Marathon - Eight Hours

Marathon are a punk rock band from Minks. That's pretty much all I know about them as all I can find is a bandcamp that doesn't link to anything else. The tags on the bandcamp would suggest that they play a punky 90s version of emo but I don't hear that at all. The base of the music, as far as I can hear, is melodic hardcore though there are definitely some emo aspects to it. This EP is quite good even though melodic hardcore isn't really my thing

Xerxes

Xerxes are a 5 piece screamo band from Louisville, Kentucky. Formed in 2009 they play a brand of screamo they describe as being influence as You and I, Saetia, Trash Talk and Ampere, I would throw Touché Amoré in there as well. They are on of my favourite bands. I do have a slight problem when listening to them because I'm never sure if I should weep uncontrollably or smash everything around me in a hardcore rage

Their first EP Twins was released May 2010. It's 7 songs in just over 10 minutes which constantly pummels you with emotional hardcore, barely giving you room to relax and breath before smashing you in the face once again. There may be one or two weak songs on the EP but even the ones I'm not so fond of are still great. This is my favourite album of theirs besides the new LP, probably simply because there are more songs that I instantly latched onto


 Their second EP was a two track album called Homeward Carries No Direction and it's every bit as great as the first one. Freefall starts off more melodic but then the rest of the band comes in and it slams every bit as hard as it should but retains an larger, almost epic feel thanks to the melody coming from one of the guitars. The second track Runaways wastes no time getting down to the business of ripping through another emotionally heavy track that pulls no punches




 Their next album was another EP this time a split with a band called Midnight Souls. To be honest I'm so into Xerxes I don't even listen to the Midnight Souls side as I just want to keep listening to Xerxes. These two songs are much the same awesomeness as they have produced before, no real new ground broken but they're certainly not spinning their wheels as these songs are also great. These songs might have a few more softer melodic bits in between the emotionally devastating hardcore bits but it doesn't stick out, just feels like a natural progression


This year they signed to No Sleep Records and released their debut LP Our Home Is A Deathbed. They will be on tour for the rest of 2012 promoting the album. I got to see them when they came to Toronto with Pianos Become The Teeth and they were absolutely amazing. The LP is a major step forward because of what you can do with the time of an LP. First of all the album is front to back incredible, there isn't a bad song and there isn't a dull moment. The sequencing is also great as the first side seems to just build and build and build into the second side which just explodes at you without letting up. If they're coming anywhere near you you have to go see them as they put on a great show.

mad child spits fire

Marietta - Demo

Marietta are a four piece emo band from Philadelphia. But this ain't no whiny, soft emo, this is raggedy punk rock emo that threatens to fall apart at the seems at any moment. Reminds of Algernon Cadwallader but not as forceful and with more twinkle. The production ain't great which only serves to accent the emotion in these songs. Can't wait to hear more as these three songs are really good

Corrosion Of Conformity - S/T

Corrosion Of Conformity are currently a three piece from Raleigh, North Carolina. They started in 1982 playing a rather straight ahead form of American Hardcore Punk that was awesome. Somewhere along the line they transitioned into a more straight ahead southern heavy metal style. This is their first album in 7 years since In The Arms Of God. It has much more of a blues feel to it than I remember them having as well as the heavy metal I've come to expect and even some stuff hinting back to their old hardcore days. There are some weak spots but overall it's a really solid album that combines some supposedly disparate influences into a brew that only Corrosion Of Conformity could create.


 

Two Line Filler - Educated Corperated

awesome 90s emo punk (dare I say emocore?)

Calvaiire - Rigorisme

Calvaiire are a band from Lavalle France. They play dark chaotic hardcore. Features members of As We Draw, Birds In Row, Hourvari, Pigeon & Puzzle. Nuff said.

