2/13 Cayuga Lodge Ithaca NY (LIVE SHOW) Elos Arma, Jr. Bob, Yakbak, Quirky Love Interest

Hey friends just a few words on this very excellent show I attended a few nights ago. Some extremely intriguing things for me for every single band on this bill....not to mention the snow storm..

Yakbak (math-punk) were up first and honestly after seeing them a few times now and with a new EP just released that morning, they are in my mind a force of sheer death (thats a positive).  Not to discount the able bass work but drummer Gabe and guitarist Mr. Pillardy (both from PoS favorite Mouth to Mouth to Mouth) have formed an unstoppable unit of rock that is as immediate and in your face as any punk band yet with the complexity of solving 40 rubik's cubes under water. I was blown away to say the least. (also swear to god there was a fall of troy esque post hardcore break down somewhere in there that almost stole my soul)

Quirky Love Interest (math rock) next up was a group that I've been anxious to see for awhile now and they did not disappoint in the least. Lots of variations for the style which is what I enjoy about them and certainly a heavy metal aspect that takes a back seat to a lot of the math elements but is surely informed.  Worth mentioning also it takes a bit for me to really enjoy double bass drumming but Mike tastefully sprinkles it around his kit work and its a solid win. High energy.

Oddly enough the two wild cards for me were a group I was pretty positive I wasnt all about Jr. Bob and one I wasn't familiar with Elos Arma. Boy did I form some new opinions. Both groups from Canada brought their A games. Both share drummers but couldn't be further from each other even being under the blanket of math. Junior are heavy jazz heads with some of the most intricate fret work on a guitar i've ever seen. Extremely tasteful yet dynamic playing just a straight pleasure to witness. Elos cant seem to completely make up their mind of exactly what their bringing to dinner. Math with twinkly indie rock and poppy vocals seems to be the best determination I could muster and its pretty joyous in person.

Really a wonderful night and surprising turn out for everyone in the Cayuga Lodge Catacombs

1/5/14 Ithaca NY (The Haunt) Moonstriker, The Changing Light, MTMTM, Yakbak, Alberto Alaska

Hey guys first great show of 2014 alert and its a doozie. Five groups that all run the range from math to punk to psych rock to post hardcore BUT all sharing the common ground of progressive flair. Sadly I can not make it out However that shouldn't stop anyone in the NY, PA or Jersey area's to pop in for this. Its at the always excellent Haunt as well too so plenty of room. click below to get a taste sensation of each group.

MoonStriker (PA) (prog space rock)

The Changing Light (PA) (prog psych post hardcore)

Alberto Alaska (NY) (alt post rock)


MTMTM (NY) (math rock)

Yakbak (NY) (math punkers)

8/10/13 Ithaca NY : Del Paxton, Vasudeva, Gulfer, Cattle Drums

It's difficult for me to put into words the feeling that you get by being constantly blown away by incredibly talented and passionate bands, ones seen before and anticipated; high-fives, hugs, jumping, and dancing were pouring out of the wood work in Ithaca last night.

Buffalo's very own Del Paxton (ex-Beach Parade) opened the proceedings with their precision take on 90's emo with some math rock flirtations. For them being such a new group you'd be hard pressed to tell at all. Great use of vocals and occasional harmonies, which I'm always a sucker for. While not normally my genre of choice, it's a testament to the excellent songwriting and powerfully inspired kit work of these lovely gentleman that have me excited for their bright future. (video from the show)

Vasudeva (NJ) — in some sort of mind reading tactic — played my FAVORITE song of their's off  2011's Roots of the Tree, "Back to the Feeding Ground". It honest-to-christmas-christ took me a full 45 seconds to recover after being blasted by such a lush and full sound in that wonderful basement. Huge amount of energy and tons of fun to watch. If you're not familiar, soundwise we're talking busy instrumental post-math with lots of glorious tapping. Wasn't super familiar with their new material, but just like their last release there are a large amount of  melodic leads and impossible tapping passages with powerful drums. (video from the show)

