Rusted Vinyl

Notes #243: Diablo Swing Orchestra: Pacifisticuffs

Sound: Swing metal for theater kids; typical DSO fare

Specifics: [Bubba] - A new female singer adds a new flavor to the mix; less operatic -As ecclectic as ever;continues to be difficult for this group to push boundaries any more than they already had on their early work. -Drums take a huge hit from Peter Karlsson also leaving since Pandora’s Pinata -Feels a lot more modern; less bombastic - Daniel Håkansson’s vocals continue to be neglected despite how secretly perfect they are -Frontloaded tbh -Want the artsy street-cred of a concept album without all the pretension or the cost of a typical narrative, here ya go -Just isn’t hitting the mark for me as much as Pandora’s Pinata -Despite not being their best work, or fantastic on its own merits even, still a really fun listen, and a cut above most other avant-x bands making music right now -Damn album title is impossible to spell

Score: 75%

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Notes #242: Tera Melos: Trash Generator

Sound: Poised math rock for mad men; complex indie rock

Specifics: [Bubba] -Angular pop for angular people -Effects pedals for days -Title track is banger of the year, though there are a few other standouts that show what can be done with the pop formula -Technical drumming doesn't do a lot for me here, a little too conservative for my taste -Lyrics seem pretty Get To Heaven, but the same dry delivery on every track doesn't impress me, and a lot of the best moments here come in the instrumental breakdowns -Catchiest math rock album I've heard in a while, does so in it's own unique way -Nick Reinhart continues to be a hero of mine on the guitar -Sax (at least it seems to be) out of nowhere on A Universal Gonk was a very pleasant surprise -Best Tera Melos album since their debut, and it's refreshing to see a progressive group like them continue to evolve their sound rather than stay in their comfort zone

Score: 70%

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Notes #241: Boogarins: Lá Vem a Morte

Sound: Very well produced, Brazilian neo-psych with a bit of hip-hop technique

Specifics: [N] -A surprisingly experimental effort from what I thought was a single-serving (albeit very good, check their 2015 album) psychedelic band -Their dreamy charisma carry overs from Manual, but with an entirely different approach to percussion and end goal for shoegazing -Excellent mix -Seems wistfully lost sometimes, while I think that aids in the carefree atmosphere and makes the dizzying production choices more effective, I think it holds back the overall quality of the record from surpassing Manual, hopefully they can fuse these two worlds into something downright transcendental next time around -lo-fi ambience peeks around every corner -This is feel good music for people who appreciate texture and true artistic visions -Unexpected sampling styles brings out unexpected rhythms from conventional instrumentation,  feedback heavy electronics, field recorded vocals, bass heavy tumbles, and many more - Uploaded in its entirety on the band’s own youtube along with visual accompaniment for the duration, (linked below) and that’s just super rad of them

Score: 70%

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Notes #240: Shizune: Cheat Death, Live Dead

Sound: A lean collection of quick melodic screamo songs

Specifics: [Y] -13 minutes in total, over 13 tracks, with the longest clocking in just under two minutes -Strong post-hardcore influence, even more prevalent than their 2015 release -Crushing avalanche of percussion and melody at every turn -Very lyric heavy, with quite a compelling performance to boot; English, Italian, and Japanese vocals all from the same singer -No bullshit whatsoever, to a fault I would say, there isn’t a weak song here, nor a weak moment even, but a lot of these tracks could easily have been expanded on and put this album over the top for me -Think of it as an ultra-condensed At The Drive-In with a knack for musical abrasion -Pathos for days -These guys always leave me wanting more, so I hope their next release comes soon

Score: 70%

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Notes #238: Tricot: 3

Sound:  Varied j-pop, mathrock fusion; Tricot return more eclectic than ever

Specifics: [M] -All female group -Very clean math rock composition, but it works! -Guitar is more integral than in previous works -Great track variance, some old-school funk stuff, some shoegazey stuff, even some traces of post-hardcore -Very pretty (dare I say beautiful) lead vocals, with some vocal harmonies here and there to add even more shimmer to Nakamjima’s impeccable performance; seriously impressive stuff, such great range here, adapts so so well to every style they adopt; not any kawaii bullshit either, so impressed on this front -More consistent drumming than on 2; along with a much more cohesive mix -My favorite Tricot release yet, and one of the finest albums of 2017 so far -Guess I’m just a poptomist now; this shit rocks

Score: 80%

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Notes #237: Flobots: Noenemies

Sound:  Politically charged conscious hip-hop; Flobots better than they’ve been in a while

Specifics: [N] -Not as direct as previous releases (probably for the best) but this also comes off as kind of directionless, rebels without a cause -Large piece of work; so many tracks (16 in fact) -Strong boom bap foundations surrounded by a larger band -Probably their most “progressive” release sonically; bleeps and bloops, varied guitarwork, and modern production influences like trap beats, etc (they do it tastefully though) -Seriously, this thing feels like a deluxe version but it isn’t… -All around alright; mostly unimpressive, albeit it a step in the right direction

Score: 55%

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Notes #236: At The Drive In: Inter Alia

Sound: Post-hardcore pioneers return with one of their best efforts yet, Relationship of Command pt.2

Specifics: [Y] -Antemasque on fucking steroids -Cedric is as electric as he has ever been, selling even the weakest parts of their new material with ease, bringing technicality to his singing than was present in their previous albums, along with a distinct change in timbre since he had surgery on his vocal cords, which I find refreshing -The antithesis of a slow burn, track after track of impressive, blazing fast post-hardcore perfection -Great production here, not quite as groundbreaking as Relationship of Command, but it definitely takes the album up a notch -Shades of emo, in my opinion, but even for me it’s a faint, albeit noteworthy, influence -Cedric’s trademark esoteric lyrics come back better than they’ve been since The Mars Volta, and forgoing some of his more Rage Against The Machine influenced deliveries that have detracted from my enjoyment of Relationship of Command -Missing the tasteful slower paced songs that give RoC more emotional depth, the slew of hard hitting post-hardcore here can get a little tiring, though this is mitigated by the forty-minute runtime. -The best guitar habits from RoC return better than ever -This album has been absolutely addicting for me

