let me just say, that Fat History Month is easily THE GREATEST BAND THAT HAS EVER EXISTED EVER. they are almost too perfect. a guitar and drum duo from Boston of Massachusetts are putting together some of the most beautifully crafted rock and roll in existence. the chemistry in the instrumentation is so organic and moving and might as well be more than the just the two. nope two dudes. the lyrics couldn't be anymore clever and insightful and perfect. this is some of that highly recommended shit. they don't even have all of the tracks from this release on their bandcamp, but you get them if you pay them the big bucks.
LITE's capability to produce something fresh sounding every release astounds me. This EP is no different. I first heard of LITE when they came to Ireland and played a very small city and venue...i haven't stopped listening to them since. Jun, the bass player, also started Transduction Records. This is now a sister label of Sony Japan.
This EP marks a bit of a change for LITE. With their previous releases adding elements of dance and techno, this EP seems to have fully integrated that into their synonymous sound. Also, with two great vocal tracks sung by 'Caroline' from Mice Parade You (Yama from TOE is also in this band), this EP definitely stands out amongst their release catalogue.
this is my first post on POS. i am damn stoked to be here...let the posting begin.
I've chosen The Redneck Manifesto as my first post because they have a very special place in my heart. These are the guys that really introduced post-rock/math-rock to Ireland. Without them, Ireland wouldn't be exporting the likes of Adebisi Shank, ASIWYFA, Enemies, The Cast of Cheers and many more. Without a doubt, The Redneck Manifesto have played a big part in what Ireland is producing these days. No silly U2 here...
This is their latest release, Friendship. After a 7yr break, where most of the members were working on other solo releases, this is TRM's fourth release and first release on The Richter Collective label. Its a great, energetic and pumping album with lots of mathy breaks, twists and turns. i will try and post their back catalogue: Thirtysixstrings, Cut Your Heart Off From Your Head and I Am Brazil if there is any interest.
Another Flip-tastic math flecked release for you folks so pull your socks up. Denver is a group that despite their hilariously hair cut malfunctioned cover are an incredibly serious band when it comes to the tunes. With three songs they certainly waste no time getting down to the nitty. This is some chilled out yet musically complex indie rock with a serious crush on math rock (its a reciprocal crush) What I found with these guys to be a stand out attribute are that these songs are structured very intelligently. Your not dragged along so much as each turn and twist of the sections just make so much sense i actually fist pumped at one point.....ok twice. Also of note THE VOCALS! this is not some last second add on or that their best friends brother wanted to sing on a few songs. Honestly its done tastefully and reminds me of something you'd hear in some really amazing indie pop rock. The fact that the singing is used only when needed yet still remains such a huge presence is more than a couple feathers in their caps. Lastly the instrument choices on display are numerous, AGAIN without clubbing you over the head. I've said this before but a lot of groups will add a "non rock" instrument to "color" their pieces and it ends up sounding forced. It goes without saying but the piano, strings and (marimba?) really flesh out these beautiful pieces. O and by the way this is their first release, pretty surprising with the level of polish on the ground. After all that do I really need to say "hit the link" wait I guess I pretty much just did.
Ni! Its a two letter combo that must be yelled when you read it....and does a good job of describing these cats from France. This is math rock with a certain air of early prog keeping those edges nice and sharp. Speaking of sharp everything about these guys are blurted out or played in a staccato fashion yet still ultra groove tastic and able to turn on spare change. The chord choices deff. remind me of early 70's heyday prog rock but with a very metal attitude. As with everything I deem good enough to write about you cant really skip this one :)
Also would like to give a welcome to two of our newest:
Antonio - has been filling my ears with tasty math for awhile on our facebook page (which always has extra musical goodness btw) so we are treated to a more direct line to the awesome now that our Italian math rock correspondent is on the case!
Mother - Is another very active member of our facebook arm who also just so happens to be in a very delightful math rock group. Mother Night is certainly a group you folks should become familiar with, excellent stuff.
