Nas - Illmatic, Broadways - Broken Star, SSD - Get it Away, Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

Still sick as a dog so I haven't been too good at updating my blog seeing as I don't have the willpower to do much more than furiously beat off, watch the wire and sleep. Anyhow I told myself I would make this my love child so I figured I would do four uploads today. The best rap album of all time, Illmatic. The best pop-punk album, Broken Star. One of the best hardcore LP's, Get it Away and finally of the best folk albums, Nebraska. 

Illmatic is easily the best rap record ever recorded. The production was handled mostly by Large Professor and DJ premier with a few tracks produced by other producers such as Q-Tip. All the beats are very New York, dark and grimey in nature but also soulful. The lyrics are of the highest quality considering this is Nas we are talking about. Most of them are narratives of street life and while sometimes bleak they don't cease to be somewhat uplifting as well. Nas's flow is pretty legendary so there isnt much to be said for that.

Standout tracks: NY State of Mind, Halftime and The World is Yours.

If you enjoy this check out B.I.G, AZ, Main Source and Kool G Rap.

Illmatic

The Broadway's Broken Star is the best pop punk album ever created. Period. Sorry D4. Sorry Screeching Weasel. When it comes to the instruments and the way they are played it is all pretty standard punk fare. What sets this album apart are two things: songwriting and lyrics. The songs are sometimes unusually long hitting 3 minutes + on a lot of the songs which for a punk band is pretty hard to do. The songs never get boring and they all sound different to an extent while still retaining that signature Broadways sound. Lyrically the album deals with socio-political issues, topics covered include the nature of thanksgiving and the burden that our material possessions put on us. The Broadways also have an X-factor which I can't put my finger on but make them so emotionally powerful. In Brendan Kelly's voice I hear a sense of urgency like everything he is saying he truly feels. That is what takes this album from just good to amazing.

Standout tracks: I Hear Things Are Just As Bad..., Everything I Ever Wanted to Know.... and Fuck You Larry Koesche.

If you enjoy this check out Fifteen, Jawbreaker and the Lawrence Arms.

Broken Star

Get it Away is one of the most ferocious recordings ever. Everything about this album is just mean and fucking pissed off. Springa, the vocalist is a madman, he sounds like he recorded this in a straightjacket bouncing off the walls at an asylum. The band also added a second guitarist for this album and it definitely shows. SSD was pretty famous for being hardline edge and that is what most of the lyrics deal with and although I am not edge I definitely hate all those smokers and drinkers when I listen to this album. The biggest drawback is that this album ends way too soon. At 7 tracks (one being a Buzzcocks cover) it clocks in at just over 11 minutes. Get this album!

Standout tracks: ALL SEVEN

If you enjoy this check out Jerry's Kids, DYS and the F.U.'s

Get it Away

The last album is Nebraska by Springsteen. Nebraska is a unique album in the Springsteen catalog being one of only three straight folk albums. This is by far the best folk album he recorded and in my opinion his best album period. The only instruments used are his voice, an acoustic guitar, electric guitar on one song and a harmonica. The lyrics tell stories about blue collar workers, most of the time they are bleak and depressing. The somber tone of the album is present throughout, with only a slight amount of optimism in the final track. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of country, blues or just straight up folk.

Standout tracks: Atlantic City, Reason to Believe and Highway Patrolman.

If you enjoy this check out more Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt.

Nebraska

Jesu - Conqueror AND Clandestine Blaze - Deliverers Of Faith

I was sick as all fuck yesterday so I decided to take a bath and flush out my sinuses and all sorts of pussy shit. So today I am uploading two albums. I figured a contrast between melodic and harsh would work so I am uploading Conqueror by Jesu and Deliverers of Faith by Clandestine Blaze.

Jesu is a project by Justin Broadrick who is of Godflesh and Napalm Death fame. The band reminds me of the early 90's shoegaze bands but heavier in tone. Or maybe even a more melodic Godflesh. They are a pretty hard band to classify as they have created their own sound, a flawless mix of ambient, shoegaze, drone and industrial. You can expect to have long songs that may be somewhat repetitive in nature. The vocals are ALL melodic and well done at that. Jesu make good use of synthesizers in their music instead of making the music sound cheesy (most new-wave), they compliment the music and create a nice balance between the sometimes crushing guitar riffs. Which leads me to this: the guitars are sometimes ridiculously heavy. On songs like Weightless & Horizontal the riffs are really reminiscint of Sunn O))) or Earth.

