Cheer up, Charlie

These are some of the albums I tend to listen to when I'm feeling down, or even just to go with my good mood.

Deerhunter - Microcastle (2008)

The beautiful shoegaze moments and the huge atmospheres created on this album always make me feel heaps better. Every song is solid and enjoyable, making one listen all the way through enough to cheer up anyone.

The Audition - Controversy Loves Company (2005)

Pop punk/Pop rock at it's finest. It's basic, repetitive and really not that well written. But the songs are so catchy and ridiculously fun that it's hard not to smile when listening to it. It will always be a guilty pleasure of mine.

The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (2001)

Some of the best Indie tunes are on this album. As soon as Caring is Creepy starts, I always am instantly put in a good mood. Really cruise-y, chilled out songs that will get inside your head and force you to feel good.

mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister (2005)

Their next album It's All Crazy... is clearly a happier record, but this album cheers me up more just because of the sheer amazingness of it. It's passionate and beautiful, and reminds me just how capable and creative the human mind can be.

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)

If you've heard this album then you love it, if you haven't then you will download it right now and then love it. This album pretty much created the Shoegaze genre and is possibly the closest music form to the word Love, which is ironic considering the album title.

Portal - Swarth (2009)

I know it's cheesy and a bit over the top in the happiness department, but this feel good album really could cheer up anyone. The overuse of the major scale and the serenity of the vocals make this one of the happiest albums I've ever heard.

Well there you go, these albums always put a smile on my face. Mostly Indie stuff for some reason, but I think just lush sounds and chilled out atmospheres are what turn my moods.

I don't want someone who's depressed to take the Portal album as serious advice and listen to it, because it will probably just cause you to kill yourself and everyone within a 50 mile radius.

Karnivool

My favourite Aussie band, and they performed one of the greatest shows I've ever been to last night.

I've never seen a band so tight on stage. Everything they played was clear and flawless. The ambient parts were beautifully lush and the heavy parts were hea-vy. Such a huge sound.

In terms of stage presence, they were awesome as well. They didn't go over the top crazy, but for the music they play they were appropriately active. As you can see from the photos I had a wicked view of the whole band and took heaps of photos. Each member delivered perfectly and I really can't say enough for how well they played. Honestly, just so fucking good.

Anyway if you haven't heard any of their stuff, download their 2 albums and be amazed (and then also upset you didn't see them last night).

Themata (2005)

Sound Awake (2009)

I wore 3 condoms in advance for the show... I should have worn more.

Deathconsciousness

Since my last few blogs have been about bands that I think are pretty good but not amazing, I thought I'd do a blog about one of my favourite albums of all time.

Have A Nice Life - Deathconsciousness

One thing people need to know about me is my love for 2 things in music: Epic finishes to songs/albums and Major Third progressions. I'm not sure what it is about the Major Third progression but the interval is just so fucking good that every time I hear a song with it in it, I go nuts. Anyway, this brings me to how I first heard this album. My mate showed me the last song Earthmover which ticks both boxes for me: Massive Major Third progression to finish the album in the most epic way imaginable. As soon as I heard it I was compelled to hear the entire thing. On first listen, I thought it was really solid and good to chill out to. Sure there were moments that got pretty heavy but for the most part, it was a relaxing album. Over time, I started hearing new things with each listen, small things that seemed insignificant at first. Before I knew it, I was in love. Deep, Deep love (no pun intended, although by saying this it's pretty clear that it was intended). Every song was so appropriate in the mix of the album, leaving no moments of boredom. At times I could just sit there relaxing and soaking up the dreamy atmospheres created, and at other times I couldn't help but bop my head or stamp my feet to the beat. I've never had so much chills in my body from one single album. Basically, I had found an album that had songs for every mood I could possibly be in, and in turn had found one of the most amazing albums I had ever heard.

Basically this description I've given you doesn't really tell you anything about the album, other than the fact that I kiss it's arse every day. But in all seriousness, I really struggle to describe this album technically. The only thing I could thing to do is tell you how it makes me feel, so hopefully that is enough to make you want to hear it. Genre-wise, Have A Nice Life have stated that they make "Depressive Post-Industrial Doomgaze" music, which sums it up pretty accurately. Pretty much you just need to hear it for yourself, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Deathconsciousness Disc 1 - The Plow That Broke The Plains (2008)

Deathconsciousness Disc 2 - The Future (2008)

To give you some reference as to how much I am obsessed with this album, track 3 is called The Big Gloom. Go figure.

Hopeless

Local Melbourne hardcore band Hopeless have just released their latest 7" EP called Human. For those who don't know, Hopeless are a fairly new band with members from Carpathian and Bear Trap. 

