Cynic - The Portal Tapes

#138) Cynic - The Portal Tapes (1994/95/2012)

 1. Endless Endeavors
 2. Karma's Plight
 3. Circle
 4. Costumed In Grace
 5. Cosmos
 6. Crawl Above
 7. Mirror Child
 8. Road To You
 9. Belong
 10. Not the Same

ugh, what the fuck is this? besides being terrible it's also not technically a Cynic album which is misleading and pisses me off, although i probably should've done my research before buying the album but whatever.

so, brief history : a year after Cynic released their landmark debut Focus they broke up while working on their follow up and weren't seen again until they released Traced In Air in 2008 (more on that album soon.) now i was lead to believe that this record was a "lost" demo recording of what was to be their 2nd album. unfortunately for me that's not quite the case. what happened after Cynic broke up was members Paul Masvidal (guitars, vocals), Jason Gobel (guitars) and Sean Reinert (drums, keyboards) formed a new project called Portal. Portal is basically Cynic with all the cool metal parts removed so all you have left is the new agey bullshit, but now it has female vocals. it's ridiculously cheesy but not in an entertaining way. they recorded this in '94 and '95 but nothing ever materialized (outside of some bootlegs) until now. what a fucking treat. now i don't know if this is the sound they were going for on their 2nd album or if this is just the sound they decided on for Portal but either way it's awful.  but this is not my thing at all.

04/23/12: The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)

04/23/12: The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (2012)

1. 2012 (You Must Be Upgraded) (feat. Ke$ha and Biz Markie)
2. Ashes in the Air (feat. Bon Iver)
3. Helping the Retarded to Find God (feat. Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros)
4. untitled 1
5. Supermoon Made Me Want to Pee (feat. Prefuse 73)
6. Children of the Moon (feat. Tame Impala)
7. That Ain't My Trip (feat. Jim James of My Morning Jacket)
8. You, Man? Human??? (feat. Nick Cave)
9. untitled 2
10. I'm Working at NASA on Acid (feat. Lightning Bolt)
11. Do It! (feat. Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band)
12. Is David Bowie Dying? (feat. Neon Indian)
13. untitled 3
14. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (feat. Erykah Badu)
15. Girl, You're So Weird (feat. New Fumes)
16. I Don't Want You to Die (feat. Chris Martin of Coldplay)
17. untitled 4

     I guess this is technically a Compilation album. It features some tracks released throughout the many E.P.s that The Lips released over the course of 2011. That only accounts for 4 tracks on this release though. The rest of the songs are from one off recording sessions with a wide variety of artists from Ke$ha to Nick Cave to Prefuse 73 to Chris Martin. This album was released on a limited edition vinyl for Record Store Day this year. Its a little disappointing that its hard to find because it is a perfectly acceptable followup to 2009's Embryonic. Despite the wide variety of guests, it is an incredibly cohesive record and is representative of the more experimental tilt these guys have been on for the last few years. Even the few songs that were already released seemed more impressive within the organization of this album. It caused me to give many of last years EPs a more repectful listen for this project (coming soon). This album ended up being a must have for any Lips fan. It is really a great listen with the strangest group of contributors ever. Check it out. (114)

04/22/12: Sigur Rós - Hvarf - Heim (2007)

04/22/12: Sigur Rós - Hvarf - Heim (2007)

Hvarf

1. Salka
2. Hljómalind
3. Í Gær
4. Von
5. Hafsól

Heim

1. Samskeyti
2. Starálfur
3. Vaka
4. Ágætis byrjun
5. Heysátan
6. Von

     This is 2 CD compilation album from Sigur Rós. "Hvarf" contains studio versions of previously unreleased tracks, while "Heim" contains live acoustic versions of previously released album tracks. As with many CDs of this type, I would only recommend it to serious fans of the band. I'm not trying to discount these tracks but theres nothing truely essential here if youre new to the group. There are some really great unreleased songs here and the acoustic recordings are great. This is a really solid collection of songs that are recorded perfectly as with all of Sigur Rós' live recordings. the 5 unreleased tracks are good but I mean, they sound like Sigur Rós! Heim has a very interesting take on some of their more well known songs, but they were originally released on their documentary/concert DVD "Heima". If you want to here "acoustic" Sigur Rós, then I highly recommend tracking down the DVD or at least the audio rip of the Concert DVD because you get to hear these same 6 songs with another 12-15 tracks in the same performances. I actually listened to the full length audio rip and will be covering it in my many upcoming posts that I am trying to catch up on. (113)

Horseback - The Invisible Mountain

To Whom, Then, Do I Turn For Mercy?

#137) Horseback - The Invisible Mountain (2009)

 1. Invokation
 2. Tyrant Symmetry
 3. The Invisible Mountain
 4. Hatecloud Dissolving Into Nothing

Horseback is fucking awesome. the first 3 tracks on this record are a kind of droning, hypnotic, psychedelic, metal. the vocals have a kind of rasping almost black metal feel to them but are distorted and slightly buried in the mix, but not in a bad way. the last track is 16 and a half minutes of guitar drone soundscapeyness with vocals. it has a sort of melancholy feel to it that i really enjoyed.
overall it's a really rad album. 