Good Evening, this is my FIRST post up on here of swords. I am very humbled to have been selected to share sounds and words about sounds. I am 'Mother'. as it is, as I am not your mother, or a mother at all for I have a Y Chromosome. so it goes.
and now, let's get weird.
and with my first posting I have chosen to present Faun and a Pan Flute.
it's weird and dream pop-y and not overly math all of the time but very kind and subtle for how many layers of awesome are being spilled into/onto itself. might as well be tripping on/in/at the beach.
FIRST OFF:
The reader submission's around here are really starting to blow my face off... sincerely appreciate all the email's, keep em coming guys and gals.
So lets speak about a musical venture from California. A one man affair played by one, Zachary Thachet. Chances are strong that at its base you've heard this instrumental post rock/math before (this is not a negative). Think Kinsella...the Mike variety. Nothing too technical but just that right amount of skill and rhythmic change that keep you on your toe's. It is unique however in a couple of exciting ways. Zach has an admitted love of finger style acoustic music and the acoustic guitars in Pastoral are a delightful tribute to the giants of the genre. Not so much in style or speed but in spirit. I'm always shocked more bands don't use acoustic guitars for this sort of music, it really just makes sense. This is some brilliantly executed solo bizz that I could see evolving even further either into full band territory or deeper into solo town. Production is incredibly solid as well here. If your looking for something calming for the night then you should look no further. Some strong ideas going on with this one.
Greetings fellow readers. Would like to inquire if anyone here would be interested in writing for the blog. Its been awhile and some new blood would certainly do the joint good i'd say. If anyone is considering please feel free to email us and we can dispense with more specifics:
plentyofswords (A) gmail (.)com
PS: extra credit for anyone that can tell me what semi-popular anime this is from :)
I have a bunch of friends, and some of these friends play music; for some they play music as just a hobby, for others because its fun to get together with likeminded friends and make up songs and stories together, and for a lucky few, they play music because they have found a tight group of pals to seriously spend the time to produce the music they love together. Two of my oldest and best friends have been playing together since high school; they were called Teabag back then, and remained together through times of separation and hiatuses. They are a solid core that always worked very well at writing songs with each other. These friends are Shaun and Clayton, singer/guitarist and lead guitarist for Give Zombies The Vote. Although I wasn't very close with their drummer Jim until recently (who has also been a member of the band since its genesis), they have been a trio for as long as I can remember, and they have always had a unique connection in their skills at coming up with super badass metal songs together. Now, its time to celebrate.
Give Zombies The Vote has at last released the proper debut it deserves. Dominions serves as a mix of greatest songwriting accomplishments/ new badassery, showcasing all of their finely tuned melodic death metal skills as a cohesive unit. They are darned tight. I have played a lot of music with Clayton over many years, and this dude is a serious guitarist. He is at his best on this album, kicking out so many tasty licks and tight solos throughout its tracks; I've also played music with Shaun since always; he is a singer and guitarist who is incredibly diverse in a variety of styles of vocals and has the skills to play a tasty groove on guitar while he belts out the lyrics, utilizing melodic harmonies in his verses and choruses; Jim, he is just insane. His powerhouse techniques in solid skill and timing work as a perfect backbone to the madness at hand. In the last year or two they have added a new bassist who I still have yet to meet; I do know that they were very happy to find him, and that he rocks the hell out on this album.
Enough of the history lesson on our personal relationship: meat and potatoes time. After listening to this album a bunch since it was given to me, I feel like they are at their best in the title track, Dominions, which is also one of their most recently written songs. The album kicks off with a bang and doesn't let up; its balls to the wall fist pumping metal. The title track comes in after a string of five songs, including a personal favorite, Corpsicle, which includes the awesome line "this road is made of dudes!"; the song begins typically enough for an album full of nastiness- badass licks, drum lines and vocals- but after a ripping solo finishes up at 2:50, a new taptastic math section begins. This section and the ensuing awesomeness is, to me, a high point in their songwriting together. It is fucking badass. So tight; reminds me of Ebu Gogo and Toe with a giant helping of In Flames and Tool. Check it:
Also, theres this: a video they threw together with the help of Anthony Jarvis as they were recording the album. Its a neat little ditty, and rings in at track 3 on Dominions:
Congratulations guys, this stuff is awesome.
