Happy Birthday, Shock Mountain!
Today marks the anniversary of the first post made on Shock Mountain. I started the blog on a whim after being asked when I was going to start up a new one. I really never intended on it getting any hype or substantial following, but thanks to the efforts of myself, my fellow writers, and the bands that have contributed their material here, we are nearing our 200,000th view. I’m so very proud of what we have here and I’m thrilled that you music fans out there like it enough to keep coming back.
Without much further ado, I would like to take this chance to give a special thanks the following bands/blogs/labels who have helped us along the way. Sorry if you weren’t listed here, we still love you.
The Bands:
- Age Sixteen
- ALASKAS
- Blake Miller
- Br’er
- Chrome Wings
- Cloud Nothings
- Coffinberry
- DoXX
- Dragon Turtle
- Drum Kit
- Golden Ages
- His Hideous Heart
- inbirdseye
- The Isosceles Project
- Kill and Eat
- Like Bells
- Monument
- Neon Tongues
- No Anchor
- The Para-Medics
- Sam Goodwill
- Sub Verso
- Sleep In
- Taul
- Two Hand Fools
- Universal Studios Florida
- Richard Wehrenwolf
The Blogs:
- Be Bop Kids
- CHUG LIFE
- DAYVAN ZOMBEAR
- Honey Power
- In Review Online
- No Conclusion
- The Noise Is…
- When We Were Younger And Better
- Young Pilot Astray
The Labels:
- James
John Fahey – Red Cross Disciple of Christ Today
Fans of drone music will really enjoy this John Fahey album, which is an hour of finger-picked steel-string guitar. Taking cues from folk music and blues music, his fingerpicking takes on a droning, calming effect to put the listener into a trance. At times this album reminds me of an acoustic, improvised version of Earth’s The Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull, which I’m sure a lot of you know is one of my favorite albums.
-Max
Kayo Dot – Choirs of the Eye
Tonight I had the fortune of hearing Kayo Dot perform this album in it’s entirety. It was one of those shows that was so beautiful, I’m still somewhat in shock. I’m just really upset that their second set, a performance of their forthcoming album Coyote. Released on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, this album, much like everything on that label, has a very difficult to describe sound. Mixing avant-garde jazz and progressive metal to create a challenging, albeit incredible rewarding, album, frontman Toby Driver proves that he can still compose (yes, these are more compositions than just ’songs’) after his days with Maudlin of the Well. Definitely give this album a listen, it’s become on of the best albums of the decade.
-Max
The Strange Boys – Be Brave
The Strange Boys are releasing their sophomore release later this month through Rough Trade. You can expect much of the same fun garage rock with heavy blues influences, but with a few new faces that add a lot to the band’s character. Seth Densham and Jenna Thornhill of recently defunct Mika Miko, along with Tim Presley from Darker My Love, have joined the traveling troubadours. I’m growing to like this band more and more and I recently picked up a copy of their debut album from In The Red Records. If you haven’t caught on to these guys yet, this is the perfect time.
This albm is scheduled to be released by Rough Trade Records on February 22, 2010.
Cloud Nothings Record Release Show At Believeland
Cloud Nothings have already released the phenomenal Turning On in cassette and cd format through Bridgetown Records, but they’re set to have a vinyl release show next Saturday with some great Cleveland bands. This show marks the second show for Believeland, which just opened earlier this year. I’m hoping that these guys keep on having regular house shows because Cleveland is due for a more organized underground collective. Anyway, I’ll definitely be there with some friends, so bring yours and we’ll all hang out.
UPDATE: Afternoon Naps has dropped out and Shiny Penny is set to pick up the slack.
- James
Fiasco – God Loves Fiasco
These bros are from New York and after seeing them once, I’ll be up for seeing them live just about any chance I get. Mixing hardcore, math rock and occasionally a bit of screamo to create a fun yet chaotic sound, Fiasco has become known for their frantic live shows. On this album, they lean more toward the short, fast song style found in hardcore, with a fair dose of noise thrown in. I don’t know if they play shows outside New York, but if they do, don’t miss them.
THIS SHIT WAS FREE YO
-Max
Free Exit Stencil downloads for the entire month of February!
Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that Exit Stencil Recordings are giving away 20 of their releases, nearly their entire catalog, for free download until March 1. Simply click on the icon above and you’ll be on your way to legally downloading releases from Hot Cha Cha, Mystery of Two, Blake Miller, Like Bells, The Dreadful Yawns, Spanish Prisoners, roué, and This Moment in Black History.
I’m so happy to see a local label embrace music downloading. The guys behind this label are always open to bloggers and have helped me and Jeff who runs The Noise Is… quite a lot. Love these bros.
PS. Be sure to check any of the free Mystery of Two shows going on every saturday in February at Arts Collinwood.