Cynic - Focus

Wherever There Is Other There Is Fear

#136) Cynic - Focus (1993/2004)

 1. Veil of Maya
 2. Celestial Voyage
 3. The Eagle Nature
 4. Sentiment
 5. I'm But a Wave To...
 6. Uroboric Forms
 7. Textures
 8. How Could I
 9. Veil of Maya (2004 Remix)
 10. I'm But a Wave To... (2004 Remix)
 11. How Could I (2004 Remix)
 12. Cosmos
 13. The Circle's Gone
 14. Endless Endeavors

Cynic's 1st full length is an awesome combination of death metal, prog rock and jazz fusion. this is sorta the early 90s version of Between the Buried and Me but with a lot less ADD. some of the songs get a little too world/new age-y for me but it's still an amazing record. 
the 2004 re-issue features remastered versions of the original 8 track album along with 6 bonus songs. 9 - 11 are all remixes of tracks (the 3 best in my opinion) from the album. to be honest i didn't listen to the tracks back to back or try to compare them closely but i didn't really notice any huge differences. maybe a little more synth. tracks 12 - 14 are from the Portal demos which, at the time, hadn't gotten an official release, but more on those later.
while the bonus tracks aren't really anything special that doesn't change the fact that this is an amazing album that was truly groundbreaking at the time of its release.

Brutal Truth - Need To Control

Hated Time And Time Again

#135) Brutal Truth - Need To Control (1994/2010)

 1. Collapse
 2. Black Door Mine
 3. Turn Face
 4. Godplayer
 5. I See Red
 6. Ironlung
 7. Bite the Hand
 8. Ordinary Madness
 9. Media Blitz
 10. Judgement
 11. Brain Trust
 12. Choice Of a New Generation
 13. Mainliner
 14. Displacement
 15. Crawlspace
 16. Wish You Were Here...Wish You'd Go Away
 17. Painted Clowns
 18. Dethroned Emperor
 19. Eggshells
 20. Head Cheese

Brutal Truth's 2nd full length finds them further evolving their blend of death, noise, punk and grind. the 2010 Earache re-issue has the original 15 track album and 5 bonus tracks. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), Painted Clowns, and Dethroned Emperor (Celtic Frost) were originally released on the Need To Control box set that had the album spread over a 5", 6", 7", 8" and 9" vinyl. i'm not really sure where Eggshells or Head Cheese are from, probably one of the countless splits or comps they've done. the Pink Floyd cover is pretty entertaining and the Celtic Frost cover (another classic band i need to listen to more of) is cool as well. Painted Clowns and Eggshells are rad BT jams, nothing mind blowing but great tracks. Head Cheese is a little over 2 minutes of feedback, riffs, blasts and noise, i always dig when they do this kind of shit.
the booklet contains an interview with Kevin Sharp that closes with the lines "...this is grindcore 101, learn something. It ain't about perfection, it's about annihilation, brother!" well said

The Paper Chase - Someday This Could All Be Yours Vol. 1

We're The Random Acts Of What I Can Only Call Mayhem

#134) The Paper Chase - Someday This Could All Be Yours Vol. 1 (2009)

 1. If Nobody Moves Nobody Will Get Hurt (The Extinction)
 2. I'm Going to Heaven With or Without You (The Forest Fire)
 3. The Common Cold (The Epidemic)
 4. The Laying of Hands the Speaking of Tongues (The Mass Hysteria)
 5. Your Money or Your Life (The Comet)
 6. What Should We Do With Your Body? (The Lightning)
 7. This Is a Rape (The Flood)
 8. The Small of Your Back the Nape of Your Neck (The Blizzard)
 9. This Is Only a Test (The Tornado)
 10. We Have Ways to Make You Talk (The Human Condition)

this is the Paper Chase's 5th and final full length. though this was apparently supposed to be the first of a 2 part album about natural disasters, the band broke up in 2010. this was a great album. maybe a little poppier overall than the rest of their albums but still a great blend of beauty, noise and darkness. i really hope John Congleton decides to do the 2nd part with his new band, The Nighty Nite. or at least comes out with a new record soon...

The Paper Chase - Now You Are One Of Us

Come Hell Or High Water This Sick World Will Know I Was Here

#133) The Paper Chase - Now You Are One Of Us (2006)

 1. It's Out There and It's Gonna Get You
 2. We Know Where You Sleep
 3. The Kids Will Grow Up To Be Assholes
 4. Wait Until I Get My Hands On You
 5. You Will Never Take Me Alive
 6. Delivered In A Firm Unyielding Way Lingering For Just A Bit Too Long To Communicate The Message "I Own You"
 7. The Most Important Part of Your Body
 8. What's So Amazing About Grace
 9. You're One of Them, Aren't You?
 10. The Song Will Eat Itself
 11. ...And All the Candy You Can Eat
 12. All Manner Of Pox Or Canker
 13. At the Other End of the Leash
 14. We Will Make You One of Us
 15. The House Is Alive and the House Is Hungry

this is Paper Chase's 4th full length. there's not really a lot to say about it that i didn't say in my post about their last album God Bless Your Black Heart. the music is full of beautiful melodies and jagged guitars and noise, they continue to have strange sampley "instrumental" tracks and Congleton's lyrics remain as dark and sarcastic as ever. in fact, overall this is probably their darkest album yet. the cover art and the inside of the booklet (which reminds me of John Doe's notebooks in Se7en) also lend a kind of creepy, mysterious vibe to the darkness. another strange and amazing album from Congleton and Co.

