You know what I should do in these intros? I should probably just mention new music I've picked up recently. christian fitness has a new record that I just picked up, and it's good so far. And I bought the new album from Nightbringer, a black metal album that I'm looking forward to diving into.
As always, we have today's songs!
Cypress Hill, "Valley of Chrome"
When they first started out, Cypress Hill was something really strange, with super squeaky beats based around dusty jazz samples and the odd nasal flows of B Real. The first two Cypress Hill records are unique and a lot of fun, although, um, fairly limited lyrical content. By the time we hit this, their fifth album, they were really kind of on fumes. This was a double album, with one rap record, and the other being a rock crossover. It didn't exactly go well. Rap/rock crossovers seldom do. The rap disc is better, but still won't make you forget the first two albums. This song, needless to say, is from the rock one.
Belle & Sebastian, "Sunday's Pretty Icons"
Chamber pop stalwarts Belle & Sebastian made their second worst record with 2010's Write About Love. That statement gives me no pleasure, because Belle & Sebastian are one of my favorite bands. But this record is just not very memorable, with nothing really sticking with me, and it all gets muddled together in my brain. The songs weren't much better live either, with the energy of the show picking up noticeably when the band played older songs. Luckily, their followup record Girls In Peacetime Want to Dance is much better, so B&S aren't toast. Should I do the indisputable ranking of records now? I think I'll wait until next time (SPOILER ALERT: If You're Feeling Sinister is the best.)
Amogh Symphony, "Junaki, Osinaki, Dhumuha, Saki."
Amogh Symphony is a very strange project. With members scattered all over the globe, they merge together sounds from many different cultures, with bits and pieces of influences coming in and out. At times metal, at times jazz, often both at the same time, and at all times unexpected, I'm not really sure what to make of this album. And that's probably a good thing. Let's just say I found this album via a blog called "Metal for Music Majors".
The Theories, "Landfill"
Sitting somewhere between all-out grind and death metal, Seattle's The Theories play music that's basically pure aggression. Sometimes you just want to listen to music that sounds like malfunctioning heavy equipment, you know? Maybe that's just me.
As a side note, I'll often have two copies of a song going at once briefly because I'll find the song on YouTube while it's still playing on shuffle. For this song, didn't sound much different!
Baring Teeth, "Dripping Sun"
Apparently shuffle was in a metal mood today. Might be a decent time to define a few terms for metal, at least how I use them. Death metal is when the vocals are growled and/or bellowed and/or sound like Cookie Monster, and is musically very complex (occasionally to the detriment of the music). Black metal relies on more atmospherics, lots of furious tremelo picking, and has a lot of screeching and howling. Thrash is stuff that sounds like the first few Metallica records. Grind is short, punishing, and super duper fast. Anyway, this is more towards the death metal end of things.