U SCO - NEST (2012)

Let me get this off my chest and say I am so freaking glad U SCO are back in the game with a new release. Missed their first offering? You best check that at some point as well. This trio of death features members of two very wonderful math rock groups, Duck Little Brother Duck and With Eyes Abstract. Ryan Miller of With Eyes Abstract is without a doubt an INCREDIBLY under rated guitar player and should be right along side some of the best. Dark Prog influences with elements of noise and of course that math rock we crave. Amazing stuff.

NEST (2012)

Babar is Back!

 Its been a couple years since we've see them but they are back in full force. Check out this devastating instrumental math unit if your unfamiliar. 

BC

Year End Round Up (Part 3)

Thrice

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The Parlor Secret  

Bring in the pastoral post-math rock by way of a drum and guitar duo. Really chilled sounds even when the tempo heats up a bit. Is it a coincidence one of these songs is named "My Little Viking"? hmm I'll let you be the judge. 

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Bearded Youth Quest

Provide some serious instrumental math magic. Nice and Energetic vibe's and some solid melodies running through this beast. Be sure to check out their last release as well.  UK based with enough to ground them in some similar style groups while still maintaining their own sound. Golden.

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 Comma

Rock and Roll doused with chain mail of math and helm of indie experimental. Really enjoying these guys lately. Vocals as well are a bit different yet mesh surprisingly well. warning as well your going to have a bit of awesome drumming occurring, watch your faces. 

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Nitkowski

Lovely and disjointed math-prog with a surprisingly decent sense of melody. Interested in Rhythmic changes? yea ugh this is whats up. Never in danger however to come apart at the seems just really impressive songwriting.  Their bandcamp states "No feckin tappin or slappin" fair enough im in. 

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Adults, The Elderly and Children

Math-pop by way of the UK good stuff. I dare you to listen to this and not enjoy. Not a really great dare I know. 

.fin.

  

Macho Muchacho - Eme Eme (2012)

Tap-happy frenetic music from Ecuador with no words and even more notes. A lot packed into this brief EP but there are some good melodies going on here as well. Hope to see more from these guys in the future. 

BNDCMP

DWNLD

Year End Round Up (Part 2)

Part Deux....
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Sodalane
as far as I can tell is a one man affair that skirts the line between some pastoral indie rock, math rock and even a dash of post-hardcore lite. Really an incredibly solid release and has just the right amount of originality to set it apart from the pack. Always interesting with some pretty unpredictable moments in their for the ADD crowd. Myself included. 

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Delicious Death
Have I mentioned this one man effort before? Its been a favorite of mine since I first heard. A really great continuation of Damiera style songcraft. An instrumental version however. Must hear.
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Willow
Super energetic math rock to get you moving. Strong and busy sound for a three piece. These Rhode Island Native's newest on their bandcamp has added some more textural dynamics and singing which only makes them all the better for it 

Year End Round Up (part 1)

This is by no means a post to down play the sweetness of any of the groups below. All of these fine releases have been on my person for a spell and as 2012 comes to an end I need to have some closure. This will be a multi-part post and continue through December.

side bar: why is there not a band called "progressive knife"?

Mayors of Miyazaki 
dropped a nice little split with death pedal's in Nov. I keep coming back to their brazen all out attack. Punchy production and some nice shouty math's. watch these kittens
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Little Hunts
is a one man effort that indulges more the post rock end of the math spectrum but certainly no less exciting for it. Jamie Darken weaves some pretty interesting math rock twists in what seems to be his first outing. Really interesting and strong ideas. However I could really use some live drums. 

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Neur
Has a really nice mix of driving post-punk, indie rock and math rock. mixing and matching where needed to great effect. Really tidy little EP that proves a lot in its 6 track length. Well done vocals as well. Some left field moments really spice this outing up and have me highly excited for something new. Must Have. Must Have. 2010 you say? yea well I cant be on time to every party.