The Paper Chase - God Bless Your Black Heart

Good Things Die All The Time, God Bless Your Heart Vengeance Is Mine

#132) The Paper Chase - God Bless Your Black Heart (2004)

 1. Said the Spider to the Fly
 2. One Day He Went Out For Milk and Never Came Home
 3. What I'd Be Without Me
 4. The Sinking Ship, the Grand Applause
 5. Piggy's Had Too Much Wine
 6. Ready, Willing, Cain and Able
 7. Now, We Just Slowly Circle the Draining Fishbowl
 8. A War Is Coming
 9. Your Ankles to Your Earlobes
 10. Let's Be Bad Henry, Let's Be Really Bad
 11. Now You're Gonna Get It
 12. Abby, You're Going to Burn For What You've Done to Me
 13. Your Pretty Little Head
 14. Dying With Decent Music

the Paper Chase's 3rd full length is where i think they really started to hit their stride. the songs are less guitar driven and more built upon various instrumentation and they just feel more, i don't know, lush maybe? the compositions have become even more melodic, so when the dissonant parts and crazy riffs show up they seem even more powerful. there are only a couple of the "instrumental" tracks, it seems like they started to integrate the weird noise/sample parts into the actual songs more. i think album opener "Said the Spider to the Fly" is one of the best Paper Chase songs, it has such a great balance of beautiful melody, darkness and dissonant guitar work. i think this album is also where i start to agree with the Cursive and Bright Eyes comparisons. hell for all i know this is the album that started people making those comparisons. regardless, this is a great album and definitely worth checking out if you want your pop dark and noisy.

The Paper Chase - Hide the Kitchen Knives

You Don't Want Freedom You Want Trick Photography

#131) The Paper Chase - Hide the Kitchen Knives (2002)

 1. I Did a Terrible Thing
 2. Where Have Those Hands Been?
 3. I'm Gonna Spend the Rest of My Life Lying
 4. A Nice Family Dinner For Once
 5. Don't You Wish You Had Some More
 6. I Tried So Hard To Be Good
 7. A Little Place Called Trust
 8. Sleep With the Fishes
 9. So, How Goes the Good Fight
 10. God Forgive Us All
 11. A Liver A Lung A Kidney A Thumb
 12. Drive Carefully, Dear
 13. Out Come the Knives


The Paper Chase's 2nd full length finds them moving a little bit away from the guitar driven noise rock of the first album and into more of a melodic noise pop area. there's still a lot of guitar on the album but they've brought the piano more to the forefront, along with various other instruments as well. on the first album John Congleton was only credited as guitarist and vocalist while on this album his credits are listed as: vocals, guitars, background vocals, piano, all keyboards, organs, sampling, sequencing, etc, etc, etc. i'm guessing his taking on more instruments has something to do with the expanded sound on this album. whatever the case may be, this is a great album. it's poppier and more melodic while retaining the noisy dissonance and experimentation of the first album while bringing in a darkness that was absent on the first album. Congleton also starts switching up his vocals here, alternating between shouting, singing and a sneering delivery somewhere between the 2. the album also continues with the weird instrumental tracks, however here they're mostly pieces of almost classical sounding music with noise and odd samples layered over them. this was a great album, so many great parts and rad ideas. i'd start here.

The Paper Chase - Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know

Anything Can Happen, Anything Can Go Wrong

#130) The Paper Chase - Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know (2000)

 1. This May Be the Last Song You Ever Hear
 2. These Things Happen
 3. Ever Since the Turn
 4. Apple Pies and Alibis
 5. Neat; Manageable; Piles
 6. Can I Pour You Another Drink, Lover?
 7. Lenny What's Gotten Into You?
 8. Goddamn These Hands (I Let Them Touch You)
 9. A Face That Could Launch a Thousand Ships
 10. Throw Your Body On the Apparatus
 11. Off With Their Heads!
 12. Daddy's Got Your Nose
 13. Paperwork
 14. When You Least Expect It
 15. When (And If) the Big One Hits...I'll Just Meet You There

the Paper Chase's 1st album was released in 2000 and it shows. it's very guitar driven with noisy, angular riffs and mostly shouted vocals. while a few of the tracks feature other instruments and there are a couple piano driven tracks (which are probably my favorite, especially the album closer, which reminded me a bit of Year Zero era NIN), i feel like it lacks the varied instrumentation and melody found on later albums. there are a lot of rad dissonant riffs, some great sampling/manipulation, cool little experimental interludes, the songs are very well composed and John Congleton writes excellent lyrics but to me the impact isn't as great as on later albums, probably because of the previously mentioned overall lack of melody and the focus being mainly on the guitar. it's not a bad album, you can definitely hear hints of the melodic/dissonant experimentation to come  and it's worth checking out, but i'd probably recommend starting with a later album.