Coalspur - At Aulis

Coalspur are a three piece screamo band from Edmontom Alberta. There must be something in the water, Edmonton keeps producing these awesome bands like Book Of Caverns, Todos Caeran & Mahria. The singer in this band reminds me of a more hoarse version of the dude from The Saddest Landscape though the music is a more tappy, almost noodly kind of screamo. My only complaint is that four tracks is not enough.


 

Cathedraal - Voix Blanches

Cathedraal are a screamo band from Paris France which is all I needed to be interested. Really really good in some places and a little boring in others but generally quite good. Reminds of Sed Non Satiata at times. Apparently features the singer of Madame De Montespan. Free download here

Aussitôt mort - Nagykanizsa

Aussitot Mort are a four piece from Caen, France formed in early 2005. There is a good dose of post rock in the screamo which makes the songs longer. Also means that I almost never like an entire song but there are always lots of parts that I like. This album has three new songs as well as their side of their split with Heaven In Her Arms from last year. Darker than I remember them

Who Programmed This?!? S01 E22 live 10 am est

Who Programmed This?!? will be live this morning at 10 am EST playing The Reptilian, Jowls, Annabel, empire! empire! (i was a lonely estate), Joie De Vivre, innards., Mahria, Todos Caerán, Two Line Filler & Drop Forge.
Listen here for free
http://www.trentradio.ca/stream.htm

Animal Faces - Analytical Dreaming

Animal Faces are a three piece from Toronto. They played second at the Xerxes/PBTT show. I usually don't like this much math in my screamo but this ep is great. I picked up a copy of the ep at the show. Check the stream below and purchase the ep on cd or vinyl here or free download here 

Exalt - Breach False Minds

Exalt are a hardcore band from Kitchener Waterloo. They opened the Xerxes/PBTT show with their brand of hardcore, the singer was like a caged animal. Good hardcore that stays out the tropes and stereotypes that ruins so much of modern hardcore for me

Xerxes - Twins

Saw these dudes and Pianos Become The Teeth along with Animal Faces and Exalt last night. Review coming soon

Forget Me

Forget Me is a five piece screamo band from Asheville, North Carolina. The band is made up of Marcos, Sergio, Andrew, Adam, Britt. Reminds me a lot of Touché Amoré and that's never a bad thing. This album is all too short and will be done before you know it. My brain seems to be full of fuck right now so forgive the shitty description

Figure/Ground - South

Figure/Ground are a four piece from Huntingtown, MD. They play a version of emo that verges into screamo territory. The band is made up of Liam Fletcher, Matt Laher, Randy Hall and Jesse Buff. Acoustic guitars and desperate vocals that are heading towards screaming. Formed from the ashes of Lonely Vibraphone. Really good

Saddest Landscape - After The Lights

The Saddest Landscape are a four piece screamo band from Boston. The band is made up of

Aaron, Andy, Mike and Eric. They are a rather unique band, taking elements of emo and grafting them onto the more explosive, chaotic elements of screamo. The singer is awesome, his shout sounds like he's going to burst into tears at any time. It is a bit of an acquired taste but once your hooked its nothing less than awesome. 

They've put out splits with bands like Pianos Become The Teeth, We Were Skeletons, Funeral Diner, The Pine, Trophy Scars and If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do?

 

 

 

Their new album is being released by Topshelf Records and is really awesome. It continues the path they were on during You Will Not Survive and is every bit as awesome. I believe there are still some copies available so you can should check em out here: http://www.topshelfrecords.bigcartel.com/artist/the-saddest-landscape

Bear McGruff

Bear McGruff are a three piece from Missoula Montana. The band is made up of Ethan, Chris, Evan who have played or been involved with Cloony, The Whoopass Girls, Cat Heaven, King Elephant, Brad's Ex Girlfriends, Henry Bemis Is A Superhero, The Sky Looks Pissed and Out Of Character. The band existed when Ethan was in Missoula. Bear McGruff remind me a lot of Ethan's current project the Whoopass Girls but with a focus more on emo than on punk rock. Which I quite enjoy. The tape is going to be pressed by Carucage records apparently which is awesome.


