As is often the case, I don't know too much about these guys, but I first heard some of their tracks via Travis Orbin who had posted some videos of him recording drums to a couple tracks off this record. The band itself appears to primarily be a studio project for Hayato Imanishi, as he composes the material independently and then gathers various musicians to perform whatever instrumentation he doesn't feel like performing. Overall, the sound encompasses elements of post-hardcore, metal, and math-rock in a very polished form, with plenty of technical flourishes and half-time breakdowns, reminding me at times of equal parts Envy and Meshuggah. Definitely worth a listen if you enjoy harsh screams, chuggity-chugs, and twisting polyrhythms.
You can explore their entire catalog at their Bandcamp: Cyclamen
Jazz as genre is one that casual music listeners just don't understand. When you hear "mall /department store jazz" your entire life your concepts can be hazy for sure. Luckily Neil Cowley Trio will show you the true light of day. These guys throw some nice curves in there to keep things interesting. Obviously instrumentation is top notch. There are shades of post rock structures and awesome melodies abound as well. Also worth mentioning is the title track "radio silence" is the song I wake up to almost every morning....it's just that god damn gorgeous. Inject some Jazz in your life, we all need it.
To me, Olivia Tremor Control, and the two albums they have put out, are a rare musical gem hidden from so many people that finding someone who knows about it and loves it (as most are wont to do) is just as rare a specimen as their musical output is. The only fault in their amazing pop music is that certain spans of the album devolve into exceedingly psychedelic experimental tracks, more noticeable on their 2nd album Black Foliage, but certainly undermining a fair amount of their overall work. But that is just hindsight speaking; the overall flow of both their albums fit in these extended outbursts between track upon track of solid, Beatles and Beach Boys- influenced pop rock that dominates anything else currently pursuing this style of music.
That very very small negative aside, Dusk at Cubist Castle is an album to rival the likes of Sgt. Peppers in catchy tunes combined with psychedelic experimentation. A majority of the album, most notably the first half, flows wonderfully with tune after tune of nostalgic, classic pop realization, with hints of the madness to come in the later sections. And even through those sections of experimentation, moments of vocal harmony and melodic dedication shine through to let you know something cohesive is certain to take center stage, as Gravity Car does at the very tail end of Cubist Castle. Tracks like Jumping Fences really stand out though, that particular song serving as track 3 in the amazing run of songs in the first half of the album. It is just so fucking catchy and direct (just as the rest of the songs in the first half are): no its, ands or buts about it, this track is solid pop gold. I mean, damn, check out those harmonies. They just dont stop:
When we are talking left field music the Japanese always seem to be pushing boundaries. Math Rock as a genre is pretty new and there is still room for growth. While there is much in the way of awesome time bending groups today, I think we can all generally agree that not many venture past the typical expectations. Enter Kosuke Jodai, I have no information other than this concerning this release so we will let the music speak for itself. This is some serious stuff. Equal parts noise, synth laden math rock its hard to keep your baring at times. It walks the line surprisingly well all things considered because there is just a lot going on. What actually came to mind similarity wise was the cram jam math rock super beast "Hey!Tonal" previously covered. This is great stuff and I wish I had more info on it at all. Certainly fans of the genre need to check this out.
