11/30/10

Andrew Jackson Jihad- People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World

Andrew Jackson Jihad- People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World
Genre:Folk/Punk
Released: September 2007
What set they rep? Phoenix, Arizona
Songs:
1.  Rejoice
2.  Brave as a Noun
3.  Survival
4.  Bad Bad Things
5.  No More Tears
6.  Bells & Whistles
7.  Randy’s House
8.  A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit
9.  People II: The Reckoning
10.  Personal Space Invader
11.  People
(download on mediafire)

Today, We have a special guest voice… One that just happens to reside in another shell…

It’s what i’m thinking. It’s what you’re thinking. It’s what they’re thinking. The difference between us and Andrew Jackson Jihad is that this band is brave enough to sing about it. You know, the manic emotional war in your head between utter hatred and irrevocable love for the people who surround us—our teachers, our parents, the apathetic Wal-Mart worker, that bum on the corner you see sleeping on the concrete while you chain smoke—whomever.

So it’s very fitting that AJJ has seamlessly combined the rebellious side of punk with the affectionate, “let’s-all-get-stoned-and-cuddle” mood that acoustic folk music seems to provoke within us music enthusiasts. Coupled with Sean Bonnette’s high-pitched, urgent-sounding voice, the overall tone of the album is clear: fuck the pettiness, listen, and be happy. It’s the kind of music that invokes within you the urge to do a circular, overenthusiastic jig despite how mentally incapacitated you might appear. Though it ends leaving you in a bewildered daze, one couldn’t possibly demand this album to be any longer—those 25 minutes are so jam-packed with prophetic wisdom, i swear i can picture Socrates in the corner of a show, awkwardly swaying along in his toga to the beat of the upright bass, nodding his head in approval.

Bonnette gives us a Utopian vision of a perfect world, one with “no more bad times, no more bummers, no more SUV’s and no more Hummers.” You know anyone hatin’ on Hummers is legit. Instead, AJJ wants only the best for us—“happy times and half-assed rhymes…most of all no more tears.” They order, “Be the best fucking human that you can be!” and calls us out on our lowest and most depraved moments—“How can you put that straw up your nose when you know how coke is manufactured?...It’s made by babies who’ve been captured.” Maybe it’s because, as he sings, We’ve all got “a Nazi and a rapist living in our tiny hearts.” Yeah. i said it. We are all evil and self-serving.

It’s an album that i, for over half a year, have continuously returned to. I felt as though Bonnette had snuck from the wires of my headphones right into my soul. “Shit,” i said aloud as i thought about the schoolwork i should have been doing while writing this review. “i’ve got essays, i’ve got finals due/i have got lots and lots of problems,” Sean sang despairingly, mimicking my tone.

He continued reading my mind, singing “Your bi-polar illness, it comes and it goes/your parasympathetic nervous system reacts and you’re in fight-or-flight mode.” And yes, AJJ throws around smart people words like “parasympathetic” a lot. These dudes are the goddamn philosophers of our lost and lonely generation.

So go listen. And give your mom a hug, because even though she maybe gave you a few complexes throughout childhood and still pisses you off a lot, “people are the greatest thing to happen.”

-Deepster McPBRlover

11/29/10

Twain Harte- A Sunny Place For Shady People


Twain Harte- A Sunny Place For Shady People
Genre: Math Rock/Post-Hardcore
Released: 2007
What set they rep? Livermore, Northern Cali

TWAIN HARTE IS FUCKING DEAD
(try em if you dig: Tera Melos, At the Drive-In, Maps & Atlases)
Tunes:
1.  Raped By An Octopus
2.  Shipload
3.  Nothing Sounds Much Better
4.  Circa January 27th
5.  Pyramids
6.  Untitled Track
GET IT HERE
(mediafire)
HEY THERE ALL YOU BROMO-SAPIENS-
i’ve been snacking on some tasty NorCal math rock, topped with sultry post-hardcore seasonings.  The now defunct Twain Harte is like, the bajillionth band with complex, catchy and fun music you can get into.  It’s upbeat with a lot of jarring guitar lines that still maintain to go easy on the ears and get stuck in your head.  i can for sure see some punk influences throughout the disk, both stylistically and how you can feel the energy in a similar way. 

Personally, i think the vocals fit well with the whole down-to-earth way they play, just seeming to have fun.  They mainly shout, but vary the delivery (ATD-I) in a way where it doesn’t get monotonous.  This kind of music is all about release, so the harsh singing may not sit well with some listeners.

Too bad these guys had to break up so fast, they’re supah-young.  Have a gander at this little NUGGET

Well i guess that’s about it, try a listen, spread the good word
-Cayce Grace

11/27/10

Skream- Skream!

