Colin Stetson - New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (2011)

This is the most jaw-dropping piece of musical genius I've heard in a long time.

Colin Stetson is an explosive saxophone soloist. And by this I don't mean that he rips sick licks while some funky jazz band lays it down. I mean that Colin Stetson plus one saxophone is all you need for a completely enveloping musical experience.

Colin Stetson uses an array of saxophone tones, screams, hums, vocalizations, key clicks, and magic to create a densely-layered steamroller of sound. For this record, his performance was captured by a total of 24 microphones, allowing each subtle sound to be EQ'd and mixed independently. This gives the record an incredibly rich, full sound with thumping bass and rich throaty highs. The record sounds fuller than most full bands.

Stetson is joined on a few tracks by female vocals, spoken word by Laurie Anderson, and a french horn interlude. The accompaniments are sparse, and the emphasis is really on his otherworldly saxophone performance.

The best part about this record? It is tasteful, intelligent, engaging, and fun. This guy has played sax for everyone (Bon Iver, The National, Tom Waits, The Arcade Fire, G!YBE, etc. etc. etc.) and its awesome that he has stepped out to create such an awesome record on his own.

Fill yr ears with this record HERE.

And in case you need to see to believe, skip to 2:15 below (or watch the whole thing).

Drummers - Self-Titled (2011)

With a name like "Drummers," you might expect a sound with more than one drummer, guitarists who play their instruments percussively, or some jaw-dropping stick work. Although none of this is evident on Drummers' debut LP, it is a pretty solid post-hardcore/post-punk/screamo/whateverthekidsarecallingitthesedays effort. Guitars jangle, crunch, and drive throughout, punctuated by rich screamo vocals. The production has an interesting gritty quality that works pretty well stylistically. Drummers are at their best playing catchy, rhythmically interesting music. Some of the deeper cuts are clunkers, but some uninspired chugging and failed experiments are to be expected with any fledgling band's debut. Looking forward to more from these guys.

Drummers' self-titled debut is available to download for free at their Bandcamp.

Enablers - Blown Realms and Stalled Explosions

Now this is a real treat in my opinion. You don't see nearly enough dark math rock like this these days. So if your familiar with the OG's such as June of 44, Slint, Rodan, Shipping News then you can certainly start getting a head on what these gents sound like. But instead of recycled riffs you are served with a heaping portion of dark and strange chords thats cut at an angle just for you. If it ended with just the music I would be A-Ok with that. Thankfully we have Pete Simonelli on vox to complete this incredible package. Pete lays down the spoken word blitzkrieg, slinking through the labyrinthine guitar lines and actually producing some truly great poetry from what I was able to suss out.  May not be for everyone (If you dont like it your the suck) but its a great update on a style laid down years ago.

HIGHLY RECOMENDATATIONED



Blown Realms and Stalled Explosions

Angels of Light - The Angels of Light Sing "Other People" / Akron/Family

After leaving the amazingly excellent and influential band "Swans" Michael Gira settled into his new project Angels of Light. That's when it happened.... the "settling".

The Settling - When an aging musician picks up an acoustic guitar and begins spinning intimate lyrical themes.

This as we all know can go one of two ways be incredibly mediocre or translate the musicians vision to a new genre perfectly.  In the case of Mr. Gira he pulls this off without nary a hitch. He even brings along his newly discovered hopefuls "Akron/Family" (A Brooklyn based "freak folk" group) to back him for his next album The Angels of Light Sing "Other People".  They themselves just released their first album which by all approximations was and still is a flipping great album. Let just not talk about anything after their split release it tends to get a little muddled after that.

Back to the whole point of this post. The Angels of Light song "My Sister Said".  Yea its a good album no doubt but this song is unimaginably gorgeous in every way. One of my favorite songs of all time.  I don't have many songs I would say that personally speak to me but this one rocks my very core. EVERYONE at some point in their life needs this song and I cant say that strongly enough.

The Angels of Light Sing "Other People"

Akron/Family (2005)

Akron/Family and Angels of Light Split

1994! / Algernon Cadwallader / Snowing / Boys and Sex. Summer Singles

 

 Let me begin by saying I am extremely excited to be attended this Wednesday's show at the Bug Jar in Rochester NY. Playing will be none other than previously mentioned Algernon Cadwallader and equally awesome Snowing and 1994! as well as some local fair. I highly recommend anyone in the area to check this shit out as it will be an earthquakingly good time, info below.

Wednesday Bug Jar Rochester NY 

While I have already covered Algernon let me speak of the awesome that is 1994! and Snowing. These three groups share a location of Philly PA with one another and also sound wise are reconnecting with that classic 90's emo sound in different ways.

