so I let the cat out of the bag on the eaglenet forums what my top four cds were..so better do some explainin!

3 Fear Before the March of Flames - The Always Open Mouth.
geez. where to start.
ok this CD is weird. like not what I wanted to hear from the band that made some damn good Botchcore chaos on Art Damage.

This CD goes all over the place...I can hear Converge, Korn, Isis, Saosin, Norma Jean, Maylene, and Devo on this CD. I still don't know how comfortable I am with a lot of the songs on this, and thats why it is so damn genius. 14 tracks of suprises, each making me squirm a little more. Some examples of things that just do not make sense on this CD

- a Miami Vice intro on Taking Cassandra to the The End of The World dance
- the absolutely disgusting vocal quality on this CD..for a singer who could scream and growl feverishly, he sure sounds a little bit weak on this CD..once again, it somehow works.
- The freaking Korn/NIN goth trance feel of Ten Seconds in L.A.

To complement these absolutely uncomfortable sections are passages of awesome...the true definition of the word...power. The first 45 seconds of Drowning The Old Hag will punch you in the chest and leave you gasping for more. The buildup of ...As a Result of signals being crossed will electrify you. The sudden onslaught of the Anthony Green-backed chorus of My (Fucking) Deer Hunter will make your hair stand up. The pummeling beat at the end of "A Brief Tutorial" will make you swing around the nearest object in rage..and the final wavering voice neatly making an end that connects to the beginning surely proclaiming that "everything will not be right" will creep the hell out of you and make you want to do it all over again. This CD makes me really really uncomfortable, which is a trait of genius music.

3 -The Devil Wears Prada - Dear Love, A Beautiful Discord
Whereas FBTMOF is the bloody mary of Hardcore, The Devil Wears Prada is the cherry Capri-Sun of hardcore.

ChugaChugas in every song? check
clean singing that would make Chris Carabba blush? check
Witty Song titles? check
Flawless mixture of emotion and good times hardcore? absolutely.

This CD reflects everything about the Devil Wears Prada that i loved when i was introduced to them at a live show...fun music to listen to.
This music doesn't make me angry...this music makes me smile..almost the whole way through. Did he just roll down the keys on the keyboard before that breakdown?
Did his voice just sound that nasty?
Can this breakdown be this slow?
How did i not think of "dogs can grow beards all over" and send it to bustedtees.net?

This CD has provided hours of enjoyment for me...but even with all their rollicking nature, there is some legitimitely emotional parts. Just try to not feel a little pain as that guys sings about the man who "wears a slick jacket and gold watch" or as he crys out to God to save him from temptation from something that he "thought died so long ago".

this CD is amazingly accessible but I can't get tired of it. Hate it for being among the current slew of scene hardcore bands...but don't hate me for having a good time listening.


2 - mewithoutyou - Brother Sister
This CD could be up this high were it just "messes of men" played 12 times in a row. Instead, they provided us with 11 other songs that are almost as good. Believe the hype...mewithoutyou are legitimate artists in a confused, homogenous music era.

1 - Thursday - A City by the Light, Divided.
there is a point on EVERY song on this CD that gives me goosebumps...

Lets get this started again....
by the way, the order of these is changed like every ten days, but I will go ahead and go with my original list. That list excludes the new Brand New cd which i bought yesterday which I am sure would make it on this list, maybe even top 5, and the Thom Yorke solo cd, which i have only recently began listening to, but oh well.



5 Genghis Tron - Dead Mountain Mouth
As I sit here listening to this CD, as I do with every CD as I write my little review of it, I am wondering how the hell this isn't my number one album this year. This music is generally mind-blowing. For the unfamiliar, Genghis Tron is basically a synthesis of two polar styles of music, grindcore and breakbeat/triphop. This seems like it could only end up as a gimmick or novelty, but it turns out to be a genius marriage. Countering arguably the most intense musical genre ever with one of the most surreal, atmospheric genres ever proves to be a beautiful, frightening, and invigorating musical experience that cannot be provided by any other music.