Skream- Skream!
Genre: Dubstep/Electronic
Released: October 2006
What set does he rep? London, UK
Tracks:
1.  Tortured Soul
2.  Midnight Request Line
3.  Blue Eyez
4.  Auto-Dub
5.  Check-It (Feat. Warrior Queen)
6.  Stagger
7.  Dutch Flowerz
8.  Rutten
9.  Tapped (Feat. JME)
10.  Kut-Off
11.  Summer Dreams
12.  Colourful
13.  Emotionally Mute
(mediafire)

i don’t know about the hoods of all you assorted  chicks and dicks, but here in the void-like Non-Chicagoland Midwest, the whole dubstep/electronica/whatever scene is blowing up like crazy.  Extremely epilepsy-unfriendly light shows are occurring every single night in cities around the world, and other times you can even hear the mobs of festies grinding their teeth before you enter the gates.  Rising acts like Bassnectar are snagging gigs all over the country (and out of it as well), and Pretty Lights is playing a sold out show at the Congress on New Year’s Eve in Chi-town.  Just remember kids, before you decide to say “I FUCKING LOVE RUSKO”, know that around 70-80% of dubstep is conservative, stick to the basics, cookie-cutter bullshit.

Well, that awesome 20-30% had to draw inspiration from somewhere.  Today, i give you the first album released by Skream (the scrawny kid in the white on the album cover), who just might be the forefather of the now hustling and bustling dubstep scene.  Taking into account how young this kind of stuff is, and that most of the notable dudes of today have surfaced within the last 2 years, it’s pretty crazy to see that Skream’s first “hit”, ‘Midnight Request Line’, took flight on the airwaves 5 years ago.  Yep, it dropped way back in 2005, when he was at the ridiculously un-ripened age of 19 years old.  Skream, born in 1986 and named Oliver Jones, is a great embodiment of the movement going on around us- one full of youthful vigor, driven by soul-power, love for the live experience, and yes, drugs as well in some cases.

‘Skream!’ is a seminal album that takes on the role of Nostradamus, foreshadowing the future and what is to come.  With that, don’t expect to hear the blatantly overpowering bass that many artists in the genre now have.  He was the beginning, the one who laid down the foundation for which the future electro-heads would continue to build on.  His stuff is moody and a bit ominous at times, but always manages to have a strong replay value.  Know your roots fellas!

Later,
STEPHEN DUBSON   

11/25/10

hi everybody

hi dr.nix! (what, you never watched the simpsons before?)

you fuckin' communists.

like goddamn Nroth Korean-ass commies. i bet kim jong II never shot a hole in one in his life (the n.korean government claims otherwise, he is said to be an adamant golfer, averaing 3-4 hole-in-ones a round) yet still his unavoidably brain washed people look at him like somem kind of deity...

shit seems to be messed up lately, obama yelling and aircraft carriers mobilizing in midst of a possible WWIII (the final one).  North Korea vs. South Korea goes from China vs. America and ultimately to Humanity vs. Earth. the end of 2012 lies just about 25 months away- we shouldn't think as the end of the world in a way that it's going to happen ALL at once.  Things will continue happen, fucked up things, until at one point (i think soooooooon) we'll set off doomsday
a

sorry about pulling the whole hemingway "bore you with the way i write even though its thoughtful and driven by alcohol- thought this wousld be appropriate...again,  ii apologize

but anyway, hey y'all, yemsel loodenlen is now on the soap bocx, ghere 2 update you, hopefully, a with a supreme saccuracy, with what i and my other "voice" homeboys will be working on...sorry, had some of that bottom shelf tonight- i'll try myd best:
-a review of one of the first influential dubstep acts, and why the fuck said genre is blowing up in the MidWest
-one or two reviews for local Chicagoland area bands
-information on FREE local shows, when they arise
-contributions from several other fellow voice-siblings who just happen to reside in a different shell

hanks, love, and as AA says, "keep comin' back"
yemsel

p.s. happy turkey day!

11/24/10

Maserati- Pyramid of the Sun

Maserati- Pyramid of the Sun
Genre: Post-rock/Psychedelic/Instrumental
November 2010
What set they rep?  Athens, Georgia

Tunes:
1.  Who Can Find the Beast?
2.  Pyramid of the Sun
3.  We Got the System to Fight the System
4.  They’ll No More Suffer From Thirst
5.  Ruins
6.  They’ll No More Suffer From Hunger
7.  Oaxaca
8.  Bye M’Friend, Goodbye
(download via mediafire)

