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)

Best Coast

My friend Anna inadvertently turned me onto this band a day or two ago, linking the rockin' track below, called "Happy". They remind me of Real Estate a bit, mostly because it's fun, summery sounding reverb worship, only with female vocals and generally being a little more upbeat than most Real Estate.  I'll skip a strained description and just post the jam that got me hooked. Hope you dig.
EDIT: JUST REALIZED IT'S ONE OF THE GIRLS FROM POCAHAUNTED!!! (Pocahaunted is a really neat noise/soundscape band)

Best Coast - Best Coast

Real Estate

Reverb-drenched, psychedelic surf pop from New Jersey. If you consider yourself an indie snob and don't know about these dudes, just grab this record and I won't tell anyone. It also features the guitarist from Ducktails, who makes some excellent guitar soundscapes and surf pop. Perfect summer music if I lived on a beach, instead of muggy, humid western Tennessee. These guys have a pretty neat sound, sometimes sounding poppy, but seemingly more often, sounding spacey and gloomy. Overall, a very cool band, so this comes highly suggested if you have never heard of these guys.

Real Estate - Real Estate

Wolves In The Throne Room

 

I almost feel bad for not writing a legit description in my own words, but I'm just not feelin' it right now. So next best thing is to just give you the write up off of Southern Lord records' site. Besides, if you are into black metal, you should already know about these guys and their unique approach to the genre, combining a traditional black metal sound with shoegaze and lots of atmosphere with an eye toward eco-conscious themes.

From Southern Lord:
"During the Summer of 2002 at an Earth First rendezvous in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, guitarist Nathan Weaver was inspired to create a band that merged a Cascadian eco-spiritual awareness with the misanthropic Norwegian eruptions of the 90's. The band envisioned would strive to create a mythic space where artist and listener alike could strip away the mindset of the mundane to reveal a more ancient and transcendent consciousness. The mysterious and wild energies of the untrammeled forests of the Northwest would be channeled into sonic form.

In the Spring of 2004, Nathan and his brother, drummer Aaron Weaver, moved to a dilapidated farmstead on the outskirts of Olympia, WA. The creation of their farm-stronghold, called Calliope, would be intrinsically linked to the development of Wolves in the Throne Room. It was during the first long, dark winter living in the collapsed farmhouse at Calliope that the band developed their trance-inducing sound and solidified the burning intent that would animate the band's music. Elements of black metal, crust punk, folk music, thrash metal and drone music were drawn upon to create a unique alchemy.

Since that time Wolves in the Throne Room have ascended to the upper tiers of the underground scene by creating a transformative and apocalyptic musical manifestation that has come to completely transcend the black metal label.

Wolves in the Throne Room's first studio album, the lush and atmospheric Diadem of 12 Stars (A Shimmering Radiance), was released in the Spring of 2006. This gloriously sprawling record was captured on tape by Tim Green at Louder Studios in San Francisco. Diadem was very well received and quickly established a cult following. Wolves in the Throne Room was heralded by the press as one of the most promising Black Metal bands to emerge from the United States, though the band stressed in interviews that they felt like they had little in common with their more Satanic peers.

The fall of 2006 brought a new pact with Southern Lord records and the beginning of a relationship with producer-engineer Randall Dunn. (SUNN O))), Earth, Grails) Their epic album Two Hunters is a masterfully dark and emotional document that further established Wolves in the Throne Room as a band totally unafraid to follow their own path. 

In January they will release a European tour-only EP picture disk, titled Malevolent Grain, on Conspiracy Records. The record is the first to feature their new guitar player Will Lindsay (Middian) who had previously served as the band's touring bass player. 

Winter Solstice 2008 saw the completion of their 3rd studio album, cryptically titled Black Cascade. Recorded onto 2 inch tape and mixed on a 1973 Neve Console by Producer Randall Dunn, this monolith of trance inducing psychedelia swings between passages of blazing crystalline blackness and ocean-deep ritualistic dronescapes. Black Cascade elevates Wolves in the Throne Room into the ranks of the elite in the extreme music world."

Demo 2004

Demo 2005

Diadem of 12 Stars (2006)

Two Hunters (2007)

Malevolent Grain EP (2009)

Black Cascade (2009)

Live at Roadburn (2009)

Deafheaven

Not a whole lot of information on these dudes, but they are apparently from San Francisco and their jams fall somewhere between atmospheric black metal and Envy-style screamo. For more info, you can read this interview. If you like Wolves in The Throne Room, you're gonna dig the shit outta these guys. Get these records.

Deafheaven - Demo
Deafheaven - Roads to Judah

American Gods - Chariot The Ghost

American Gods are some really good dudes, originally out of Memphis, TN, who play a rad style of shoegaze, heavy and hazy. Considerably more imaginative than your standard My Bloody Valentine clone, American Gods take it to a higher level, creating a sonic barrage of 3 guitars, blending perfectly, never treading each others territory, and driving, inventive drumming. These guys are a definite standout, holding dear all things that came before them and refracting those influences through their own unique lens. Check 'em out. Dig it. Buy their shit.