Although I have only heard one song of their prior EP, I have heard that Genghis Tron has matured even further on Dead Mountain Mouth. Truly this is one of the most groundbreaking, complete, albums I have heard in quite a while. The experimentation in new musical marriages is something that Genghis Tron does effortlessly, and thus the CD is more aurally pleasing than the previously mentioned The Sound of Animals Fighting, which is as experimental yet a little more difficult to digest. There is something to be said when a band can start out with an Aphex Twin synth line and then morph into a Seasons In the Abyss Era Slayer riff with frantic Converge style vocals and then move into a gritty Melvins chug with haunting choir vocals and then fly back into an absolutely ethereal, ascending, off kilter synth passage only to end the song in a massive barrage of all prior elements.

This CD is one that I believe I will listen to for a very long time and find new intricacies in it each time. I also feel like this CD will age very well and become somewhat of a landmark in the recent history of extreme music.

6 Underoath - Defining the Great Line
So how do I talk about a CD as mind blowing as Genghis Tron and then rank it behind "one of those screaming emo bands" that most every music fan hates?

I'll tell you. This CD is the arguably the most listenable heavy CD I have ever heard.

From the first "WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!" over an odd-timed guitar riff, you know that this CD is going to be a little different from They're Only Chasing Safety, but who knew that there would be this much musical maturation? After releasing one of the archetypical, defining discs of the despised screamo movement, Underoath has pushed themselves to destroy any semblance of predictable songwritings, emotionally bankrupt lyrics, and juvenile vocal delivery that has plagued the majority of new screamo while retaining an insane sense of urgency and creating more memorable hooks than J.T's producer.

The three thing that define this CD for me are as follows, great songwriting, improved vocals, and an excellence in instrumentation. First, the CD has some incredible songwriting. instead of simply cutting and pasting riffs or boxing themself into a VCVC structure, Underoath designs these songs like a well crafted novel, with a suspenseful buildup, incredible climax, and resolution. The greatest examples of this songwriting appears on "Casting such a thin shadow" and "to whom it may concern", which have an epic, post rock feel that cascades into a full on assault and then subsides again. This CD borrows heavily from the book of Every Time I Die and Isis, but ends up with a distinctly Underoath sound.

Second, the vocals. Whoa. Who is this new vocalist and where did that obnoxious, monotonous screamer from TOCS go? Spencer Chamberlain comes out of nowhere on this CD to become one of the most versatile hardcore vocalists. He goes from Keith Buckley yells to Jake Bannon screams to decent melodic singing to absolutely crushing growls straight from a Coalesce CD. It is beyond me how someone with the 140 pound frame of Chamberlain can deliver such punishing lows but he is truly masterful at it. Likewise, the clean vocals of Aaron Gillespie have seen an improvement as well, becoming much more dynamic and expressive.

Finally, the instrumentation of the CD is some of the most promising in the recent slew of post-hardcore/screamo bands. The guitars morph from interweaving melodic leads to chaotic, careening riffs to heavy chugging to atmospheric seamlessly throughout the cd. Likewise, the drums are very innovative without relying on the cliche double bass onslaught to be heavy. Finally, the keyboards are absolutely perfect on this CD. perfectly subtle and enhancing the mood, whether it be contemplative, urgent, or sullen.

This CD is a really really good piece of music. Give it a try even if you have decided to hate Underoath based on their overriding popularity. They actually pushed themselves and wrote good music instead of relying on their undying popularity.

Things I'm Thankful for

today's bulletin at my parent's kinda hokey but ever so well intentioned church featured thanksgiving ideas. one was to go through the alphabet and think of something you are thankful for each letter. here it is.

A - Al Michaels
The guy is a quality commentator and is the only surviving member of the frank gifford, al micheals and fat guy with mustache MNF trifecta I grew up loving.

B - basketball
Larry Bird, Adam Morrison's comedic being a bitch, and wingtip inspired Jordan's all come from this sport. how can it not rule?

C - curdled milk
i know i know, you all think curdled milk is only good for cottage cheese, but what about its use of filling up the helmet of your quixotic knight sidekick, and then blaming it on enchanters in order to enrage said knight's eccentric nobility?

D - dragons
# 1 object to put on t-shirts, old Chevy Vans, or make Sean Connery movies about.

E - entities
they are there, but sometimes you don't know it

F - Frankenstein
he was such an emo monster. kind of like myself

G - giraffes
they're soft and tall. kind of like myself.

H - Helicopters
I don't think it can be disputed that helicopters are fucking rad in any situation. And they also serve as a connection between EMT's and Arnold Schwarzennager.

