Milian will even get someone to seek out other "screamo" bands in the same vein as this. Maybe not and that's fine; just as long as this stuff is getting listens, I'm happy.
The album includes music from their Season // Repeat EP, their self-titled EP, "A Cusak movie" from their split with another Italian band, La Quiete, and three previously unreleased numbers.
Similar acts/sounds: La Quiete, The Khayembii Communique, American Football, Ghosts and Vodka, I Would Set Myself on Fire For You, Saeita, Rumah Sakit, Men As Trees, and just K.C. Milian.
Sun Club are a hell of a lot of a fun. They noodle, they groove, they make noise, they ooh and ahh and, most importantly, they have a damn good time doing it. I've seen these guys twice now (just in this year) and I have to say that Sun Club are easily becoming one of my favorite bands to see live and hang out with. I actually had a sweet little post written about just these guys that I wrote a few months back (when I say them play at a show with Chalk Talk this summer), but that post got deleted somehow and I never got to share it. I guess it's alrighy though since that post was about their self-title, which they have since taken down off their bandcamp. Anyways, here's some Sun Club:
This 2 song 7-incher is just a taste of what Sun Club are all about. To get the full Sun Club experience, you have got to see them play right in front of you. Their music will make your legs quiver and your pelvis move in certain ways that you never thought imaginable; only in the best ways, of course.
After being super impressed by Sun Club when I saw them for the first time this summer, which was my first show as well as first day back from being on a tugboat for 60 days, I definitely had to see them again. Luckily, I didn't have to wait very long as they made their way back up to my neck of the woods to play a show at the University of Maine last weekend.
When Sun Club returned to Maine last week, they didn't come alone. This time out, Sun Club brought with them their friends from Baltimore, collectively named, Dungeon Kids. While I hadn't heard anything from Dungeon Kids until I saw them play, I knew they were gonna be impressive. They're friends with Sun Club, how could they not? Well, lo and behold, Dungeon Kids took to the floor of my friend's dorm lounge and played a solid set of garage rock meets indie pop-y goodness.
Even with the fact that Dungeon Kids are a new band that really just started to play shows with the current lineup they have now, this is still some great material. I hope to hear more from these guys along with more good music from Sun Club in the future. Hopefully I'll be around to see them again this summer when both bands make their return to Maine as well!
Here it is! The second volume of Portland DIY: CUT THE SHIT is complete and ready for our ears.
Featuring: An Anderson, Wood Burning Cats, Buddusky, Bath Salts, Conjjjecture, Older Men, Boyfriends, Haru Bangs, Purse, AFRAID, and Leveret (can be heard in the final snippit, "[OUTERLUDE]").
Read more about this project here or here or here.
Two Knights are just two dude from Texas. Two dudes twinkling like no one's business. Two dudes who are just two knights.
I guess I should say more though...
A Lot of Bad Things Have Happened, but We're Still Here is the name of their new 10" released this summer via County Your Lucky Stars. It's a 7 track open diary about being alone, alive, loved, young, and afraid. Or maybe it's about nothing at all, I don't know. Either way, A Lot of Bad Things Have Happened... provides a good dosage of noodly music that all the kids are craving for these days, myself included. Get it now and start tapping those toes!
Two Knights also have an amazingly unique vocal arsenal that ranges from emotionally distressed to passionately stressed.
Highlights: Every song! The song "D4: What the Puck? (Like if They Made Another Mighty Ducks Movie Except This Time They're Pissed)" probably takes the cake as one of the best song titles I've seen this year - if not ever. Also, the song "I'm Your Dad and You're My Dad" (another great song title) features one of the best samples in the history of samples (and is placed nicely between the instrumentation rather than coming in before the music). That sample is of the greatest American Gladiator of all time, Malibu being interviewed by one of the worst/greatest announcers of all time, Mike Adamle. Here is the sample in its original form:
A sample also used by the greatest Maine metal band of all time, WarAnimal!