- James
Fine Before You Came – Sfortuna
Fine Before You Came are an Italian post-rock/post-hardcore band taking their name from a Raein song. While their songs build up like short form post-rock songs, the vocals kick in at the perfect balance between post-hardcore and screamo. On my first listen to the album, I was only impressed with the first two songs, but after listening again today, I realized the whole album is pretty solid, especially for an album available for free download on last.fm. I don’t know what else to say about this. Lately I’ve been pretty into things closer to the metal end of the spectrum, so there’ll be a few more posts coming your way more likely to rock out than chill out.
This shit’s free, bro.
Richard Wehrenwolf – Cuyahoga
Richard Wehrenberg of No Target Audience spent the second half of 2009 preparing songs for his debut album. Matt Scheuermann (No Target Audience/The Sidekicks/American War) and Jon Washington (Underdogs of Nipomo) were integral to the albums creation, taking part in instrumentation, recording, and arranging the songs. Having said that, it’s still Richard who shines on this release. The young man has been writing songs for years, but it’s clear that he has dramatically grown since even more recent releases. His songwriting has gone into more conceptual areas generally concerned with the values a typical American strives to live up to. It seems Richard, who recently moved into The Monster House in Columbus, took time to take inventory of his life, something that too few people do today, and discovered that the things many accept as an unfortunate necessity in their life is generally a load of bullshit. Other times, Richard is nasally spouting off random skatterbrained thoughts and philosophical allusions in rapid succession, leaving you to question your own one after another. I encourage anyone to take the time to read his poetic lyrics.
Subscribe to us via RSS!
In case you haven’t already, you should consider subscribing to our RSS feed. Simply click on the image above to be directed to our feed then bookmark us, so that you’re browser can tell you when to visit us. I know that posting frequency around here has been pretty weak the past month, but I’m determined to break myself out of this musical dry-spell and bring all of you great music in 2010. Hopefully, I’ll be able to replace my iPod soon allowing me to listen to as much music as I used to.
- James
The Antlers – Two [VIDEO]
I got a chance to catch The Antlers last night at Musica in Akron, which I had never been to before. Overall, the show was pretty rad, but there were parts that dragged on for too long. I wish they had more relatively upbeat songs like this one because there is only so much sad and desolate music i can listen to when surrounded by strangers. Anyway, I got some pretty cool footage here and I figured that I would share before jumping into the 200 pages of reading I have to get done today.
- James
Julianna Barwick – Sanguine
I’m exhausted and sick and I don’t feel like writing anything, so just read what her website says. For the record, this album is incredible and she’s playing St. James Church (which has undergone a bit of controversy as of late) this Saturday, a show I really don’t want to miss. Anyway, the music: “julianna barwick has self released her first album, sanguine. the cd is a collection of short loop based songs. lacking definable lyrics, the songs create their own themes sonically and leave nameless emotional impressions. julianna’s talents as a vocalist push most of the musical strength in the album, her choice of melodic vocal overdubs with vocal percussion is fascinating and dizzying. some sounds become indecipherable as the human voice. comparable to bjork’s medula approach to end instrumentation, most of the tracks are all vocal based.” Get this if you like Bjork, Grouper or Panda Bear or good ambient music.
-Max
Mt. Eden Dubstep – Mt. Eden Dubstep
This is how I want my dubstep: laid back, earth-shattering beats and dark. Part of what makes this project of Jesse Cooper so interesting is that most of the songs on the album are creative remixes of tracks by Burial, Pharoahe Monch, Sigur Ros and Sarah McLachlan. Leaving the tracks just recognizable to hook the listener, Cooper adds plenty of big beats and wonky bass to get everyone’s head nodding. This album was released for free through his YouTube page, where he is constantly adding new originals and remixes.
-Max
Loops Haunt – Impact Omnihammer/Joplin 7″
It’s been a while since I shared any instrumental hip-hop of any sort, so here’s a new single from Loops Haunt. This Scottish producer is dropping bombs (okay, 2) that will bring out the dubstep and glitch fans in all of you. Like a dubstep Prefuse 73 or a weirder Joker, Loops haunt drops glitchy beats that will shatter your house.
-Max
Pianos Become the Teeth tonight in Columbus!
Sorry for not posting at all lately, but I promise I’ll be back soon. I just kind fell off the wagon.
Anyway, I’m hoping some people see this, but the Pianos Become the Teeth show that was in Akron tonight got moved to Columbus. They’re playing at Hal & Al’s. It’s free and should start around 9:30. Come out and buy some merch or give them money somehow to support them. I don’t know the full details about their previous show, but bands depends on show money to get them from place to place, and for smaller bands, the loss of a show’s revenue can really hit hard.
Basically, it’s a Thursday night, you’re not doing anything better. Come out and see these guys and give them some reason for coming here. They’ve been nothing but kind in their dealings with me, and it would really suck to see them lose money. I don’t have a lot of cash either, but if everybody kicks in a little, it could at least help them break even. Please consider it.
last.fm event with full details
Hopefully I’ll see you there! Say hi if you see me!
–McKenna