Snowing has a nice two guitar indie rock attack going that mixes some catchy ramshackle vocals with some hot as hell math lite instrumentation. 

1994! Has the emotional shouting vocals and amps up the speed and math quotient by 2.5. For a two piece they are extremely interesting especially the drums which are restless and intricate.


Its a nice little split to get your beak wet on these groups so check your ears at the door.


Summer Singles

Zvoov - Everbrown (2011)

This is a sleeper album. On first listen, nothing really pops. Everything is well-executed and sounds nice, but there's nothing really jaw-dropping.

After a few listens, the album definitely starts to grow. The guitar parts are subtle, sneaky, and dark, highly reminiscent of Slint. The rhythms have an understated but groovy swagger. Its clear that a lot of thought went into composing each song. The parts are polished, interesting, and stand up to repeated listens.

In contrast to a lot of math-rock albums I've been listening to, there is nothing extreme or astonishing on this record. But a face-melting chopsfest does not appear to be Zvoov's intention here. Instead, they use restraint and have created a thoughtful, well-crafted album. Its an interesting approach to the genre and well-worth a listen.

Also, the drummer is one of the tallest men on earth.

Everbrown is available for free on Zvoov's Bandcamp.

Derek Bailey - Ballads (2002)

Fact:          I love Math Rock.


If you haven't figured that out yet then you clearly don't follow this blog. But it can be exhausting if too much is consumed, hence today we have Derek Bailey. As its fathers day today for some reason it reminded me of this album. Bailey is a taste that divides listeners, Avant-garde improv. acoustic guitars. Now if that doesn't sound awesome then this is just not for you. Many of his releases even for me are just too much as far as an enjoyment stand point which is why I've always clung to Ballads. This was actually in response to many critics claims that maybe Derek had no clue how to "normally" play the guitar.  Well it kinda splits the difference with actually playing "straight" and his crazed picking and plucking.  Discontinuity between notes is one of the many things listeners will notice with his playing style. An idea or rhythm will disappear as quickly as it's played.  There is a longing feel to the album even a slight romantic bent but I cant say exactly why. Again most people are not going to be jamming this shit with their windows down this summer but I cant say I know too many acoustic guitar players that use this much emotion in their composition and playing style.

Ballads 

Brontide - Sans Souci (2011)

Brontide (definition)- A sound like distant thunder

This hotly anticipated outing by relative newcomers Brontide seems to be living up to expectations. An English trio dishing out an instrumental math rock sound that can be likened to a more energetic Russian Circles with a bit of Battles thrown in (think early Ep's). Theirs is a varied post rock approach set up in such a way that no songs become stale. The Obvious metal influences surface when the distortion is kicked on and it gets the job done pretty competently.  What I believe to be the star lion tamer going on here though is when they actually buckle down with some looped guitars and up the melody factor. It allows the group more rhythmic freedom which they have a strong grasp of when they are in that mode.  the Production is crystal clear which I am always thankful for. A small gripe is that it appears they never quite try to break the mold but it's seriously such a consistent and enjoyable album I can bet you twenty bones you'll never even notice.

San Souci (2011)

Jaga Jazzist - One Armed Bandit (2010)

A Norwegian jazz ensemble that has a clear passion for electro-jazz kings Tortoise. They even have a small obsession with the vibraphone like Tortoise does! This of course can be excused instantly as the vibraphone is awesome. But thats really only a launching point for this adventurous young band who have been honing their craft over several releases. Their latest (and best in my opinion) has some very real proggy proggings . They of course have always flirted with such progressive trappings on previous releases but here the flag is waving high and proud. I enjoy the upbeat nature of the songs with different instruments being used almost at random.  For those of you that are not super into Jazz well I'd even say that this is for you also as it could be considered post rock as well.


One Armed Bandit (2010)

Girlfriends - S/T (2009)

Gotta say that the one man math rock band thing is something I'm really loving these days. Portland Oregon's "Girlfriends"(AKA Jerry Joiner) is an attack force of guitar and drums with post hardcore style scream singing that is very easy on the ears.  There is certainly some sort "dance" element going on as well. Dare I say even a Foals sort of vibe. The drumming runs tasteful to fairly inventive which is always a step in the right direction. The first two songs are incredibly strong with the second (brobocop) being one of the finer tracks I've heard lately. This (as always) is some really great stuff and there shouldn't be anything else that needs to be said.


S/T

Sick Electric - Haywire (2008)

Lazer. Laundry. Buffalo. Accident.