Tracks:
Similar acts/sounds: Brave Bird, The Reptilian, Cage Match, Snowing, Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Warren Franklin, Dads, Merchant Ships, Midwest Pen Pals, I'm Ok, Dikembe, and more "twinkle daddies".
Bonus:
Two Knights, along with releasing this most excellent 10", also have a live recording/video/interview session with Denton, Texas's own, Violitionist Sessions. The interview is cool if you like to find out more about a band but not too much at the same time. I for one, enjoy said interviews. Check it out and grab the music at Violitionist Sessions' webpage or bandcamp!
The Reptilian are a 3-piece from Kalamazoo, Michigan, a made-up sounding town for made-up sounding music genres. That being said, The Reptilian specialize in the art of math-y, twinkly emo - a complex way of saying they play very technical, noisy, and passionate music all at once... at least that's what I hear.
Low Health is their new full-length and a follow-up to their excellent 2010 release, Full Health. It definitely makes my list for must-hear music of 2013 if I had one, no doubt.
Highlights: "PAN (Sucks)", "Chimney Wizard", "San Haircut", "Keif Puck", and "Dk Mode". It's all good though.
Similar sounds/acts: Native, Kidcrash, Jowls, Toasted Plastic, Grown Ups, Innards, Victor! Fix the Sun, Boyfriends, 1994!, and other good stuff.
Langosta is a hell of a lot of fun math rock 'n' roll band from Connecticut. Super Nature is the name of this EP and also the name the band formerly called themselves. Super Nature is the name originally used by Salt-N-Pepa as well.
Fearless Leader is a Seattle based math rock meets post hardcore band that mixes twinkly technical-sounding instrumentation with intricate shouting/spoken word. The result is a mess.
The Sarcastic Dharma Society AKA Mat Vuksinich is back with new music and he's not alone!
I'm really glad to see and hear that this band is back and wish them the very best of luck. Mat has a very interesting voice and it's really cool to hear what he can do with a band behind him. I'm not gonna gush but damn this is some of my favorite indie music.
You can also watch the video of Mat and his now four piece band play their five song set from the Laughing Horse in Portland, Oregon, here.
I figured these guys have been plugged enough in the Monday posts for the past two years that it was time they got the full recognition they deserve.
Toasted Plastic play a very unique and exciting blend of math rock and punk that is mixed in a big bowl of noodles and served hot. Yet it goes down so smooth. Bon appetite.
Toasted Plastic released June Highs while I was away this summer, so I didn't have the privilege of spinning this bad boy until now. It's easily my favorite release by Toasted Plastic and super easy to digest from beginning to end. I hope you like it, too....
Two Hand Fools are a noisy pop punk band from Cleveland, Ohio. They also must be Tim & Eric fans as the first track off their new self-titled album is not just "Spaghetti", but "Spaghet"!
After two months tugboating the Gulf Coast, Nostalgia For Tomorrow is back from the dead and ready to fill your empty music holes on the side of your head some call ears with the steamiest of steaming piles of music from all over the internet and my home state of Maine. Fuck apologies. Here's music:
Atlas At Last is a clever name. So is their music. But what could they possibly sound like?
Well, while their description on Last.fm may suggest post-hardcore and are heavily influenced by the Blood Brothers and At The Drive-In, I would have to say they sound a bit more like the punk groups Joyce Manor and Big Kids that I sometimes refer to as "aggressive pop punk". Cringe-worthy, I know, but that's the best I got...
Don't really know what to say about this one... found it in my mailbox and played it while I fell asleep one night. It gave me weird nightmares. One included Queen Latifah when she was on Fresh Prince of Bel Air that time. I don't feel comfortable going into detail on that one.
Snort is a band from a friend of mind's college in Wisconsin. As you can see above, it's one of those hip colleges... but hey, I love me some instrumental rock music described as "twinkly" or "mathy', so really, who am I to judge?
Actually, I'm just jealous I don't go to a hip college.
Anyways, I highly recommend Snort to anyone who enjoys those things I said in those last couple sentences. Especially instrumental twinkly math rock.