Kaospilot - Shadows

A Self-Made Universe Digs Its Own Grave

#129) Kaospilot - Shadows (2009)

 1. Lunar
 2. When the Wind Turns Her Head
 3. Shadows
 4. The Indian Became a Thunderbird
 5. Ad Infinitum
 6. Colossus
 7. The Death Knell
 8. The Symphony Plays With Nature's Crime
 9. Weak Hands May Equal Firm Valor
 10. Petroglyphs
 11. Foruten Tid
 12. Vivre Sa Vie

Kaospilot are a band from Norway and i believe this is their 2nd full length. their music falls somewhere in the whole post-hardcore/screamo spectrum. while i didn't really find their music incredibly original, there was something compelling about it that made it an enjoyable listen.

04/21/12: Disasterpeace - Fez Soundtrack (2012)

04/21/12: Disasterpeace - Fez Soundtrack (2012)

1. Adventure
2. Puzzle
3. Beyond
4. Progress
5. Beacon
6. Flow
7. Frmations
8. Legend
9. Compass
10. Forgotten
11. Sync
12. Glitch
13. Fear
14. Spirit
15. Nature
16. Knowledge
17. Death
18. Memory
19. Pressure
20. Nocturne
21. Age
22. Majesty
23. Continuum
24. Home
25. Reflection
26. Love

     This is the electronic soundtrack from the Videogame Fez. This is one of the many pieces that made Fez such a great game. This soundtrack really blew me away. Fez takes place in a 2D world and one creature discovers there is a third dimension. The music has a very 8-bit, chiptune feel to it yet seems to find an extra dimension through the use of modern day electronic music. it is woven together seemlessly and it hypnotized me and really brought me into the world. Ambient moments merge with more shattered glitchy moments. Spectacular Album (and Game) (112)

04/19/12 and 04/20/12: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I, II, III and IV (2008)

04/19/12 and 04/20/12: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I, II, III and IV (2008)

1. 1 Ghosts I
2. 2 Ghosts I
3. 3 Ghosts I
4. 4 Ghosts I
5. 5 Ghosts I
6. 6 Ghosts I
7. 7 Ghosts I
8. 8 Ghosts I
9. 9 Ghosts I
10. 10 Ghosts II
11. 11 Ghosts II
12. 12 Ghosts II
13. 13 Ghosts II
14. 14 Ghosts II
15. 15 Ghosts II
16. 16 Ghosts II
17. 17 Ghosts II
18. 18 Ghosts II
19. 19 Ghosts III
20. 20 Ghosts III
21. 21 Ghosts III
22. 22 Ghosts III
23. 23 Ghosts III
24. 24 Ghosts III
25. 25 Ghosts III
26. 26 Ghosts III
27. 27 Ghosts III
28. 28 Ghosts IV
29. 29 Ghosts IV
30. 30 Ghosts IV
31. 31 Ghosts IV
32. 32 Ghosts IV
33. 33 Ghosts IV
34. 34 Ghosts IV
35. 35 Ghosts IV
36. 36 Ghosts IV

     I pretty much only did that tracklist due to all of the copying and pasting. I am ridiculously behind on my writeups. I only have time for a couple right now despite the fact that i have a list of about 20 or more to do. I am not gonna spend a lot of time on this one. You know the deal. I hadn't truly given this album a full listen. I knew I liked a lot of it but I wasn't able to give my undivided attention to it until recently. It really is a great collection of recordings. It was an experimental endeavor in so many ways. The way it was recorded, the way it was distributed and the way it sounded were all out of the ordinary. I really enjoy this group of recordings. it is varied has moments that remind you of many different Nine Inch Nail albums. Really a solid late career Reznor album that to me serves as a precursor to his film scoring career. (110 & 111)

Nailbomb - Proud To Commit Commercial Suicide

Open Your Brain And I'll Destroy It

#128) Nailbomb - Proud To Commit Commercial Suicide (1995)

 1. Wasting Away
 2. Guerrillas
 3. Cockroaches
 4. Vai Toma No Cu
 5. Sum of Your Achievements
 6. Religious Cancer
 7. Police Truck
 8. Exploitation
 9. World of Shit
 10. Blind and Lost
 11. Sick Life
 12. While You Sleep, I Destroy Your World
 13. Zero Tolerance

i already pretty much covered all the history of this band and the specs of this album in my previous post on Nailbomb's Point Blank. in that post i stated that this was the 1st and only Nailbomb show but according to the liner notes in this cd it was actually their 2nd and final show. they play almost the entire Point Blank record with the exceptions of 24 Hour Bullshit and Shit Pinata. 1 - 11 are the tracks from the show and 12 & 13 are the last 2 studio tracks. like i said in the last post, the live tracks sound good and it's cool to hear them performed live. the studio tracks are really rad as well. if you dig Point Blank it's definitely worth it to track down a copy of this.

