Experimental post-rock band Pyramids released their first record on Hydra Head Records, which is how I ended up being exposed to them. They’re honestly pretty all over the map on this record, which kind of lurches around between various styles. I’ve only got this and their last record, 2015’s A Northern Meadow, and that’s similarly a restless record. I don’t really love it, but I think it’s at least interesting, so that’s a good thing.
[Read More]I’m never really sure how to credit this record. It’s Richie Hawtin putting together a mix record, so do I credit him? Or the artist that did the original track? I choose the former on purely utilitarian grounds, which is that if anybody listening to this wants to hear more, they’re going to do better looking up Hawtin than they will the original artist (Thor, in this case. Not the Norse god.)
[Read More]The opening to the 2015 album from False (called Untitled, the same as their first EP, because fuck you!), featuring their blend of black metal with other elements like thrash. The stretch around 1:30-2, for example, is pretty thrash-y. The middle section of the song is pretty doom-y. These kinds of passages are a nice change of pace from just the crush of black metal.
Hüsker Dü’s 1984 double-album Zen Arcade was a monumental landmark in the rock underground. It’s hard to really call it a hardcore album at this point, it’s really moved far beyond it, but so many bands after this would try and sound this good. Everything is still super loud, but the songwriting has stretched much farther than the first couple records indicated they were capable of.
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