Dilute

"Grape Blueprints Pour Spinach Olive Grape" by Dilute
Math Rock/Post-Rock 54 40' or Fight 2002



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Dilute fills the space between American Football and Hella in the audio spectrum, with calm spindly angular guitar with very relaxed moments to loud energetic moments as well. This band has wonderful dynamics.

Also, what Dilute does that bands like Hella don't do is expand the repertoire to a full band, where Hella is two members, Dilute is several members. The singing is also wonderful, with Marty Anderson (famous for his side project Okay) singing with his creepy yet still intimate voice. This album is worth many a listen. I recommend mostly for when working on something that needs focus. It's just repetitive enough to get lost in but dynamic enough to casually enjoy and not have to think about.

For Listeners Of: Hella, Don Caballero, Lightning Bolt, Dilute, Maps and Atlases, ughgod, Tortoise, American Football, anything Zach Hill has ever touched

Hella - Hold Your Horse Is

"Hold Your Horse Is" by Hella
Math Rock 2002 5 Rue Christine



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Hold your horse is as seamless and smooth as math rock can get, with great track to track transition.

Starts with blippy intro song "The D. Elkan" and jumps right into "Biblical Violence." Right at this point, you know exactly what to expect for the rest of the album, impossibly fast, equally as ridiculous, alternative meter drumming with angular math guitar. Just like Zach Hill's drumming, the album does not have one boring or resting point. The entire album is an assaulting pleasure on the ears of any ADD member of our generation.

Hella's songwriting approach seems like a foray into the mind of a distracted virtuoso musician, with theme after them coming and going. Sometimes brilliant themes that a normal musician would use for a whole song are introduced and thrown aside in thirty seconds time.

Hella is true talent mixed with a fun-loving, energetic approach. Sometimes after listening to a Hella song you even have to catch your breath.

For Listeners Of: Don Caballero, Lightning Bolt, Dilute, Maps and Atlases, ughgod, Tortoise, American Football, anything Zach Hill has ever touched

The Smiths

"The Smiths" by The Smiths
Rough Trade Records 1984




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Some bands that come around and join together are considered perfect bands, The Smiths might just be one of those bands. The perfect combination of music and lyrics came together with Morrissey and Johnny Marr with The Smiths.

Few lyricists match the prowess of the great Morrissey, not also to mention his angelic voice, equally as peerless. Johnny Marr's music is no shorter a feat itself with great arpeggios and chord break downs.

The bands self titled effort in 1984 is a great example of that. Sometimes one must just listen, as a great man once said, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."

For Listeners Of: The Cure, Joy Division, Interpol, Bauhaus, Morrissey, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Stone Roses, Oasis

Andrew Jackson Jihad

"People That Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World" by Andrew Jackson Jihad
Folk-Punk Asian Man Records 2007



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Angst is a topic covered to a considerable degree across many fields of music. From Neil Young to Wu Tang Clan, angst serves as great inspiration to many musicians. Angst, however, can often breed some of the shittiest music imaginable (i.e Avril Levigne), and so musicians must tread cautiously when approaching the subject matter.
The Arizona duo Andrew Jackson Jihad has found a formula for angst that works wonderfully.... take the inspiration of early American folk (Woodie Guthrie) add in the anger of late 70’s punk and come out with a truly unique album that has you singing along about a Nazi and a rapist living in your heart. People Who Eat People Are The Luckiest People Are The Luckiest People On Earth is the masterpiece for everyone who has ever felt like say “Fuck You” to the world.

But underneath the anger is a sentiment of hope for fellow man, as stated in the song “Personal Space Invader” (which perhaps sums up the album perfectly) “Welcome to this world have as much fun as you would like/While helping others have as much fun as you’re having/Be kind to those you love/And be kind to those you don’t/But for God’s sake you gotta be kind’”.