 
If they run out of free downloads here the mediafire link they provided

http://www.mediafire.com/?g9mbcj0dpuv13jf

Box Social - Unwound

Box Social are an internet two piece who just released their debut EP Unwound. The band consists of two people, Justice Claggett, responsible for vocals & lyrics as well as Casey VanAntwerp, responsible for everything else. They are from Jackson, MI & Nampa, ID and play a twinkly kind of emo with mostly yearning vocals though there are some awesome screams towards the end. There's nothing groundbreaking but if you enjoy twinkly emo this will be right up your alley. Justice also does vocals in Enchiridion whom I haven't heard yet but I assume are awesome.

Swollen Members - Dagger Mouth

Swollen Members are a great rap group from Victoria Canada. Mad Child and Prevail ran Battleaxe Records for damn near a decade before signing with a major label a little while ago. At the biggest the group consists of the two awesome aforementioned MC's as well as Moka Only, Rob The Viking making beats as part of the crew and guest verses from MC's like Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Buc Fifty & Evidence of Dilated Peoples.

 They had their own brand of witches and demons, dungeons & dragons style rap. There was still a lot of violence but there was a lot of more discussion of werewolves and vampires and occult magic. Kinda like Jedi Mind Tricks but not as violent and less hardcore.

Also Prevail is one of the most underrated MC's out there, not only his is flow liquid fast but to decipher his references require at least a trip to the encyclopedia if not to the used book store to find the obscure literary reference. And he will tear you apart in a battle. Speaking of battling, Mad Child's no slouch. He was inducted into the Rock Steady Crew making Swollen Members one of three rap groups associated with the crew.

They released three awesome albums that carved out their space before completely selling out and writing mainstream hip hop songs. They went from this

to this

I stopped paying attention for a little while. They made their money as mainstream stars but things didn't go so hot. Turns out Mad Child had an OxyContin addiction that cost him millions.

They've apparently made a come back though. They released Dagger Mouth last year which has it's problems but is really a return to form. There is not as much Balance to their music now as there is way more Mad Child on the album than there is Prevail. And for my money I would take Prevail over Mad Child but would take Swollen Members before either of them solo. Still there is a lot of Mad Child's murderous, anguished battle raps on this album and he has brought back the occult references and more distinct drug references than I remember before.

Don't Worry Ma I'm Only Daydreamin'

 Summer 2011 I was hardcore in the throws of writer block. Attempting to break through i wrote this song about the clouds.

Shining Lights

I showed up to  class this morning but no one else did. I stayed,wrote a little bit before I went home and wrote a guitar riff

Party Foul - Winter 2012

Party Foul area  band from Philadelphia. Formed in Winter 2012 they've put out one EP. They feature members of Mallard of the Thick, Degrassi, Mumble, So Close, Jonas & the Wishing Well, Corcovado which should give you a rough idea of where the sound is coming from   Think ock solid emo style punk pop. A less noodly Stay Ahead of the Weather, less twinkly Wavelets and you wouldn't be all that far off. Quite enjoying this.

Untitled 7"

The Untitled 7" is pretty much finished.



You can listen my songs from this way international split here
http://smawj.bandcamp.com/

cabin fire - cathedrals of information

Cabin Fire are a two piece grind/screamo band featuring Stephen on drums/vocals and Ryan on guitar/vocals from Fresno, CA. They started in October 2009. Their new album is called  Cathedrals Of Information. There are a couple of songs I like and they mostly in the beginning. I'm not really a fan of grindcore or the more experimental side of hardcore which is where the heavy lifting happens on this album so I'm left with just a skimming of stuff I actually like. But I know there are people who like noise and grindcore so this should satiate that a little bit

hit the bandcamp for free downloads

a mount far - sovereign songs

A Mountain Far is run by an awesome dude name William Cuthbert. He's from Toronto and puts out awesome records and puts on awesome shows. This is a sampler featuring bands he's worked with, not a lot of unique stuff but nearly all the bands are really awesome

brand new song

So as I mentioned earlier I'm a part of an upcoming 4 way international split called Untitled 7" with Fading Away Like The Rest Of Them, Wind Wind Win & Nero Vs Caligula.