Stratvm Terror - This Is My Own Hell

No Redemption Nor Remorse

#127) Stratvm Terror - This Is My Own Hell (2008)

 1. ...
 2. In Oblivion
 3. Unveiled Is My Skin
 4. In God We Do Not Trust
 5. Walk With Fire
 6. No Redemption Nor Remorse
 7. My Hell
 8. Now Ever Sleep...

Stratvm Terror is the industrial noise project of Peter Andersson and Tobias Larsson. the project has been around since the early 90s. noise releases are hard to describe. they're noisy. sometimes loud, sometimes quiet. sometimes rhythmic, sometimes free form. high pitched, low pitched, seething darkness, all these things can describe this album but none of them give you an idea of the power of it. this was a very cool album, unfortunately i can't find the proper words to describe it. noise isn't even a good description, this is more like a soundtrack to the album's artwork, particularly the 3rd pic above. all the art is done by Mia Makila and it's stunning. it reminds me of Hieronymus Bosch. 
very rad stuff

Fistula - Goat

So Far Sowell So What

#126) Fistula - Goat (2010)

 1. Ohio Death Toll Rising
 2. One Chair and An Electrical Cord
 3. The Ones That Got Away
 4. So Far Sowell So What
 5. Mission Accomplished

Fistula (a fistula is basically when a tunnel or connection forms in your body, like in a rectovaginal fistula where a tunnel forms between the rectum and the vagina. there are all sorts of gnarly places that fistulas can occur, google it, it's a good time) is a sludge band from Ohio that's been around since the early 2000s. Goat is an ep that recounts the story of Anthony Sowell, a rapist/murderer from Cleveland who was arrested in 2009 and charged with 11 counts of murder, rape and kidnapping after the bodies of 11 women were found at his duplex (the house has since been demolished). i recommend checking out his wikipedia page to get more history on him and the case.
anyway, the music is dirty and heavy as fuck. a lot of great steamroller riffs. occasional samples of news reports (i laugh every time the reporter says "sausage factory") keep things moving along. unfortunately there aren't any lyrics included but i'm guessing they aren't saying anything pleasant. 

Blessure Grave - Judged By Twelve, Carried By Six

Stop Breathing

#125) Blessure Grave - Judged By Twelve, Carried By Six (2010)

 1. Intro
 2. The Cycle
 3. A Thousand Drums
 4. Stop Breathing
 5. Open or Shut
 6. In the First Place
 7. Changes in the Darkness
 8. Resting Place For Two
 9. In My Mind
 10. Hope For the Worst
 11. Echo
 12. Feeding the Silence
 13. Learn to Love the Rope
 14. Mirror
 15. Hindsight
 16. City Lights

Blessure Grave is made up of husband & wife duo T. Grave (drums, programming, synthesizer, guitar, bass, vocals) and Reyna Kay (synthesizer, lyrics, vocals). this is the Alien 8 cd release of their 2nd full length. it contains the full album (tracks 1 - 12) and 2009's Learn to Love the Rope ep (13-16). they play gothy post-punk/darkwave. the band broke up not too long after this record and went on to form Soft Kill. i really dug this album, i'm definitely gonna check out Soft Kill and try to track down some more Blessure Grave stuff as well.

The Lava Children

I Am A Pony

#124) The Lava Children (2009)

 1. I Am a Pony
 2. Particles
 3. Firefly
 4. Troll
 5. The Green Word

this is the debut ep from the Lava Children. they play poppy, dreamy, experimental psych rock. the album is a strange little trip and i really enjoyed it. their first full length is coming out later this month on Graveface (one of my favorite labels, they also put out this ep) i've already got my copy pre-ordered.

Circle of Ouroborus - Eleven Fingers

The Words Are My Needles, I Enclose The Horror And The Fright

#123) Circle of Ouroborus - Eleven Fingers (2011)

 1. The Prayer
 2. Shadows Lead
 3. Warpath
 4. Staining the Paper to Create
 5. Sigil of Suns
 6. Magenta Chambers
 7. Soul to the Body

Circle of Ouroborus is another one of these bands that wants to release 15 albums a year but doesn't want anyone to hear them. they formed in 2004 and have over 20 releases, almost all of which are on different labels and are limited editions.  the music on this record is lo-fi, synth heavy, kinda gothy post-punk with elements of black metal (a bit like that Hateful Abandon record i talked about...but not really.)
very cool, very dark stuff. i liked it a lot. i'm definitely gonna try to track down more of their records.

