icarus syndrome - Pie Rhymes

I was gonna wait for Mark to post this on the You're Sitting On It blogspot, but I already had this uploaded a while ago. I understand that Andy recorded this cassette right after working at a group home for the developmentally disabled. The imagery in the lyrics invokes thoughts of waking up in an embryo woven from the fabric of dreams. Thanks to Paul Kim for the sweet digital copy of this.

Womans Worth - All Texture No Lecture

i met Matt Grothman, sax player of Womans Worth, about 8 years ago while i was living in LA. We were both studying recording at Musician's Institute and bonded quickly over such things like the fact that the only prior recording experience both of us had was on a 4-track cassette deck. Matt sort of took me under his wing for the time we were in school together. i was a naive 18 year old "punk" at the time and Matt played me music that i had never been exposed to before. Some of these albums ended up being my favorites till this day ("One Foot In The Grave" by Beck, "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," Sonic Youth's "Sister" just to name a few). He also took me to shows at The Smell which, at that time, was still a relatively little known space to the masses of greater Los Angeles. Matt took me to my first ever underground "loft show" consisting of Joan of Arc, Hella, and The Wives. Matt played with The Wives on and off while they were a band and before Dean and Randy went on to start No Age. That one show changed my perspective on music for the rest of my life and i owe a debt of gratitude to Matt for bringing me in to that realm. This album by Womans Worth is a no frills hardcore free-jazz freakout. This is some serious next-level shit here using drums, trumpet, and sax. It was really amazing to see these guys play live in Denver a few years back and they have since disbanded. The trumpet player went on to start a band called High Castle. i lost the cover to this CD-R long ago so the picture is just a live photo. So much for No Lecture.

The Metroids - The Mad Titan

Another quintessential Dekalbian project. It's hard for me to describe the Metroids. It's definitely quirky pop music of sorts that may enter in to, dare i say, "new wave" territory (i use the term "new wave" for lack of a better word). It's definitely energetic and largely synth-based. Gary Butterfield, Nat Kundanis-Grow, and Andy Herald were the masterminds behind this band which is now defunct, sadly. It was really nice to get this cd-r (released on Bad Elk Records) a few weeks back and hear some great songs that these guys played live but i had never heard on recording, "W For Tungsten" comes to mind. i think one of the main things that impressed me most about this band was the way the chord progressions were structured. i guess i mean to say that listening to them challenged the way i thought of typical phrasing and progressions yet they maintained an accessible and fun flavor to it all. If you like the recording, please support the artist and buy it from the link to Bad Elk Records, posted above. i'll bet it's pretty cheap. Get Mad, Titan.