I - intuitiveness
I don't know what this means, but its used a lot in marketing

J - Jumping
its just a sweet thing to do

K - Knee Pads
rollerblade!

L - Legs
not to be confused with the pussy brand L'eggs. real legs are things that we walk with. and they can be covered in Levi's

M - Matador's
whether you are talking about tough guys in shiny pants, Pierce Brosnan's chic assassin, or Tuxworths alter ego, Matadors are OK!

N - Nihilism
Maybe the best copout of a philosophy ever. and Flea was in a Nihilistic gang in The Big Lebowski.

O - Onomotopeia
Boom! Buzz! Spackle! Not only can I spell this word, I can give examples of it.

P - Pillaging
just a neat hobby

Q - quotients
sum, difference, product? those are some lame-ass math terms. I'm glad division decided to call their answer something rad and mysterious that can be thrown into conversation for +12 social EXP.

R - Rorscache tests
Because how else would we understand people's personalities?

S - situations
they always happen

T - tables
we can set our potatoes and USA Today's on them. Or organize our elements into them.

U - Unearth
Maybe the toughest band ever? or I just feel tough when listening to them?

V - Vince
Vince Young, or Vince Lombardi, or Vince from Joel's suite, or Vince that I was friends with in 6th grade and never got as many Legos as him.

W - Whomps
Maybe the most confused villain ever, these googly eyed pieces of animate rock contribute about 64% of the fun in playing Mario and Mario party. Sometimes I wish I found them in real life, guarding the classroom door or smashing unlucky people trying to get the coveted chicken nuggets in the caf.

X - "XXX: State of the Union"

Y - Yellowstone
The only thing that people know is in Wyoming, besides Matthew Shepard.

Z - Z-tests
helps us out in those pesky situations where we have more than 30 samples to test.

Life provides an equal amount of encouragement and discouragement. The acknowledgment of each is what makes someone happy or sad, naive or jaded, pessimistic and optimistic. There are few days where you can objectively see both discouragements and encouragements, thus we favor one or the other and create our subsequent bad and good days. It is on the days that we see both that we have the most clarity. Today might be one of those days.

the above is full of concrete facts that are not as concrete as I make them to be, but its a start eh?

I'm leaving in one hour to go home for the week to visit my home, my parents, my pregnant sister, my other sister, and my puppy. this is the first time I've wanted to be home in a while.

School can suck it.

bleeding kansas is a beautiful band.

i am almost to the end
4 pages to write and I will have my 16 page paper and graphic design project done for tomorrow

i can hardly wait. I need to celebrate

but first I need to finish those 4 pages.

I think I forgot for about a year that Vheissu is an amazing album.

bear with me

I promise i will finish the reviews (since you are screaming for them..haha actually I want to get it done, almost like an assignment. blah) but this first.

does it bother any other Christian that homosexuals are so ostricized from the Christian world? I don't even think that its unbiblical to be against homosexuals, since the bible says clearly a few times that homosexuality is a perverse sin (whether that refers to thought or action is up for debate). However, the fact that hating (I know no one will say they hate them, but its really what it is) homosexuals based on their sin really really bothers me.

This could be for two reasons,
-the society I live in is increasingly liberal, and as I am beginning to find more logic with more liberal stances and more repugnancy at conservatives, I may be feeling pressure to accept homosexuality as normal. For instance, I have a ton of close friends who are completely fine with homosexuality, people who are against homosexuality are often portrayed as insensitive dicks, and when Geoff Rickley from Thursday talks about equal sexual rights, he has just enough passion to convince me I'm right
-the possibility of homosexuality being a stigma that is based not so much on scripture as it is on social norms. Just like long hair for guys breaking the sabbath (two very poor,random examples, sorry), its a sin or has been a sin but in the course of history somehow society has deemed it ok. homosexual acceptance has just taken longer in the Christian culture.

graned, I am a piss poor Christian, but I feel that I am missing any sort of direction about this issue, and I just feel an enormous frustration as what is right according the book that I should follow collides with an general social opinion that seems much more humane. God help me.