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Hikes - Shepards Clock (2012)

First off...take a moment...breath.... now click on the bandcamp link below and listen to the track Hikes has on for display. Come back when you are done I'll wait here.
















WTF?@!  THAT OPENING RIFF IS DEVASTATINGLY GORGEOUS. OMFLIP.

Seriously it could open a portal into another dimension. The rest of the song? equally gorgeous. These cats have something truly special brewing and I need more of whatever they are currently dishing out. Math Rock? yea sure but that guitar has clear Folk finger picking down home goodness baked in. harmonies? check. Sweet memorable melodies? check. Soaring boy/girl vocals? check. If this was part of an album and every song was this arresting I would dare say I'd need to block off some time to digest it. Can't say enough good things about this other than "I NEED MORE"


hikes

One Lick Less - & we could be quiet

Been sitting on this duo for a bit. Not for lack of enjoyment but just for processing sake. This as a lot of my posts lately has some questionable math validity however traces do crop up. This two dude affair is a mix of moody post-rock, improv, indie rock and some folk rock style guitar riffs.  The BPM's on display here are more of the slow core variety however this should deter no one. Very clear old school 90's flavors as well.  Some vocals as well. Check er

onelickless

At Years End....Almost

We are quickly approaching the end of our very own year 2012. There have been a A LOT of math rock releases with many of them still in heavy rotation for myself. I highly dislike year end lists...for a number of reasons that I'm not going to get into. Boring bits. However I would like to point out two groups that have managed to keep my brain in a death strangle hold since earlier in the year. 

 

#1:Renaissance Sound. 

I 

cant 

stop 

listening 

to this EP. 

Honestly just so fresh and interesting. While many of the groups this year falling on the well worn "rock" portion of "math rock" these cats are laying down highly calculated jazz that hints at math. Sure some of you may question how valid this position is given that you could argue this is just straight jazz. But come on at the heart of this release youve got a honest to god math group. With another EP on the way I am very much hoping these gentlemen continue to capture my heart. 

PoS

Bandcamp

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Another wild exception to this would almost certainly have to go to Gastric Bands brain melting mutant world music math.

Heavy on the percussion with interesting rhythms all over this beast. Classic progressive rock mixed with equal parts math. Truth be told this is what I need when I am listening to a math group do their thing. Again being able to go out on a limb and trying something a little left of center goes a long way.

PoS

bandcamp 

Both of these groups get a gold star in my book this year and I couldn't be more excited to hear from both in the future.

-Ace

Louie Baltazar - These were the days

Electro ambient math that could be equated to a nice walk through the park in the best way possible. Ups for trying for something off the path a bit and tends to follow at times a zefs chasing cara vibe. A very guitar oriented affair as well. Check it out please and thank you.

louiebaltazar

Ilya - Mutyuma

Curve ball coming right to your faces peeps. Ilya is a japanese group that plays a very singular style of music. Truthfully very little of it has to do with math rock... sue me. That does not mean it lacks in pure musical excellence. This stuff is a mix of classical music styled instrumentation, post-rock, metal and progressive math. The way these pieces fit together is the true star here because under less capable hands this could be an ugly ugly mess. HIGH REC's.


Link in comments :)

Avian Architecture - Gemini Talons (EP)

The spirit of psychedelic prog runs strong with these two ghost runners.  But to tag as an automatic throw back? nah brah shit is updated and upgraded. Heavy electronic elements and a drummer that seriously never takes a millisecond break. Is this mathy? eehhhh id be hard pressed to make a case for that but there are certain songs that have there moments. however those that enjoy such ventures will latch right onto the frentic drums and chaotic music. 

Zorch on some kind of roids bender? yea maybe

avianarchitecture

Fugue (2009-2012)

Easily my favorite local band from Connecticut that I've also had the privilege to befriend and share the stage with, Fugue was a 5 (later 6) piece instrumental act that breathed some life into an otherwise drab scene at the time and the following they would eventually build in their too-short time together gave me some hope for my home state's musical output.