What up smurfs?  Shablaman‘s here to supply a bit of decent exposure to some recent tunes i’ve been into.  Maserati just dropped their new full length entitled Pyramid of the Sun a few weeks ago.   i’m still regularly heading back to float along in the dark and strange tripped-out dance world i’ve stumbled upon via these dudes’ music.  These guys can lay on one of their groove-filled tribal rhythms for multiple minutes without losing its pizzazz- ya know?  Maserati crafts their sound to come out with an interesting blend of post-rock mixed up with dancy- wait what?  Uh… Microsoft Word claims that “dancy” isn’t a word as well as “dancey”, i never really questioned whether it was an actual word, weird.  Anyway the string of adjectives i was about to say included dancy, heavy, psychedelic and at times hypnotic.  Basically it’s upbeat, experimental post-rock without the usual obligatory and at times bullshit convoluted 3-5 (20 for GY!BE) minute filler section.  That kinda stuff like this that gets you way way waaaay out there, definitely.

i randomly saw them play a free show at a college campus about a year back and was  pleased with an up and front row view to experience a good old fashioned musical entrancement.  i remember one of the two effect pedal-wielding guitarists played the main rhythm riff throughout  “Another Brick in the Wall Pt.1” by that one band during sound check, uh, Pink Floyd, yea I think that’s their name, they’re one of my favorites, for sure.  Some middle-aged goon, likely with an itchy ass at the time, scoffed like a douche before he took a sip from his Bud, all “you can’t play that because the original is perfect” about it.  Dude was a dick.  They didn’t play the song anyway, and then proceeded to make me want to go balls out tribal on the place with all those chugging war drum beats,  so it was all good other than it made me aware of that dude and his dick-ish tendencies. 

 On a more horribly tragic note, only about a month after that show drummer Jerry Fuchs, who also played in !!!, died at the age of 34 (ugh) by an accident that ended with him falling down an elevator shaft (ugh) at a charity event (ugh).  Made in honor of their fallen comrade, complete with an appropriate farewell with the closing track, “Bye M’Friend, Goodbye”, i dig Pyramid of the Sun like that of a dog.  Some great stuff that you can equally enjoy bouncing around bustin’ moves  to just the same as vegging out on a couch watching the SciFi channel on mute.

Time to be out
Peace&Love
Shablaman Shablaca

RIP
Jerry Fuchs

11/22/10

The Rhinoceros Pact- BIG EUROPE

The Rhinoceros Pact- BIG EUROPE
Released: July 2010
Genre: Noise Rock/Experimental/Fucked Up
What set they rep? Lombard, Illinois- a western 'burb of Chicago
                                              
Trax:
1.  laundry jesus
2.  she’s not a conspiracy theorist, she’s just polish
3.  thunderbash
4.  portland’s prodigal son
5.  carnival in the swapmart parking lot
6.  semen truck
7.  other than schoolwork, the only thing you can do at the 
     university of south dakota is smoke meth and tip cows
8.  crucified crow
9.  aktion t4
10.  BIG EUROPE
(download via mediafire)

NOISE!  BETRAYAL! DISASTER!  Here comes Hitler, STRUTTIN' THAT ASS with the newly dubbed top-dawgz of the Third Reich, briskly marching close behind that which never ceases to strut on its way to world domination.  Yea, an alternate universe in which the Nazis never got merked back in La Segunda Guerra del Mundo would most likely be a depressing suck-ass of a time, but would erecting 4 replicas of the Eiffel Tower to represent the 5 continents that are actually worth conquering* make up for it?  Who knows, but some band- named after an agreement on what pet animal to be wished for every year the members’ respective b-days candles were blown out- wrote an album about it.  

The Rhinoceros Pact is a noise rock duo consisting of brothers Myles and Jake O'Donnell, two pretentious lads who shamelessly embrace that whole trendy “DIY or DIE ethos” that seems to be super “in” these days.  Hailing from the youthful and vibrant music scene found in the western suburbs of Chicago, BIG EUROPE is the first full-length that RP has dropped, back in July 2010.  Essentially, the Rhino Pact sucks Lightning Bolt’s proverbial noise rockin’ balls on the regs via writing music heavily inspired by the dual-Brian action of the duo from Providence.  Chock-full of thrifty thrash-filled fun and super-silly noises that somehow manage to come out of a drum set and a bass guitar with some effects.  Music well suited to perform a properly executed ACID DANCE!

Here’s a tasty little snippet of a synopsis that explains the back story of this goofily dark concept album:
“Taking place in a parallel universe during World War II, Hitler's army has won the Battle Of Britain after bombing the shit out of it, and launching Operation Sea Lion, a full frontal amphibious invasion of the British Isle. With all of Europe under Axis control, Russia declares a second armistice with Germany and pulls their troops from the western front. As Hitler sits in his throne in New Berlin, Britain he awaits the American offensive against him. It never comes...”
(Written by bassist/samplist/mad-demon-noise-scientist Jake O’Donnell)


today i'll leave all you fiends on a good (dissonant) note with a link to a cute little animated music film for the 8th track off of BIG EUROPE... crucified crow

Seriously for real,
-Sol(ution) Rosenberg

*For all you hopefully-soon-to-be-offended-big-on-“PC” types, The 5 Continents That Are Actually Worth Conquering consist of: North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Antarctica.