Today in class, some kid brought up that his parents were boycotting wal-mart because they "supported the gay agenda". Number one, you should tell you parents to research child labor, unfair trade, sweatshop labor, and even the near-tyranny Wal Mart exhibits in their treatment of employee rights and wages, and see if thats still the only thing they find at fault. If so, they failed as compassionate christians. second, "gay agenda" is pretty ambiguous. Does that mean there will be lewd pictures of sodomy in the dressing rooms? or does it mean that they are not discriminating hiring based on sexual preference?

ba.goodnight

My Top Ten Albums (so far) this year

So, I realize that this is ridiculously early to talk about such matters but I am in love with a lot of new music recently, so I just figured I would compile all of my favorite cds this year into a list that probably is ever-shifting in my own mind. whatev..let the count down begin.

10. Saosin - Saosin
Ah the heightening anxiety of hearing the first full-length from Saosin. As the first ambient noises of its far better to learn, a slick, signature Beau Burchell riff cuts through and then the pounding drums build up until a single palm muted chord forays the listener into the silky silky smooth verse where a perfect production mix backs a very polished Cove Reber.

The song feels like a constant chorus, every vocal line sticks more than a Justin Timberlake single and sounds about as over produced. As one moves on throughout the CD, you start to realize that Saosin has this catchy thing down well.
A little too well.

Through 4 or 5 songs, everything starts to get blurred as each song relies on a very strict VCVBC structure, and the once enticing guitar lines become almost repetitive. This is very frustrating because the talent of every member of the band is through the roof, and each part sounds amazing, its just that the sound becomes too derivative.

So anyway, that is number ten, which is actually a disappointment as I expected this CD to blow me away, and it only did a half assed, McDonald's double cheeseburger job. That analogy sucks.

9. Norma Jean - Redeemer
Poor Norma Jean. Like Saosin, they have had to deal with the loss of one of the most revered frontman in the so called "scene" while gaining mainstream popularity to only fuel the rage of people who liked them in their old state with their old singer.

For most Norma Jean fans, O'God the Aftermath was a dud, despite its far superior technical prowess. It seems as if the guys figured that they should please fans of Bless the Martyr with another CD of chaotic, brutal music heavily sprinkled with huge dun dun dun BLEE BLEE breakdowns and simple, repeated lyrics while trying to grow at least moderately in their incorporation of new sounds.

That said, this CD is a rollicking good time to listen to. A Grand Scene For a Color Film, The End of All Things Will be Televised, and The Longest Lasting Statement all have intense vocals, great guitar lines, and ab.so.lute.ly. brutal breakdowns. I think hardcore dancing is pretty lame but when Cory roars "WE'LL RUN STRAIGHT TO THE MURDER", i just want to windmill kick some little emo fag in the FACE!!!!!!!!!

So the things that made this CD a number 9 and not higher are the blatant rip offs of BTMAKTC and the experimental parts. While I love musical (and drug) experimentation, Norma Jean just sounds uncomfortable when they aren't just rocking out. So basically I've just pigeonholed them to never grow musically and always play the same hardcore. Should I feel bad about that?


8- The Sound of Animals Fighting - Lover, the Lord Has Left Us
In a musical landscape were the norm or slight derivitives of the norm are strived for, TSOAF is a headbutt in the face of everything right.

Like most people, I heard of this band because of Anthony Green's involvement. Being one of the premier vocalists in modern music, I knew that whatever he fronted would likely be good.

I was in no way ready for this.

Ok, First few songs, what have we covered? we have some radio shuffling, some urgent newscasting, some saskrit singing, some acid-era Miles Davis, and some very very feminine vocals from Chiodo's Craig Owens. What the hell is this band? and how do their members hide behind much more staid bands the majority of the time?

Working backwards in their catalogue, it is easier to make sense of this CD. On The Tiger and The Duke, we hear a young supergroup displaying their musical chops and experimental tendencies in four excellent songs.

so this CD. This CD is gorgeous. Almost too gorgeous to listen to. This is Charlie Parker/Frank Zappa genius. You know, the kind that is too brilliant to even enjoy. It is absolutely mind-blowing, yet encouraging, that this CD sells so-well to such a closed-minded audience.

This might be the most experimental CD i've heard in a while, barring Fantomas and other such almost unlistenable projects. But I love it in small doses at the right time. There are certain points in my life where an opera singer over a robot eating potato chips or an Asian teenager making exuberant interjections over a Radioheadesque beat is absoulutely perfect. As soon as these moments occur all the time, this CD will be my favorite of all time.

