Renaissance Sound - Renaissance Sound (2012)

Illinois group made up of former members of Loose Lips Sink Ships. This is a bit of a departure here from the formers math happy tap a thon. Renaissance Sound dish out heaping helping's of instrumental Jazz rock/Math rock with an almost a lounge quality. My favorite portion has to be the vibraphone and violin working together or playing at odds with one another. Its makes for some beautiful moments where all instruments are fighting for their own spotlight. When its hard to pay too close attention to one thing because everyone is doing something amazing you know that you've hit straight gold. Did I forget to mention there's occasional vocals? yep  and they are sweet sauce. Do it for yourself this is a group that will produce a great many wonderful things in the future.

ps. track 2 "dereks journey" at 1:15 I swear that bass line sounds eerily similar to the bass line in  "Penelope" by Pinback.

Band Camp it up!

PLOKK - A + B

PLOKK are a 5 piece from Hamburg. (EDIT: 3 piece ((even more impressive)) )
PLOKK are freaking amazing

Just listen to the facts. This is a franken beast that makes so much sense when you hear it.  Depending on the moment you might catch them in the middle of some kind of quasi dissonant guitar battle that sounds like its about to fall  apart. Two seconds later you could be thrashing to an all out alternative metal  riff. It never turns out sounding at odds with itself though and flows organically on its way. The band itself says "intelligent krautrock" which I suppose you could tack in there.  A better idea as far as other bands go would be a more disjointed and less jazzy version of Fago. Sepia, a wonderful comparison in my opinion. So i know i must say this a lot but if you enjoy math rock in any of its aspects this is not something you can pass by. Don't even think about it.

A + B

Neil Cowley Trio - Radio Silence (2010)

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.

Radio Silence (2010)

Well Weapon Records Compilation #2

 

     Well Weapon Records are a Northern England based independent label. Having just released their 2nd compilation, they were nice enough to extend a chance for me to get a crack at a review.  So first things first what are we in store for here? Well a heaping helping of math mayhem is in store for your ears from some of the most promising new groups on the scene:

Track one from Bearcubbin'! starts things off a flurry of taps and builds from there. I was actually impressed structurally with where they ended up taking this 6 plus minute mini epic and each turn was sensible and well thought out. Looking forward to hearing more from these guys in the future. 

The second track by Girlfriends (aka Jerry Joiner) perhaps even one up's Bearcubbin'! by offering some of the slickest dancey math rock I've heard in some time. Think Foals with a set of cajones but with post-hardcore scream singing. Very much into this joint, expect a full write up on his album at a later date.

"No Monster Clubs" offering while a solid song is unfortunately the odd man out in this comp. Not even for the fact that it doesn't follow math rock tropes like the rest of this release. Actually the last two songs here by "Russia Today" and "The Widest Smiling Faces" are great low key acoustic based offerings that really help close out the album. No Monster Clubs inclusion seems like an addition rather than something to further the comp.
   
"Laps Around the Sun" bring it back with an inspiring electro based song with rock conventions and instrumentation slowly added in. Very unique take that eventually saddles into an almost entirely post-rock affair.
   
Previously blogged about "Duck. Little Brother, Duck!" amp up the post hardcore math rock with one of their better songs "Billy Mays" It's a lot of fun and reminds me exactly how good a band firing on all cylinders can sound. They are a cohesive unit that doesn't monkey around any extras and they are all the better for it.

Bringing the jazz that I so richly love is "Suffer Like G Did." Kinda low key but starts setting the tone for the second half of the album. Great name by the way also.

Einhorn, which features Dominic Kesterton of zefs chasing cara, carries some ideas from his other group to Einhorn. Sparse intricate drumming and structurally interesting for math rock. This and the next track from "Lost From Atlas" might be my two favorites of the release. Atlas bring some powerhouse math to the party that breaks the mold for the second half really well.

All I can say is if this sounds even mildly interesting you owe it to yourself to make the small 5$ purchase. PLUS you get a zine with it. I know I am grabbing myself a copy.

Well Weapon Records

Bandcamp

Tortoise - TNT

When this album dropped in front of my lap many years ago I remember the sort music mode I was in.  Just starting to realize the potential of genre's that I once thought "dead".  If there is one thing I have learned from listening to so much music through my life is that no genre is "dead".  But there was Jazz laid in front of me.  I could never break in no matter how hard I tried, that was until Tortoise.  Granted they do not travel specifically in straight Jazz it is certainly....... Jazzed up a bit with Electronic, dub and post rock elements.  This Chicago mega group had such a crazy streak of releases and then they drop TNT.  In my approximation they are at the height of the powers here, perfectly blending elements into something emotional, complex and most importantly fun.  A lot of Tortoise's miss hits as far as from an album stand point is missing the fun. I have Tortoise to thank for opening my eyes to the potential of jazz.

TNT

Exivious

Fusion Metal (weather channel metal)

Highly Tech. yet also very chilled and flowing, the wonderful fusion metal band Exivious is made up of members of the also amazing Cynic. Complex song structures and instrumentation abounds. The balance of Jazz and Metal is actually surprisingly equal. While having heard this you'd have thought they always belonged together. Extremely amazing.

Exivious   

Intronaut - Valley of Smoke (2010)

 If anyone has been following this group they would know that with each album they have improved by leaps and bounds, Valley of Smoke is no exception. This California Prog-metal/ Jazz/Alt/Awesome runs the gamut of metal styles making it all seem so seamless in the process. Songwriting has gotten tighter as well as the drums somehow getting much more complex. What I would have liked to have heard more of was the commanding bass lines that they used on their last excellent release, Prehistoricisms . Other than this small gripe I can honestly say that this (for me) will be one of the top metal releases of the year.





Intronaut - Valley of Smoke (2010)

Bohren & der Club of Gore

You'd have sworn you've heard these songs somewhere else but your wrong, dead wrong. This German Jazz Troupe is truly what it sounds like to drive for hours at night going anywhere in the best way possible. This group which also has the slightly erroneous tag of "doom jazz" is more ambient jazz than anything else. The melodies are crisp and commanding yet soft and soothing. Its the contradictory elements that seems at constant work. Very awesome.  




Bohren & der Club of Gore - Dolores