American Gods - Chariot The Ghost

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

I gave that bitch some Kylesa. Bitches LOVE Kylesa.

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

Akron/Family - Love is Simple

Tired of folk that ain't trippy enough? Or perhaps, on the flip side, you're tired of Animal Collective making gurgling sounds through a flanger and calling it music? Well I got the medicine you need, right here, in Portland's Akron/Family. Really neat and unique psych-folk, with some amazing songwriting and some pretty insane guitar playing. Got a chance to see these dudes live last year and it was pretty incredible. Lots of fun, dancey songs with occasional melancholy to keep ya grounded. They've put out several records but I think that this one, titled Love is Simple, is their best. It seems to be the most upbeat and accessible, but that's not to discount their psychedelic wanderings, which their is plenty of. Think of Death Cab for Cutie with more rock, more drugs, and less pretense. This record is an excellent introduction to the psychedelic, experimental folk field, and I can never seem to get enough of it. Check out the jams below, and if you dig, get the jams.

Akron/Family - LOVE IS SIMPLE

La Cacahouette - French for Peanut

Pronounced La Kah-Koo-Wet, and as the record name implies, it is French for 'peanut'.

Had the pleasure of playing a few shows with these guys a couple years ago, and they are not only awesome dudes, but their music is really unique. A true embodiment of the power trio, they make use of the standard guitar, bass and drums, but also fill up sonic space using keyboards, theremin and lots of reverb, delay, phasers, and fuzz on all of the above. Taking cues from bands such as Swervedriver and My Bloody Valentine, La Cacahouette lays down a thick, psychedelic layer of spacey shoegaze, slathered in loud and fuzzy indie rock, topped with beautiful male and female vocals, and highlighted immensely by the intense and creative drumming of Blake Ellman (who I've seen wearing Tragedy shirts, and believe it or not, the hardcore and metal influences shine quite brightly in his drumming for this band. Also, La Cacahouette's myspace used to rock an excellent photoshopped promo photo of them with King Diamond in the band!) If you ever see these guys in a town near you, go check them out. They are a great band, and some truly down dudes.

La Cacahouette - French For Peanut

cLOUDDEAD

Looking for the above picture, I came across an article that described cLOUDDEAD as a supergroup in reverse. I found that to, actually, be pretty accurate. Though no one in the group is a superstar, these respective dudes have gained notoriety in the underground music scene, collaborating with such names as Mike Patton and Aesop Rock, being remixed by Notwist and Boards of Canada, and even getting a performance on the legendary John Peel show. As 3 of the 9 founders of the Anticon collective, Clouddead (comprised of Doseone and Why? doing the rapping, and sharing production duties with Odd Nosdam on the beats) makes the most inexplicable avant garde, spacey, sometimes absurdist hip hop you'll ever hear.

After the split of Clouddead, all the members went on to have lots of projects:

Doseone went on to form art-rock-hip-hop band Subtle (who will eventually surface on this blog), as well as joining with The Notwist to form a unique electro-space-rap project called 13 & God (which will be posted next).

 Why? joined with his brother Josiah and two really close friends from home and started a band which took on the name of Why?. One of their records is posted here with more to come soon.

Odd Nosdam continues to put out head-noddic hip-hop beats, lots of remixes, and even releasing a mixtape titled T.I.M.E (This Is My Element) for Element skateboards, as well as DJing many clubs and bars in the Oakland area.

Clouddead (2001)
Ten (2004)

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)

Dead Meadow - Feathers

Wow. It's been a month. I've been distracted and, for the last week or so, without my external hard drive (where my music is stored) and Lummox has also been mad busy with real life, but just to try to pick momentum back up, here's some Dead Meadow. Trippy, jammy, and sometimes poppy, Dead Meadow fuse stoner rock and 60's style psychedelic folk to create what can only be described as a joyride jam session. Not necessarily the best the band has to offer, but this record is a great one, and it was already uploaded, so... here you have it! If you're into Blue Cheer, Black Mountain, or just into psychedelic music in general, you should snag this record.


CLICK THIS FOR A JOYRIDE JAM SESSION

Shpongle - Tales of the Inexpressible

In my continuing efforts to get a little of everything on this blog, I knew I was due for some electro-jam. A guy on a message board I frequent brought up Shpongle, and I immediately knew I had to put some Shpongle on this site. The duo consists of Simon Posford, who handles most of the production, and Raja Ram, who lends flute and other arrangements to Posford's psychedelic brand of trance. I've never been good at classifying electronic music, but the best way I could describe this is as very trippy psychedelic trance with a lot of Indian and Asian influence. Top it off with samples from Terence Mckenna and other such drug-induced shamanic talk, and you can't go wrong. This is a great chillout record and anyone into psychedelic culture will appreciate it. Give it a shot.

GET IT!