Standout tracks would be Weightless & Horizontal and Brighteyes. If you enjoy this check out Isis, Godflesh, Sigur Ros.

Conqueror

The second album is Deliverer's of Faith by Clandestine Blaze. Clandestine Blaze is the one man solo project of Mikko Aspa who also plays in Deathspell Omega. This is a pretty straightforward black metal album. It is in the vein of Darkthrone, maybe even so much as to call it a Darkthrone clone. The music is raw and aggressive. The production is pretty lo-fi but in a way that compliments the music (Darkthrone, Mayhem) instead of hindering it. The guitars are pretty standard black metal fare, fast tremolo picked riffs. One thing that sets it apart from Darkthrone and many other BM bands is the use of guitar solos. The vocals also aren't the usual black metal shrieks, but rather somewhat low shouts.

Standout tracks are Beyond the Reason and Tormented. If you enjoy this definitely check out Darkthrone and Mayhem.

Deliverers of Faith

Articles of Faith - Complete Discography

To break with my current trend of uploading metal albums I am deciding to upload something different. Today I am uploading a two part Articles of Faith discography. Articles of Faith were one of the leading midwestern hardcore bands during the early 80's. They started out as a fairly straightforward hardcore act but eventually started to incorporate folk elements and moved towards a more alternative sound with their last LP. The earlier stuff is similar in sound to the Bad Brains, Scream, The Fix and other more technically proficient hardcore bands of the 80's. The later stuff reminds me a little of early Husker Du and the Replacements.

Vic Bondi's vocals are the best part of this band in my opinion, they are shouted but have a sense of melody. The instrumentation is surprisingly good due to the fact that there are two guitarists instead of just one. They play a very tight up-tempo style of hardcore and even include some pretty complex guitar parts. Standout tracks are American Dreams, Give Thanks and Remain in Memory.

If you are a fan of hardcore or punk download these albums as AoF are one of the best bands to ever record music.

If you enjoy this definitely check out the Bad Brains or Scream

Complete Discography 1

Complete Discography 2

Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain

I thought long and hard on what album I would choose to pop my blogging virginity and I decided it would be fitting to review and upload the album that I have listened to the most over the last year, Ashes Against the Grain by Agalloch. The band plays a weird mix of neofolk, doom, post-rock and black metal. They play songs that tend to be long and mostly instrumental. The music evokes, at least in my opinion a feeling of sorrow and despair. The winter is one of the best times to listen to music like this because the feel of the music matches the actual environment. In fact, while listening to this album it is hard to not conjure up images of the outdoors, whether it be the mountains, forest or even flowing streams. It is amazing to me how Agalloch seamlessly blends so many different sounds in one song. 

Most of the vocals are of the black metal variety, which in the case are just raspy, there are however some clean vocals spread throughout the songs and I feel that they are tastefully done even though they are a bit frigid and monotone. On that note, the monotony of the vocals whether shrieked or sung work well with the music as they add to the bleakness of the sound. The guitars are generally played at a slow pace with some grooves in some of the songs, the most intricate guitar parts are featured on the tracks, Falling Snow and Not Unlike the Waves. The lyrics tend to deal with nature and are woeful and depressing.

Standout tracks for me are Falling Snow, which is easily the most upbeat track on the album. If you replaced the few raspy vocal parts completely with clean vocals it would be extremely accessible. Not Unlike the Waves is another highlight just because it is the heaviest song on the album and has a great groove and some really well placed clean vocals. My favorite track on the album is easily Our Fortress is Burning..... II Bloodbirds, which to me is the most powerful song on the album, vocally, instrumentally and lyrically. It includes my favorite line from the entire album: The god of man is a failure. It is the only song that gives me goosebumps on a consistent basis.

Ashes Against the Grain is quite honestly one of the best albums I have ever heard and has the most unique sound of any album I have ever listened to. I have searched furiously trying to find more bands that sound like this and have only been able to find bands that encompass some aspects of the sound but not the sound as a whole. I find that to be one of the major accomplishments of this album and whole-heartedly believe it will end up being viewed as timeless classic for any fan of metal. 

If you enjoy this check out: Drudkh, which are more aggressive but also have folkish parts. Sol Invictus because they are one of the pioneers of neofolk and even Godspeed You Black Emperor! because they are great at creating unique musical atmospheres and have that same epic feel to them.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?di5ddyddply