Beach Parade - Tour Loko EP (2011)

Eli one of our fine members of the PoS had gotten me wise to these guys a little while back. I can safely say I am embarrassed to have missed such excellently crafted and instrumentally complex punk music from Ithaca NY. It's got that insane energy with great powerful vocals and some extremely inspired dual guitars. If your in the mood from some high flying rock then let this be your first stop of the night.

Beach Parade

dedleaves (2012)

There's something incredibly charming about this 4 piece instrumental group from Baltimore...I dont know if I have hit on it just yet but I am really enjoying this first effort. I wouldn't classify this as math rock but there is plenty of rhythmic complexity for any mathnick to nod in satisfaction. Something that is missing from a good amount of progressive group's such as dedleaves is ATMOSPHERE. These guys have zero problem with that aspect and maybe thats what I can appreciate the most that makes them so special. Each song is structured interestingly as well moving seamlessly into new passages. Which pretty much brings us into the very clear post-rock end of this music.  Incredibly solid album. no duds. Grab this up. Loving it

dedleaves

37500 Yens - Astero (2007)

Bonjour! comment êtes-vous aujourd'hui spadassins? Er umm sorry cant help but slip into french when we have the excellent 37500 Yens from France gracing us with their brand of excellent math rock. Well I guess to be fair we have some other prevalent elements getting thrown in the lions den. You've got some clear love of hardcore as well as more low key ambient styles. The feeling is almost like an update to early 90's Louisville stalwarts when they are chilling out on a nice slow groove. Wordless and complex when they are in "hardcore" mode. You would think by the description that the guitar would be a titch forgettable but actually stays both rhythmic and melodically present throughout the duration of the album, a surprising achievement if you ask me. Unfortunately this is the extent of their releases a sad state of affairs. You need not be a francophone to dig into this dish.

Astero (2007)

Upsilon Acrux - Radian Futura

Heres a group we could talk about for a long time, between line up changes and shifts in amount of members really though their core sound has remained surprisingly consistent.  This west coast math prog powerhouse is something of a household name for the genre.  Extremely restless in structure and highly complex, they owe just as much to old school prog as the new school tappers. I trust many are familiar already which is great but if you aren't Radian Futura is a great place to start.

Radian Futura (2009)

Sax Ruins - Yawiquo (2006)

Holy fancy get ready to have your lives enriched. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the Japanese math rock scene should be instantly familiar with the duo Ruins. Well this venture is Tatsuya Yoshida, the powerhouse drummer of Ruins and Ono Ryoko, a highly skilled Japanese improv. alto sax player. These songs are reworkings of older Ruins songs with guitar replaced by the sax.....a lot of saxophones.  Think of some of the most rip roaring jazz with equal parts twisted prog and your starting to get close. This stuff is a dense mother and can be a bit much at times but it's certainly unique in its execution. An absolute not to miss album. TIME CHANGES WHERE YOU AT?!

yawiquo

Mice Parade - Bem-Vinda Vontade (2005)

The tag "indie rock" is a funny thing. At one point in time it truly meant more than it does today but is still every bit the blanket term we use it for. Adam Pierce's on going project Mice Parade is actually a very singular venture in a time when most are floundering in the deep end.  A lot of what makes this group so good has a lot to do with Pierce's own major contribution to his group, rhythm. Truthfully a lot of it is Pierce's excellently complex drum licks that fleck the landscape of these songs but listening as a whole you'll find the guitars do much the same.  The guitars have this sort of Spanish guitar light feel to them employing many of their signature rhythms. I have been a large fan of this group for a long time and from the get go you'll see why. Perfectly executed Spanish influenced indie rock with interesting drums and a dash of vocals all round this package out.   


Bem-Vinda Vontade

Rooftops - A Forest of Polarity

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There might be about a million reasons why I can not stand the genre term "twinkle daddies" I'm fairly positive you can choose your own adventure on that one. Anywho, Rooftops are amazing. They play highly melodic math influenced instrumental indie rock. Sounds like a lot of whats out there on paper, but yes you'd be making an erroneous assumption.  This is some chilled shiz and even at its most complex structurally and instrumentally it retains a fun bouncy sensibility. What these folks do better than most is too not crowd their songs with useless wanking. I mean I enjoying useless wanking as much as the next guy but it gets old fast when everyone is about how many beats per measure you can fit into a song featuring alternating 19/16, 21/16 time signatures*. Back to the point however is that everyone should be checking out these guys. They also have a split they did which is super awesome as well.

*by the way the song that features those time signatures is Frank Zappa's "Keep it Greasy"

A Forest of Polarity

Damiera - M(us)ic

There is a glut of post-hardcore groups (that's an understatement). It makes it hard to know what can be worth your time.  Damiera has gone through many line-ups in its life span, but M(us)ic era Damiera was really something special. I had the pleasure of seeing them twice during this time and its a shame they have all split to other ventures. M(us)ic is a great slap of very mathy post-hardcore with High pitched vocals. All of the songs on this album are their own beasts. As it stood they took their obvious influences and compounded them into this excellent release. please enjoy as it still is a high point of the genre.


M(us)ic

Sajjanu - Pechiku

Already seasoned veterans of the Japanese progressive scene in other groups, Sajjanu carries on ideas and styles frequented by their geographical brethren Ruins.  My previous post on Nuito as well shares many similarities although Nuito are certainly the more grounded rock band if you can even say that.  This is classification wise spazzed out complex jazz-math. An interesting component here is no lead instrument being focused on which makes it that much easier for the songs to breath and shift. This is a sound of a band that is having fun while simultaneously charting time changes and abrupt pauses. Most technical groups are a heavy handed sort and strive for some sort of emotional charge that never comes.  You can tell by the chords chosen that the band is fully aware of this aspect, playful but not twinkly. Songs can run into one another and you cant exactly hold onto a riff without it being torn out from under you. After its over your left impressed yet without an exact memory of parts. This however is never the point of such ventures.
   


PECHIKU!

Humcrush - Rest at Worlds End

Part of the Rune Grammophone crew this group certainly doesn't pull any punches. Fans of left field Jazz should dig this electro-improv two some. The first track is just killer with horribly complex drums and interjecting keyboard stabs.


Rest at Worlds End 2009 Album


Humcrush - Stream  Video!