Periphery - Periphery (2010)

4/22 - I just got the deluxe double-disc edition of this album in my mailbox and in my hurry to upload both of its versions (mostly for close friends, for now) I've neglected to write a proper blurb for it. Rest assured patrons: I'll remedy my negligence as soon as finals week is over.

Note: Got the idea to "invert" the cover art because the instrumental disc has the inverted colors on it. Unfortunately, this was after I uploaded the album. If you want in on my INGENIOUSNESS, this link may help you.

(Removed. Sorry guys.)

Periphery - HBG4

(Because the word "final" doesn't mean what it used to.)

Bulb's got a side that borders on being labeled as "elevator music," but he nonetheless has the ability to make music even as mundane-sounding as that interesting. --Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't put my (very) dear patrons through any prolix something, but I do warn those with an especial affinity for the throat as an instrument to tread cautiously when pointing 'yer clickers at the download links at the bottom of this post--you may not find much to like this time.

. . . and with that said, here lie some of Bulb's coolest ideas to date, gathered in two tidy packages that teeter on the line between "fuck" and weird, in that order, for a good hour and fifty-five minutes. I hope you brought your spacesuit.

Note: HBG4 is Giants in Junon--To B-Sides and Back is just something I threw together as a kind of "Hey, here's what else Bulb likes to do!" kind of thing, and as such, it's a separate download. There's some fairly cool electronic babble-y stuff mixed in, including the near-infamous Michael Jackson cover "Black or White."

Note 2: I gave this one a "serious" (and slyly alliterative) name because I wasn't kidding when I said it contains some of Bulb's coolest ideas--certainly his most melodic, experimental, surreal, and, uh, referential. Plus, I got around to including "Racecar Updated Part 2" for once in my life. Please, kill me later.

2010 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 4: Giants in Junon @Avg. 139

2010 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 4: To B-Sides and Back @Avg. 177

Previous HBGs can be found here.

Venetian Snares - Hospitality & Cavalcade of Glee[...] (2006)

Aaron Funk, the man behind Venetian Snares, has dozens upon dozens of releases, but his 2006 run (Hospitality and Cavalcade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms, minus 4 Adaptions of Rossz) is my favorite because of its emphasis on melody as well as those elusive rhythms that most drum and bass artists are known for. These two albums are the aural representations of floating on digital air while being attacked by someone's idea of what vultures from Tron would look like. They're intense, with moments of the most serene calm juxtaposed inbetween, or, uh, vice versa.

Note: I found some higher-res album art for Hospitality (the picture in this post) after uploading the album, so if you're compulsive, just click here to grab this one.

2006 - Hospitality @320

2006 - Cavalacade of Glee and Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms @V2

Periphery - You decide.

Since I haven't posted anything in a while, and to celebrate the signing of my second favorite band, Periphery, to Sumerian Records, I thought this could be the only logical next post I could possibly make, ever. Anyone who likes them already knows (or should know) that they've got over a hundred demos, mostly due to their main guitarist, "Bulb," and his ability to soldier on for weeks-on-end doing nothing but writing neck-breaking riffs and programming killer drum tracks, all without a wink of sleep. Think of these two mixes as Best Ofs, made from those demos, for a band that hasn't released anything yet.

Imagine Nothing era Meshuggah, but then picture them as young, energetic, twenty-something humans. Periph sounds a little bit like that.

Note: Mix 1 spans the band's entire career and focuses on the tracks they took the time to record vocals for. Mix 2 is the in-between, instrumental kickassery we all know and love.

Note 2: No, 3 is not a mix I made after making this post, and it's definitely not just a mix of 1 and 2 with some extras added in because I'm an idiot and didn't think to mix the two until now. No, it's not an hour and nineteen minutes long, and it will not rock the ever-loving fuck out of your car. Also, I don't apologize to the three people that downloaded 1 and 2.

2009 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness @Avg. 168
2009 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 2 @Avg. 136
2009 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 3: Final @Avg. 142

2010 - Homemade Bromosexual Goodness 4 @This post

These Monsters... - These Monsters... (2006)

These Monsters... is, at least to me, one of the better things to emerge from the post-rock genre in the last few years, albeit one with an unusual vibe. Every track brings to mind something in-between weird dreamscapes and green oceans: it can't decide on whether it wants to soothe or cause trouble. It could be the electronica-tinged percussion, or the Deku horn-like saxophone riffing its way into your nightmares. Either way, they're both completely at odds with the never-relieved and ever-flowing pace of the music itself. Yeah, that's it. Flow is something this album has too much of. The climaxes aren't particularly climactic, but they just keep going, and flowing, anyway, without consent.

For anyone who loves mood-setters and the more brooding types of post-rock. I would say steer clear of sunny days with this one, but nah. You decide.

Note: Two-second gap between tracks 1 and 2. It bothers me too.

@256

Cloudkicker - Discography

Ben Sharp, presumably a metalhead fella' from Ohio, set out to (again, presumably) create something remarkable with a project we now know as Cloudkicker. While he didn't quite set the bar as high as he might have hoped, mother of God, did he mock-up one hell of an effort, or two. Few bands (and even fewer one-mans) have been able to capture the atmosphere and matching intensity present here. Meshuggah-isms and repetition are the name of the game. Couple that with some borderline post-rock/metal leanings and you've got a recipe for a potentially kickass band with too many killer riffs for its own good. No, I didn't forget to add hyberbole.

Did I mention he offers his music for free?

“It costs me absolutely nothing to create the music. Zero dollars. I record all the guitars and bass straight into my laptop and program the drums using this one sequencing program, then I mix and master everything myself. The only thing that costs money are guitar strings, but I have a full-time job so it’s no big deal.”
– Ben Sharp, (Musical Awareness on Cloudkicker)

Commend him, dear patrons. My conscience is clear for now.

The Discovery (2008) and The Map is Not the Territory (2009) @V0 & FLAC

Bohren & der Club of Gore - Sunset Mission (2000)

Extremely down-tempo ambient noir-jazz from Germany.

This one reeks of cigarette smoke. It's been discarded by some junkie in an ashtray at the only lit corner of a bar, long after everyone else has left. Outside the bar, streetlamps rest as mouth-like alleys keep watch. Car horns and taxi-calls can be heard from a distance without a soul in sight. Apartment lights on faraway buildings are the only things left to perpetuate the night after every star has blotted itself out. Reserved for lonely AMs and moody, lights-out sex.

(Removed. Sorry guys.)

Zebulon Pike - II: The Deafening Twilight (2006)

Instrumental stoner doom metal from Minnesota. I've never heard another album that better encapsulates the feeling of raping and pillaging an Indian village for economic gain. The angular, precise guitar riffs present on this album are no doubt what played on constant loop in the minds of American frontiersmen as they broke entrepreneurial molds. II is doom at its finest.

Note: The first song on this album is guaranteed to make your balls drop a little lower. Keep out of reach of children.

@192