With influences spanning from Toe and Tera Melos to black metal and post rock, their 3 ep's show a natural progression in songwriting, and texture and dynamics fully backed by entrancing, passionate live performances. I'll stop sounding like a fanboy and let the music speak for itself, their albums are all free from their bandcamp, Years being their most accomplished effort but I'll always consider their debut, Ancient Glass and their signature live song, "The Sleep of Reason..." my favorite.

FUGUE

3dCosby - Satans Secret (2012)

My great state of New York is home to many amazing musical acts. In the realm of Math Rock the number only seems to be growing. 3dCosby are an interesting case when it comes to the typical smash and grab math we post here. Sure certain passages and songs can make the claim but there is a much stronger progressive vibe running through these pieces. It is to the duo's credit that they manage to internalize a lot of loved genre's into very much there own deal. Dont like one song? well chances are there will be something for you as these guys seem incredibly comfortable bouncing back and forth on whim. Check er ut.

3dcosby

Russian Blue - Etiquette EP (2012)

Some really good UK based math rock with equal parts indie rock lovins. Vocals are plentiful and add to the proceedings. Nice breakdowns and some curves thrown in for the ADD crowd (myself included) Solid stuff here peepsis.

russianblue

Deer Legs - Demo

Strong willed demo as it is this three piece from Chicago busts out of the gates with some promising tunes. Large levels of instrumentality. Very excited to hear the final products of these sketches :)

deerlegs

Johnny Foreigner - Names

Apologies fellows and felletes as I have not been so active on the swords but fear not...

Johnny Foreigner are an excellent english band that are high energy rock with lots of interesting twists. No tapping heroic bouts here but there are always a heaping helping of fantastic vocals (boy girl at that). Please check these three tracks out and certainly explore the rest.

JF

Ten Past Seven

These guys are frickin awesome!! i cant believe i forgot to post them before!? went to see them play last night....hadn't seen them play in a few years. they still have bucket loads of energy!!

Ten Past Seven are a three-piece instrumental shower from Kerry. In 2006 they released their debut album "Shut Up Your Face" on Out On A Limb Records. 2007 saw the band climb Carrantuohill (Irelands tallest mountain) and release the split 7" with Los Langeros "The Highest Bands In Ireland". Over the last few years they've toured Ireland extensively, played support to their heros and made jaunts overseas.
Their latest EP, ‘Bothar Buí’ (2010) very much reflects how a young band chose not to remain static but to constantly evolve and move forward. The title track features vocals by Katie Kim as well as remixed tracks by Kevin Blake, Toby Kaar and Molotov Ape and Laura Sheeran. However, this is not just about the sound; ‘Bothar Buí’ has been produced with a limited run of 100 pieces of slate each imprinted with an individual image. The are constantly developing new ideas and ways to deliver their music without the constraints of convention and finding alternative ways to carry their sound and concepts through to different audiences.

BANDCAMP
DOWNLOAD

Wishbone - Et Cetera (2012)

I am a large dork for anything progressive and post-hardcore. To make a long boring story short I was just listening to this new (ish) release by a band from South Jersey called Wishbone that fires on all cylinders. Has a little bit of mathy elements but check your bags at the door this is some nasty post-hardcore with inspired structures and solid vox.

et cetera

Hello Jupiter - Do I Dare.. (2012)

These three gentlemen have managed to release a formidable EP here. Truthfully I've been holding this one close to my chest...its a stunner. Surprised I haven't seen more math bro's hoisting the main sails for this. Technical instrumentally without being annoying?, check.  This is even pretty vocal heavy as well and as you could guess its floats without a hitch. Maybe what I appreciate most is its very obvious restless nature. From point to point pleasantly wonderful curveballs get thrown in but they never seem out of place. Stop and listen, it's been a minute since I've taken in something this assured in the math pop/rock realm. 

do-i-dare

ps: that freaking first song....jesust so good.