Dominions (bandcamp)
Let me make this quick. In honor of my birthday it's only fitting to post an album that means a lot to me. I have to say I am woefully ignorant of any other releases of Tara Jane O'Neil but this does not make the gravity of "In the Sun Lines" any less. Completely played by herself, it is a very emotional and slow burning album. Don't let that fool you though this album musically is amazing. Think slow core post rock but with a more direct sense. See the connection we are making here is that Tara is originally the bassist from a little band called Rodan. For those that are familiar know that they were a contemporary of Slint...albeit a lesser known one. Just give it a chance you wont be sorry, trust me.
Continuing with their domination of lite instrumental math rock, toe has recently released their newest EP. While it doesn't really expand upon the ideas of the full length.....this is toe we are talking about here and as such its pretty damn amazing. Also amazingly short at a paltry 4 songs!!! GRRAAHH!!!
The melodies and rhythms on display here are top notch as always. The closing song for me remains a large highlight but its all pretty flawless. You know you've been wanting it so have the appetizer before the main dish (soon I hope).
Ok acerola. The duel is on. I am about to hit you with some serious pop right now. This is a forgotten blade buried deep within pop culture, an example of how fleeting fame can be to a group of ninjas that were known solely for a single technique, instead of being appreciated for the vast catalogue of skills and limit breaks they produced in their heyday. I give you The Zombies.
A British band who reached their high water mark with one hit song from a otherwise ignored yet absolutely stunning album, these dudes were serious. They were a five piece band that all sang, focusing instrumentally on keyboard, bass and drums, and featuring their skills with vocal harmonies and hooks; these dudes fully embraced choral vocal styles and interesting song structures, especially so for 1968. The only other band at the time that wrote pop songs and did not incorporate the guitar predominantly in their music were The Doors†; The Zombies were unique, smart, and catchy, and had the skills and imagination to separate themselves enough from being pigeonholed solely as "pop music". This is surely a reason they were not given more acclaim. It was not as adventurous a time for their kind of music, with classic albums from The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones dominating the airwaves†, and they were never shown the proper spotlight for their work. The one small spotlight they were given came from their 15 minutes of fame with the release of Time of the Season.
Time of the Season is great enough to be a #1 hit song, yet it never rose above #3 on the Billboard charts. If you haven't heard it in a while, it is so great that you might not realistically remember how good it actually is. I only stall on sharing it with you to bide time for a quick reflection.
People unfamiliar with Odessey and Oracle may not have heard the second to last track of the album: Friends of Mine came in at track 11, right before the epic last track of the LP, Time of the Season. It is a very lovely combo of songs to feature at the end of an album, and specifically back to back. Friends of Mine is a harmless love song about being a third wheel, hanging out with various couples that you totally give props to for finding each other. It is a hopeful song, upbeat and positive, relating their awesome relationships back to your own hope of finding the right person yourself. Here you go:
And how do you follow up a super poptastic appreciation of love? You offer up the most pimptasticly smooth song about looking for summertime romance, of course. You're young, its hot outside, you want to find someone interesting, and naturally you play it super cool. For good measure, you add in some ridiculously great keyboard solos. Time of the Season:
And that is just the end of the album; the download I have linked to also includes an EP released soon after Odessey and Oracle, and that in itself is an utterly dusty blade. It was made and then no one ever saw it; it just sat in a studio and hardly saw the light of day. The entire package is full of greatness: Odessey starts the show off with Care of Cell 44, a hugely upbeat love letter to the girl for whom you are waiting to finally get out of jail and come back home to resume your relationship together. It is dark in the lightest possible sense: the EP is full of other blades that are just as pop-tastic, such as Don't Cry For Me, or the criminally unknown If It Don't Work Out.
One last song: this one you may recall from the cover of it in Kill Bill Vol 2, after the Bride puts her daughter to bed in Bills house and walks down the hallway on her way to kill him. Its a neat scene, and a neat cover, but this original is some great old school pop.
