The Band With One Of The Longest Names Ever

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead.

Seriously; that is such a great name.

I was force fed this band by an old co-worker of mine. He claimed that they were one of the greatest bands that ever existed. I initially claimed he was mad. At the end of the day, we were both right.

He showed me the album "Source Tags and Codes" and I was immediately enamoured by the trashing cacophony that faced me. There was something broken about it. There was something wrong. From the way the album started to how the album finished, there was not a track that I did not love.

I thought that maybe this band from Texas may be a one-trick-pony, so I gave "Worlds Apart" a try. I was pleased to find SOMETHING I was far from enjoying by this band. Both to my chagrin and my pleasure, it was just the one album. Everything else that has been released by this troupe is great.

Short update. Just because I have nothing else to say, in a good way. This band is very VERY important to me, and I am very happy that they are back in my vocabulary. The album "Lost Songs" is just as good as the self titled debut. Do yourself a favour, and listen to this band. Let me know what you think. I have so many great things to say about this band.

I did a thing...

For the first time in a very long time, I pirated a couple of albums. I do NOT agree with doing so, and I take great pride in saying I own 90% of my vast collection of albums.

Today I am going to talk about two albums that bookend my hospital fun. Minus the Bear released Infinity Overhead in August, 20012 and Lost Loves over 2 years later in October 2014. They are both very good albums, but really very different.

Infinity Overhead is very electronic, compared to the more jazz oriented Menos El Oso. Listing is not only one of my favourite songs of all time, but it has one of the best videos I have ever seen. What is fantastic, to me, is how everything is mixed and recorded in the highest quality possible. Nothing feels like it is not supossed to be a focus for your attention. Do you like to listen to drums? SUPER CLEAN! Bass? CLEAR AS DAY. It is fantastic. The album does suffer from the Omni issue, though. Occasionally, the members of the band remind you that they are getting old, and they are a pop band. The occasion disco-esque track penetrates the dreamscape that this album creates. It can be a bit jarring.

One thing can be said about Lost Loves right away: THE FUCK HAPPENED TO THE RECORDING QUALITY? At first, I just assumed I got a bad seed and should just stop bitching. Everything I have listened to and read agrees, however, that the recording quality took an awkward dive for this recording. It almost feels like the songs are radiating from another room. The songs, however, are fantastic. I tend to get worried or suspicious of bands that have been around this long. I wonder if they can still pull it off. I wonder if they can keep their edge. Minus The Bear has proven themselves again. I still would not put this album in the top 3 by this band, and it certainly will not touch my top fifty recordings, but it is a VERY good time. I do recommend this album highly.

I'll talk more about things I actually hold in super high regards soon. I might do another bomb, you know, because I am a dick.

(Edited by Katie Maz.)

Buried Inside :: Chronoclast: Selected Essays On Time Reckoning and Auto-Cannibalsm

Well, THAT is a title to be trifled with. I heard Time as Ideology on a mix when I was in high school. If I'm not mistaken; grade eleven. It was a Relapse Records compilation that had everything from Dillinger Escape Plan to A Life Once Lost on it. It is not too often that I look fondly at the metal that got me introduced to everything, but I hold great exception with this album. The drummer is a beast. His hands move fast, much faster than I could even muster at my best. The blast beets, the rolls, the general feel of the rhythm that is exacting.

Overall, this album is by far the most oppressive and brutal albums I have ever heard. The bass is used almost like a bomb and the guitars feel incredibly calculated. The album may be mixed so that there is a general balance that may be the same through and through, but the uniform wall of sound adds to the crushing flow.

Side Update

So, I am not going to talk about my robust music collection, for this update anyway. Instead, someone asked what all I am doing now. I will fill you in by talking way too much. There will be inside jokes that I will never explain. Why? I am a dick.

I will start with arms:
I am doing fifty bicep curl reps of about twelve pounds. Using the twelve pound weights, I am also doing twenty or so tricep reps. I am doing twenty scapulary and pectoral reps, each at about 3 pounds.

I am doing thirty squats at a counter everyday. At least ten free standing.

I am walking about one kilometre a day with a four-wheeled walker.

