1. Cross My Heart – The Great Depression – Temporary Contemporary (2000)
“The Great Depression” is the first track on Cross My Heart’s second and final album. It’s a great opener. The song is essentially in three different parts. First is the super slow, lethargic intro that has a bit of a mid-west feel to it with a slide guitar accompaniment. Then the band breaks into a chugging delay heavy, almost U2 sounding bridge before dismantling that into an all out indie rocker. It was completely different than what everyone else was doing at the time. Temporary Contemporary is one of my favorite indie rock albums from that time for that reason.
2. Algernon Cadwallader – Pitfall – Parrot Flies (2011)
Here is a song about the classic Atari game Pitfall. At least I think it is, the line about falling into an alligator pit makes sense and it’s some of the few lyrics I can understand. Musically Algernon Cadwallader were a throwback to the Chicago Emo glory days of Polyvinyl Records and bands like Cap’n Jazz and Braid. Complex guitar playing drives the track through a course of shifting rhythmic patterns and screamed vocals. It actually comes off as a bit more jagged than it really is. In fact, it’s a super clean recording and the song is surprisingly catchy. Unfortunately the group ended shortly after the release of this album, par for the course.
3. The Burning Paris – In Ruins – Half Truths And Indiscretions: The Anthology (2006)
The Burning Paris are basically part one of an evolving musical project that would become On Fire and later Eksi Ekso, all of which featured the same core members. They played a pretty straightforward take on ambient Post-Rock but added a particularly different melodic feel with the addition of cello. Their 2006 release Half Truths & Indiscretions was a discography covering reissue of their two albums Coral City Ruin and By December You Will Know Where Your Heart Truly Lies, released in 2001 and 2003 respectively. “In Ruins” is the opening track to Coral City Ruin, and set the mood for everything the project would go on to do. Bright clean guitar tones and delay-drenched atmospherics blend with the melancholic keys and cello to make a moody, but calm vibe. This is definitely for any fans of The Appleseed Cast.
4. Aereogramme – The Running Man – My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go (2007)
Aereogramme were a rock band from Scotland that never got their due during their existence. I, like many others, unfortunately didn’t learn of them until after their demise when I discovered their collaboration with ISIS. I generally compare them to Radiohead, but with much stronger roots in the underground indie rock scene, and their final album, My Heart Has A Wish That You Would Not Go, found them experimenting with more electronics and keyboards to go along with that lazy comparison. Aereogramme shed their heavier side for their final album to which vocalist Craig B. attributed to just not being angry anymore. The record turned out to be a more experimental, melodic and just generally easier sounding album to approach. “The Running Man” is based on a lot of electronic and synths, perhaps hinting at the future direction of guitarist Iain Cook, who went on to form the synth pop trio Chvrches.
5. The Anomoanon – Down And Brown – Joji (2004)
Ned Oldham is the eldest of the brothers Oldham, which include Will, better known as Bonnie “Prince” Billy” and Paul, who often accompanies Will on record. We need to get that out of the way because otherwise you may think you hear Will singing on this song. Eerily similar sounding voices aside, Ned’s take on Americana leans more towards a classic rock punch than his sibling’s country folk. There’s something hypnotic about the chord progression of “Down And Brown” with its cadence of rising and falling melodies and strangely catchy chorus. There’s also a tasteful touch of synth in the background, not enough to overpower the song, but just enough to get that same psychedelic vibe that The Court And Spark were known for. I don’t know much about The Anomoanon, but revisiting this song made me realize that I probably should investigate them more.