7 - Rocky Votolato - Makers
Listening to Rocky Votolato might be the most settling thing one could do for their soul.

"gone this time. I'm really leaving"

"I'm gonna stay up all night every night for the rest of my life"

Rocky how do you make pain so comfortable? There is something on this CD that moves beyond the guitar chords and melodies and lyrics. There is something on this CD that is just Rocky explaining to you a mishap he had in the past and how he almost lost control of his life, but somehow he held onto it, and he just wants to tell you about it because he has his guitar and you are willing to listen.

I honestly don't really have good words to describe this music, except that it surpasses any acoustic singer songwriter act I know of. Yes, thats you Sufjan, Elliot, and Iron. Rocky is the perfect antithesis to the proliferation of hardcore that populates my playlists. Still angry, still a little dissatisfied with injustice, still a little moved by the presence of others, but able to communicate in the sparsest of terms. Listen to this guy.

A short list of things that have irritated me toweek.

- All the self-proclaimed"Granolas" who walk around our campus barefoot because they think they are rustic and "outdoorsy" even though "outdoorsy" isn't a legitimate word.
Recently, its been brought to my attention that these pre-evolved humans have been trodding happily to the cafeteria unshodden.

Ok you win. I will never be hearty enough to let my feet bear the elements of buttered pasta and diet coke spills.

I hope this crazy little bastard moves into your foot via a sharpened, rotten, uncooked strand of spaghetti and makes your foot so glorious as this image.

- Someone has been posting some um, Muslim awareness, i guess, posters all around our dorm. These sweet posters notify us ignoramuses that Islam has been around for a shorter time than Christianity and Judaism and that Mohammed is the prophet of Islam. Thanks guys, you cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had about Islam.

anyway, these posters i can live with, but someone wanted to notify all the heathens who attend a private university in the Bible belt that "Islam is dead, and God lives forever" in a sloppily handwritten note written underneath the posters text, probably written on the way to a Frisbee club prayer meeting.

Wow, not only have I learned a lot of fundamental facts about Islam, I also learned a little about Christianity! this school is CRAZYunderpriced for all the community interaction it lends to my soul.

No really, I like it here, but people who write notes like this to an audience who is no doubt either strong Christians or has a strong knowledge of Christianity is just lame. Also, wearing blue suits and taking senior pictures in front of a mulberry bushes when you are 39 is lame.

- the kid who reads Kim Possible Fan Fiction in the computer lab while I aspire to write papers on PBS marketing specials and listen to Cannibal Corpse on myspace because my computer broke when I woke up that morning and now I have to use the computer lab for everything, including this post, which is being written in the midst of the temperature in here being around 96 degrees and the kids next to me are playing on their own PCs which they brought into the lab for some reason, probably so they could pump up the volume on their shitty ass Kutless cds on itunes and their crazy antic videos on youtube.

Where was I?

yes, if you are in college, you shouldn't be allowed to live after reading kim possible fan fiction or having more than a passing knowledge of kim possible.

Being in the business world is as grand as punk rock wouldn't believe

Look at those mountains, they are greater than the rockies or even my native big horns because those mountains represent $638 of profit that I can make in a week by simply reading up on analyst opinions (looks like the current opinion for the above stock is 1.8, time to buy :] (isn't that such a smug emoticon? perfect for the topic at hand)) and throwing around the money that my business finance teacher, who may or may not have had the voice of Wallace Shawn implanted on his vocal chords, assigned to us as a class project. True, this money is anything but real, but as i live a life where I can only heartily lust after a pair of pinstriped express pants and I sometimes treat myself to the luxury of Kimchi Asian Noodles in a bowl, ($.098 at wal mart, making it $47.34 cheaper than one share of their stock), this playful-bragging-with-the-boys-laughing-while-I-peel-out-of-division-offices-in-my-infiniti-that-i-paid-extra-for-a-navigation-system-that-i-dont-use abuse of our nations hallowed market is something to hang my hat on.

Ian MacKaye said that you are not what you own.

Yeah Ian? come back to me when you've just made $7000 on an upstart financial that had its first stock split.

tactics for a greater appearance will be discussed.


in the mean time,
Water