22 - Flux (2010)

Panic! At the Disco are a fun and catchy, yet sentimental and consistently grabbing band. Meshuggah are the near antithesis of everything previously mentioned: dark and heavy, but still (ball)grabbing, and with their own brutal, manmade representation of what evil can sound like. Understand me when I (and many internet goers) describe this band as "Panic! meets Meshuggah." There's an inherent energy here: in both the singer's voice and his phrasing, the guitar and bass lines (and their near-constant duel for the limelight), the syncopated hand patterns of the drummer, and the absolutely driving and pulsing rhythms created by all of it together; but what really makes me love this band is the weird knack they have for seeming both robotic (those rhythms) and absolutely human (that vocalist). While they never, ever reach evil status, the sound that 22 create dabbles equally in the netherworldly, effectively creating some kind of spiritual experience... or at least that's what they seem to be going for. I'll buy it.

Note: Physical copies of anything by this band are nigh impossible to find for the time being. Rest assured, this rip sounds absolutely fine, and will work in any (i.e., most) media player, including iTunes (as it is Apple's native format). V0 will be up... soon.

@Avg. 261 AAC (.m4a)

Blakfish - Champions (2009)

I thought it'd be fitting to post this and Colour's Anthology back-to-back as they're both, at least to me, different takes on what's essentially the same sound: fun, mathy rock with accents. While Colour are really light and fun, Blakfish are really heavy and fucking awesome. Now, I know nationalities don't really matter, but I'd be lying if I said this band's vocalists' (plural) ridiculous accents didn't get me going in a number of directions, namely sexually, but also in a way that somehow compounds the amount of fun and innocent headbobbery that this album is absolutely filled to the brim with. Aye, this one's pure dead fuckin' brilliant.

@V0

Colour - Anthology (2009)

This band is like a really fun, math pop version of '80s-era King Crimson: wicked instrumentation with some occasional noodling, love-it-or-hate-it vocals with some (also occasionally) really, really nice moments, and an inconsistent player roster (though, in this case, just the bassist(s) and drummer(s)). The guitarists also have that Minus the Bear-esque "I only tap" thing working absolute wonders for them, and you've got to dig that filthy bass tone (see: "Jewels Like Fairy Lights").

I don't have any particular love for this band, but they have their (very awesome) moments, and they fit into their niche well enough (while doing their own thing) that I could never not post them here.

@V0: Part 1 & Part 2

Kong - Snake Magnet (2009)

Been anxiously awaiting this one's arrival in my mailbox, and wadda-ya-know. Kong plays this weird blend of grungy post-hardcore and frailed-at-the-edges sludge with mathy riffs tossed in for good measure. Once it comes together, it kind of sounds like the homeless child of Hella and The Melvins with yelled, mostly nonsense lyrics. In fact, that thing I wrote for Ehanre's The Man Closing Up applies here, too. But that's all irrelevant. This album is awesome, and I can't get enough. Most definitely destined for my Best-of-2009 list.

Buy this album
@V0