6. The A.D.’s – Living Downtown – Living Downtown 7” (1980)
A while back I was going to write a whole big thing about the 90s metal and hardcore scene in Albany that I grew up listening to and that really helped to shape my musical outlook. I may still do that, who knows. But, as I researched more and more I kept going backwards through the 80s, discovering bands involved in the hardcore and punk scene that were obviously well before my time, thus I had never heard of before. The A.D.’s were one of my coolest finds; a punk band that dated back to the late 70s, one of whose members would go on to open the Last Vestige record stores, certainly a critical retail outlet in my development as a music lover. The Living Downtown 7” is their first and probably best single (of, I believe, 3 7” records released in total). It has such a raw sound, the guitars pushing well into the red, but the vocals are crystal clear – catchy melodies sung in a tone more competent than most of the punk of the time. You’ll probably never find the actual record, but it’s possible to come across the songs on the internet. You would certainly be wise to, because Side B of Living Downtown is also killer.
7. Motorpsycho & Jaga Jazzist Horns – Theme De Yoyo – In The Fishtank #10 (2003)
The In The Fishtank series was a really great idea executed by Konkurrent Records, putting bands in the studio with minimal time to record something new. More often than not, this featured two bands collaborating to create something altogether different from their normal output. Number 10 paired Swedish Stoners gone Prog-Rock Motorpsycho with the horn section of Norwegian experimental jazz ensemble Jaga Jazzist. Most of the record has a calm, smoky lounge atmosphere, but their cover of Art Ensemble Of Chicago’s “Theme De Yoyo” packs a serious punch. Their take on it is a little louder, a little funkier and a little more playful (particularly in the vocals), but keeps very true to the original. Kept well in tact are the free and noisy post chorus sections and the wild a horn solo with the accompaniment of a little guitar. I actually debated on putting the original version here instead, but I think this fits the purpose of what I’m doing here better. As a companion piece to this list, go listen to the original recording from 1970. It will be well worth your time.
8. The Cancer Conspiracy – October Days Club – The Cancer Conspiracy (2001)
Like many of the bands on my playlists, The Cancer Conspiracy came out of the hardcore scene and went in a completely different direction. There just seems to be something about musicians in the heavy realm wanting to go and explore all kinds of different styles. Featuring members of the legendary Vermont group Drowningman as well as Non Compos (who released a record on the obscure Hydrahead subsidiary Tortuga Recordings), this instrumental trio played music more in tune with Prog-Rock and Jazz Fusion, but with an underlying indie rock base. Their 2002 full-length The Audio Medium is a must hear for any music fan, but it really needs to be listened to it in it’s entirety, thus I have included a song from their first EP. But that doesn’t mean “October Days Club” is some second rate track; in fact, it’s actually my favorite song from the group. It basically has everything that makes The Cancer Conspiracy great – odd time signatures, spacey atmospherics, hard rocking riffs and a saxophone solo. I saw them play it at Hellfest 2002, smack dab in the middle of all the hardcore sets. It was my favorite part of the day.
9. Daylight – Selfish – Dispirit (2010)
Daylight was the original name of Superheaven, a Pennsylvania based rock band who gained some notoriety after releasing their final record, Ours Is Chrome on Side One Dummy Records in 2015. While their later output drew more from a 90s grunge sound, their first couple EPs had a pronounced punk edge to them. “Selfish” sounds more like indie-punk stalwarts Hot Water Music, with a keen sense of melody and even gritty vocals reminiscent of Chuck Ragan’s. Even with huge sounding overly distorted guitars, the hooks shine through and this is one hell of a catchy song.
10. Rockets And Blue Lights – A Smashed Piano – A Smashed City With Flames And Music In The Air (2002)
Here is another obscure upstate NY based band from the early 2000s. Not a whole lot of information is out there about this band. I remember I saw them once and picked up this 10” vinyl release which for a super small band on a tiny independent label is one of the coolest artistically looking packages I own. Rockets And Blue Lights played a similar style to what we heard from Algernon Cadwallader earlier, but a bit more angular. There was definitely a huge 90s Math-Rock influence on the band, but they played mostly instrumental, pushing the few vocal parts deep into the mix even when there were any. The guitars are constantly battling each other, never quite syncing up, but never washing out into complete dissonance. It’s a push and pull that ends up sounding quite pleasing.
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