Three Trapped Tigers - Route One or Die

Is the hulking robot that is Battles newest album getting you down? Not to worry because Three Trapped Tigers is back to save your soul from eternal damnation. As posted previously on the swords this three piece is one of my more favorite newer groups. The hotly anticipated first full length is out now and its a beast. Refined song  focus finds these gents blasting through twisting electro math anthems and I couldn't be happier. Sometimes after incredible EP's promising bands can fall flat trying to put together something with legs.  Route One or Die only proves that we can expect more releases to come.

Three Trapped Tigers

Ol' Dirty Bastard- Return to the 36 Chambers 1995

Tonight, I got to see an incredibly intense hockey game in small company at my friend Nates house, where during the breaks i would talk hiphop with my man greg v. Since i started listening to all this wu-tang/ dr. dre, greg has told me the next step is checking out ODBs first solo album, Return to the 36 Chambers. Shit has songs like Shimmy Shimmy Ya and Brooklyn Zoo, and was a necessary next step.

I got home from victory, putting the Bruins into the finals since 1990! Right when all this great action was being formulated. Return to.. came out in 1995, and was a very tight album by the original members, back when wu-tang was created by RZA, GZA and ODB as cousins interested in making hiphop together. It shows how tight these 3 work together, but moreso how well RZA could produce an album, and that the addition of the other members of the wu-tang crew only expanded his sound on the MC level; his skills on the mixing board (not to mention loop digging) provide the atmosphere and rhythm that the wu-tang clan fed off of. I mean, any legit MC would never have balked at rhyming over a jam like Brooklyn Zoo, right?



return to the 36 chambers

Jardín de la Croix - Ocean Cosmonauts

Effortless. That is about the best I could possibly come up with.  There are groups out there right now trying very hard to do this exact shtick, everyone of them fall short. Jardín de la Croix is indeed from Madrid Spain yet there is very little here that tips their hands to this fact.  You hate to even break something this self assured into a category but its progressive and instrumental to be sure. Mathy? yea like more than a little. Some classy as fuck tapping? it litters the landscape. The kicker is each of these are balanced in such a way that nothing is over cooked or too rare. What I will say that gives it a nice edge without losing step is the clear metal influence going on here. No you wont find a chugging break down going on but more in spirit. Every god forsaken instrument here is playing a vital role in the furthering of each passage.  Structure wise you'll be listening intently to see where the hell these guys are going next. truthfully I was stuck on the first two songs for so long because it wasn't making sense how flawless this really is. Yes I did say flawless and you know what that means.....stop reading and get to get getting.  

Ocean Cosmonauts

Telekinesis- 12 Desperate Straight Lines 2011

Lately, i have been posting more hiphop than anything else, and i feel it is at the point that i should post something different; although the majority of my music lately has been greatly influenced by my friends recommendations in the hip hop world, i have recently got a bunch of stuff worthy of sharing. Videos to follow: i picked up a Sam Cooke retrospective album, full of forgotten goodies from my childhood; i picked up some Sloan, a band i am unfamiliar with but i bought on a whim off another glowing review on the AV Club; and the one hitting my stereo most frequently, Telekinesis.

Again, i read a great review of his most recent album and neglected it for a few months, and on a random trip to newbury comics i picked up 12 Straight Desperate Lines. The credits on the album are split between Michael Lerner and Chris Wallace, with lerner writing most of the music and wallace coming in on auxiliary instruments. If this was a bedroom-studio album, its a gem in the art form; it plays like Weezer meets Elliot Smith. Just great, catchy simple rock pop with nice vocals and production. Please Ask For Help is a single from it, and i do say it rocks:



12 desperate straight lines

Duck. Little Brother, Duck! - Survival Is Not A Workout

Portland based math rock quartet with a dual guitar attack that is equally indebted to post hardcore as math rock. Some would say its a bit emo but I dont think thats a fair tag more in feeling than anything else. The vocals help tie things together as things can get a little carried away.  When the guitarists are trying to be melodic they succeed in spades but when things get a bit crowded its hard to gain a feel.  It should be noted also that the drummer rips it up hard.  Aside from some minor quibbles this is a great release for a fairly new group. Its worth the look see trust me.

Survival Is Not A Workout

The Organ Beats- Cruise Show June 3rd

Ok, this is just a reminder to all you boston fools who may have forgotten that the FUCKING organ beats are playing a GODDAMNED show on a FUCKING BOAT on JUNE FUCKING 3RD with MELLOW BRAVO and VIVA VIVA, so go fuck yourselves and get some tickets.

Also, they are playing a show on friday may 27th at ralphs diner in worcester. Should be awesome; i posted about the Beats a month ago in a more in-depth article here, but just as a current reminder of how sweet they are, heres another video of theirs, the title track from their 2009 album Sleep When We Are Dead:



boat show ticket info
sleep when we are dead

Wutang Clan- 36 Chambers 1993

I am now at the point in my hiphop history lesson that i am listening to some of the dopest shit from the early 90s: pete rock and cl smooth have been kicking my ass, main source have been wrecking me daily; the chronic is a masterpiece so closely tied to Doggystyle that they may as well have been a double disc album; and now, at long last, The Wu-Tang Clan.