People Who Eat People is full of catchy songs. From the opening track “Rejoice”, which sets the tone for the anthem perfectly by screaming ”Rejoice despite the fact this world will hurt you/Rejoice despite the fact this world will kill you/Rejoice despite the fact this world will tear you to shreds/Rejoice because you’re trying your best”, . The rest of the album follows suit, keeping the upbeat tempo with the thumping upright bass and aggressive guitar and lends us some gems as “Survival Song,” “No More Tears,” and “People II: The Reckoning” There is no dropping point in this album; it manages to stay strong throughout, making for an almost perfect album.
In conclusion, this album, though being a reprise of common themes and a mixing of genres many consider to be past their prime, manages to usher in a fresh, unique sound. Even if you are not a folk or a punk fan, this album deserves at least one listen.

You May Also Enjoy: Ghost Mice, Those Poor Bastards, Wingnut Dishwashes Union, Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains, Early Electric Bob Dylan.

Greensboro Music Festival

Hey there to any Music fans living in Greensboro or surrounding areas.

If you enjoy music, especially independent music, you should check out this here festival to be happening in the upcoming week in Greensboro, NC. It's focusing on independent composers and their work.

It's called North "Carolina Acoustic Electronic and ElectroAcoustic Student-Run Brand New Music Festival Festival" or NCAEaEAS-RBNMF Festival.

Definitely worth checking out. Catchy title too.


Festival Page

A Tribe Called Quest

"People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm" by A Tribe Called Quest
Rap\Hip Hop Jive Records 1989



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When first sitting down to research this amazing rap album, I stumbled upon the Wikipedia article and glanced at the genres that A Tribe Called Quest are filed under. Never before have I seen a more appropriate filing. It said:

"Jazz Rap/Golden Age Hip Hop"

Perfect. Nailed It. Good Job Wikipedia. (maybe soon it'll change it to Neo-Classical Metal/Zouk though, knowing Wikipedia)

Anyway, to get to this here album quickly, People's Instinctive Travels is one of the smoothest pieces of rap music I've ever heard. The Tribe consists, on a nuclear level, of Q-Tip, Al Shaheed Muhammad, and Fife Dawg.

What got my attention for this album was the lead single, and most famous Tribe song "Can I Kick It?". Why, yes you can Tribe, yes you can. This song is a great example of the Tribe, featuring great smooth rap poetry, amazing sampling (Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side is sampled, possibly my favorite sampling to date), subtly comedic lyrics, and great structure for a rap song.

A Tribe Called Quest is definitely one of the most overlooked rap groups of the early 90's, sometimes overshadowed by rap giants Wu-Tang, Public Enemy and the like.

For Listeners of: Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, Run DMC, NWA, Gucci Mane, Notorious BIG, or Tupac

You Forgot In People

"You Forgot It In People" by Broken Social Scene
Indie 2002 Arts & Crafts



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Sorry for the tiny delay between recommendations, but I've got a great one here for you.

Broken Social Scene (BSS) has been one of the flag bearers of the 00's Indie movement, especially the Canadian sector, that being Stars, Metric, Apostles of Hustle, Feist, and Tokyo Police Club. BSS is a legendary super group of members of all of these bands (except TPC). Sometimes live acts get up to 19 members on-stage, albums reaching even more than that in appearances.

This is the album that brought them to the forefront, and for good reason. "You Forgot In People" is one of those albums that you feel like you need no other albums. Ranging in energies, dynamics, and styles.

Early songs in the album are high energy and catchy songs, "Stars and Sons" and "Cause=Time". The latter half is a more intimate venture through jazz and folk, "I'm Still Your Fag" and "Lover's Spit". Only a few bands in recent musical history mix genres so well but still keep their "sound," the other band that comes to mind is Yo La Tengo.

Another song that really stands out is the "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" that features Metric singer Emily Haines singing about the pressures and the "no rest" lifestyle of being a seventeen year old girl while beautifully crafted string arrangements accompany it in the back.

Few bands sound as well crafted and focused as Broken Social Scene, every line sounds intentional and well thought out. With 18 appearing musicians on this album, it's hard to believe that anybody could pull it together quite as well as these guys.

For Listeners Of: Metric, Stars, Feist, Tokyo Police Club, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Indie, Animal Collective