Friday, November 29, 2013

Night Idea - "Ocho the Cat" (2011) ; "Paths" (2013)


I have to admit, I'm a bit of a fan of Playful/Jazz/Math such as Our Daily Fix or Monster Machismo. Now while these men come no where close to the technicality of those two bands, they successfully capture that playful jazz sound that I've come to love so much. A lot of the songs are hit or miss for me on their first album, vocals really only showing up on the less mathy songs. They focus less on tapping and more on the time signatures themselves.(The two tracks that really get me here are Ocho and Open Mind.)

The next part of their discography, consisting of the "Paths" EP, is pleasantly a lot more mathy. Although it seems that somewhere in the process they ended up sacrificing most of their jazz sound for something a little bit more post-rock sounding. Which isn't a bad thing, but it isn't my cup of tea.

(I've notice them being talked about on the swords every once in awhile, specifically on the post about Brother Rutherfrord, but they were never given a proper write up. ) Overall I think its a good listen and both albums are worthy of your time.

Ocho the Cat
Paths

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Hey Predator! - "Foxholes and Atheists and so Forth" (2010)



Hey Predator! hail from our northern brothers in Montreal. Yes this is an older release but it is an absolutely vital one. Extremely forwarding thinking post-punk with a lot of delicious twists and turns. High energy is the name of the game with these guys not to mention vocals which are equally as engaging. Reminds me a bit another Canadian group North of America. Which shouldn't be too surprising as NoA are a huge influence on a lot of the post-punk/post hardcore math we enjoy (ie Cinemechanica).  I was discussing these guys with Dave from Gulfer (who has an intense knowledge base of all thing math to rock) he informed me these cats are now in the very excellent group Girl Arm.

So I suppose what im getting at is you absolutely need to verse yourself in the Stack Your Roster....er ugh roster. Montreal has one of the most interesting progressive scenes going right now and itd be a shame to miss anything they have going. plus come on they re-released Them Roaring Twenties!


heypredator

Monday, November 25, 2013

Mueble - La Gente Vuela En Pan Lactal (2012)

Post rock math from Buenos Aires. Not going to set your night on fire with originality but hey its pretty solid stuff all the same.


mueble

Wildcatting - How to Survive a Sneak Attack (2007)


If your an old math rock hound like me you may remember this release brought to you by a few ex bear vs shark members in aught seven. Also I understand some of you may not follow us on the facebook so some things just dont make the transition over please rectify that. HERE.

It's psych math rock of the tallest order going down
WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!
go relive the magic. 

wildcatting

Grand Beach - May Long (2012)


Lets face the facts that we are just in a holding pattern for one of Alexander Litinsky's math rock projects to explode. Name not familiar? Shameful. Alex is AM Overcast and has just recently released the very excellent math pop gem "Pellow" Thats it you say? NAY Alex also plays in the more "formal" math rock demons L'viv. So along with these two projects we also have a short EP going by the name of Grand Beach who are poised to release a brand new banger on our faces this upcoming new year.

Its a bit similar to AM in its approach to math but has more of a collaborative feel (obviously) these two tracks from 2012 are great but I think we can bank on the fact that its going to be a scorcher. Alex is possibly the best artist going right now that can hold the pop influences close while still laying down massive time shifts and great riffage. If your interested in hearing some more personal aspects one of our members also recently sat down with Alex. Keep your eyes peeled for this danger cat.

GB

Treegrains - treegrains (2013)

This trio has a whole lot to offer and with a minimal setup at that. But to call this ode to instrumental math minimal in sound would be a grave error. A healthy amount of experimenting is going on with these three pieces as well. Each songs perfectly sets up its sonic identity followed by the band deconstructing then reforming the song into something else entirely with sharp transitions. You'll wonder how you even arrived...its good just let go bro. The band does tend to linger on ideas which is not necessarily a negative especially with bands these days hastily throwing ideas in the atmosphere that become so much star dust....and not the magical kind. It has a bit of that old school 90's math throwback feel also which I am always 100% behind.

treegrains