Brendon Small - Galaktikon

We Will Challenge The Impossible

#122) Brendon Small - Galaktikon (2012)

 1. Triton
 2. Prophecy of the Lazer Witch
 3. Beastblade
 4. Deathwaltz
 5. Truth Orb and the Kill Pool
 6. You Can't Run Away
 7. Arena War of the Immortal Masters
 8. Dangertits
 9. On My Way

Brendon Small is probably most well known as the creator of Metalocalypse and the songwriter/guitarist for Dethklok. this is his first solo album. he wrote and recorded it with the same guys (drummer Gene Hoglan and bassist Bryan Beller) he does the Dethklok stuff with while they were waiting to find out if they were doing the 2nd Dethalbum. he describes the album as "high stakes intergalactic extreme rock".
go here to see Brendon Small give a breakdown of the album

the music ranges from stuff that sounds like unused Dethklok riffs to more melodic Avenged Sevenfold type riffs and places in between.

overall, this was a rad album. Small is a great songwriter and as much as i love Dethklok, it was cool to hear him playing different styles. i really hope he does more stuff like this in the future.

This Heat - Deceit

Monosyllabic, Hieroglyphic, Etcetera, Etcetera

#121) This Heat - Deceit (1981)

 1. Sleep
 2. Paper Hats
 3. Triumph
 4. S.P.Q.R.
 5. Cenotaph
 6. Shrink Rap
 7. Radio Prague
 8. Makeshift Swahili
 9. Independence
 10. A New Kind Of Water
 11. Hi Baku Shyo

for April's End of Month Theme Adam chose Bands the Other Person Got You Into. he picks a band i got him into, i pick a band he got me into.
i went with This Heat. he first brought up This Heat for his February End of Month Theme post, where he talked about their first album. i then chose that album for a Crossover in March. (check out his post and my post) both of us really dug the album.

Deceit is their 2nd full length and is quite different. while it's still very experimental it's more rock oriented. this is probably where people started seeing them as a post-punk band. singing is waaay more prevalent on this album. on the self titled there were only a couple tracks that had vocals while the rest were experimental instrumentals, here it's the opposite. there are only 2 tracks that don't have vocals. the range of vocals is all over the place as all 3 band members sing/scream/chant/whatever, sometimes all at once.
the album sounds fantastic, all the crazy instrumentation and noise comes through perfectly. this album could've been made yesterday.
i liked this album every bit as much as i liked the first, probably even a bit more. so thank you adam, for bringing these English weirdos into my life.

BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG, BBNGLIVE 1, BBNGLIVE 2, BBNG 2

#120) BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG (2011)

 1. Based Is How You Feel Inside
 2. Fall In Love
 3. Improvised Jam
 4. Mass Appeal/Transmission
 5. I Got A Bad Feeling About This
 6. Salmonella
 7. Freedom/Billium Evans
 8. The World Is Yours
 9. Listeriosis
 10. Camel
 11. Title Theme/Saria's Song/Song Of Storms
 12. Outro/Glasper

so it's Crossover time again. i chose to do BADBADNOTGOOD's current discography since adam has been raving about them so much. check all his posts here BBNG2 BBNGLIVE 2 BBNG
i actually picked up the first record off bandcamp back when it first came out and then, like most things i get off bandcamp and don't listen to right away, i forgot about them. until now.
as he explained in his post, these guys are a jazz trio that's into hip hop. while he "really loved this album"  it didn't really do it for me. i'm not saying it was bad or anything, it was pretty enjoyable, it's just not really my style. a little too mellow and beboppy. and the sound of the piano reminded me of stuff you'd hear on PBS or something. i don't want to rip these guys as they're all obviously talented musicians but like i said, this isn't really my thing. what i will agree with adam about is the Zelda medley being the highlight of the album. it's extremely well done and it really is amazing how iconic these songs are. even after all these years and the fact that they're being presented in an entirely new light, you still know exactly what they are. hopefully they'll do some more game music in the future.
like i said, this wasn't a bad album and i'll definitely be keeping it in rotation on the old ipod but other than the Zelda track it's probably not something i'll go out of my way to listen to.

BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNGLIVE 1 (2011)

 1. Hard In Da Paint
 2. Electric Relaxation
 3. Camel
 4. Doom
 5. Matt Swag
 6. Fall In Love
 7. Disorder
 8. Nightmare
 9. Brooklyn Zoo
 10. Alex Swag
 11. The World Is Yours
 12. Salmonella
 13.Bastard/Lemonade/AssMilk/Shouts Out
 14. Freedom

as the title says, this is BADBADNOTGOOD's 1st live album. it only has a couple tracks off the studio album, the rest is all new stuff. most music is better live but i think that's especially true for jazz. the sound quality on the album is great. it loses some of the overproduction of the studio album. most notably the bright, tinkly PBS piano sound. it's not entirely gone but it's dulled or something. there's also more variety in the tempo, which is always nice, but it also gives the drummer and bassist a little more to work with and allows them to show their skills as well. i really liked this album a lot. i would probably recommend starting with this album over the studio one.

BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNGLIVE 2 (2012)

 1. Hard In Da Paint
 2. DMZ
 3. Banter
 4. CMYK/Limit To Your Love
 5. Rotten Decay
 6. Bastard/Lemonade

the 2nd live album was kind of a live teaser ep for the new full length. these tracks are really cool. they have a darker sound and offer more of a variety of tempos and arrangements. i'm not going to get too much into the tracks though since they're all on the next album. once again the sound quality is great.

