Intro of darkness then redness then whiteness!

I couldn't for the life of me think up an even remotely funny title for this blog related to the music aspect of it, so I decided to dedicate it to the best person on YouTube - Toby Turner (aka Tobuscus TobyGames etc) in honour of his 26th birthday. If you haven't heard of him or his content I'll leave a linkification at the bottom of the page. Seriously check him out, he's hilarious!

Anyway....

I've really pushed the boat with this blog, and by pushed the boat out I mean chose an artist to talk about that aren't really one particular band. (told you i'd pushed the boat out! ok maybe that wasn't the best description i've ever done, keep your pants on OD!) Like I said, i'm going to talk about a group of guys who have played together in numerous bands, all with thier own unique sounds and styles. I thought it would be better to talk about them as a collective rather than just one of thier groups because you can now get a grasp of thier genious.

They are the pioneers of math rock, Rick Froberg, John Reis and Mario Rubalcaba.

Froberg and Reis first formed Drive Like Jehu, a math rock group from San Diego, with Froberg on rhythm guitar and vocals, Reis on lead guitar, bassist Mike Kennedy and drummer Mark Trombino. Their complex rhythms and playing style paved the way for math rock and other closly related genres like noise rock, post-hardcore etc.


Drive Like Jehu lasted from 1990 - 1995 and most of them went their separate ways, apart from Froberg and Reis who later went on to form Hot Snakes. The guitar play duo were still the same as before, but they enlisted the help of Mario Rubalcaba, once pro-skateboarder, now drummer into the group. This was a greta deal after Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes formed in 1999 and lasted 6 years till 2005 when they tired again, but during this time recored 4 albums, of one was Thunder Down Under, a live session album recorded at Triple J studios in a day during thier 2005 Australian tour.


During the years before Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, John Reis had already been playing  in another band called Rocket From the Crypt. Forming a year before Reis formed Drive Like Jehu in 1990, they had recored 4 albums and were on the look out for a new drummer. Reis invited Rubalcaba to join and he accepted. They released another 2 albums and split in 2005.

After Both Rocket From the Crypt and Hot Snakes split in 2005, Rick Foberg formed Obits, which are creditable but aren't anywhere near the same league as their previous projects, Reis and Rubalcaba both had a brief stint in a band called Sultans with Reis' brother, then Reis moved onto The Night Marchers and still plays with them today as Froberg does with Obits.

I recommend listening to Drive Like Jehu's "Yank Crime", Hot Snakes "Audit in Progress", Rocket From the Crypts "Scream Dracula Scream".

After reading back through this, I have knowhere near credited Drive like Jehu as much as I should have. They are, and always will be, one of my favourite bands ever. Yank Crime and their self-titled debut album are both perfect examples of music I would love to emulate in the future.

This is really rushed and may contain a few errors, feel free to point them out and i'll correct them asap. Thanks for reading.


Toby Turners YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/tobuscus


Bizzle x

Motherfucking Death Set!

MFDS! MFDS! MFDS!

I really can't remember how I came across these guys, I think it was a while ago when I was looking at some footage of Kurt Cobain taking apart Dave Grohl's drum kit at a Nirvana gig and throwing the snare at the audience. Twas very joke. I think I then saw a video in the side-bar called "The Death Set cover Territorial Pissings" and in brackets it read CRAZIEST SHIT EVAR!!!1

Obviously I watched it, because frankly, of all the Nirvana songs to cover, this has got to be the best in my opinion. And because I thought it can't be as good as the original or as good as the comments suggested. Let me start by saying, musically it wasn't anything close to a cover, but it was fucking epic! You see the video below? Watch it. Then read the rest, then we'll be on the same level. Ok, see you in a few mins.

I know right! Brutal ain't it? I was like woaaaaah that was sickkkkkkk. I can just about make out the first three chords in the intro to the song then the drums come in and the shit hits the fan, basically.

I downloaded their only album to date entitled "Worldwide" and it was completely different to anything I was expecting, let me tell you! 18 tracks all with an average lenght of roughly 1 minute. I was kinda anticipating fast, energetic, raw, alcohol fuelled rage, and I got, well the only way I can personally describe it as Happy pop. Its not remotely heavy, unpronounced (frankly bollocks) lyrics sang through an old broken phone.

WTF

But theres something about their music I love. Its lazy and you can genuinely tell they don't give a toss what you think, unlike bands that force that persona through their teeth. Its pisses me right off! :@

Anyway, check these guys out, but I warned you, its something different, don't be pissed off if you download the album to find tracks 8 seconds long of just sound and letters. Peace.

x

And So I Blog From Afar...

      A stranger approached me the other night, peculiar looking fellow, feathered chin, strong fondness for Dan Black, he commented on my lack of enthusiasm for giving my posts any sort of lenght, and meaning. So I've taken on board his request and decided to plump these posts from a size zero sentence, into a borderline obese, chocolate loving glossary. Happy now?