The BIG Comp is a 75-musician compilation that was put together by the caring folks at PropertyOfZack, Big Footprints, and Lame-O Records earlier this month. This album was initially created to help get the word out and donate to The Natural Conservancy - a non-profit organization helping to reforest the world - but from today until April 22, all proceeds to The BIG Comp will go to the Red Cross to benefit those injured in the events that took place yesterday during the Boston Marathon.
Yes, tragedy has struck America once more this week. That just means we have to help and support those in need and to comfort the families that have either lost a love one - or in need of prier for those recovering.
Plus, did I mention this compilation comes with 75 songs by 75 different musicians?
Mallory are a folk punk band from Amherst, Ma. Strange Homes, their release from 2010, features a lot of goodies including an Animal Collective folk punk cover and a nod to Mogli in the opening of "The Tide".
This album is definitely quenching by folk punk thirst I've been having for the past couple of weeks.
Also, according to their Bandcamp, Mallory may also be reuniting this summer to record a new album.
Mylets is a one man math rock-ish act with lots of looping and nice little twinkles. That one man is named, Henry Kohen. Kohen recently signed with Sargent House, one of the top math rock labels, and will most likely be the next big thing in the math rock game anytime now.
Kohen, along with getting himself signed to a snazzy record label, will also be releasing a new album soon. No tracks have been recorded yet, but Kohen has played brand new songs via a Glassroom Session that may be included on the album. One of the songs he performs is "Ampersand" which is also a great example of how this guy makes his music all by himself only using a guitar, a drum machine, loop peddles, and a microphone. Check it out!
Brave Bird, yes the Ready or Not Brave Bird from way back in 2010, are still alive and well (and on tour even). This is their first full-lengther, Maybe You, No One Else Worth Is out now on Count Your Lucky Stars.
If you didn't like their EP, Ready or Not (posted way way way back in the day) I would still give these guys a listen. Chances are that you didn't like the vox, I know I know, but the vocals are a little more sustainable now that things are polished up. If you loved Ready or Not on the other hand, I highly suggest you get this album! Even if you don't like the other songs, they still have a few from their fateful 2010 release. If you really liked the song, "See You Next Year" though, you are shit out of luck; that song didn't make it. Sorry. There is "I'll See You at the Ring of Fire" however, which is the closer and also acoustic just like "See You Next Year".
If you do decide to give these guys a chance, I highly recommend getting yourself a nice big cookie and a tall glass of milk... Because if you ever needed an excuse to binge on cookies and milk alone in your room, this album is the perfect reason.
Happy belated 50th birthday to Michael Jordan. Thanks for Space Jam, all those Hanes commercials, Space Jam, Air Jordans, and always keeping it real. I hope to be just like Mike someday.
Be Still, Cody - yes, more Wes Anderson related things - is the new project of Nathan and Monty from Studying along with DJ and Paul from Cape Farewell (a new name to me).
It's similar to Studying but also a little different because it's not Studying. Got it?
Also, "And Bye-Bye" is another movie reference, this time from the 2002 Paul Thomas Anderson flick, Punch-Drunk Love, and features a sample of Adam Sandler's character, Barry going to the dentist for advice. And then Barry smashing things.
I like to collect these little songs like "And Bye-Bye" with samples from movies and TV in particular. If you know any songs/bands or whatever that I may not that have movie/TV samples, feel free to share them with me!
After weeks and weeks of waiting, it's finally here!
Portland's mega sweet math rock band that was way too cool to still be alive so they broke up band, The Waldos.
Even though I have only listened to Sans all the way through once so far, I know that it's going to be one of those albums that I'm going to be spinning (metaphorically on iTunes) a lot this year. And hey, you should too!
This is the part where I talk about The Waldos guitarist and drummer's jazz side project, Pastel Sound Explosion. Is it any suppose that these guys also play jazz, though? Take a listen to Sans and I think you'll find the answer.
Only good stuff, no less. Just really skilled and can never be seen live again kind of good stuff.
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