I finished recording today. Its a brand new song I wrote a couple of weeks back and it heavily features the singer of Fading Away Like The Rest Of Them

What The mail brought me ep2

Already Dead Tapes put out a tape of the Reptilian playing their last show as a 4 piece which was a real long time ago. It's pretty great and the album art's also pretty cool. I might have a rip of this coming soon

Untitled 7"

I am proud to announce that SMAWJ's second release will be as part of a 4 way international split called Untitled 7"

The album will feature
A dude from Greece who plays acoustic guitar and screams

http://windwindwin.bandcamp.com/

A pair of dudes from the States who play together over the internet

http://fadingawayliketherestofthem.bandcamp.com/


and another solo dude from the States who screams over an acoustic guitar

http://nerovscaligula.bandcamp.com/


you can listen to my music here

http://smawj.bandcamp.com/

Dance Or Die!!!

Dance Or Die!!! are a hardcore punk band from Budapest. They have a kinda interesting sound as they are kinda crusty and also throw in some screamo for flavour. A lot of the EP is straight hardcore and it's good but personally I like it when they change up the songwriting a little and head in a screamo direction.

who programmed this?!? s01 e17 January 24th 2011

here is the latest episode of my radio show Who Programmed This?!? as broadcast live on Trent Radio 92.7 CFFF FM. It is a screamo/emo/skramz/emo violence show.

This episode I play Orchid, Wavelets, Encyclopedia Of American Traitors, Polina, Gift Eaters, Van Johnson & Render Useless

http://www.mediafire.com/?n52773s4jk8ktg3

Counterparts - The Current Will Carry Us

Counterparts are a metalcore band from Ontario. I don't have much patience for metalcore these days as so much of seems generic circle jerking of uninspired pablum. But Counterparts new second LP The Current Will Carry Us is really quite great.   

There's an energy and an inspiration here that really pushes the songs over the top. I'm not as versed in metalcore as I was once so I can't be quite as wordy in explaining why these guys are awesome but rest assured they are.

The vocalist has a really great shout that can be either pure and clean or a deeper hoarse shout. The guitar never falls into the boring chugga chugga chugga bree bree bree of stereotypical metalcore even when the rhythms are a tad to well trod. The songs are put together very well, never falling apart or being boring and racing by at the speed of light.

polkagrind

So my friend created this new "genre". He calls it polkagrind. Basically its a bunch of grindcore screaming vocals over top of regular polka music.

Some examples

To be clear this is terrible and should not be listened to.

what the mail brought me

Today the mail brought me two tapes courtesy of Plastic Smile records a  D.I.Y. record label out of Dewitt, MI. The first is a compilation they produced iwontstopwonderinguntilyoustopbreathing, celestial being, in braille, eagle and arrow, aspergers, scum, chillax, lester freamon, 2049, stars as mirrors & aaiesieux

 The other is the latest tape from Iwontstopwonderinguntilyoustopbreathing 12 2011. It is the 12th tape Nolan's released this year and as the band became a one piece it only fueled his creativity. They have moved beyond a Jerome's Dream cover and developed their own hyper violent style

Orchid

Orchid is another band that you definitely should know even if you only have a tangential knowledge of this thing called screamo.

The band formed in 1998, released 3 LP's and 7 EP's including splits with amazing bands like Jerome's Dream and Combatwoundedveteran and consisted of Jayson Green, Jeffrey Salane, Will Killingsworth, Brad Wallace, Geoff Garlock.
 
In general the songs have a nice thick sound that are heavy but will snap your neck with their violent speed.

The splits and the first LP Chaos is Me feature a relatively calm Orchid, relative to the last two LP's that is. The songs are still chaotic and extreme with shrieks and insane vocals coming out nowhere and guitar riffs attacking you from every direction but they are a tad longer.

On Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow their second LP the songs get much shorter and more abrasive. They lose what little melody they had and become more aggressive and chaotic.

The trend continues with their final ep called Gatefold but they expand their pallete at the same time adding in different elements that take away the pure aggressiveness of their earlier work.

http://www.mediafire.com/?7d70uuvn35bwv7r
http://www.mediafire.com/?nwz5ohgjiwf
http://www.mediafire.com/?gtj2tduhw7k
www.mediafire.com/?gtj2tduhw7k

Saetia

If you don't know who Saetia is this is a huge gap in your knowledge. They formed in New York City early 1997. Their first show was at ABC No Rio to about thirty people. Two and a half years, 17 songs, numerous tours and four bass players later, they played their final show at ABC No Rio to forty people.

Their name originates from a misspelling of the Miles Davis track “Saeta”, from his album Sketches of Spain, which, in turn, was named after the saeta, a religious tradition of flamenco music.

Members went on to be in Hot Cross, Error:Type 11, Instruction, The Fiction, Interpol, and Off Minor.

Not the first screamo band but definitily one of the most iconic and best. They have developed a cult following they more than deserve

Probably the definitve band for what is termed, half jokingly at first, emoviolence. It is chaotic, it is violent and they will rip your head from your shoulders as you weep at the pain on display. The music is raw, it is intense and they almost never let up

If you recognize the phrase There is no happy here then you probably need to listen to this.

Broadrick

Broadrick are a french screamo band from Clermont-Ferrand. There must be something in the water in france, they seem to produce the best screamo bands. This is no exception

Bonehouse

Last fm says there are at least three bands named Bonehouse but only one is Scotland, features members of Archives and Fall Of Boss Koala who play 90s midwest emo. Diggin this quite a bit

Travels - Life

Really good screamo from Australia. I'm half awake so I'm not going to blather on very much, just check this out its quite good

Barrow- Being Without

Barrow are from Greensboro North Carolina. There are some screamo moments and there are some post hardcore moments. Could do with less post hardcore but the screamo is good. Certainly not perfect but I quite enjoy this

What I Listened To In 2011

Artists
1 Big Bill Broonzy - 719
2 Howlin' Wolf - 553
3 Blind Willie McTell - 484
4 Touché Amoré - 380
5 iwontstopwonderinguntilyoustopbreathing - 351
6 Greg Proops - 313
7 Thumbnail - 297
8 OFF! - 271
9 Sebadoh - 260
10 John Lee Hooker - 241
11 Marc Maron - 216
12 Julie Doiron -207
12 Thoughts Paint the Sky - 207
14  Jowls - 200
15 Brownie McGhee - 199
16 Muddy Waters - 198
16 Lonnie Johnson - 198
18  Tina Fey - 195
19 Algernon Cadwallader - 194
20  The Reptilian - 193

Albums
1 OFF! – First Four EPs - 271
2  Greg Proops – The Smartest Man in the World - 247
3  Jowls – cunt punch - 190
4 Marc Maron – WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - 187
5 Touché Amoré – Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me - 176
6  Doug Benson – Doug Loves Movies - 151
7 Howlin' Wolf – Moanin' In The Moonlight - 141
8 Joyce Manor – Joyce Manor - 137
9  Brownie McGhee – The Complete Brownie McGhee Discography - 134
10  Cluster & Eno – Cluster & Eno - 126
10  Nerdist – The Nerdist - 126
12  Xerxes – Twins 7" - 123
13 Lonnie Johnson – Steppin' On The Blues - 121
14  Eugene Rhodes – Talkin' About My Time - 119
15 Blind Blake – Ragtime Guitar's Foremost Fingerpicker - 118
16 Big Bill Broonzy – Big Bill Blues - 116
16 MF DOOM – Special Herbs 1-2 - 116
18 Big Bill Broonzy – Good Time Tonight - 108
19  Art Tatum – Trio Days - 106
20  Blind Willie McTell – Blind Willie McTell: Statesboro Blues: The Early Years 1927-1935 [Disc 3] - 105

Tracks
1 Big Bill Broonzy – John Henry - 41
2 MF DOOM – Myrrh - 34
2 Jowls – Thick as Thieves - 34
4 Jowls – bone hawkin - 32
4 Jowls – skin deep - 32
6  Jowls – im not a failure - 31
6 Jowls – half hearted - 31
8 Elmore James – Dust My Broom - 30
8 dreadnaut – Around the World - 30
8 Jowls – bastard dressed in sheeps clothes - 30
11 Howlin' Wolf – Spoonful - 29
12 Lonnie Johnson – Sweet Potato Blues - 26
13 Big Bill Broonzy – This Train - 25
14 Carrion Spring – Red Beard Rides Again - 24
15 Big Bill Broonzy – Guitar Shuffle - 23
15 monarcs – Dropout Kallisti - 23
15 Eugene Rhodes – Who Went Out The Back - 23
15 Loud? – Do They Speak English In What? - 23
19 Big Bill Broonzy – Pig Meat Strut - 22
19 Lonnie Johnson – 6 / 88 Glide - 22
19 Xerxes – Twins - 22
19 Xerxes – Runaways - 22
19 iwontstopwonderinguntilyoustopbreathing – Heavy Hearts - 22
19 iwontstopwonderinguntilyoustopbreathing – untitled - 22

Liars Song (Remember You Wrong)

Twisted And Rotten, Mostly Forgotten

Snowflakes

3 AM Love Song (For A Lonely Ghost)

I Wanna Be Sedated

Blitzkrieg Bop

Between Your Mind And Tongue - I Set Myself On Fire

If you like screamo this will be right up your alley. Too lazy to describe it but the similar artists on Last.fm are Book Of Caverns, Lizards Have Personalities and Ravachol none of which seem out of place. Really good stuff.

Bandito - II

Bandito are a stoner metal band from Nijmegen, Holland. Think American style stoner metal. Imagine putting Kyuss, Down, the Atomic Bitchwax and the entirity of the 90's California desert stoner scene into a blender and you've got something close. The songs may be a tad deriviative at times but stoner rock isn't about reinventing the wheel its about making thick, loud, kick ass music to smoke bongs to. Great great ep, one of the best stoner metal albums of the year. Too bad its too short.

