So I've been real busy, but here's a quick upload of the newest album by the Norwegian electronic music duo known as Röyksopp. Good catchy shit, pick it up.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Röyksopp - Junior
So I've been real busy, but here's a quick upload of the newest album by the Norwegian electronic music duo known as Röyksopp. Good catchy shit, pick it up.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Uniform Choice - Screaming For Change
Fast mid-eighties straight edge youth crew from California. Say what you will about their other recordings, but nothing they released before or after compares to this album. I'll keep this short and simply say that if you're thinking about starting an(other) 80's sounding hardcore band, you should add this to your rotation to make sure you do it right. "We scream to say you better listen!"
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Alice In Chains - Dirt
So ever since I listened to the new Alice In Chains track they put up, I've been anxiously awaiting the release of their new album "Black Gives Way To Blue" that is due to come out at the end of next month. "Dirt" is Alice In Chains' second album and their most commercially successful. Great grunge shit from Seattle, my soon to be new home. My friend Jonny brought up the similarities between Layne Staley's vocals and Axl Rose's and noted that Alice In Chains was originally Alice N' Chainz, presumably as a tribute to Guns N' Roses. You all know who Alice In Chains is unless you're like 3 years old, so I'll shut up.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Alchemist - Chemical Warfare
Télépopmusik - Genetic World
Time to take another Hardcore / Metal break. Here we have some French Trip Hop. If you're weird and watch TV, you might have seen the first track, "Breathe," in some car commercial apparently, but whatever. Télépopmusik play a softer, prettier, less melancholic (and therefore more upbeat and poppy) brand of dreamy Trip Hop, even lyrically. Tracks 5-7 should be completely removed from the album, with Dance Me possibly being the most annoying track on the album and Let's Go Again the definite runner-up (the last minute of the song is enjoyable)... But that is just my opinion. The rest is good stuff though, so check it out.
Naglfar - Sheol
Naglfar
"Sheol" (2003)
Metal
DOWNLOAD
Modern, melodic, refined, Swedish Black Metal for fantasy nerds. Everyone has been posting a lot of Black Metal stuff, and I thought I'd contribute a bit to that. Seems like a lot of punk kids have been coming out with raw Black Metal projects, and this is not one of those projects. This album is well recorded, intricate, and made by some Swedish metal heads. Naglfar's first release was back in 1995 and have gone through their fair share of line-up changes (mostly in the first 5 years). This is their third release and the first one I got my hands on several years back thanks to my friend Eric. Lyrically what you might expect: Demonic dealings, humanity's putrefaction, and a little bit of self pity. "Gaia, your soil bleeds black, your womb shall be the massgrave for all of mankind!"
Friday, August 21, 2009
Gather - Total Liberation
Those of you that know me know I'm nowhere near being hardline, but I do like some over-the-top vegan straight edge music... And this is one example. For the record: I don't support the ALF, I kill mosquitos that are sucking my life juice, and I eat caffeinated chocolate from time to time. All that said, it's nice to hear some impassioned vegan straight edge kids getting pissed and writing metallic hardcore. I know I haven't said anything about the actual music, but you probably have a good idea of what you're getting into: 5 Tracks of hard, well-recorded mid nineties xVx hardcore worship with enough breakdowns to pick up hundreds of dollars worth of change. "Merely straight edge, not enough! Merely straight edge, step it up!"
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Despise You - West Side Horizons
Holy shit, Despise You. These guys ripped it up in the mid to late nineties and then came back together to play shows in Cali and did a little US tour. I was living in Mexico when that happened so I had to miss it (didn't drive to Houston because I'm weak and a poser). Brutal, grinding, metallic, fucked up violence complimented by male/female trade-off vocals and some dismal guitar tones. I want to say before they got back together for the tour, they had only played a handful of shows, if that... But their little ripples in the punk pond turned into colossal tsunamis of influence. I don't even know what that means. Anyways, this has already been posted over at Seeeing Red and Am I Mean?... But fuck you, I want it on my blog too.
Das Oath - Uber Alles
Das Oath
"Uber Alles" (2003)
Hardcore
DOWNLOAD
Hardcore
DOWNLOAD
This is a partial discography of a unique Fastcore band that's fronted by Mark McCoy of Charles Bronson fame. High pitch, nasaly vocals mixed with some fast, noisy, artsy (sorry) guitar work and equally satisfying (and angst-filled) lyrics. You gotta love the between-song distortion that makes it all flow together (I love Scholastic Deth for this too) in a seamless hyper-speed punk attack. Note: Track 6 is a cover of Queen's "We Are The Champions."
