Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

     Happy Hallowe'en, ghouls and goblins. I've been wracking my brain this evening to try and come up with the perfect macabre metal song for the occasion. But it's hit me just now that perhaps I should try a different tack.

     For that reason, your spooky song this evening is none other than "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. If I have to tell you what movie it's from, you're either too young or just plain too out of touch. Nevertheless, I will still make the following recommendation: while listening to tonight's song (and trying to avoid any potential Huey Lewis-based confusion) go on Netflix and queue up the Ghostbusters for when Ray Parker Jr. is spent. Quick, you've still got a few hours of October 31st left!

Illucinoma - Pickled Punch

     "Mellow" has been something of an undercurrent the past couple of days, but not today. No, not today.

     There's a decent chance you're familiar with Dutch band Textures, but the chances are probably not quite as good that you're familiar with guitarist Joe Tal's other project, Illucinoma. But you should be. In fact, based on the strength of today's song "Pickled Punch", I'm willing to risk the wrath of the Interwebz by saying that I think you should be more familiar with the latter than the former, especially if "death" is your preferred flavour of metal.

     In any case, Illucinoma's The Evolutionist EP is out Friday, and "Pickled Punch" is a strong first impression. It has to be one of the heaviest things you'll hear all day. I for one hope more big Illucinoma riffs are in my future.

Tides From Nebula - Only With Presence

     Regular readers -- that fabled group of you I'm always referring to which may or may not actually exist -- will know that instrumental music makes me smile. Regardless of whether or not something falls under the broad umbrella of what we call "metal", there are just so many aspects of instrumental music that tickle my fancy, provided it's done right.

     Yesterday's song by Exivious, "Deeply Woven", is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about, but you don't have to be all jazzy and heavy to get my attention. Tides From Nebula have done the same thing with their slow-burn, atmospheric post-rock. They're not doing anything especially new or noteworthy (there's that recurring iteration vs. innovation thing, eh?) but I still like what I'm hearing.

     Check out the track "Only With Presence" from their brand speaking new record Eternal Movement and see if you also like what I'm hearing. And don't you dare point out the resemblance between this song and Russian Circles' "Malko". I heard it too. Can't have too much of a good thing, right?

Monday Afternoon Double Feature

     Sure, I missed doing a song yesterday, but you know I've always got your back. Eventually. So this afternoon we've got another double header. Two new songs, no reloading. You're welcome.

     First up are the tech-metal nerds in Dissonance in Design. You make feel like I'm flogging a dead horse, since I've been saying this a bunch lately, but I'm nevertheless going to make the point again: sometimes iteration beats innovation.The word"progressive" gets thrown around a lot these days, and often the bands to which this label is applied aren't exactly pushing too many musical boundaries -- and that's completely OK. Sometimes you want to hear something outrageously avant garde, and sometimes you just want something to kick your ass.

     That's where Dissonance in Design comes in. I don't know if I agree with Heavyblogisheavy's assessment of Dissonance in Design's Sentient as being super progressive and genre-boundary-pushing, but I certainly do agree that the musicianship and technicality is top notch. But rather than split hairs overmuch I'll just step aside and let you be the judge of all things progressive. Have a listen to "Entwined in Aether" and see what you think.

     And speaking of progressive, your second song today (call it your Monday pick-me-up) is the latest from jazz fusion outfit Exivious. "Deeply Woven" is yet another example of why the forthcoming Liminal is shaping up to be a tasty treat that's right up my alley: proggy, jazzy instrumental metal (aka instrumetal) that's got a little heavy and a little mellow, and in this case a healthy helping of sax solo to boot. Yum!

     For my money, Exivious is the more genuinely progressive of the two, but maybe that's just my personal jazzy tastes talking. That's the beauty of the Interwebz though: YOU get to choose which you like better! We live in an age of wonders, no?

Saturday Night Double Feature

     I took the evening off yesterday, so tonight you get two rapid fire songs for your Loud Noises dollar. It's a steal of a deal!

     First up, we have a song that expresses the feelings of inadequacy I have every time I miss a day: Beck's "Loser" from the 1994 record Mellow Gold. Soy un perdedor indeed.

     On a slightly more serious note, your second song this evening is from Ulcerate's latest album Vermis. I was previously unfamiliar with this death metal act from New Zealand, but this album's been getting some good word of mouth online so I felt I should give it a shot. It's a dense, brutal affair, but there's some good stuff here if you can weather the onslaught.

     A lot of the album is pummeling, in a doom-and-gloom dirgey kind of way, but there are flashes of straight up death metal ferocity, like "Confronting Entropy", a track that exemplifies the kind of endurance good metal drummers, particularly those in death metal bands, must possess. Ulcerate drummer Jamie Saint Merat must have the calves of a sprinter, is all I'm saying. Check it out if you think you're ready for an aural assault.

Mastodon - Stargasm

     Super quick post tonight, because it's late, I'm tired, and I have to be up in like four hours or so for work. So, yeah.

     Mastodon's The Hunter has taken a while to grow on me, and it's still not my favourite record by the band, but I definitely feel a lot more love for it now than when it was released. To that end, you're getting "Stargasm" as your song this evening. Put it on and then lie down and look at the sky, or something similarly stargasmy.

ERRA - Hybrid Earth

     If you're one of the people I mentioned at the start of yesterday's post, namely those who are "over" djent, then I shudder to think what you might say about today's post about a modern metalcore band. I will, however, soldier on undetered.

     I've written about ERRA before, and I'm writing about them again now because they're another perfect example of what I was talking about yesterday: you don't have to break the mold in order to craft something kick-ass. ERRA aren't really bringing a whole lot of new "wow" to the established metalcore table, but they're nevertheless demonstrating song after song that they can take this metalcore formula and do it right.

     First it was "Pulse" that I featured, and now it's ERRA's latest track/video, "Hybrid Earth", from their forthcoming record Augment, due out next week. Even if you've had your fill of metalcore -- perhaps especially if you've had your fill -- you owe it to your ears to at least give this one a shot.

Circles - Erased

     There's a decent chance you're getting tired of this whole djent thing by now. If, however, you're still interested in such things, you've no doubt spent some time with Circles' new record Infinitas by now, and discovered for yourself that there's still some quality water in the djenty well.

     Circles don't necessarily bring to the party any of the usual bits of extra flavour metal bands typically use to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack -- blistering speed, super bizarre time signatures, that sort of thing -- but the bits they do bring to the table are as solidly done as they come. Big riffs, even bigger vocal melodies and harmonies, good production values, Infinitas has it all in spades. Circles' debut EP The Compass is a pretty big pair of metaphorical shoes to fill, but Infinitas is definitely growing on me with every listen.

     This evening I'm going with Infinitas opener "Erased" as your song, because it does exactly what a good album opener should: it gives the listener a thorough sampling of what's in store for them over the next however many tracks. "Erased" does this nicely, aptly demonstrating that, as I've said many times before, you don't have to reinvent the wheel to come up with something that rolls (and rocks) pretty damn hard.

Exotic Animal Petting Zoo - Through the Thicket... Across Endless Mountains

    I won't force you to conjure up the same unfortunate mental picture of bands fucking and impregnating one another as I did a few days ago with my lineage of Son of Aurelius, but I want to play a similar game this evening. So this I'm going with a cooking analogy.

     Start with the melodic sensibilities and mild experimental streak of Death Before Disco as your base, then add a healthy dose of the angularity and spastic chaos of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Now to temper that Dillinger mathcore insanity, thin the mixture out with a dash of the slightly more straight ahead hardcore/post-hardcore of Every Time I Die, and voila! You've got a little something called Exotic Animal Petting Zoo.

     I've posted about these guys a couple of times before, but my opinion of them has risen since I picked up a copy of sophomore disc Tree of Tongues, so I figured it's time to give them the spotlight again. I can't quite pin down exactly why, but this band feels like a spiritual successor to At the Drive-In. Maybe the "recipe" above doesn't accurately convey this, but the combination of chops and manic energy possessed by Exotic Animal Petting Zoo just keep reminding me of the now-defunct ATDI.

     Any way you slice it, however, they're a band you should know about. Check out "Through the Thicket... Across Endless Mountains" from the aforementioned Tree of Tongues and start getting familiar with Exotic Animal Petting Zoo post haste.

Protest the Hero - A Life Embossed

     You should all know by now that I digs me some Protest the Hero. If you also enjoy some of these Canadian metal darlings, you probably already know that Volition has been leaked and subsequently released for streaming by the boys.

     You might even have gotten the chance to (legitimately) download a copy for yourself, if you happened to be one of those fans who contributed to Protest's Indiegogo campaign. But even if you haven't heard the whole album yet through means above board or otherwise, you just might have heard this evening's song, the latest track for which the boys have released a lyric video.

     No matter where you fall in the debate on Canadian pitbull legislation, there's a good chance you'll like "A Life Embossed". It's classic Protest, and while I wouldn't say it's my favourite song on Volition, it is further proof that Protest the Hero have still got it. Fans of the band should be well pleased with this record.

Rufio - Science Fiction

     Even the most hardened metalhead has some songs, albums, and bands that they enjoy which fall outside the genre. As regular readers will know, rather than fight these non-metal urges, I try to indulge them pretty often. This is one of those times.

     The term "pop punk" might conjure images of bands like Sum 41 or Blink 182 (or other, less numerical bands) but it needn't be so verboten among metal enthusiasts. Case in point: Rufio, a band with the speed and the chops to appeal to those who might otherwise turn up their noses at bands like those mentioned above.

     As exhibit A I present to you "Science Fiction" from the 2003 album MCMLXXXV, a sweet little track that should be more than enough to convince the more narrow-minded among you that there are some badass bands out there that don't fall into a traditionally metal-looking genre. Have a taste today.

Ellipsis - Ancestral

     As regular readers will know, sometimes I go out hunting for stuff to post about, and sometimes it falls into my lap, usually because reading about one band or another points me in the direction of something they dig, or someone they know. A bit of a "friend of a friend of a friend" kind of situation sometimes.

     Well, today is one of those times. A post from friends of the blog Mandroid Echostar came up in my Facebook feed earlier announcing the release of the first single of Canadian proggy djentlemen Ellipsis. "Ancestral" doesn't exactly reinvent the djent wheel, but it does offer a well-built example of that wheel, with a smooth ride and some decent rims.

      Yeah, OK, the wheel metaphor breaks down if you try and put too much into it, but "Ancestral" is still a cool tune, if you're into things of a djenty persuasion, and it shows promise. If this is just the first single, who knows where Ellipsis goes from here.

Son of Aurelius - Mercy for Today

     Imagine if The Black Dahlia Murder and Arsis made sweet, sweet metal love to each other, and one of them got knocked up, and then nine months later pre-Michael-Keene-show The Faceless acted as midwife for the resulting baby. That baby, my friends, could very well be named Son of Aurelius.

      I came across these guys a few years ago (so long ago that I can't even remember how) but only recently got around to picking up a copy of their 2010 debut LP The Farthest Reaches. I now wish I hadn't forgotten about them for so long, because I could have been singing their praises this whole time. The eleven tracks on The Farthest Reaches are a sampling of some of the tastiest technical melo-death (melodic tech-death?) I've heard in ages that wasn't written by one of the three bands mentioned above.

     You might not feel quite as enamoured with these guys as I am, but I definitely think you'll dig them at least a little. So check out "Mercy for Today", the furious opening salvo from The Farthest Reaches, and discover for yourself what seems like the Internet's best kept metal secret.

The Ocean - Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams

     I don't usually directly recommend you go visit another music blog (although I try to give credit when it's due in terms of where I get ideas/material/whatever from) but you really should go over to Metalsucks and check out the piece written by The Ocean's Robin Staps about the ongoing stink surrounding tech death band Rings of Saturn and their apparent inability to play their songs without the aid of various technological enhancements.

     Regardless of which side of this debate you fall on, or whether or not you're a fan of either Rings of Saturn or the streets ahead work of The Ocean, it's a good read and a very eloquent existential discussion of what makes metal and where the fine line is drawn between skilled artist and talentless charlatan.

     But what does any of that have to do with your Song of the Day this evening? Simple! You should put on The Ocean's "Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams" (from this year's phenomenal Pelagial) whilst you read, and marvel at what a band can do when their definition of "good" extends beyond mere speed and technicality. It's a short-but-sweet number that'll make you glad you did.

Dance Gavin Dance - Doom & Gloom

     Metal purists and elitists alike beware: the following post may induce fits of shouting "fucking scene kid" at your monitor. Please refrain from doing so in public places.

     So you should all know by now that I dig post-hardcore noodlers Dance Gavin Dance, and you should similarly know that I've been looking forward to their new album Acceptance Speech since I discovered it was in the works more or less by accident a month or two ago. Now that I've had some time to digest it, I've decided that while the self-titled album or Happiness are still vying for the title of my favourite DGD record, Acceptance Speech is at the very least as good as their last couple of outings.

     Of course, if you fall into one of the categories I warned above, I doubt any amount of recommending on my part will change your mind about Dance Gavin Dance. But the open-minded among you purists and elitists, as well as the rest of all you general readers out there, just might dig "Doom & Gloom" from the aforementioned new album Acceptance Speech. It's got some heavyness to it while still retaining DGD's noodly, jangly melodicism. And that riff at about 2:10 ain't too shabby either.

Rush - Working Man

     It's Thanksgiving here in Canada, so I'm going to shift Commonwealth gears a bit a go from a weekend of British tracks to a Thanksgiving that's proudly Canadian. And while there are a ton of great Canadian bands, regular readers will know that an occasion like this can only mean one thing: Rush.

     Yes, the Holy Triumvirate is the perfect way to cap of your evening of turkey and trimmings, and since tomorrow it's back to the grind for all us Canucks who enjoyed the day off today, I think "Working Man" from Rush's 1974 self-titled debut album is the perfect tune to get us back into this shortened work week.

     So Happy Thanksgiving Canada, and good luck working off all the pie you've eaten this weekend. You'll need it.

Blur - Coffee & TV

     After last night's jaunt across the pond, I've decided to keep calm and carry on (see what I did there?) with another thoroughly British track for your song this evening. And I even promise it won't be as depressing as your average Smiths song.

     I've never been the hugest Blur fan, but I know what I like, and I likes me some "Coffee & TV", from the 1999 album 13. It's bouncy and poppy, like a lot of the best Blur tunes, but it's also got a touch of melancholy (especially if you're watching the video) that gives it enough depth to warrant a spot on the playlist of any open-minded metalhead. It's the perfect track to convince the unfamiliar that Blur is more than just Britpop and "Song 2".

     So stiffen your upper lip, give a hearty pip-pip-cheerio, and groove out to some "Coffee & TV". And (spoiler!) don't worry too much about Milky the milk carton, it all works out in the end.

The Smiths - How Soon is Now?

     The girlfriend and I finally checked out The World's End this evening, which for the uninitiated is the final installment in the Cornetto trilogy. Now I'm knee deep in Shaun of the Dead, so I think it's pretty clear that I've got British on the brain tonight. Time for some decidedly British music.

     Now I can hear you already -- "you write a metal blog, and your idea of decidedly British is The Smiths?!?!" To which I answer: why the fuck not? Variety is the spice of life and all that, and believe it or not, The Smiths have been a guilty pleasure of mine since I was in high school. Sure, it doesn't get much more emo than Morrisey, but the flip side of that coin is that Morrisey's the OG of wearing his heart on his musical sleeve, something that's not really verboten anymore even in metal.

     So all of you saying the Beatles or the Stones or anybody like that would be a better choice of British tunage for partaking of the Cornetto trilogy can sod right off. I for one will be listening to "How Soon is Now?" and lamenting the fact that I'll (likely) never have the opportunity (misfortune?) to rescue my friends from a zombie apocalypse. Oh well. A guy can dream.

Sylosis - The Bereaved

     This is likely old news to many of you (spoiler, new readers: I'm not running a music/metal news blog here) but just in case you haven't heard, British metal masters Sylosis were involved in a bus crash here in Canada last month.

     Thankfully everyone in the band is fine, although the band's RV was totaled and they had to bow out of their opening slot on the current Trivium/Devil Driver North American tour. The latter point is a particular shame because, as those of you who aren't new readers may know, I think Sylosis is definitely a band more people need to know about.

     Every time they put out new material, my reaction upon finishing that first listen-through is "Gods, I can't wait for more!" And lest you think this reaction means I'm at all dissatisfied with said material, know that I'm always looking forward to the next album because I think to myself "if this is what they're doing, I can only imagine what kind of fresh slaying they'll get up to with another year (or whatever) of being awesome under their collective belts."

     So while it might well be a while before those of us on this side of the pond get the chance to become better acquainted with the purveyors of shredding from Reading in person, we can all revel in some killer metal right this very minute. More specifically, let's all climb into the wayback machine to check out a song I recommended you check out way back in June of last year when I first recommended Sylosis to all of you in the early days of Loud Noises.

     Your song today is therefore "The Bereaved" from the band's 2006 debut EP Casting Shadows, a track that is still one of my favourite Sylosis songs. Fast, shreddy, melodic, heavy -- "The Bereaved" has it all, foreshadowing very early on the kick-assitude in store for Sylosis. Do me a personal favour and turn this one up loud.

Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name

     It's a Thursday night, which means only one more go at the grind before the weekend is upon us. What better place than here (what better time than now) to give a big "fuck you" to the week gone by than to do some raging against the machine?

     When I was in high school and my buddies and I used to jam together on a pretty regular basis, we used to play a lot of Rage Against the Machine. The reason for this was likely twofold: Rage had a rebellious energy that teenagers can't help but relate to, and the songs aren't super hard to play to boot.  Actually, make that a three-fold reason: those relatively simple songs with their rebellious energy are also pretty goddamn kick-ass.

     Sometimes the music of your youth doesn't hold up over time, or only holds up because of the nostalgia value. Not Rage Against the Machine. I still put Rage on every once in a while and genuinely rock out to the combination of rap, rock, metal, funk, politics, and the kitchen sink -- like I did driving home from work today.

     Evil Empire might be the band's finest moment (although I have some friends who argue strenuously, and somewhat convincingly, for The Battle of Los Angeles) but their 1992 self-titled debut has an intensity all its own. Zack and company come out swinging like they have something prove, and prove it they do. Crank "Killing in the Name" if you don't believe me, but consider yourself warned.

Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole

     I know it's the kind of thing that gets flippantly labelled "#firstworldproblems" in our modern Twittersphere, but I'm going to share it with you anyways: my internet was down all morning today. GASP!

     Sure, it's a tremendously minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, but when a good chunk of what you do in a day (like blogging about music) happens online, it's an inconvenience nonetheless. Today's song encapsulates how I felt before the ISP gods smiled upon me, and generally how I feel any time technology fails me.

     Your song this evening is "Down in a Hole" from Alice in Chains' classic 1992 album Dirt. Yup. You read that right. Melodramatic much? When I get cut off from my technology, I feel like I might as well be in a cave or something. You may commence your most creative nerd/geek epithets at me whenever you're ready.

The Safety Fire - Yellowism

     It's a bit of a cartographic trope or cliche that the edges and unexplored regions of maps often have dragons drawn in or on them, leading to the phrase "here be dragons"*. Well, if I were mapping the proggy depths of the sound of today's band, I might mark the fringes with the phrase "here be moustaches".

     Check out any recent photo or video of British proggers The Safety Fire and you'll know what I'm talking about, as one or more members always seems to be sporting something hairy and hipster on their upper lip. But don't let the look fool you: The Safety Fire's debut LP Grind the Ocean was the real deal, and now they've got a solid sophomore record under their belts in the form of last month's Mouth of Swords.

     Mouth of Swords has a veritable fistful of cool parts and songs, but for today I'm going with "Yellowism" for the sheer chugga-chugga riffage quotient. It might not be the band's proggiest tune, but it's got enough heavy to make up for it. I don't know if I dig Mouth of Swords quite as much or quite as immediately as I dug Grind the Ocean, but nice meaty songs like this one certainly don't hurt.

* Let's ignore for the time being the fact that Wikipedia tells me the actual phrase "hic sunt dracones" only actually appears a couple of times on real maps, shall we?

Pit Report: Nine Inch Nails

     Perhaps calling this post a "Pit Report" is a tad disingenuous, given that we had seats a pretty good distance from the floor, but let's not quibble about semantics. I'm calling this a Pit Report and there's nothing you can do to stop me! So let's get started, shall we?

     When I was younger, my admittedly puerile attitude towards live shows was that I paid to see band X, not the various shitty unknowns that band X decided to drag along with them on tour. As such, we always used to see the opening bands' sets as travel time to get to the show (if it was out of town) or drinking time before the show (if it was local). Now that I'm older, wiser, and taking music a little more seriously (I'm writing this blog, aren't I?) I've thankfully adopted a different attitude, namely that catching the opening acts is both a good way of supporting all the bands on a tour and a good way to discover new music that I might really end up digging.

     Unfortunately, our Friday schedule's just wouldn't let us get to Toronto early enough to catch Trent's chosen openers, Explosions in the Sky. Actually that's not quite true: we did get to the ACC in time to catch literally the last few minutes of their set, and while that's not exactly ideal when it comes to forming an accurate picture of a band's sound, I did hear enough to get a few basic impressions. So in a nutshell, Explosions in the Sky sound like a tasty guitar-based post-rock band that's equal parts atmosphere and dense melodies. Definitely a band to check out if you dig that sort of thing (which I do).

     And then there was Nine Inch Nails. Trent and Company put together a nearly two hour set that balanced the band's deep catalogue with the need to play a healthy amount of material from the new album Hesitation Marks. About the only cut I would have liked to hear and didn't was "Closer", but I can hardly complain about a set list that included "The Wretched", "Head like a Hole", "Terrible Lie", "March of the Pigs", "Wish", and "Hurt", among many others. (Since we live in an age of wonders, the complete set list is already online right here at setlist.fm)

     Not only was the set list put together well, the lights show was also top notch, which is both something that's missing from many modern metal/rock shows as well as something I don't usually give two shits about. The way I see it, I paid to see a band perform, not to watch some Laser Floyd, fireworks display. Having said that, however, the light show on Friday night meshed really well with the music virtually every step of the way, and was second only to the time I saw Tool back in 2009 in terms of suitability and sheer coolness. Kudos to whoever came up with the eye candy.

     Overall it was a great night -- including the three hours or so of driving each way -- but I was unfortunately reminded of a couple of my pet peeves about more mainstream, less underground shows. One's just a minor, personal thing: every big rock show has its share of drunker dancers (usually women, usually thirty-somethings or older) shuffling rhythmlessly from one foot to the other in some kind of sad zombie shamble. We both know the kind of concertgoer I'm talking about, and I always feel vicarious embarrassment for them.

     My other complaint is a little more legit (in my opinion, anyways) and concerns something I've experienced a number of times over the years when enjoying a show from somewhere other than the floor or pit. I get that people want to get into this performance by their favourite band or whatever, but when I pay for a SEAT to a concert, I damn well expect to sit in it. Call me an old curmudgeon if you will, but it irks me to no end when people who are in seated sections stand up for some or all of a show.

     Not only do you fuck over the person sitting directly behind you, but you fuck over everyone in the whole section because your decision to stand and block the view of the person behind you means they have to stand to see, which blocks the view of the person behind them and starts this big chain reaction that only ends when everybody's standing in front of the seats they paid, in this case, like ninety bucks a pop for. If you want to stand the whole time, fine, get a floor ticket. If you've got tickets for seats, then SIT THE FUCK DOWN. Rant over.

     Just in case the last paragraph or two sounded a little bitter, let me reiterate: the Nails put on a great show, and considering Trent has gone on hiatus or the like at least once in the last few years I feel lucky to have seen them in good form and before Trent decides to retire for good. If you're on the fence about checking out the Tension 2013 tour, get off that fence and go get your ticket, because you won't be disappointed.

Explosions in the Sky - The Only Moment We Were Alone

     Extree, extree, read all about it: Monday's song delayed for several hours, just now being posted.

     I had intended to post this song last night, along with my now completed pit report about Friday's Nine Inch Nails show. Then I fell asleep. But since I get up for work at this ungodly hour, you still get all of this Loud Noises goodness almost on schedule. You're welcome.

     Your song for Monday is "The Only Moment We Were Alone" by Friday's opening band Explosions in the Sky. This track, from their 2003 album The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, is the one we caught the end of on Friday evening, and it made me want to check out some more of the band's slow burning flavour. How about you?

T.R.A.M. - Seven Ways Till Sunday

     Just a quickie song tonight before bed, but I don't know whether it's a good lullaby or not.

     On the one hand, T.R.A.M.'s "Seven Ways Till Sunday" is instrumental and jazzy, which one might think would make it a good fit for putting on in the background before drifting off to dreamland. On the other, it's got some aggressively funky drum work and some wild sax playing that could, under the right (or wrong?) conditions be the stuff of nightmares.  

     Lingua Franca is a little bipolar that way, and opening track "Seven Ways Till Sunday" is the perfect example. Go ahead and put this one on before climbing into bed, but don't blame me if you dream Dali dreams...

Age of Electric - Untitled

     I've got a pit report (of sorts) in the works to let you know just what I thought of the Nine Inch Nails show last night (which was pretty awesome, by the way) but since it's not done yet you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. For the time being I've got a quick little slice of Canadiana for you, inspired by our drive home from TO.

     Among the plethora of tunes we jammed on the way home was "Remote Control" by Canadian alt-rockers Age of Electric, and while that's not the song for today, it did get me thinking about this now-defunct group. More specifically, it got me thinking about how this song by them is that much better.

     The not-so-creatively named "Untitled" from 1995's The Age of Electric has been a favourite of mine since I was in high school, thanks in no small part to its cool outro guitar solo. When compared to your average neo-classical metal shredfest, it's not exactly going to melt faces off, but it is a really tasteful piece that solos off into the sunset with understated aplomb. All these years later I still count it among my favourite solos, and only partly because of the high nostalgia factor. To be blunt, it's fucking tame when compared with some metal leads, but every note does its job. Check it out.

Nine Inch Nails - Just Like You Imagined

     I know I've been posting a fair amount of Nine Inch Nails stuff lately, but there is a reason for that: we're going to catch Trent and Company live and in person this evening.

     To that end, I've just a quickie post today, but you can bet your boots it's a Nails song. Which one? Well, since I've got high hopes for this show that I've been picturing in my head all week, I've got my fingers crossed that tonight will be "Just Like You Imagined".... See what I did there? Yeah, shut up, it's not all that clever. Just listen to the song and be jealous that I'm there and you're not.

Radiohead - Bodysnatchers

     I don't know about all of you out there, but I for one am not just a one-dimensional metalhead, a fact that should be readily evident by this point in the history of Loud Noises. But it's been a bit (a few days, anyways...) since I last posted something, shall we say, out of character. So here goes nothing!

     Your song today is "Bodysnatchers" from Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows. I know that this one isn't everybody's favourite Radiohead record, and I certainly wouldn't ever put it above classics like OK Computer or Kid A (an album that holds a special place in my heart), but I also think it doesn't get enough recognition as a solid record. And while I definitely dig some of Radiohead's bloopier, more electronic-influenced stuff (I said I like Kid A, remember?), I feel like "Bodysnatchers" is a bit of a throwback to some of the more rocking, guitar-based stuff from the band's past.

     If you know In Rainbows, you'll already know "Bodysnatchers" is a cool tune, and if you don't, well, you'll just have to listen for yourself and find out.

Protest the Hero - Drumhead Trial

     Thanks apparently to some early radio leakage, we've all got another new Protest the Hero track to help keep our appetites for the new album sated for a little longer.

     "Drumhead Trial" also gives us another example of Chris Adler's drum work with the band, and also happens to feature Ron Jarzombek (from Blotted Science, among other bands) doing some guest guitar soloing. All of this adds up to another solid Protest song. Does it matter that all people can say about the recently revealed Volition album art (which seems to me to be a pretty unsubtle statement about voyeurism and objectification in our modern times) is "ZOMG bird gang rape!!1!"? Not in the slightest.

     So take a few minutes right now to put on some "Drumhead Trial", and then take the rest of your evening praying to whatever gods you see fit in the hopes that this record will drop sooner.

Slipknot - Everything Ends

     Tonight we're kicking-off the couple of formatting changes I talked about earlier today with a song that comes courtesy of the good ol' gods of shuffle.

     Those fickle deities must have known that I needed some energy on my way to work this morning, and the boon they decided to impart upon me works equally well for some aggro-stress relief at the end of the day, too.

     "Everything Ends", from Slipknot's 2001 classic Iowa, strikes me as a big fact musical middle finger to whatever's bothering you. Maybe this is the rebelliousness of youth talking, but given the fact that I was a teenager when this album came out, "Everything Ends" felt like a "fuck you" to everyone and everything in my way.

     I'm sure Corey had something or someone specific in mind when writing lines like "You're wrong, fucked, and overrated/I think I'm going to be sick and it's your fault", but to my younger self it read like a generalized expression of rage and frustration. Emptied of much of the proverbial piss and vinegar of youth, my older self still gets a certain kind of aggressive catharsis from "Everything Ends", and that's why it's your song this evening. Turn it up and bang your head.

Administrative Post: Format Changes here at Loud Noises

     Good afternoon everyone, just TheBeard here with a quick post to let you know I've decided to experiment with the format a little here at Loud Noises.