BADBADNOTGOOD - BBNG2 (2012)

 1. Earl (feat. Leland Whitty)
 2. Vices
 3. Rotten Decay
 4. Limit To Your Love
 5. Bastard/Lemonade
 6. CHSTR
 7. UWM (feat. Leland Whitty)
 8. DMZ
 9. CMYK
 10. Flashing Lights
 11. You Made Me Realise (feat. Luan Phung)

the latest release from BADBADNOTGOOD. this is a fucking dope album. this is what i wanted the 1st album to sound like. the songs are darker and more varied in tempo and instrumentation. it's not the same piano sound and mellow tempo for the whole album and like i mentioned before, i feel like the bass and drums get a little more attention on these tracks. the drummer in particular, dude lays down some rad beats. all the playing is excellent though, these guys know their shit. i hope on their next album they have more tracks with sax, it really complimented their style well. i was really impressed that they did a My Bloody Valentine cover. this is also the only time i've EVER enjoyed a kayne song. EVER.
overall i have to agree 100% with adam about this album. fucking amazing stuff, i'm looking forward to where they go from here.

oh yeah, how fucking rad is that cover art?

Acid Mothers Temple and the Cosmic Inferno - Starless and Bible Black Sabbath

#119) Acid Mothers Temple and the Cosmic Inferno - Starless and Bible Black Sabbath (2006)

 1. Starless and Bible Black Sabbath
 2. Woman From a Hell


Acid Mothers Temple is a strange and confusing band to talk about. it's basically a collective. there are about 8 or 9 bands that are all "Acid Mothers Something Or Other" and they all play different styles. i've heard a couple albums by the Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso UFO iteration but had no idea of the scope of this band until now. AMT and the Cosmic Inferno combines the free form psychedelic rock of what i heard from the Melting UFO collective with a kind of stoner doom vibe. the first track is 34:30 and starts off with some really mellow riffs and guitar noodling but around the 9 minute mark the tempo kicks up and becomes this noisy psych doom jam that lasts for around 7 minutes before slowing back down into the beginning riff with more noisy guitar soloing over it. i would guess that all the soloing is free form as it's pretty noisy, chaotic stuff but i could be wrong. the 2nd track is a more streamlined 6 minutes of high speed metal. it's still got the noisy psych feel but it also feels more structured.
they're both really cool tracks that show 2 different sides of the band. hopefully i'll be able to track down more of the various AMT releases.

04/18/12: Fucked Up - Couple Tracks: Singles 2002 - 2009 (2010)

04/18/12: Fucked Up - Couple Tracks: Singles 2002 - 2009 (2010)

1. No Pasarán
2. Neat Parts
3. Generation
4. Ban Violins
5. Dangerous Fumes
6. Triumph Of Life
7. Fixed Race
8. Toronto FC
9. Black Hats
10. David Christmas
11. No Epiphany (Fast Version)
12. Crooked Head (Video Version)
13. I Hate Summer
14. Teenage Problems
15. Carried Out To Sea
16. Looking Back
17. Anorak City
18. I Don't Want To Be Friends With You
19. Mustaa Lunta
20. Dream Come True
21. Magic Kingdom
22. Magic Word (Daytrotter Version)
23. Last Man Standing (Year Of The Dog Version)
24. He's So Frisky
25. David Comes To Life (Daytrotter Version)

     I have already played all 3 studio albums by Fucked Up incessantly and I decided it was time to dig into their expansive amounts of Vinyl releases. They have released a ridiculous amount of 7" and 12" vinyls. They have at least 100 songs I haven't heard yet. Instead of trying to trudge through the many many vinyls off the bat, I decided to start with this compilation release. It includes B-sides, alternate versions, and unreleased tracks. The CD is all over the place. The timeline and production quality is inconsistent which makes sense due to the fact that these songs were recorded throughout a 7 year window. There are a lot of gems on this release but it is by no means a good starting point. Their whole progression up until their epic release "David Comes To Life" from last year is represented. From their more straightforward hardcore punk roots to their more experimental later years. Definitely listen to all of their full-lengths before moving onto this compilation. I'm sure ill hit up a bunch of the individual vinyls later on. (109)

04/17/12: Geotic - Duchenne Smile (2009)

04/17/12: Geotic - Duchenne Smile (2009)

1. Simplehearted
2. Igloo
3. Buried Library
4. Gryffindor Mixer
5. Nanotech Serenade
6. Meadow
7. Vegetable Garden
8. Midnight; Strolling the Treehouse Network
9. Pokémon Potluck
10. Mysticism and Spaceflight

     More relaxing Guitar driven minimalist music from Geotic. While considered an album, it was more of an E.P. in length. I enjoyed this as much as many of his other releases. Always minimalist, a little abstract and experimental. It definitely is more built around Guitars like many of his other releases and is an enjoyable listen. I do enjoy how seemingly erratic some of the Geotic releases get, but I think thats how they hold my attention. This album runs the gammut of looping, guitars, piano, drum machines with a hidden dose of vocals. Another good release from Mr. Weisenfeld. (108)