Score: 85%

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Notes #235: Halo Orbit: Halo Orbit

Sound: Effects heavy progressive rock; spacey indie rock

-Drumming seems to take a Jon Theodore sound into frantic territory -Freaky and funky time signatures -Juan Alderete plays bass for these guys -Prominent synth decay all around you -Plenty of features, Del The Funky Homosapien makes an appearance, as well as Adrián Terrazas Gonzalez among others -Instrumental, for the most part -Jet Set Radio Future type hip-hop influence -All the tracks keep with this groovy, futuristic space sound -Hard to shove this thing into one genre or another, certainly a unique listen from 2017

Score: 70%

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Notes #234: Utopianisti: Brutopianisti

Sound: A primal, one man show of brutal prog; bewildering avant-garde metal

Specifics: [N] -Everything is done by one Markus Pajakkala; aside from occasional synth contributions done by guests -Just over 30 minutes -Not very dense -Haven’t heard a xylophone in a while -Very eclectic, almost breakbeat sometimes? It has some pretty trendy guitar tones here and there too. None of these elements make the project any more accessible -Barrage of squishy percussion and scattered jazz drumming gone amok -Throat singing is a large component of the vocals, especially the first half of the album -This is what progressive music should be; this is a fuckin’ weird schmorgas board of incredibly niche genres and musical tradition, all thrown together into this melting pot of staccato mysticism and brutal sonic tradition -This would be one hell of an Osu! beatmap

Score: 60%

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Notes #233: Stabscotch: Uncanny Valley

Sound: Unhinged experimental rock; chaotic brutal prog

Specifics: [M] -Grizzly, tortured vocal howls; a versatile performance that even allows for sinister suaveness at times; think Fugazi -Absolutely mad guitarwork, the perfect accomplice to the auditory assault the singer concocts like Charles Manson -Nearly two hours long; a creative behemoth -18 tracks, so no cheating for length by having a half hour long track or two; every track is around 5 minutes -So much happens; even in just one song, there are so many strange passages that are wildly different from one another, I can’t believe they make it work -So fucking quotable “With my hands undressed, with my hands undressed” -Excellent incorporation of noise into their compositions -Strangely anthemic -I cannot overstate how fucking impressive it is that these guys made over an hour and a half of unique, constantly interesting material on one album -I can’t believe the album of the year came out this early in the year; this could jump all the way up to 90% or higher by the time I put my year end list out -Even if its score never goes up the rest of this year, it will be my number 1, quote me, nothing will outdo what Tyler Blensdorf, Zack Hubbard, and James Vavrek have summoned on Uncanny Valley

Score: 80%

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Notes #232: Paul White: Accelerator

Sound: Wall of rhythm experimental hip hop; captivating instrumental hip hop 

Specifics: [N] -Two singles that each have an instrumental version here -Who else could work with a track as absolutely bonkers as the title track here but Danny Brown -Rapid, domineering polyrhythmic percussion -Electric guitarwork, complete with a fantastic solo towards the end of the track -A manic expansion on the grotesquely creative Atrocity Exhibition -The track Accelerator is just so fucking good -I adore this balls to the wall production style Paul White has been putting out lately, and this EP is probably the weirdest thing he’s done yet -I only wish there was more music here, and that’s a great complaint to have

Score: 80%

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Notes #231: Mouse On The Keys: Out of Body

Sound: Mellow nu jazz; not MY Mouse On The Keys

Specifics: [N] -Closer to typical math rock than they usually are… sometimes, and then other times it’s: “I just got my call transferred and now I’m on hold” music -Farting synth bass -At the very least, it does keep to the uncommon time signatures, most of the time, that the band is known for, but very little of their iconic piano interplay shows up here -Seems like an indicator of what their next real project will sound like, hopefully that’ll have more dynamic drumming, and have some thematic focus to it -Absolutely incoherent, in the most bland way possible -It’s just; nothing… why did they bother making this??

Score: 35%

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Notes #230: Stromboli: Volume Uno

Sound: Ambient power electronics, dystopian drone

Specifics: [N] -Instrumental; without even Prurientesque, fractured vocals -Constant oscillation -About 25 minutes long, pretty uneventful all in all -I would still call it noise, to a degree, but there is nothing challenging here, nor are there any great textures -Even this record has anything going for it, it’s atmosphere, while their bandcamp is certainly giving the album a bit too much credit, it does feel oppressive, it does feel a little moody, pretty bleak, but it never does anything with it, it just meanders with this vague theme for twenty minutes and then it ends -No closure

Score: 30%

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Notes #229: Kiko Dinucci: Cortes Curtos

Sound: Portuguese art punk; brass flavored math rock

Specifics: [N] -Serious Zeuhl vibes here, the mathy elements seem straight out of Angherr Shisspa, not to mention that crazy free jazz sax that pops up now and again -Vocals are too plain, though the foreign language is nice window dressing -Instrumentals slowly become too conventional for my taste, but remain just off-putting enough to scare off any major labels -Weird sequencing choices, with even weirder instrumental apparitions, “was that a bass woof there? I think it was… why?!” in this otherwise beachy latin song -Watery guitarwork, with a touch of reverb -Flashes of Mars Volta type prog stuff -If they do more of that Mars Volta/Angherr Shispa stuff, and go a little further with it, I could see these guys on one of my year end lists in the future, but for now, this album isn’t quite enough

Score: 65%

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