In 2008, the four aforementioned members of Sick Electric released their magnum opus, Haywire. Clocking in at 16 tracks, the album is a math/surf/prog/metal epic about surfing, robots, headless lovers, some more surfing, zombies, the future, nuclear war, outer space, and the apocalypse. While thematically this album sounds like fodder for a MST3K episode, the band manages to pull everything together by employing tight, concise song structures while remaining outrageously mathy, aggressive, and intricate. Most reviewers have attacked the schizophrenic genre-bending action as a source of confusion, but for me the multitude of sounds has kept the album interesting listen after listen.



Post-Haywire, Sick Electric put out a straight-alt-rock LP in 2010 which tanked hard. Then they broke up. But Haywire remains an essential piece of experimental rock.

Sick Electric - Haywire

The Fire Show - Saint The Fire Show

      Sometimes a bands last effort can be a trans-formative affair.  Other times it finds them run down and beaten into the ground.  All I have to say is thank god for this swan song by The Fire Show.  Sadly, for as much press in online publications that this band has received they were forgotten by time even before they went there separate ways.  I hope to let more know of this great album.
     A post-punk band in the loosest of definitions, Seth Kim-Cohen and Michael Lenzi make a beautifully controlled racket on Saint the Fire Show.  With Brian Deck (Califone) behind the boards you know your going to get some excellent percussion sounds.  Programed drums along with live kit playing, introspective lyrics, sampling, buzz saw guitar and a low end that provides a thundering bed for the rest to flow on is the area which these boys inhabit.  This is certainly not your daddies post-punk.  If your wondering as a point of reference musically it  has shades of Wire, Public Image LTD and This Heat sprinkled throughout.
     This release is always on rotation for me and for a lot of people i show this to it remains the same.  I really can not say enough good things about this release.  It is truly a portrait of a band at its creative peak and would beg to question “where would the band go from here” I am somewhat thankful I dont know the answer because cliche or not it really doesn’t get much better this high on the mountain.

 Saint The Fire Show

Clever Girl - No Drum and Bass in the Jazz Room

The instantly impressive Clever Girl have left a surprisingly large mark considering their on and only release is four tracks deep. Bad news time they are currently defunct. This changes zilch as these four songs are tight as all get out. Jangled mathy guitars and intricate drums with progressive structure. On tap as well is the Saxophone. On paper sounds a bit like our buds "A Troop of Echoes" truthfully however The Troop take their saxophone parts way more seriously and are not so jangly anyway. Carrying onward Clever Girl covers a lot of ground in four songs and youll be begging for more when its over so eat up folks dinner is served.

Complete Discography
(reanimated corpse)
(love ~acerola)

Yamon Yamon - Days like Television EP/ This Wilderlessness LP

Yamon Yamon reside in almost perfect mood. It truly shifts to your needs, weather or listening habits. Far be it for anyone to deny that this slightly mathy but altogether indie rock band is not even a little amazing. 2007's EP Days like Television is a concise section of their out put but possibly stronger than their full length. The EP slam jam's an inhuman level of hooks and pristine vocals.  There is no slouching on the full length either though. Track one Alonso will more likely than not be stuck in your head for weeks.  Not a bad thing considering what normally gets stuck in my head....kids songs / classic rock.

Days like Television EP

This Wilderlessness

Sweetthieves - Blood and Curses (2008)

This album never had a chance.

Sweetthieves emerged from Providence, RI in 2003 to unleash riff after sweet riff upon the world. As a power trio consisting of baritone guitar, tuned-up bass, and punchy drums, their songs consisted of angular, aggressive, dissonant riffs with well-executed boy-girl vocal harmonies. Their songs are tightly composed, without a lot of excess riffing or improvisation. Guitarist Dave Martinka has his own line of amps and pedals, and his expertise in guitar equipment translates to killer guitar sounds live and in the studio. Catchy, dissonant math rock. Delicious.

Blood and Curses is a lean, mean album that should have scored big for the Sweetthieves. The songs are tight, the sounds are good, and production is clean and powerful. The guitars snarl, the drums pummel, and the vocals float nicely on top. So what happened?

The guitarist and the bass player broke up. Blood and Curses is a breakup album in a very real sense. With lyrics about vengeance and song titles like "I'm Right Here With You as You Burn Our House to the Ground," its not hard to tell what this record is about. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable the recording sessions must have been.

The album release in 2008 was the band's final show. Without any further promotion or distribution, its easy to imagine a box with hundreds of Sweetthieves records collecting dust in some Providence basement.

The band members have since moved onto other interesting projects - bass player Hilary Jones is now playing with the guys from Tiny Hawks. For now, Blood and Curses continues to collect dust.