04/16/12: Geotic - Realms (2010)

04/16/12: Geotic - Realms (2010)

1. The Hell 
2. The Hungry Ghost
3. The Animal
4. The Human
5. The Jealous God
6. The God

     This is another free release by Geotic. He has released quite a few albums over his few years of existence. I liked this album but I didn't love it and thats based on my personal preference when it comes to this type of music. All 6 of these tracks are droning long ambient loops. I guess they are based off of some sort of cycle in Buddhist beliefs. This is definitely not an album I would go out of my way to listen to for enjoyment, but the droning relaxed mood of this album has served as great concentration music while working. It doesn't distract from what I'm working on but it fills in the quiet gaps. I guess thats what this kind of music is for though. Realms was well done, is very consistent but just didn't have the variety or interest of other Geotic albums. Quality if you like ambient drone. (107)

04/15/12: Geotic - Eyes (2008)

04/15/12: Geotic - Eyes (2008)

This is a first for me. There is no cover art.

1. Evening Hot Spring (Fanfiction)
2. Dirt (Lonely in Big Bear)
3. Middle School Sleepaways (Yosemite)
4. Wind (Trip to Coachella)
5. Dew (Yosemite When No One's Looking)
6. Nighttime Aquatics (Catalina)
7. Wildest Motions (Youth)
8. Light (Waiting on Iceland)
9. People Watching (Halloween Parades)
10. Greenery Beyond Clouds (The Ooccas' City in the Sky)

     Wow, I am way behind so these may all be very speedy reviews. This is the first album made by Will wiesenfeld under the moniker of Geotic. It is his more atmospheric minimal project as opposed to his other moniker Baths. I had listened to a couple of his Geotic albums but I had (have) a couple to go. Like I said, this is the first Geotic release. I enjoyed it a lot as it is quite unfocused in a good way. Some songs are minimalist piano or guitar pieces, some are electronic loops, and some are a bit more fleshed out ambient electronic music. He even works in his unique singing voice a bit as well. The album is well structured and quite enjoyable despite inconsistent production. One of my favorites by him yet. (106)

Vargr - Northern Black Supremacy

Worship. Kill. Die

#118) Vargr - Northern Black Supremacy (2007)

 1. Intro: Kommando Satanas
 2. Three Days for the King of Jews
 3. Mord
 4. Do What We Say
 5. Inside the Truth
 6. Bring Forth the Ways of Old
 7. Christ Deflowered
 8. Nature Defines Order Through War
 9. Forged in Blood
 10. Outro: Skandinavian Majesty

Northern Black Supremacy is a lo-fi black metal/noise album by Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk. it basically sounds like he took a 13th generation cassette bootleg of an old Burzum demo. blasphemous and noisy as hell, this is definitely a good time.

Spires That in the Sunset Rise

#117) Spires That in the Sunset Rise (2004)

 1. I Am Sewn
 2. Birds of Paradise
 3. Crooked Spine
 4. Rattlesnake
 5. Leader of Change and the Leader of Within
 6. Tampico
 7. No Fate
 8. I Follow You Follow Me
 9. Moonhouse
 10. Bells Don't Ting at Night

Spires is an experimental psych folk band from Decatur, IL. this is their 1st record and it's very strange. lots of cool instrumentation and weird female vocals. i've listened to this album a couple times now and i still don't really know what to say about it. i really dug it though.
check out the band's site to hear tracks off their new album.

Aun - Motorsleep

Then Spring

#116) Aun - Motorsleep (2009)

 1. Motorsleep
 2. Protection
 3. Erzot
 4. With Bows Bent
 5. Unworlds
 6. Tongueless Vigils
 7. Neiges
 8. Then Spring

Aun is the one man ambient drone doom project of Martin Dumais. this is something like his 10th full length. i say "something like" because this is another one of those projects that though it's only been around for 5 or 6 years, already has about 20 records out on nearly just as many labels so i could be off.
the album is divided into 8 tracks but you wouldn't know it without seeing it as it plays pretty seamlessly as 1 whole experience. i didn't really know when new tracks were starting and old ones were ending but it didn't really matter. this was a pretty mellow album overall with a few intense parts here and there. really nice stuff. i'll be checking out more of this project.

The Nighty Nite - Dimples

I Should Have Warned You But I've Had A Little Time To Make Some Enemies 

#115) The Nighty Nite - Dimples (2011)

 1. Dimes in Their Dimples
 2. This Silly Bag
 3. In My Hospital Gown
 4. Meaningless


the Nighty Nite is the new band from the Paper Chase's (a band that will definitely be popping up here soon) John Congleton and this is their debut ep. the music reminds me of Ugly Organ era Cursive mixed with maybe Ben Folds poppiness and something else i can't quite put my finger on. the label claims the band "sounds like the soundtrack to a tragic black comedy, as if Woody Allen made a horror movie about a punk rock band." i'd say that's a pretty good description. as far as i know this is the bands only recorded output. i really hope to hear more from these guys soon.