Portland Oregon's Breezin starts their EP off innocently enough with a sprinkle of cute keyboard lines and playful melodies. Then...it happens....the bass and drums enter and the proceedings become chaotic prog math workouts. Its worth taking note that the most impressive item here is the fact that no matter how bonkers these guys get the vocals remain pretty pop to the core.
.....Listen to that bass....
seriously just listen to it fly all over the damn place....
I will say I wish the mix was a little kinder to the bass sound so we could hear those angular stabs and dagger knife turns better. Cute and dangerous like a kittens head on a snakes body.
Ready yourselves for three albums by well-respected lady singer/ songwriters coming at your ear holes. Though this post is a little late for the release dates, it had to be done. I was very excited about the first two of these albums, and the third I do not know very well but have read some great reviews:
First off, Beach House. Aw yeah. I love both of the two previous albums that came before their 2012 release; Devotions low fi sounds showcased the duo of keyboard/ singer and guitarist making due with what they had, then getting popular and releasing a well-polished follow up with Teen Dream, adding members to their band to get rid of the programmed drums etc and fleshing out their sounds. Their new release, Bloom, just builds upon what they added on Teen Dream, not branching out much further aurally but tightening up their gorgeous dream pop. Victoria Legrand has one hell of a voice, and the guitar work that Alex Scally does compliments her melodies wonderfully. Check their new single, Lazuli:
Second, Regina Spektor. If you have a musical heart that digs pop music that can sometimes be cutesy and hilarious but is always deeply rooted in great piano work and wonderful melodies, this lady will be your new friend. She is well known for tracks like Fidelity, Samson and Hotel Song. You will probably be familiar with at least one of those three tracks, and if they tickle your fancy, give her new single, Don't Leave Me, a shot.
Third, Fiona Apple. She hopped on the bandwagon for this post; Metaghost had to remind me that she was the lady responsible for Criminal, as the only song of hers I could recall myself was the title track of her previous album, 2005's Extraordinary Machine. But, I have read a bunch of great reviews of her new album, and the comparisons to Kate Bush had me intrigued. As I don't know her catalogue at all, I don't have much to say besides that it is very lushly composed with great instrumentation and vocal performances. Interesting stuff, but I ain't hearing no Hounds of Love or Suspended in Gaffa on it yet. The single from The Idler Wheel is track one, Every Single Night. Do enjoy, fellow swordslingers.
beach house- bloom regina spektor- what we saw from the cheap seats fiona apple- the idler wheel
So a little bird informed me of the fact that along with Mouth to Mouth to Mouth a band by the name of "Living Room" embarked with them on a weekend of shows. These guys are from Brooklyn and actually dont share a large amount of similiarities with their mini tour mates (not that they have to) but its in the ways that they do that make these guys pretty interesting and exciting. Dream Journal is a nice tidy collection of alt-emo with all the heart felt singing a guy could ask for. What I typically sign up for in a musical act however is the instrumentation and Living Room doesn't disappoint. Nice varied dueling guitars, some healthy stops and stops, and interesting drums keep them from being placed in the "same same" pile. I could very easily see this sort of energetic rock being transferred to a very incredible live show.
ps: Apologies Scott for referring to you as a "little bird" :)
Anyone recall a previous post of mine on a group by the name of The Prophet Nathan? Well if your drawing a blank..shame on you and click the link above. serious math-pop magic.
More to the point however is James from The Prophet Nathan wanted to let everyone know of his OTHER super amazing math rock group The Ace of Coins. They just released their ep The Fool and I must say once again I am very impressed and for different reasons. Ace of Coins is a more song oriented sort of math rock and it prominently features vocals. However there still remains a grounding in pop rock as well. Instrumentation is still pretty complex despite this but does have to dial back to a more traditional format for the singing.
"The Fool" feels incredibly new but also a throwback to the golden age of math, the 90's. Its a winning combination that I imagine everyone having an easy time enjoying....so yea click the link and do that enjoying thing you guys do so well.