Areas needing improvement continue to be my ankles and my hips. Those two areas seemed to have suffered the most muscle atrophied. The right side, in particular, is lagging behind in the path to recovery. I'm not one hundred percent on what the next step is, or what all needs attention. I am fixated on my right foot, in particular, but I am not sure if that is the only place or if it is just the most noticeable place.

Non-health related news, I applied to school for Urban Development. Acceptance is not until April, at the earliest. Until then, I will remain biting my nails in anticipation as well as grooming. It is time that I do some growing up and I shed the life that I was accustomed to.

I really do hope you had a great holiday season and the rest of your month goes well. More music news next update and more personal updates when I feel they need to happen.

Depression and Music

Recently I was asked a strange question by one of my closest friends. She asked "Do you listen to anything happy?" I guess I should answer this better than going "bluh bluh blah..."

A good portion of what I listen to is not happy. Actually, most is rather depressing and dark. I is not from a standpoint of "dark shit hur hur hur" but instead from a place of actual apreciation for a darker take on life and all things around it.

It is far from surprising that I am this way. A good portion of what I review and talk about is dark and full of regrets, written down by the person who wants to share a story of a past love, a past mistake, or a past fear. I may just skip the remaining nine-hundred and whatever songs I have remaining and just jump to my top favourite albums of all time to further show the example of what I mean. Basically, I see nothing as permanent. Yes, there are certain things I hope to have in my life forever. My girlfriend, for instance. I cannot, however, accept that happiness is a permanent state of being. It seems to be fleeting, much in the same way that a good meal is something to look forward to. One just seems to look forward and speak highly of what may come in the future, not so much about what they have been through or experienced. I did not realize that I had this way of thinking until it was somewhat pointed out. It took me a very long time to come up with ANY words to explain myself in anyway.

This is most notable in my movie collection. I have not seen most movies, and I refuse to express my opinion for fear of being pretentious, but I seem drawn to dramatic re-invisions of real events and sad tales that end in a state far from happy.

I find that with the literature I enjoy. My attention seems to be placed into classical poetry, like Dante's Inferno and Paradise Lost. Pieces that dwell on how great everything is do not keep my attention for very long.

I am finding this with music. My loyalties lay with bands like Cursive or 65DaysOfSatic. One of the albums I will talk about is Beautiful Midnight by Mathew Good Band. It is a biting look at society, especially the stigma on how people should act. Especially in the 90's. I am just old enough to realize how stark and very true everything he says is. The Future Is X-Rated is epeciallly bleak because it is such a very true writing of how society became and how physical appearance seems to reflect peoples desires and perspective needs. Giant is an anthem about how we all want to be on the top for some reason, regardless of cost.

I am using this album as an example because it feels like it should have happier lyrics but, alas, everything is horrible. Everything is your fault. Every line is easy to relate back to your life or, at the very least, someone that you know.

I Lied

I'm doing another batch review. These are all critically acclaimed albums that other people have done a great job of reviewing. I am not going to waste your time and my time talking about how great they are when there are countless articles speaking about how great they are.
Some of these albums are fucking old, but they are still important.

TOOL -- LATERALUS
I'm not going to say a whole lot. If you do not know this album, at least one single from this album, you are ridiculous and should have your life examined. It is extremely heavy, emotionally and musically, and extremely influential.

BECK -- MIDNIGHT VULTURES
Personal favourite to play in a store because no one actually knows when this album came out. Tongue and cheek lyrics litter this funk infused marvel of funky soundscapes. This is a great soundtrack to a good day. It is an even better soundtrack to make fun of a sexy night. If you have a friend that brags about getting laid often, and we all have at least one of those friends, this is a great thing to play behind everything they say. Side note, if you cannot think of who that friend is, it may be you. Well, that, or you have very reserved friends. Or no friends. That is cool, to.

And yes, this is my favourite video. Possibly ever.

