1. Clouds – New Amnesia – Legendary Demo (2007) (0:00)
During Cave In’s hiatus in the mid-aughts, we were treated to a number of bands that showed the members exploring their individual eccentricities. Whether it was the psych-rock of The Octave Museum, the doom-laden pop of Pet Genius or the post-metal sludge of Zozobra, all of their output was at an extremely high level. Clouds were perhaps the most-overlooked and under-appreciated of it all, though. Featuring Adam McGrath of Cave In and Jim Carroll, formerly of the Boston hardcore groups The Suicide File and The Hope Conspiracy, on guitar and vocals, Clouds played a raucous style of metallic rock and roll. Their full-length, We Are Above You, may be their crowning achievement, but their first release, Legendary Demo, was a great introduction to grungy rawness of their music. “New Amnesia” is loaded with stonery riffs, chugga grooves and bluesy rhythms. This is a party for your eardrums.
2. Grand Buffet – Benjamin Franklin Music – Five Years Of Fireworks (2005) (03:37)
I saw Grand Buffet, a two-piece PA based weirdo hip-hop group, open for Magnolia Electric Co. twice. If that’s not weird enough, one of those nights, the emcees joined MECo on stage for a rendition of Van Halen’s “Running With The Devil.” During their set, they rapped to songs played off a discman and made absurd references to finding candy in the woods and rotisserie chicken. It was hilarious, and also shockingly good. “Benjamin Franklin Music” is goofy, but if you really pay attention you notice the lyrics are thought out and well written. They were one of a kind.
3 Jim Ward – These Years – My Favorite Song Writers (Compilation) (2004) (06:17)
Jim Ward is known as the fro-less guitar player of At The Drive-In as well as the frontman of Sparta, but his solo material isn’t as recognized. To be honest, I haven’t really explored it much. His first solo record came out in 2006, but this song surfaced on a compilation two years earlier. The record is an interesting collection of musicians including Stephen Brodsky of Cave In and Tim Kasher of Cursive. Jim Ward’s track is something completely different from anything else he has ever done. While the chorus definitely resembles his writing in Sparta, the programmed drum beat and eighties sounding synth are definitely outside of the norm. It really caught my attention when it came out and has withstood the test of time.
4. Ben de la Cour – Uncle Boudreaux Went To Texas – The High Cost Of Living Strange (2015) (08:57)
On the recommendation of someone whose opinion I greatly respect, I went to a local bar to check out John Dee Graham, and while he was great, it was his younger tour mate that really drew me in. Ben de la Cour sat there and played through a set of Townes Van Zandt inspired originals that showcased a skill for story telling. Like this song, “Uncle Boudreaux Went To Texas,” about a fictional (?) uncle who impresses the narrator with music and stories about the foreign land of Texas. There’s a great line that goes, “The closest Boudreaux ever got to Texas was Willie’s Greatest Hits.”
5. Rosetta – North – Sower Of Wind (2019) (14:00)
I reviewed this album for Lambgoat when it came out and was really impressed by it. Rosetta are a post-metal group that aren’t afraid to explore some less heavy soundscapes, and Sower Of Wind fits into that latter category. The album is actually a quasi-companion piece to their record Utopiod, exploring ambient concepts based on that albums material. There is a lot of Brian Eno influence throughout the record, but on “North,” the closing track, there is more of a build-up with guitars and percussion swirling in around the piano. Rosetta called my review “thoughtful” which is one of the nicer things anyone has ever said about my writing (see: the comments on the two latest reviews I wrote on Lambgoat for reference).
6. Colosseum – The Daughter Of Time – Daughter Of Time (1970) (21:28)
Colosseum were a British progressive jazz rock group who, on their fourth album Daughter Of Time, were really exploring a wide range of sounds. The title track runs the gamut with contemporary rock n roll, jazz and pop. There is a killer horn arrangement just after the intro and it features operatic style singing. The track is all over the place, but also so completely cohesive.
7. Deltron 3030 – Mastermind – Deltron 3030 (2008) (25:00)
Del The Funky Homosapien and Dan The Automater team up for one of hip hops all time classics. There really isn’t much else to say besides that. Del is one of my favorite emcees and Automater is one of my favorite producers. The album is ridiculous. This collaboration also would lead to Del’s appearance on the Automator produced Gorrillaz song “Clint Eastwood,” which would go on to be an enormous hit.
8. Primordial – Gallows Hymn – To The Nameless Dead (2011) (28:34)
This is hands-down the most triumphant sounding song ever recorded. In future versions of Apocalypse Now, they should replace “Ride Of The Valkyries” with this. They should put this in Lord Of The Rings when Gandalf arrives to whatever battle that was, you know what I mean. This is straight up storming the castle music. Primordial play an insanely epic version of slowed down black metal with Celtic melodies and historical lyrics. When that double-kick part comes in, I mean, come on.
9. Ulver – Eos – Shadows Of The Sun (2007) (34:31)
Norway’s Ulver started out as a black metal band but progressed into an experimental group influenced heavily by ambient and chamber music. Shadows Of The Sun is perhaps their most beautiful sounding record. “Eos,” the opening track, works its way through a somber organ progression with theramin and vocal accompaniment. As it builds, a bed of strings is introduced, shifting the feeling of the song into pure tragedy. It is actually based upon a film score composition, which makes perfect sense, because this would fit perfectly at the end of a movie.
10. Peter Broderick & Gabriel Saloman – Man Of The Streets – Peter Broderick & Gabriel Saloman (2014) (39:34)
Throughout this series we have heard from Peter Broderick multiple times. His output is so eccentric and prolific that every time I add him to a playlist, it is for something completely different. This time around is from his fantastic collaboration record with experimental composer Gabriel Saloman. “Man Of The Streets” starts off as a spacey ambient piece with droning violin, pulsing percussion and bolts of electronic noise. As the song progresses, it drops out into a smooth drum beat that Broderick sings over. The transition seemingly comes out of nowhere and pushed the track in an entirely new direction. After an evil sounding pitch-shifted spoken-word section, the track transitions back into its noisy ambiance. It an utterly captivating piece.
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