out of the box on sunday XIII

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 listen to Aesop Rock's Big Bang to get an idea of his sound. or the music video at the bottom of this post...

Aesop Rock (myspace) is Ian Matthias Bavitz. both the most inspiring musician as the most inspiring lyricist. hip-hop with symbolism pouring out of it, which makes it sound like every verse has got an entire album-worth of subject matter in it.  I often wonder if he, himself, has any idea what he's saying, at the precise moment he's uttering the words. the foundation of electronic music or usually very peculiar and the random spoken word samples scattered all around. The Ghosts Of Barbary Coast is a project made in support for Jeremy Fish's artwork-series (Mr Fish also made the artwork for the 2007 album None Shall Pass and the music video below). the name of the song is Tomorrow Morning, but the correct tag for it is the name for the song on cooperation with the art.
Last fm tags as hip-hop, underground hip-hop, hip hop, rap,underground hip hop

buy his stuff right here

Alpinist - Lichtlærm

 listen to AIDT by Alpinist

German band Alpinist (Myspace) is the pinnacle of all melodic crust music. With influences from dark hardcore and screamo, this release will have all kinds of  sentiments soaring right past you from every direction, sometimes within a single song, each so vividly represented that barely any will leave you uncompelled. Angry as hell, pitch black desperation, reflective skepticism, .... This record is an emotional battlefield which eventually results in a bloody massacre.

Last fm tags as neocrust, crust, screamo, hardcore, dark hardcore

click the image above to e-mail the band about buying merch and/or records!

Departures - When Losing Everything Is Everything You’ve Ever Wanted

Departures (facebook page/old post) is back with a brand new release! Where they displayed a fresh mix, between the passionate and melodic hardcore blended with up-tempo hardcore punk, on their previous record, they continu to only scratch the surface of those two (almost contradictory) styles and dig deeper into a self-sculpted compromise inbetween them. No introverted ambient yet instrumentally minimalistic intermezzo’s, while the vocalist yells something whiny and catchy, to build up into a climax of the already conspicuous emotion that this musictrend is soaking in, like other bands would. But a more straight-forward punk rock approach. Beautifully crafted, without beating around the bush.

Last fm tags as glasgow,hardcore,punk rock scotland,ukhc

click the image above, for your chance to buy the band's stuff

Crimes – Let’s March To The Drums Of Sin

Let's March To The Drums Of Sin by Crimes (BE)

Probably the freshest music ever presented on this blog, Crimes (blog) is a fairly new Belgian (Antwerp) two-man project with the drummer and guitarist from James Berlin. A well-balanced mixture of early hardcore and gritty garage (punk/)rock balanced out with soothing vocals and catchy rythms. I missed out way too often, to see them live and I hope I'm the last one to do so, cause I hear it's a blast.

Out of the box on sunday XII

 listen to All You Need Is Blood by Test Icicles

 Test Icicles were a wildly energetic screamy/dancey punkish indie band. quite a lot of ingrediënts, but quite the conistent end product. just 3 hipsters with a mic, passing along guitars, while an iPod busts out their drumlines with occasional additional bleeps and other electronic noise. this often reminds of The Blood Brothers writing songs as catchy as Death From Above or Franz Ferdinand. members went on to form Rat Att Agg (aka Wrists), Kasms and most notibally Lightspeed Champion.
Last fm tags as indie, experimental, alternative, indie rock, punk

click here, to order their stuff directly from Domino Records

Zann – Earsick: more adventures with Zann

If you know Zann (myspace), you already know exactly what this album sounds like. Acme and Akephal -influenced  metallic hardcore with the intensity of early screamo music. Dissonant mid-tempo riffs, slowing down to catch a breath to equally discordant alternate picking. Songs about animal liberation and God free youth uttered in a sheer intensity, that convince you the vocalist takes these subjects to heart. As you should too. 

Last fm tags as  screamo, hardcore, emo violence, german, real screamo

click the image above to buy their stuff from a distro managed by (a) member(s) from the band

Ritual - Paper Skin

 listen to White Caskets by Ritual

To say this record was highly anticipated would be a huge understatement. To say it exceeds all expectations all the more so. Paper Skin shows Ritual (myspace) is a band with plenty of room for experimentation. Their hardcore punk rock’n roll style serves as only the subtle substructure to the overall sound to this record. With a much darker approach to the hardcore label, by incorporating  indistinct atmospheric elements in mid-tempo parts and here and there. Stirring melodies, by either minor chord strumming or haunting and slow plucking patterns with frail yet raw vocals. All incorporated with their signature rythmic fundamentals.

Last fm tags as hardcore, hardcore punk

click the image above to buy this record directly from their label, Reflection Records.

Reno - The Year Of Love

 listen to Deconstruction by Reno

Reno (myspace) is a chaotic-structured band from Belgium. Somewhere in between the more metallic mathcore and the more straight-forward chaotic hardcore, but always eclectic and somehow reminding me of 90’s metalcore, possibly because of their hardcore/metal approach. Because of their eclectic mix of contrasting structures and incorporated elements from various genres, every song seems to have its own sound. This makes the fact that the overall record has a very homogeneous sound all the more impressive and serves as evidence of some very  impressive song-crafting, giving even greater hope for everything to come.
Last fm tags as hardcore, chaotic hardcore

click the image above to buy the record from their label

Out Of The box on sunday XI (fixed!!)

  listen to Puss by The Jesus Lizard

ever wondered where bands like Daughters, These Arms Are Snakes and Young Widows got that what the fuck(ed up) sound from? that not sure if want awkward song-structures and vocals with seemingly random words and riffs. The kind that really grows on you! The Jesus Lizard (website) were doing it, back when Nirvana was still underground enough to do a split with such a band (which they did). rooted in the late 80's and early 90's alternative rock, their twist to it consisted of that sound of sheer insanity and al-ways catchy hooks. the latter may need to sink in, as it is smothered in the chaos and noise, so don't give up on it too soon.
Last fm tags as noise rock, grunge, alternative, noise, rock

Mindless - Human Conditioning

Bwoooaaaahhh. Mindless (myspace) plays a straight up nasty style of metallic punk. jumping back and forth from mid- to uptempo gritty and heavy grinding music. With signature vocals of Hatred Surge’s front-woman and swampy sludge guitars.

Last fm tags as powerviolence

you can get the record from RSR and the tape from Financial Ruin records. but don't ask me how...