Trans-feminist hardcore band Girls Living Outside Society's Shit (GLOSS or G.L.O.S.S.) weren't around for very long, recording only a demo and one 7", but they burned bright as anything in the time they were active. In a scene full of mostly white males espousing their place as outcasts, it was a breath of fresh of fresh air to hear from people truly outside of "normal" society.
The demo is fucking magic. Ripping, stomping hardcore.
Stephen Brodsky is singer/guitarist for Cave In. This is one of many side projects made during the Cave In hiatus. Psychedelic pop rock mixed with a little Syd Barrett worship, as Mr. Brodsky has been known to do. Here's a couple favorites to preview it, but if you like Cave In, get this. If you hate Cave In,check this out, cuz it's nothing like Cave In.
Neko Case plays amazing alt-country solo and with a band called the New Pornographers. If you've never listened to Neko Case, fix them shits and jam this EP. It's 6 covers (including a Hank Williams and a Neil Young) and one original. These songs are beautifully written and beautifully sung. Get down on it.
Anticon mainstays Themselves consists of Doseone and Jel. Dose does the dope fast raps, Jel does all the beats live on MPC and bass synths (incredible. watch this to see what I mean!). Below you'll find the group's second release from 2002 titled The No Music. The only way to describe it is wildly unique, avant garde hip hop. This record also has appearances from Why?, Alias, and even John from Tortoise. This record has most of my favorite Themselves jams. I'll include a few examples below.
BONUS: I'm also throwing in the free mixtape they released called theFREEhoudini, featuring tons of great rappers. Released in 2009 (7 years since their last release) as a teaser for their 3rd record and a throwback to oldschool mixtapes, it features Aesop Rock, Busdriver, Buck 65, and Slug, as well as fellow Anticon artists Serengeti, Alias, Pedestrian, Sole, and even a song from the defunct cLOUDDEAD, resurrected only for this release. Here's the links and some samples. Dig in!
Call me lazy, but I'm not gonna write a bunch about this, but please just download it! Dan Reeder makes folksy, bluesy, and often humorous songs, played on homemade instruments (including his guitars), and chocked full of self-harmonized vocals. If you think you know what I'm describing, you're wrong. There is something intangibly unique about Dan Reeder. He has some serious character, only augmented further by his witty sense of humor, beautiful arrangements, and homemade instruments. Below is links to his three albums, and a few of my favorites to show you what it's all about (you can also listen to more at his bandcamp page):
This fella posted on the blog comments while I was away, and I checked him out. Pretty rad, unique stuff. Experimental hip-hop from Connecticut, akin to early cLOUDDEAD. very ambient and strange, but very impressive. Bandcamp says he is only 17, and made this a year or so ago. This cat's on the right track, and I hope to hear some more from him. Jargun, if you stop back by, drop a line and keep us updated!
Jargun is the ambitious debut by the (now) 17 year old musician and self-producer of the same name.
After painstaking development for 5 straight months, Jargun is an
ambivalent, bi-polar, questioning result of plain wonder. It's a
collage: schizophrenic, doubtful, and resisting to explain itself. It's
an anxious, regretful mess of half-confident ideas and leftover mantras
finally being able to breath; An extremely lo-fi, bedroom agenda tasked
with nothing else but to become self-evident and to leave a footprint
for an unknown audience.
It's hesitant and self-conscious, and unable to see itself for what the
future may consist of. Presented here is nothing concrete or total of
what visions Jargun is trying to conspire; they're merely suggestions.
It is only a sample laid by distress, uncertainty, and desperation.
So, while I was hiding under a rock somewhere, apparently some shit had went down. Anticon released this 4 song EP from S/S/S, a 'supergroup' comprised of songwriter Sufjan Stevens, and Anticon's Seregeti and Son Lux. The result is outer space. Serengeti's clever wordplay and sweet rhymes, Sufjan's sweet croon and harmonies, and Son Lux with the ambient pads and head-noddic beats... and there may or may not be some autotune. Appearances by Doseone and My Brightest Diamond. I don't even need to write much more about this. If you like Anticon, you'll like this. If you have heard of any of these 3 dudes before, check this out. Here's the link and a sample:
