Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
One of the first great odd parings of 2012 is coming in the form of a split 7" EP by death-infused-hardcore-grinders Nails along with hardcore mainstays Skin Like Iron. Each band has contributed two songs to this 4-song shredder due to hit streets January 31, 2012.
Skin Like Iron kick things off with an emotional powerhouse of a track entitled "Disappear," which drives forward with intense clarity, upbeat underbelly, before singer Alex Capasso drops his patented high-end, irate, screaming delivery that pushes this track into the stratosphere. Capasso also constructed the cover art ...
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
It is that time of year again, as we say goodbye to 2011 and usher in the new year. Before we slip away into our holiday modes with family and friends, we look back on another year in music. 2011 saw the good, the bad, and the ugly. Today we are just going to focus on the good! We invited a few of our musical peers to contribute year-end lists. Unlike a lot of online music outlets, we chose to invite not only musicians, but also the people who work behind the scenes to make the music community ...
Friday, October 7th, 2011
Artist: ÆGES
Album: Roaches 7" EP
Label: Hawthorne Street Records
Home Base: Los Angeles
Genre: Post Hardcore
FFO: No Knife, Helmet, Pelican, Tusk, Undertow, Shift
Available: Now
Founded by Mark Holcomb (Undertow, Shift) and Larry Herweg (Pelican, Tusk), ÆGES rounded off their line-up with additions of Kemble Walters (The Rise, The Blank Faces) and bassist Tony Baumeister, before putting together this 7" EP we have before us. The music is dense and melodic, and immediately brings to mind echos of early No Knife and Helmet. With only two songs, you barely have time to wet your lips, ...
Friday, September 23rd, 2011
Today we launch new weekly column Review Rundown, where we get down to brass tacks on a half-dozen recent/forthcoming releases each week, pulled from all genres with no restrictions. The idea for this column came as I have been talking to several of my friends who also head online mags, and the fact that reviews are consistently the least popular, least-viewed aspects of online mags. It makes sense really. Why sit through a 30-minute review when you could just listen to album through various sources all over the Web? Occasionally an album is so breathtakingly awesome that it requires an archeological record, but for the most part, music fans just want to be pointed in the right direction and ...
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
Very few bands have the opportunity to release 15 studio albums in their career. However, the Brooklyn-based, They Might Be Giants are still plugging away after nearly 30 years of releases. The Johns’ [as called by some of their diehard fans] have managed to go from a duo who’d record music on answering machines, to Grammy Award Winners with a Platinum record. They played to a packed Byham ...
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Osaka Ramones
Shonen Knife
Good Charamel Records
Available July 19, 2011
Genres: Punk rock, Indie pop/rock
RIYL: The Ramones, Buzzcocks, The Go-Go’s7.1
The year is 2011. The idea of pop-punk is pretty nauseating to most writers and serious publications. However, a few bands such as Shonen Knife show the world how to incorporate punk rock sensibilities and pop structures. There’s good reason as to why American bands such as Sonic Youth and Nirvana have reached out to play with these fiery ladies.
The band has been influenced by everyone from The Beach Boys to Black Sabbath, but in ...
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Another Earth (OST)
Fall on Your Sword
Milan Records
Avail: July 19, 2011
Genres: Electronic, Downtempo, Ambient
RIYL: Zombi, Hans Zimmer, Brian Eno, Darren Aronofsky film scores
7.4
After the dissolve of LCD Soundsystem, fans of the band have been anxious to see the direction that James Murphy & Co are taking after the project ended. A former and founding member of the band as well as Oceans Eleven composer Phil Mossman teamed up with another composer friend, Will Bates to form Fall on Your Sword.
The film for which ...
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
7
Puerto Rico Flowers
Fan Death Records
Avail June 14, 2011
Genre: dark pop
Review by Jane Chardiet
Fans of Puerto Rico Flowers have patiently waited nearly a year and a half since the release of their first EP, 4, for a full length. On June 14, 2011, the wait is finally over. Dropping on Baltimore based Fan Death Records, 7 delivers seven new tracks at last.
Puerto Rico Flowers is the mastermind of John Sharkey III, of Clockcleaner fame, but it seems like he doesn’t like people to bring that up too much when they talk about Puerto Rico Flowers. I suppose this makes sense, because the ...
Friday, May 20th, 2011
Beileid
Bohren and Der Club of Gore
Ipecac Recordings
2011
Genres: Midnight Doom Jazz, Classical
RIYL: David Lynch, More Dogs, Morphine6.9
Bohren is German for “drilling,” and their whole modus operandi is digging deep within music to find brooding moods and melancholy. Doom and jazz may sound like polar opposites to most ears, but their excellent releases Dolores and Black Earth have put them on the map amongst many music circles, ranging from metalheads, stoner rockers, and even modern composers. Beileid is their first release in three years, and it’s a mixed bag of new directions and ...
Monday, May 9th, 2011
Worthless
Weekend Nachos
Relapse Records for CD
Deep Six Records for Vinyl
Avail May 17, 2011
FFO: Coke Bust, Capitalist Casualties, Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Weekend Nachos is four hardcore dudes from Chicago with a propensity for aggressive, yet progressive, tastes in extreme music and lyrical formulation. And before you start the internal dialogue, “Weekend Nachos? That’s a funny name. What the hell does that mean?” It means nothing. Just a humorous name that was suggested by a friend of the band as they were establishing themselves in 2004.
With an ear for ridiculously heavy guitar signatures that ...
Monday, April 18th, 2011
The Gorgon Tongue - Impale Golden Horn + Forbidden Planet
Horseback
Relapse Records
Available May 10, 2011
Genres: Drone, Ambient (Impale Golden Horn) / Power Ambient, Black Metal (Forbidden Planet)
RIYL: Aix Em Klemm, SunnO))), Earth7.7 / 7.1
It’s difficult to discern whether a band is going for a money-grab with a re-release, or if they are trying to help new fans explore their older records. Horseback received considerable critical acclaim with their previous LP, Invisible Mountain. However, each Horseback record has managed to be its own beast, with different genres, and in some cases, a different lineup. ...
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011
Icarus Falling / Set the world on fire EP
Andrea Caccese
Sit Still Records
Released March 11, 2011
Review by Heather McAdams
Method acting encourages an actor to completely and emotionally identify with his character, so I’d imagine that method recording allows a musician to better identify with his surroundings. Swedish singer/songwriter Andrea Caccese used his 2010 international travels as inspiration for his four-track EP as well as to instill the recording with the distinct flavor of uprooted wandering. From various recording sessions in apartments, hotel rooms, trains and airports, the teaser debut EP Icarus Falling / Set the world on fire is an experimental work of ...
Friday, March 11th, 2011
Mare Decendrii
Mamiffer
SIGE Records
March 15, 2011
Genres: Jazz-influenced Doom, Power Ambient
RIYL: Earth, SunnO))), Brian Eno, Kayo Dot
by Adam Rauf, Senior Staff Writer
8.8
Music is becoming a globally-connected phenomenon. Not only are you finding artists these days that are collaborating online to help in the germination process for songwriting, but you’re also finding various schools of music colliding to form giant murals of beauty. Mamiffer, which combines the talents of “post-metal” icon and visual artist Aaron Turner (Isis, House of Low Culture, Old Man Gloom) and performance artist Faith Coloccia (Everlovely Lightningheart) is the perfect recipe for ...
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
Darker Handcraft
Trap Them
Prosthetic Records
Avail March 15, 2011
FFO: Tragedy, Rotten Sound, Converge, Trash Talk, From Ashes Rise, Rise and Fall
Trap Them hold a special place in our hearts at Blow The Scene, as anyone who follows this site knows. And for good reason; Trap Them have been at the forefront of the current resurgence in d-beat-rooted, death n’ roll sounds many bands are beginning to emulate. With the early release of the vinyl edition of Darker Handcraft nearly sold out, the band continues an incredible web presence with exclusive tracks dropping on major webzines all ...
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Murder The Mountains
Red Fang
Relapse Records
Available April 12, 2011
FFO: Kylesa, Baroness, Black Tusk
Take Black Sabbath, Kylesa, and Mastodon, toss them in a blender and set to crush. You may come out with a sound vaguely reminiscent of Portland's Red Fang and their forthcoming release, Murder The Mountains, set to hit streets April 12 via Relapse Records. This underground super-group of sorts is comprised of Bryan Giles (Last of the Juanitas, Party Time), Aaron Beam (Dark Forces, Lachrymator), David Sullivan (Party Time, facedowninshit, Shiny Beast) and John Sherman (Party Time, Bad Wizard, Trumans Water, All Night).
The aforementioned guilty parties join forces ...
Friday, February 4th, 2011
Two-Bit Schemes and Cold War Dreams
Anti You
Six Weeks Records
Available February 15, 2011
FFO: Direct Control, Government Warning
Fans of hardcore punk will be treated to a triple threat release by Six Weeks Records February 15th with Anti You's 2010 LP, Two-Bit Schemes and Cold War Dreams offered in CD and Digital formats for the first time with the rare Pig City Life E.P. and follow-up EP, Johnny Baghdad included in this 28-song collection.
Hailing from ...
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
The Ex
Catch My Shoe
Ex Records
Released Jan. 25, 2011
Contributed By Aaron Kendeall
Dutch rockers The Ex are back for an amazing 25th album with their most recent release, Catch My Shoe. The self-professed, experimental punk rockers that have been making music since 1979, again bring their signature jazz-influenced noise to the table with a debut from new vocalist Arnold De Boer (formerly of one man band Zea). Catch My Shoe was recorded with the legendary Steve Albini in Chicago and also marks the band's first release on their own label imprint Ex Records. ...
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Family Tree EP
Lohio
2011
Genres: Indie pop, Indie Folk, Alt-Country
RIYL: Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, The National
8.2
Lohio is beginning to become a popular mainstay here in Pittsburgh, and in general, the East Coast. These folks have been in the game for some time now, most likely remembered for their older sound, which felt a bit more like wistful alt-country with an edge. The pop sensibilities have really blossomed over the past year or so, and the influence of bands that they have opened for, such as The Books, Ra Ra Riot, and Tokyo Police Club is especially evident with this latest release.
Opener “Leave the City, Leave ...
One of the first great odd parings of 2012 is coming in the form of a split 7" EP by death-infused-hardcore-grinders Nails along with hardcore mainstays Skin Like Iron. Each band has contributed two songs to this 4-song shredder due to hit streets January 31, 2012.
Skin Like Iron kick things off with an emotional powerhouse of a track entitled "Disappear," which drives forward with intense clarity, upbeat underbelly, before singer Alex Capasso drops his patented high-end, irate, screaming delivery that pushes this track into the stratosphere. Capasso also constructed the cover art ...
Two-Bit Schemes and Cold War Dreams
Anti You
Six Weeks Records
Available February 15, 2011
FFO: Direct Control, Government Warning
Fans of hardcore punk will be treated to a triple threat release by Six Weeks Records February 15th with Anti You's 2010 LP, Two-Bit Schemes and Cold War Dreams offered in CD and Digital formats for the first time with the rare Pig City Life E.P. and follow-up EP, Johnny Baghdad included in this 28-song collection.
Hailing from ... 
The Ex
Catch My Shoe
Ex Records
Released Jan. 25, 2011
Contributed By Aaron Kendeall
Dutch rockers The Ex are back for an amazing 25th album with their most recent release, Catch My Shoe. The self-professed, experimental punk rockers that have been making music since 1979, again bring their signature jazz-influenced noise to the table with a debut from new vocalist Arnold De Boer (formerly of one man band Zea). Catch My Shoe was recorded with the legendary 
Family Tree EP
Lohio
2011
Genres: Indie pop, Indie Folk, Alt-Country
RIYL: Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, The National
8.2
Lohio is beginning to become a popular mainstay here in Pittsburgh, and in general, the East Coast. These folks have been in the game for some time now, most likely remembered for their older sound, which felt a bit more like wistful alt-country with an edge. The pop sensibilities have really blossomed over the past year or so, and the influence of bands that they have opened for, such as The Books, Ra Ra Riot, and Tokyo Police Club is especially evident with this latest release.
Opener “Leave the City, Leave ...