      Anyway, Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down and I'd like to take a minute...nah I'm just kidding, they didn't literally levitate me off the ground and rotate me 180 degrees around a point, but they did blow my brains across the fucking room when I first listened to their self-titled debut, And So I Watch You From Afar. The courtet of mates are possibly the best thing to come out of Ireland since U2, actually, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that last statement was a tiny bit incorrect. They are DEFINITELY the best thing to emerge from Ireland, Bono isn't fit to lick their dirty boots, see what I did their, dirty boots? The name of U2's pathetic attempt at a song writing revival in preparation of their crazy 2010 festival tour which failed, but we'll all be delighted to dirty boots, and other new compositions straight from the hospital bed in which Bono lay while Gorillaz disgraced Glastonbury festival in their place. I know I'm jumping on the band wagon when i say new U2 is shit compared to some their iconic singles back in their day, but their an amazing band live! Damon Albarns sorry excuse of a side project which was meant to feature a plethera of famous faces, of only 2 I could identify, Mick Jones and Kano, says it all really. They had literally no satge presence or enthusiasm!

      Bah, Now im just going on, where was I? I can't remember how i first came across this band but I think it was just from doing a little research. Ive always been into this 3 piece math rock group from Kingston, England called Tubelord, and I was looking at dates they were performing, and I saw they were supporting ASIWYFA on a few UK dates. So, yeah. I downloaded ASIWYFAs album, (Don't tell anyone but I didnt pay for, I know thats naughty but I didn't like the idea of paying for somthing, not knowing whether it was going to be any good or not) and gave it a listen. It had 19 tracks and all were nearing the 7 minute mark in lenght which I was a bit doubious about, but after the full 1 and a half hours of it, I literally replayed it again, back to back. It has now become my most played album, and the band have reached the top of my "Most Desired to See Live" chart, knocking A Place to Bury Strangers off the top spot.

      Their currently on a massive tour of Russia, which is amazing for them, but I really hope they don't get tired of playing live, becasue I really want to see these guys live, aaahhh, want isn't the right word,

I NEED TO...

This is just one of the songs off the album, aother thing I forgot to mention, I thought the album was so good, I actually bought it, sounds wierd doesnt it, buying music, but I admired it so much I just had to. And Im not preaching at you to buy music, but if you really admire a certain track or album, dont refrain from giving money to listen to it thinking your fuelling an already corrupt industry, think of it as a thank you to the artist who made the song you hold so dear. Thanks for reading.

x

Its a good point, why aren't we running?

65daysofstatic - Math Rock.

If you like this you might like Maybeshewill, And So I Watch You From Afar or The Fall of Troy.

x

Im so fucking lazy and like to swear

I cba to even type "Can't be arsed", im just going to upload videos that might interest you guys.

These gypsy punks are class, check them out.

If music was founded by one guy, it would be Steve Albini

Now heres someone special. I first heard of Steve Albini when I was doing some research on the recording and mastering of some of my favourie albums, like Pixies - Surfer Rosa, Nirvana - In Utero and some of his own stuff with his band Shellac, in which he is the guitarist and vocalist. I'd never heard of Shellac until after I researched Steve and relised how much work he'd done in regards to some of my favourite music, and how its been mixed. Hes also worked with other great bands like the Breeders, Yourcodenameis:milo, Jarvis Cocker, Manic Street Preachers, Iggy and the Stooges, and Gogol Bordello, along with hundereds of other artists. Then I noticed he'd performed in various bands aswell, including Big Black, Rapeman and one of the most influental bands to date, Shellac. Shellacs own unique blend of noise/experimaental minimalist rock, some may say math rock, has influenced many, But for me, its his raw style of music-making which I adore. He doesn't sing, in some tracks like "New Number Order" off thier 3rd studio album, "1000 Hurts" he simply lists numbers. Shellac are an incaptivating collection of individuals which i'd love to see live one day, but I dont think thats ever going to happen because they rarly play gigs anymore, and even less likly they'll travel abroad. which is a shame really, becasue thier so un-believe-a-fuck-ably amazing!

Sorry but There hasn't been a video made for this song, and there are only crap quality live versions on youtube, so this will have to do :)

I ripped your heart out of your chest...

Sonic Youth have always been one of those bands in the back of my head, like when I was younger and I was listening to stuff like Nirvana and Pixies, I kept hearing Kurt and Frank list their influences and Sonic Youth were always creeping up. I'd never really listened to them before I started reading "Heavier than Heaven", Charles R. Cross' biography of Kurt Cobain, and hearing how much Kurt actually respected them so much as fellow musicians and as an influence. I couldn't ignore them any longer. I started listening to their first self-titled debut and frankly I was very disappointed. After reading mixed reviews of thier next few albums I decided to give them a miss. I listened to "EVOL" and "Sister" but still wasn't quite sure what all the hype was about. Then I  heard "Daydream Nation" and "Goo" (Daydream Nation now one of my favourite albums to date). I fell in love immediately. I've always been a fan of noise and experimental rock but finally finding one of its origins was inspiring. I went through a period of about a month when all I listened to were these two albums. Then I moved onto different music for a long period of time. But recently I heard a more recent song by Sonic Youth called "Incinerate" off thier 2006 album "Rather Ripped". I hadn't payed any attention to their material after "Goo" and upon hearing this track have gone on a revival of their music! If you have  never have listened to Sonic Youth I recommend them with all my heart. I recommend "Dirty Boots" off "Goo", and the whole of "Daydream Nation", but for now I'll just leave a link to "Incinerate". Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.