Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Vinyl Fetish: Yob - The Unreal Never Lived and The Illusion of Motion Review

I gleefully ordered both of these albums at a ridiculously high price ($35). Granted some of that glee was due to the fact that I ordered them on my phone after having been at the bar for 6 or so hours, but the overwhelming majority of it was because my two favorite Yob albums were finally being pressed on vinyl. A week plus a few days later when I finally sat down to listen to them however, I was somewhat less gleeful. No, they're not bottom barrel pressings with pixelated artwork that sound like garbage (though the "etching" on side D of The Illusion of Motion is pretty pathetic). They're bare minimum pressings by a label that unceremoniously dropped the band years ago. This price gouging pressing is simply about cashing in on the popularity boom Yob has enjoyed with the release of their last two albums. There was no passion or care or even any real effort put into pressing these albums. Yet, I bought them. I thought about spending the rest of this post hurling invective at the major label with a roster full of lowest common denominator dreck that put these out. Instead, I'm going to celebrate the fact that two of my favorite doom records got the vinyl treatment at last. Kind of.


Monday, February 27, 2012

Vinyl Fetish: Carcass- Necrotic Innards Live May 1990

So...for serious, I need this. Limited to 150 copies on "Linda Blair's upchuck" colored vinyl.


H.B.B.R.

 Does this need any explanation
I think not.

                             

Loma Prieta- I.V. (2012)

As I continue to get super pumped to see Converge in a tiny ass club again, I cant help but focus on their opening acts. This show is going to be ridiculous! Next we have Loma Prieta. I've been pretty stoked on this band for a bit now. Just ask Pat how many times I've asked him if he's listen to this record yet...hint: every time. Ferocious and sublime. Those two words sum it up for me. Ferocious is obvious, but sublime, sublime is really in the sense that it simultaneously takes me back and is pushing towards the future. Restoring my hope that their are people who are passionate about music and have an understanding that in order to progress you must know where you come from. These young guns really did their homework. Channeling every thing that's good about hardcore and spewing it forth with such vitriol and abandon, Loma Prieta's I.V. is a masterwork of modern hardcore. These gentlemen know how to do and do it really well! The long and the short of it is: Dude's, you have to listen to this shit!





                                                                               Buy it:
                                                                             Physical
                                                                              Digital

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Pygmy Lush- Old Fiends (2011)

We are all aware of the pedigree from which Pygmy Lush was born, so no need to fill in the back story here. Their latest offering Old Friends finds them moving pretty much completely away from those now legendary beginnings. Where they would once convey feeling and dynamic through bombastic explosions of chaotic aggression, they now find solace in the quiet and reserved. And they do it beautifully. Their transformation to, dare I say, an almost alt. country/ punk folk band seems completely natual. From Bitter River's more straight forward punk rage to Mount Hope's transitional feel, they seem to have truly found their identity with this release. Kudos boys! It has been quite the journey for the Taylor brothers and Co. Be sure to come check them out opening for Converge on 4/12 at DC9.  Definitely not one to miss!




                           
                                                                              Try it.

                                                                            
                                                                              Buy it:
                                                                             Physical
                                                                              Digital

So this is happening...

It has taken me a while to figure out how to kick off my first post. Being in the company of someone whose written word is leaps and bounds above my own can be quite daunting. Then I said, fuck it! I aim to compliment what Pat has already brought to the table ( I even considered going by “the sommelier” , but thought better of it) a place to showcase shit that's awesome! Whether you agree or disagree that we're capable of delivering you a steady stream of totally rad stuff is neither here nor there. Just know we will keep coming back time and time again with more awesomness and awesomisity than you can shake a stick at, or other stick like objects! Preferably not sharp ones, I'm not good with sharp things. Anywhoo... I will do my best to not totally ruin what Pat has built here, but I make no promises. Thanks.

Triumvirate

I was pretty sure that I noticed Ian MacKaye on that little VIP balcony that the 9:30 Club has during the Dinosaur Jr./OFF! show last summer. This picture proves I wasn't hallucinating.

Punk's not dead, it just goes to bed at a more reasonable hour.

Pallbearer- Sorrow and Extinction (2012)

For the most part, more traditional doom and I don't get along. That's partly due to the fact that I'm a sludge fanatic and partly because I got really bored of every band's vocalist trying to sound like Ozzy or Lee Dorrian or Matt Pike really quickly (and yes, I am aware the title of this blog is a pun on a Pentagram lyric, thank you). However, I heard the vocalist from Pallbearer's cameo on the incredible Despond album by Loss and was very impressed. I somehow missed Pallbearer's demo, so this was the first I've heard them and I must say, the hype is warranted. I could spend a few sentences comparing Pallbearer to bands that I don't particularly care for or listen to, but all you should really need to know is it's heavy and it's damn good. While comparisons to the funeral doom dirge of Loss aren't totally on the mark, Pallbearer has a sense of melody very similar to their southern brothers in said band. Definitely has potential to make my end of year 2012 list. 



Buy it:

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Vinyl Fetish: Mitochondrion- Archaeaeon 2xLP Pre-order

Mitochondrion's 2008 debut full length Archaeaeon is finally set to be released on vinyl. If you can remember back a few months, I named Mitochondrion's Parasignosis album of the year for 2011. While Archaeaeon isn't quite as good as Parasignosis, it's still some remarkably good, completely head-fucked death metal. Issued in a gatefold with all new artwork, the first 150 copies come on gold vinyl. You better believe I got a gold copy.


And now back to our irregularly scheduled programming...

Welcome. Since the Megaupload shut-down I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. By that I mean I've been waiting for my preferred file hosting site to go down, start blocking US IP addresses or only allow downloads of files you have uploaded personally, but it doesn't appear Mediafire will be doing any of those. Apparently they've deleted many peoples' files, but those people were dumb enough to label their files with the names of the artists and albums. So, we're back.

Why the fancy new blog? There are a few reasons. One, as you might have noticed in the "About Us" section on the left, there's some new guy listed. Many of you know Rob, but for those of you who don't, all you really need to know is that our musical tastes are damn near the same. Seriously, if last.fm had a musical compatibility rating of "This Person Is Your Musical Doppelganger" that would be ours. So, welcome Rob in the same manner we welcome all newcomers, by lambasting them mercilessly. Secondly, we're expanding the scope of this blog. Music downloads are pretty much the best, but there are other awesome things music related out there that deserve coverage as well. What kinds of things you might ask? You'll just have to stay tuned to find out. Finally, I had another idea for a blog a few years back that's only tangentially related to music, so I decided to fold that idea into this new blog as well. Again, not just going to come out and tell you, so check back.

Later taters.