Stephen Brodsky's Octave Museum

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.


Steven Brodsky's Octave Museum (download)

One Year Recap: Top 10 Posts I Don't Want You to Miss

So this blog has been up for a year now. There have been a few gaps here and there, but regardless, I feel like I've laid some righteous jams on here, and that it's about time to recap and choose my top 10 favorites. If you aren't sure what you'd possibly want off the blog, or maybe you've missed out on some choice cuts, this will be an excellent place to pick up some slack. So here ya go:

Mitchell's top 10 posts you shouldn't miss (in no particular order, and most of these posts should have a youtube video to sample on their respective pages, so be sure to give 'em a listen):

1. LECHEROUS GAZE - ex-Annihilation Time, rock n' roll punk at it's purest and most creative
   (Recommended download: Lecherous Gaze - S/T EP)
   
   
2. Annihilation Time - The precursor to Lecherous Gaze. More punk-tinged, but still chocked full of tasty riffs
   (Recommended download: Annihilation Time - II)
   
   
3. Otis Reaper - New Wave of Southern Heavy Metal. Good friends of mine with a unique sound and unrelenting jams.
   (Download: Otis Reaper - Footprints in Dead Earth and Graveyard Sorcery 7"s)
   
   
4. Cave In - Psychedelic rockers who tread the line from heavy hardcore to Syd Barrett worship and everything in between.
   (Recommended download: Planets of Old EP and White Silence)
   
   
5. Owen Hart - Chaotic hardcore death thrash extravaganza. Pushing some serious metal envelope.
   (Download: Owen Hart - Earth Control)
   
   
6. Glasses - Pretty unique and gnarly German d-beat punk band. For fans of Ghostlimb, Tragedy, From Ashes Rise, Kylesa)
   (Recommended download: Glasses - The Ills of Life)
   
   
7. ASG - Little known band from Wilmington, North Carolina, who play a brand a stoner rock that beats the pants right off The Sword, leaving you wondering why no one has heard of these dudes. Heavy and catchy. Dig it
   (Recommended download: ASG - Win Us Over)
   
   
8. Frumpy - Organ heavy, female fronted 70's prog rock from Germany. Another band that puts their contemporaries to shame, leaving me in awe that no one ever picked up on them
   (Download: Frumpy - Frumpy 2)
   
   
9. Rwake - Sludgy, swampy, grimey dextromethorphan prog metal from Little Rock, AR. These dudes are incomparable and unmatched at the insanely creative form of metal they put forth. If you haven't heard 'em, you haven't heard heavy.
   (Download: Rwake - Voice of Omens)
   
   
10. Earth - Starting out loud, fuzzy, and droney, Earth made a name for themselves in the realm of heavy music. Then after a short hiatus, they returned with a new outlook and an expansive sound, eschewing the one-note wall of fuzz for sprawling clean guitars and atmospheric percussion. Incredibly mind-expanding music.
    (Recommended download: Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull)

Cave In - White Silence

If you know me or follow this blog much, you know I loves me some Cave In. They are all over the place musically, and each record is unique. This is newest release, hitting stores TODAY actually. Much the opposite of Antenna, this record focuses much more on Cave In's heavy influences, with few clean vocals for the first 6 (of 9) songs of the record, winding down into beautiful Syd Barrett worship. It is easily their heaviest record since Beyond Hypothermia and Until Your Heart Stops. Stephen Brodsky's psychedelic croon does, however, emerge occasionally, and there are always lots of fun effects on all the vocals and instruments, creating a much more cerebral atmosphere around their already heavy and spacey riffs. My favorite track is Summit Fever, so if you download this, definitely check that song out, but when listened to in it's entirety, this record has a flow suggesting something much bigger and more meaningful than the individual songs. A true "grower not a show-er" if I've ever heard one. I was a little off-put on the first listen, but I still find myself starting the record over, every time. Highly recommended if you wanna hear how Cave In does 'heavy'.
This link will also be posted in the Cave In mega post from recently.



Dig it.
Cave In - White Silence

Cave In

I catch a lot of shit for it, but I really dig Cave In. They aren't afraid to do what THEY wanna do, and sound the way THEY wanna sound. They are a very dynamic band, early Cave In invoking comparisons to a slightly toned down Botch, while the later material sees them hone in on a much more fence-striding outlook. With the members coming from a really broad background of influences, Cave In creates a progressive style seamlessly melding Converge, Torche, and the Foo Fighters. Their embrace of the catchy and poppy,  mixed with their background in hardcore and doom (sharing members intermittently with Converge, Old Man Gloom, Zozobra and others) makes them a unique stand out in the music world. If you are easily put off by vocals, you probably won't enjoy the clean vocals of this band (though there are lots of screams and heavy vocals too). But the music is fuckin' amazing, and the vocals don't bug me. So if you've never heard them, check them out, and if you haven't heard the newest EP, Planets of Old, you should really check it out, as I think it really incorporates everything awesome about this band, giving you a fairly accurate cross section of the ground these dudes tread.

This is all the full lengths, and 2 of their EPs. They have quite a few more EP's out, but this stuff should get ya started. Hope you enjoy.

Until Your Heart Stops (1998)
Creative Eclipses EP (1999)
Jupiter (2000)
Antenna (2003)
Perfect Pitch Black (2005)
Planets of Old EP (2009) <~~~~~ At very least get this!!!
White Silence (2011)