Hailing from Montreal came Gulfer, who have been on my radar since their split with the lovely Fago Sepia. Hugely excited to finally see them in action and there was no disappointment at all — faaaaar from it. Math rock at its finest to be frank. Tight turns were navigated deftly by bass and drums, while the guitar seemed split between clean strumming and knotty tap workouts. It's in the variety of their songwriting that I have always loved Gulfer. They show their strengths well, moving from jazz influence to indie rock to harder breakdowns, but always with a grounding sense that never brings you too far from them. It's technical for sure, but never makes you feel weighted down. (video from the show)

And lastly... Cattle Drums. Third time seeing them, and each and every time I am even more blown away than the last. It is no exaggeration: they are the band to beat in any genre right now. The level of emotional connection they bring is second to none. Why, you may be ask? Well, lyrically there is no comparison. Think spoken word stream of consciousness that is a mix of philosophical musings crossed with bathroom scrawlings that can be profound and anthemic in the same moment (sometimes tragically inane). While this is happening, guitarist Gulab Singh is laying down some of the rawest riffage I can think of in twenty-thirteen.  Stopping and starting when needed and holding on to an especially awesome lick for exactly the right amount of time, followed closely by relentlessly busy drumming. A mutant mix of dirty punk, metal, math rock and indie rock. Either aspect by itself would be more than enough for two bands but smashed into one is like watching the opposite of a train wreck. It was a burner of a set for sure. (video from the show)

A large thank you to my good friend Bubba from Ithaca Underground who was instrumental in this coming together as well.

Unicorn Harvest - Alan's Tutorials (2013)

Hey guys I am back to posting our regularly scheduled awesome math and not my constant gushing of all the sweet math rock I've seen in the last week :) However a large thank you has to be made to Ithaca Underground for setting up some killer shows as of late.
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Unicorn Harvest are a math rock duo that are former Ithaca fella's as well but now find themselves in NYC. Its hard to listen to these cats without getting smacked in the face with the Tera Melos love but honestly thats one of the things I enjoy most about them. They've got that under lying pop sensibility with the muffled vox and some pretty hook riddled ax handling.  Compositionally it all flows incredibly well with some not too over the top drumming. Really been enjoying this the last couple days and I'm sure most of you peeps will too.

BRIAN! - BRIAN! I

It's rather lovely when you see a lot of hard work paying off for an individual and his group. BRIAN! is a group from Ithaca NY and play a lovely blend of genres.  At the heart of it all is a clear harkening to classic progressive rock and R.I.O groups. Close behind in the race is our favorite stand by math rock and some experimentation.  Its admirable that the left field throws don't get out of hand and stay pretty grounded for the most part. What is made even more interesting in this three piece is the inclusion of a bassoon player. Which to be honest is done incredibly well and lends an almost modern comp. bent to the whole affair.

When I first saw them play they were a much more experimental duo with just guitar and bassoon. They had a lot of great idea's to be sure but still had some thing's to figure out. The drums were the final key to fleshing out the song's and its obvious a lot of time was put in to making them click just right. Gotta say its a lot of fun and there really is something for everyone into this sort of biz. Can't say there is much going right now that is on this vibe..all the better. Wonderful

Mouth to Mouth to Mouth - Hey These Aren't My Glasses! (Live)

Yes....we have enjoyed these gents twice previously (2/LIVE/RMX)  &  (EP)   

Its a true pleasure to be able to watch this group progress. Not a brand spanker but the ones that are "Dank Hill" , "Bardzo Dobze" " and  "Our Siberian Traps" well lets just say the bar has been raised. 

Memorable guitar melodies abound as well as some pretty technical time changes. 

If you have yet to scope these guys out your seriously missing out on some

 well thought out math rock with a lot of heart. 

PS. Do yourself a favor and watch the video of Dank Hill. Then prepare to watch it twelve more times after. At least thats what I did.

Hey These Aren't My Glasses! (Live)

Paper Mice - Paint it Pink (2009)

Chicago, a name that is notorious for post-rock also houses the ever energetic Paper Mice. A power trio in every sense of the word. This is tightly tidy twitchy post punk group with a healthy dallop of the Math Rock we crave on a daily basis. I use the word tidy above because these guys keeps things generally around the 2 minute mark or less. It's a great way to really condense everything down to the best of the rest. Twitchy? well they tend to stop on a dime (frequently), pick it up, chew it around in their mouth and spit out gold.  Vocals are also pretty prominent and only add an extra dimension to the otherwise bonkers punk experience. GREEEAAAT stuff gentleladymens. 

Can not forgot to mention that they will be playing along with Our Daily Fix and Mouth to Mouth to Mouth.  http://www.facebook.com/events/402437086473256/
If anyone is even considering coming out to Ithaca NY, I promise it will be a wonderous show

Not to mention.. DIONAEA is playing that Sunday!
http://www.facebook.com/events/325861787497140/

Should prove to be a lovely weekend :)

Paint it Pink

Mouth to Mouth to Mouth - 2/LIVE/RMX

When we last left MTMTM.... on The Plenty and the Swordsless!


Yes Ithaca NY's very own sons of the time change are back with their newest release (two brand spankers, a live track and remix's) Right out of the gate we are smacked upside the head with dizzying drums and guitars that are dangerously close to a miss step on the tight rope followed by a blissfully distored , all inclusive breakdown (re: AWESOME). It's these kinds of risks that I appreciate the most on these new songs. Where as in their first EP the argument of keeping the guns holstered could have been made they are fully drawn and taking head shots here. You come to really appreciate a math rock group that has both rhythm (drum, bass) and lead (guitars) at a point where neither are wrestling for the spotlight. It makes for that much better of a listen especially in a genre such as this. The occational vocal addition, notably in track two, are tastefully done and keep the intensity high. In my estimation a hopefully forthcoming full length will tie in their excellent balance of chaotic shuffling and lock step vocal specked math. The remix's all do a great job of creating a new song with flecks of the old but all in all I would handily trade three remix's for one more new track :) Really really pleased with this showing and seeing these four progress at this level. A must for any well rounded math head.


Edit: the remix's grow on you be warned

MTMTM

4/26 Hi Donna Here, Cattle Drums, Racebannon (live Ithaca NY, The Haunt)

     To say that I don't get out much to shows like I used to is a vast understatement so when I do it has to be something worthy of the scheduling shifting and lack of sleep it involves. Hi Donna Here was the only group I was unfamiliar with playing a rather short set of hard rock inspired instrumentals that were pretty easy going. Headliners Racebannon very much brought their A-game and showed us the many sides of their wierdo metal alt noise jams with Mike Anderson screaming like a crazed demon (thats a good thing)
     Now onto Cattle Drums (commence gushing) Last time I saw these guys they were a 5 piece and playing songs from their deput ep "the boykisser sessions" and while i was impressed they seemed to still be trying to find a foothold in something concrete. They currently play with one less member these days and gained a new drummer. The results of which has seemingly allowed guitarist Gulab Singh to unleash his inner guitar god and lay down some seriously inspired riffs. math-rock meets alt punk with some delightful finger picking as well. Lets of course not forget about Sam Judd (vocals) as the rock is being layed down behind him he easily careens through poetic ramblings that have just the right amount of emotion and word play with the screams.
     It should be noted as well that after their set  Sam and Gulab completely at random layed down a nasty instrument cover of Converges "Cutter" As shown in the picture above. If that sounds completely out of place it honest to god wasn't at all.  It's this kind of evolution and unpredictability that have me chomping at the bit for a full length...like yesterday.


Thanks to Bubba from Ithaca Underground for putting this on BTW :)

http://cattledrums.bandcamp.com/

http://hidonnahere.bandcamp.com/album/hi-donna-here-ep


http://www.myspace.com/racebannonrocks