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

Raekwon- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 1995

Before yesterday, i did not own any Wu-Tang Clan. A post is in the works for 36 Chambers/ Wu-Tang Forever, but in the meantime i wanted to do a quick post on the only album related to the Wu-Tang Clan that i am familiar with, Raekwons 1995 solo album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. This shit is so great, so classic. I dont really need to say much about it; this video speaks well enough for its awesomeness. Definitely my favorite track off the album.



only built 4 cuban linx

Sneak Peek

All you loyal Swords fans; 10,000 views is fast approaching. Info to come :)
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Shining - Blackjazz

Norwegian avant prog metal. Yes your right that could make it sound like anything really so here is the skinny. Heavy use of keyboards along side the guitars give it a more approachable nature but still guitars are heavy and everywhere. Vocals are varied and move from hushed creep outs to the typical metal screams. If you want to talk structure as this is progressive metal we are talking about here take out the metal elements and add a mess of horns (sax also crops up in this release) and youve got yourself a damn fine jazz record. I guess it shouldn't be surprising to know then that these gents used to be an acoustic jazz group. Oh and one last thing there's a pretty flipping awesome cover of King Crimsons "21st Century Schizoid Man" that is absolutely crushing.

Blackjazz

The Blood Brothers - Burn Piano Island Burn

Two person vocal centric post hardcore sounds a bit treacherous but not to worry The Blood Brothers are here to put your mind at ease. As far as their releases go none really portray their high energy as well as Burn Piano Island Burn. An extremely solid record with interesting structures and fast guitars. These sons of Seattle announced their break up in 2007 but influence wise a lot of bands these days draw from their energetic vocals deliveries.

Burn Piano Island Burn

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - 1992

This is a short entry, another hip hop outfit i want to share on recommendation from my man Mike G from Chicago. As i said before, we got to talking hiphop and he told me about all kinds of great stuff to hear stemming from the conversation we had concerning my deep love of The Pharcyde and my ignorance of the more important, creative, and greatly distinguished classic hiphop; the groups that were pushing the art form to a high point in its evolution after many names flourished through its original foundation.

Dr. Dre- The Chronic- 1992

One more classic hiphop entry, something i am sure you are all familiar with but, as a weirdo, i am hearing for the first time. I loved Doggystyle like a fiend when i heard it; it was such feel good smoothness with ill production. Beyond it, i do not know a fraction of Dr. Dre's output. Ive been checking this out tonight; thanks Jimmy. Oh yeah, and this classic is up on it:



the chronic

10,000

We are fast approaching 10,000 page views during our short life span. As a way of saying thank you to everyone that frequents "Plenty of Swords" I have a small special something in the works for one maybe two lucky ducks. More info to come.

 - Acerola

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

Clastic - Strata EP

A Berlin, Germany group that again has that awesome driving style post rock we like to call, Math. There is a lot to like here but admittedly on the surface its easy to think its a bit run of the mill. The more you listen to the EP the more they do strike there own path and I keep finding myself coming back to it. Nothing jazzy going on over here though very rock oriented which never hurt anyone.

http://clastic.bandcamp.com/

This Music Moment- The Roots 2001

So, it does stink to start a post this way, but the music i want you all to hear and appreciate is so far unavailable in my standard pre-blogpost digging; maybe you guys here at the Swords can help me out with finding a link, but i do hate starting off by saying i do not have the sufficient links to share with you.

That being said, i love hiphop. As i have said many times before in many, many blog posts about my history with the style, hip hop is a strange beast; for the most part, i look to strong production and smooth rhyme flow in the artists that end up really sticking with me. As a highschool kid graduating in 2002, a few of my close friends had a deeper love of hiphop and rap than i did, but i sucked it all up in long blunted cruises, listening to and talking about all kinds of music, and why we loved our respective favorite genres.

13 Assassins

Metaghost recently asked me to venture into boston with him to execute the awesome plan of eating a big bowl of pho noodle soup and checking the newest film by Takashi Miike, 13 Assassins. I had no idea that dude had made an epic samurai movie to rival the likes of any of Akira Kurosawas best work, but holy shit Miike was not messing around. This is straightforward samurai storytelling: an evil, murder-loving man is soon to be placed in high political standing in feudal japan, and a counselor who knows that Japan is in trouble if evil gains power secretly enlists the help of a retired samurai (warriors who had become obsolete in the current state of things) to gather a team of fellow samurai and assassinate this evil man while he is journeying home to the capitol city.

The film wastes no time; they show you deeply how evil this motherfucker is, and how strongly the samurai feel that risking their lives to wipe him off the planet serves the better good of the nation (and also how badass these dudes are.. so much awesome swordplay). The last 50 minutes are a battle taking place in a town they have boobytrapped in the most ultimate samurai death town kind of way, with so many tricks up their sleeves and sooo much awesome set design. It is epic, it is bloody, and it is classic. The end of this trailer says its available "March 25th on demand everywhere"... which i have not investigated, but I highly recommend that you do. Plenty of Swords abound.

Brainworms - II Swear to Me

Happy hardcore anyone? some nice guitar work while a bearded man screams about what ever the flip. Sign me up!

II Swear to Me