Their previous album Dear World... was a pretty good effort, but seemed to lack something. It also seemed a bit slow and generic at times but all in all was a fairly enjoyable hardcore album.
Living in Melbourne myself has been good in the sense that I have seen these guys at least 6 times in the last year, which has also given me the chance to see their growth. As musicians, they don't really do anything too special and technical, but they provide a strong hardcore sound with plenty of opportunities to chant the lyrics, which are one of the best parts about the band. Needless to say, I've been pretty excited about their latest release since all their new songs sounded awesome live. The production is certainly better than on Dear World..., and the songs just seem to flow much better. Dear World... had a lot of filler tracks that didn't really add anything to the album, but with Human only being 5 tracks, all 5 tracks hold their own making it their strongest effort yet.

If you're a fan of hardcore, definitely get Human. If you like what you hear, feel free to get Dear World..., but as mentioned I personally don't think it's as good.

Dear World... (2009)
Human 7" (2010)

I promise my next blog won't be about hardcore.

Bury Your Dead

You can't deny how good these guys are at doing breakdowns, even if you don't like breakdowns. There is just something about them that makes everything they do instantly cool.

Though in saying that, I should probably point out that the above statement only applies when Mat Bruso was the vocalist. For some reason after he left they decided to do two things:

1. Write Nu-Metal songs with breakdowns.

2. Add clean singing.

Big, big, BIG mistakes. However, we can still remember how good they were through their 2 main albums: Cover Your Tracks and Beauty and the Breakdown. Both top hardcore albums, with the latter adding some slight synth work but tastefully, something they have since failed to do. 

Cover Your Tracks (2004)

Beauty and the Breakdown (2006)

Seriously if you can listen to the song Legend off Cover Your Tracks and NOT mosh, I hate you.

Thoughts Part #1

So today I had to go into my university to talk with the head of campus about my plagiarising of someone's work. It's my first year at my 'dream' course and I almost completely fucked it up. Since I got the call 3 days ago I have been absolutely SHITTING my pants about the thought of being kicked out. On top of my own paranoia, I had people telling me stories of people getting expelled for less, and people saying "What the fuck are you going to do if you do get kicked out?" Well, to be honest I would have no clue, and that got me thinking: apart from music, what else do I have? I have friends, with a common interest of MUSIC. So if we eliminate MUSIC, I don't have any FRIENDS. And if I don't have any FRIENDS, well that's FUCKED.

Basically you're sitting there going "What a faggot", but seriously, on a serious note seriously, but seriously... But yeah. Anyway, you have to understand how I've been building this course up since I was 15 and telling everyone how I've been enjoying, and I was/am. But if I got kicked out after 1 semester, I'm pretty much nothing. So yeah I have stuff, and I have friends, and I have music, and thankfully after today I still have a reason to wake up. Yeah they didn't kick me out.

Anyway, since I've been stressing and sleeping all day lately I haven't been doing any blogs so hopefully I can smash a few out these holidays. I bet you 3 people reading this are siked.

Yes I said 3 people, I see you following me Nick.

mewithoutYou

They make me want to believe in God.

Over a period of time these guys have become one of my favourite bands of all time. Musically, they began as a Post Hardcore band a cut above the rest. Strong, powerful and angry, as clear through singer Aaron Weiss's lyrics and vocals on their first album [A→B] Life. 
Their next album Catch For Us the Foxes showed them progress to a more experimental stage, combining elements of Alternative Rock and Indie with overall better and more creative instrumentation. Although it was less 'Hardcore' it still retained much fury behind the lyrics and vocal style, however there were spots of a more mellow (and also a more Christian) Aaron. 
Then came the peak of their career in my opinion. Brother, Sister is and always will be one of my favourite albums. More experimental than Catch For Us the Foxes, but also more passionate and intelligent. Mostly an Indie album, it created a beautiful atmosphere with peaks of brilliance in songs such as Wolf Am I! (And Shadow) and O, Porcupine. They also used more instruments such as Trumpets, Accordion and Harps. 
Their latest album It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright in my opinion is their worst, but it's still miles ahead of most other Indie bands of today. This time they practically threw out any anger and instead made a happy-go-lucky Folk/Indie album. Still enjoyable, but for me it's lost a bit of their spark.

All in all, a top band for any fans of Indie or more experimental types of Post Hardcore. I'd recommend listening to their discography in order, as seeing their progression will give you a whole lot of respect for them as musicians.

[A→B] Life (2002)
Catch For Us the Foxes (2004)
Brother, Sister (2006)
It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright (2009)

I should have said more about the other musicians since they're all amazing, but I can't help it if I'm an Aaron Weiss fanboy.