Monday, August 17, 2009
Otophobia - Malignant
Otophobia
"Malignant" (2002)
Hardcore
DOWNLOAD
Hardcore
DOWNLOAD
These guys from Philadelphia like to mix it up track-to-track. You've got your blistering Grindcore blitzes (two tracks ~10 seconds) and your raging Crust ballads (one track is ~4 mins). Fortunately for us, they can pull both off beautifully. Go find your Phobia shirts, put your dreads in a bun, and get ready to hate everyone in the scene. This was the last release on Slap-A-Ham, so you know it's gotta be good.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Hatred Surge - Hatred Surge
Hatred Surge
"Hatred Surge" (2005)
Hardcore / Metal
DOWNLOAD
Hardcore / Metal
DOWNLOAD
A one-man band has never sounded so good. Hatred Surge (AKA Alex Hughes) pumps out 9 tracks of Despise You style Gulf Coast Grinding Violence that will fuck your day up. Uncompromising raw vocals, blazing guitar/bass work, crunchy as shit sludge sections, just a fantastic release with enough variation to keep you from wanting to listen to anything else for a few days. He went on to add female vocals on the Insect Warfare split 7". The Black Metal picking at the beginning of Invisible Noose gives me the biggest boner. Oh yeah, the last track is a Despise You cover too.
Life's Halt - We Sold Our Souls For Hardcore
Life's Halt
LA positive Straight-Edge Fastcore with that Youth Crew feel that makes you consider learning how to 2-step... Before realizing you'd rather run in circles and try to jump over your friends' heads. "Get in the pit you motherfuckers!"
Terrorizer - World Downfall
Terrorizer
"World Downfall" (1989)
Hardcore / Metal
DOWNLOAD
Hardcore / Metal
DOWNLOAD
LA based seminal Grindcore of the best variety, none of that boring shit. This album has great Death Metal style riffing mixed in and a solid machine-gun drumming that will send chronic headbangers straight to the hospital. These guys ripped it up with this album and decided to give it a rest... UNTIL NOW (or actually, just last year)! It looks like Terrorizer has decided to get back together and released an album in 2008, which I haven't heard yet. I hope they haven't forgotten how to make eardrums bleed.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Hellnation - Cheerleaders For Imperialism
Hellnation
"Cheerleads for Imperialsm" (2000)
Hardcore
Hardcore
Ok... This is straight up some of the fastest punk-style shit you'll find. Hellnation's first release was in 1990, so they know what they're doing, and they do it fucking well. Ten years after their conception, they came out with this 29 track warp-speed nuke of an album on Slap-A-Ham that will obliterate damn near anything you previously considered "high speed" or "high intensity." Punk-ass hyper guitars, blasting drums, hateful sociopolitical lyrics, throat-destroying screeching vocals served up by the drummer, and (in this recording) Chris Dodge (you know who he is) filling in on bass duties. You just can't go wrong. "This is punk rock not the Boy Scouts."
The Gate Crashers - Are A Bunch Of Motherfuckers
Thirteen tracks of fast, punk-ass hardcore from Lehigh Valley, PA. There is nothing wrong here: Superbly executed song writing, spiteful lyrics, and a solid recording. I think Ebullition got it right when they compared them to Uniform Choice... Sans Edge. You can pick up the 7'' for a listen over at Mosh Eisley, though I like the LP better.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Stan Getz & João Gilberto - Getz / Gilberto
I'm kind of a sucker for João Gilberto's work over all, and this is no exception. With the collaborative efforts of Stan Getz, João Gilberto, and Antonio Carlos Jobim, we get a 10 tracks of flawless Bossa Nova instrumentation and smooth vocals. It's basically guaranteed that if you play this in your parent's house, your mom will comment on why all your music doesn't sound like this. Although this album includes perhaps the most celebrated Bossa Nova track of all time, "The Girl From Impanema," my favorite track is "Desafinado." It's flawless. Anyways, great stuff from some Bossa Nova masters to make (virgin) piña coladas or margaritas and hang out in the dwindling summer heat.
R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
Things have been getting dark and gloomy over here, so I decided to upload an easier listen for most people. Here is R.E.M.'s "Automatic For The People" for the people. If you don't like it you're stupid and now everybody knows it. Also, if you want more information on them, you should learn to use the internet.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Twilight - Twilight
Fuck the books / movies. Twilight is an American Black Metal band that contains members of Xasthur, Leviathan, Krieg, and Nachtmystium. This is the only thing they've released and have since broken up. The vocals are heavily distorted to sound airy and demonic, albeit mostly not guttural. Instrumentally and stylistically, this release does not deviate too much from the members' other projects. It's easy to hear each member's contribution and writing style from track to track, and that is probably why it's so good. Fuck the books / movies.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Venetian Snares - Filth
Filth. This raunchy-titled, abrasive, spastic IDM release is the latest from Canada's Venetian Snares (aka Aaron Funk). If you like noisy break-beat shit, you should check this out. I had previously put up "Rossz Csillag Alatt Született," which is also worth a listen... But these two albums are very different. Though both rely on heavy breakbeats, "Rossz..." uses a lot of strings to create a smoother feel, where as "Filth" is a lot more glitchy and harsh.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Running For Cover - Human Ruins EP
Unrelenting Power Violence quartet from Buffalo, NY (basing their location solely on the address in the insert). The lyrics range from misanthropic anger to suicidal gloom and include a track "based on an ancient Irish myth" called "Bricriu." Listen to this when things are not going your way. For fans of Crossed Out.
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