best of 2011 part 1

Born Of Osiris - The Discovery - Progressive Deathcore. This is the only time I actually like deathcore and this is done really well
Alestorm - Back Through Time - Pirate Metal from Scotland. They sing about drinking, wenches and sea battles all while playing Power Metal with just a hint of Folk Metal
Arch Enemy - Khaos Legions - Do I really need to say anything about Arch Enemy
 Neuraxis - Asylon - Canadian technical death metal - Great stuff if you like tech death
Barn Burner - Bangers II: Scum Of The Earth - Awesome Canadian stoner metal. Riffs the size of houses and heavy as hell
Motörhead -The World Is Yours - Nuff Said
Small Brown Bike - Fell & Found - They reunited. It's awesome.
Dropkick Murphys - Going Out In Style - Nuff said
Joyce Manor - Self Titled - One of the best emocore bands out there. Yes its pop punk but there are actual songs there, Leather Jacket is one of my favourite of all time
Wiccans - Skullduggery - Heavier than normal hardcore with screamo tendencies. Great stuff if you wanna smash everything around you
Bâton Rouge - Fragments D'eux Mêmes - French screamo with members of Daitro and 12xu. This LP absolutely slays
Ampere - Like Shadows - Nuff said
Caitlyn Bailey - Lizards Have Personalities - Orion Pax - viceversa Split - RIP Caitlyn Bailey, this international compilation is really really great. Still available on multiple formats
Lizards Have Personalities - Todos Caerán - Book of Caverns - ¡Silencio, Ahora, Silencio! Split. I already adore Lizards Have personalities, Todos Caerán and ¡Silencio, Ahora, Silencio!, this was my introduction to the awesome Book of Caverns. This is a truly rock solid split
Touché Amoré - Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me - Jeremy is one of my favourite songrwiters out there right now and he never fails to bring the emo into the hardcore
Algernon Cadwallader - Parrot Flies - They live in a warehouse where they record and do everything but print their own vinyl. They also play emo punk that is not not reminscent of the whole Capn Jazz Kinsella thing. They put their own spin on it and it's awesome
Samantha Fish, Cassie Taylor, Dani Wilde - Girls With Guitars - Three women, singing the blues and playing awesome guitar. What more could one ask for?
North Mississippi Allstars - Key To The Kingdom - The Allstars are named that for a reason, these brothers never dissapoint and this album is no exception. Reunited after a couple of solo projects this is just great blues.
 Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues - Still trucking after all these years Allman does a whole album of covers that come off beautifully
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator - Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi are a blues power couple. Their new band has 11 people including two drummers. Learn To Love is one of the best songs I've ever heard
Get A Better Comp -  folk/cute/tween/acoustic compilation
Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will - nuff said
Sharks - The Joys Of Living 2008-2010 - goes from semi post rock all the way to punked up rock and roll all the while with a friendly sneer
Immortal Technique - the Martyr - nuff said
Talib Kweli - Gutter Rainbows - nuff said
Abriosis - Tattered And Bound - Canadian progressive death metal. Riffs galore and some of these songs are absolute beasts

Demo`s
Spectre Alone - 2011 Demo
Panthalassa


EP's
Verme - Bad Verme - Italian punk with screamo production and aesthetics
Jowls - Cunt Punch - a two piece making a tremendous noise
We Were Skeletons & The Saddest Landscape - Split - One legend and freshly established band make a tremendous noise
We Were Skeletons & MNWA - Split - two relative young guns in screamo crank out their tunes
Featherweight - Not Waving But Drowning - RIP. Short but oh so awesome
Polina & Well Wisher - Split - Canadian east coast skramz ftw
 iwontstopwonderinguntilyoustopbreathing - motionless - when they stop being a Jerome's Dream worship band and develop their own kickass, interesting sound. Kinda. I think.
 pentimento - wrecked - melodic hardcore with a punk rock base
 Date Rape - Date Rape  Ukrainian screamo
 Dads - Brush Your Teeth ;) - two piece garage indie punk band
Adaje & Lizards Have Personalities Split - One of my favourite bands and a new favourite band
Cattle Drums - Boy Kisser Sessions + 3 - The best post-hardcore bands I've heard in a long while
Make Do And mend - Part & Parcel - Melodic Hardcore band does a couple of their songs acoustic, completely reinventing them as well as an acoustic cover of Touché Amoré's Home Away From Here.
You'll Live - Things Would Change if You Heard This - great emo from Florida. Just thinking about it makes me melencholy
Loud? - Made You - if you like three letter engagement or christie front drive you'll like this
Loud? Driveway Split - more awesome modern emo
Thunderstorms - self titled - instrumental twinkly emo from Ottawa
Prawn - You Can Just Leave It All - the first time I've liked these math rock dudes, the upped the emo
Eat The Rabbit - Vendetta - Italian synth based screamo. Think Dark Castle but different synth sounds and more chaotic
The Whoopass Girls - Self Titled - Ethan wrote an album of punk rock skate songs. Unsurprisingly, its awesome
Accu§er - Dependent Domination - German Thrash metal that will snap your neck in half

Worst
 We Break Hearts Not Hymens - Bitches On My Dick
 Design The Skyline
 Brokencyde (whether or not they release anything they deserve to be on the worse of the year list

Into It. Over It./Such Gold split EP

The King Is Dead (Long Live The King)

The King Is Dead (Long Live The King

Concrete Angel

Anti-Flag

If you don't know who Anti-Flag are you probably haven't been paying attention to punk music for quite a while now. They're one of the more consistent political punk rock bands still active today. Very left wing, anti capitalist, probably anarchist (don't quote me on that though) politics grafted onto angry ass yet still melodic punk rock.

This album is an EP released this year with some original tunes and a couple of covers including I Fought the Law, Guns Of Brixton and Should I Stay Or Should I Go. Nothing revolutionary (other than lyrically) but this is still rock solid, pissed off punk music.

to quote the band "One two Fuck You!"

a pair of songs

So far during christmas break I've written a pair of songs and recorded them on my laptop

Liars Song (Remember You Wrong)
http://www.mediafire.com/?cxbz4gd9ihh7arh

Twisted And Rotten, Mostly Forgotten
http://www.mediafire.com/?ifa6931s5nxa196

I don't know if Twisted and Rotted should be longer or not, I could certainly write more verses but I don't know if it needs it or not.

let me know what you think!

Loud?

Loud? is an emo band out of Woodbridge, VA that plays music similar to Texas Is the Reason and The Promise Ring. They've put out one EP called Made You that is really great and a split with a band called Driveway that absolutely owns. They've finallly written a full length and it's just as sick as ever. Again, no reinventing the wheel going on here but who needs reinvention when you've got quality emo like this?

Koshka! - Ложное равнодушие

Koshka! are a screamo band from Khabarovsk, Russia. They have a thicker sound with dirty production that brings up the bottom end. This isn`t power violence so the singer mostly shouts and he`s great at it. Nothing groundbreaking but pretty good screamo

RIP Snowing

Accu§er - Dependent Domination

Accu§er are a thrash metal band from Kreuztal Germany. They formed in the early 80s and put out a bunch of records without any label support. The guitarists formed a new band called Scartribe but everyone wanted to hear the Accu§er songs again so they reformed the band. This year they released an ep called Dependent Domination. If you like thrash metal this will be right up your alley. The singer doesn't scream or growl just shouts his way through these excellent songs and the riffs are always razor sharp as they whip pats. If you like speed and thrash metal this will be right up your alley

Abriosis - Tattered & Bound

Abriosis is a band from Vancouver. They play technical, progressive death metal with a biting edge. There are riffs galore all across the album. The best song I think is Eye Of The Raven, Mind Of The Wolf, its an absolute beast. There are a couple of weak spots like the title track and the third track but  the rest of the punishing brutality more than makes up for it. A Strong contender for death metal album of the year

A new mix!

Here`s another mix covering what I listened to between November 23rd and December 1st 2011.

We start off with a great dubstep song by Microw Jupiter. The dj took a bunch of clips from arguably the worst movie ever and used to to construct a sweet dubstep song. I`m not much for dubstep but this is really great

Then we head to the east coast for some 90s emocore courtesy of Render Useless. One of the dudes was apparently in Benchwarmer whom I also lvoe

We stay in British Colombia and head up to Kamloops for some tracks by a band called After School Knife Fight. They put out one EP in 2001 called Jousting With The Intent of Hurting People and its quite good.

We head out to Ottawa for some screamo courtesy of Van Johnson. Reminds me of Todos Caeran and maybe a less heavy One Eyed God Prophecy.

Taking a break from the screamo up next is two tracks from the new Bjork album. They are experimental, almost ambient tracks from the reigning Icelandic queen of weirdness.

We return to the screamo with a band from Mississauga Ontario called No Alarms. They put out one EP called Zipper Effect before changing their name.

we head out out west for one track from an awesome active band called  Todos Caeran. Most of their records are still available and well worth it.

Delo Truda are the band that No Alarm turned into. The people didn`t change and the music didn`t change. They also put out a split with a band called Ramon Gris.

Ramon Gris are the final band on this mix. I managed to see them after they changed their name to The Year It Broke and they were quite good. Their recordings are good but a little sludgy in parts which don`t match what I remember of their live show.