BELLE AND SEBASTIAN -- FOLD YOUR HANDS CHILD, YOU WALK LIKE A PEASANT
Chamber pop, chamber pop, oh--laady laady laady..
This album defines what it means to be a British Lord. It is quiet and polite, yet speaks of horrible horrible things. Things like masturbating in public, war, relationships, blunt sexual acts, and homosexuality. It is so fucking awesome. The lyrics actually make one look up and say "uh... Did he just say what I think he said?" GUSH GUSH GUSH GUSH listen to this album GUSH GUSH GUSH GUSH.
CHANGE OF PACE. They can also be incredibly insightful and brutal. I Fought In A War is one of the greatest anti-war anthems to ever exist.

BOARDS OF CANADA -- MUSIC HAS A RIGHT TO CHILDREN
This album defies anything you know about anything. The only words and weird sound clips. The music sounds like a seventies soundtrack. Best on vinyl.

BRAND NEW -- THE DEVIL AND GOD ARE RAGING INSIDE ME
Fucking fuck. This album is so depressing, it should be illegal. Don't get me wrong: This album, lyrically and musically, will always be everything I wish to aspire to as a musician. I have always felt like I have not done enough for the music industry as a whole because I have not created something this great. I cannot even listen to the album while I write this because I will get sucked in by its haunting atmosphere and brilliant narrative. I almost do not want to FIND a track off this because it will break up the tension that this album generates. But I will. Just for you.

FLAMING LIPS -- YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS
The polar opposite from the other album I brought up. This album is about a small Japanese girl and her battle with giant pink monster robots from the planet Mars. It is fun, strange, and a roaring good time.

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR -- F# A# (INFINITY)
Only three tracks. Only amazing. The world this album creates is just haunting and robust. Incredibly minimalist, but very, very bleak. The phrase "Chamber-Punk" was coined to describe what this could be considered. It is similar to classical, but all the musicians learned their instrument while composing these songs. This is a great soundtrack to a man, sitting in a chair, smoking a cigar, not talking.

KING COBB STEELY -- MAYDAY
This album was a random find a while ago. I heard the song "Below The Stars" while randomly channel surfing one day. They are this odd combination of jazz and electronica. Rather unlike anything I have ever heard before, ten year old me took note sub consciously. I eventually found the album and I have not really stopped listening to it since.

ISIS -- IN THE ABSENCE OF TRUTH
This album has a great flow to it. I saw this band open for TOOL in Toronto. They moved a lot more than I could while keeping count to time signatures I would have a hard time following, let alone writing.

NINE INCH NAILS -- THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL (2004 dlx edition)
Incredibly influential. The first disc is the classic industrial album in all its glory, and the second disc was remixes and b-sides that may or may not have been released in the ten year window. I would not recommend the deluxe if you are not a huge fan or if you really do not care about high definition releases. This collection is still one of my favourites. Yes, Trent Reznor wrote Hurt. No, 'I WANNA FUCK YOU LIKE AN ANIMAL' is far from the sexiest line ever. No, that song is not actually about sex.

Fuck. I really do love writing this way. How many times now have I said "I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN" but I just keep doing it? I have knocked my list from four and a half days worth of music down to two point seven days. That feels much better. I will continue to do my favourites. I'm having a lot of fun just listening to these with purpose further than "hurr gud musics hurr."

I do have two new albums, thanks to Jemma. I will talk about those soon. I will also have a huge health update as soon as I have hit some sort of milestone that other people may care about.

I will note that it was getting embarrassing, updating my Facebook with "I HAVE UPDATED MY BLOG" over and over again. So, I am no longer advertising. If you have found it on your own, or you actually like reading, please drop me a line some how. I would love to hear something from you. I am only MILDLY douchy...

Trip Hop

Beast is a strange horse: first off, they combine industrial music with rap and pop to create this very elaborate, yet strange, concoction that leaves the listener wanting more. Two, they are not a horse. They are a two piece from Montreal. Fancy.

Beast are unabashedly Christian in their writing. I would harp on them for that, but they really do not come off as preachy. Instead, they feel like they honestly believe what they are speaking about. They seem to acknowledge the fact that parts of their belief facade is fucked up and out dated. I honestly do not know what it is about this album I like so much, but I listen to it very often. Some would say, too much. Thus, why it made the list. That and, well, I really do feel like more people should know of this group.