Sweetthieves - Blood & Curses

Japandi

Japandi (of San Diego) reminds me very much of their over sea's Japanese math brethren.

(WARNING mass generalization)
I mean that they are hyper tight but might not pull on the creativity strings to hard.

As far as a counterpart here I'd say they remind me of Sleeping People. Their first release plays it very safe. They use really nice melodies and keep the angular chords to a complete minimal, no tap tap here folks.  While it may not sound too exciting, stick with them and you will come to love them.  They just dropped their second release and I've got to say my opinion has changed more than I thought possible.

Decorative Duck makes damn sure you wait for the moments that they are going to come together and give you what you want. It takes more joy in the rhythmic side of things and plays all the better for it. More aggressive and angular but in a completely tasty way. I may be critical of them but its only because I really do love them. I know you will too.


The Great Dinosaur Mystery

Decorative Duck

Colossal - Welcome the Problems (2004)

This is one of those albums that helped push a lot of what we have today in the "emo" math rock area. I mean no disrespect either when I use that tag. Sadly it was over used in the past to the point of having either no meaning at all or being derogatory.   These five from Illinois play a music indebted to post-rock, pop-punk, pop and math rock. Their influences take different roles on different songs making them a highly versatile group. Without their song structures however they would be not even half as good. Instrumentation runs fairly technical without ever getting too showy.  The appearance of brass on a few songs makes perfect sense as well. Vocals are actually used when necessary and by no means a central figure. I love this album because there is always something new I find that I like. Not that its dense but that it offers a lot. If your not familiar and enjoy breathing and people playing music I'd say your best bet would be have a gander.

Welcome the Problems (2004)

By Surprise - Mountain Smashers

Im Tempted to say of the new school of 90's emo revival By Surprise might just take "most impressive" award. Unlike their contemporaries we have crystal clear instrumentation and lyrics that aren't just tacked on but feel vital and most importantly tell a story. A lot of heart runs through this release that seems more than pleased to bounce around alternative rock genres like a Sunday stroll. It can be silly at times but I would rather use the word charming. I couldn't begin to think of someone that wouldn't at least find one thing they enjoy about this.

Mountain Smashers

metaghostin' Vol. VI - Doxylamine Daze

Doxylamine Daze - ~30'00"
---

For the past two weeks I've had this goddamn cold that just won't go away, feeling like a plague-ridden toddler, spreading disease everywhere I go.

Thankfully, we got legal drugs that get you high as shit to help you sleep when your brain is corrupted with mucus and your lungs are just freaking out all the time.

This mix is dedicated to Nyquil Liquigel capsules, giving me dem 9 hours I crave.
---

1. Bad Dudes - "Eat Drugs" / Eat Drugs

I wanna do drugs, I wanna do drugs, but I'm afraid of drugs. (Na nana naa naa)

2. Ebu Gogo - "Never Ending Hole" / Chase Scenes 1-13

We done an Ebu Gogo post yet? Y'all know I love deez dudes. Sometimes their awesomeness makes it hard to appreciate similar but less awesome bands. Like that time Acey tried to get me to listen to Adebisi Shank and I was all "FUCK DEEZ DUDES EBU GOGO BE SHITTIN IN DEY MOUF!"

True story.

3. Enslaved - "Giants" / Axioma Ethica Odini

I haven't been a legit metal-loving dude for very long, and metal in its various forms only takes up a marginal part of my library, but these guys were one of the first metal bands that I could really dig. They aren't especially mind-blowing from any perspective, but the production is super slick and they just got dat craft.

4. Jardín de la Croix - "Synaesthesia" / Pomeroy

Acey just dropped a slick post about their most recent jam, Ocean Cosmonauts, that brought these guys to my attention. I thought this was an interesting track because whether they would admit it or not, the King Crimson influence on math/progressive can be witnessed in full force here. Mega-heavy Discipline vibes.

5. Make Believe - "Television Cemetary" / Shock of Being

Kinda surprised we haven't had a Make Believe post yet, but I suppose they're one of the lesser Kinsella bands with a couple very uneven releases. But Sam Zurich was really showing his ass on these riffs and the rest of the band ain't no chumps.

6. Mastodon - "Aqua Dementia" / Leviathan

Acey and I once had a short talk about whether Mastodon is metal or just modern hard rock. Obviously classification doesn't really matter, even though we do it all the time, but sometimes I wonder if a big part of why someone might think Mastodon is "hard rock" is because of how so much of their sound is built from this crazy southern-fried blues framework that just gets hella sped up and crunchy.

7. sunn O))) + Boris - "Akuma no Kuma" / Altar

Sippin' on some sizzurp.

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