Prawn - 'False Institutions' (2009)

Prawn - 'False Institutions' (2009)

*free here*

1) Nightmares

2) Thousand Grains of Sand

3) Courage Kills Men

4) Arctic Foxes

5) Family Tree

There are quite a few bands that are blurring the line between vocal post-rock and emo music. The first one that comes to mind is Moving Mountains for me, but it could be The Appleseed Cast, Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), or a number of other bands for you. Forgive me if I make too many comparisons, but it's hard not to do that here for me.

Prawn is one of those emo/post-rock bands, and they're from New Jersey. They released this for free on their Bandcamp, and have since put up another free demo and a full-length. But what makes Prawn different to me is that they don't take a minute or two to build up to anything. Their momentum stays strong for even a whole song. Instead of slow portions of soft singing and clean guitar, they insert interludes of distorted guitar or drums. Essentially, this band captures you from the start and keeps your attention without letting you take a break with a soft section.

But I have to forewarn you: if strong lyrics are what you're looking for, Prawn may not be for you. However, while the lyrics may not be a strength of the band, the vocals are. That should be apparent by the end of the first track, "Nightmare". After a guitar progression that was surprisingly fantastic to me when I first heard it, the vocals come in and fill the sound with a mixture of more raw emo music and more refined and coordinate post-rock.

The thing about Prawn is that they aren't very intricate, but they certainly do an exceptional job with seemingly basic elements. The album is free, and definitely worth a listen.

Aurore Rien - 'Telesthesia' (2001)

Aurore Rien - 'Telesthesia' (2001)

1) Hindsight 20/20

2) Hearts Murmur Under Halogen Lights

3) Breakaway, Sydney

4) Sunsets, I Have Seen Too Many Without You

Aurore Rien was a post-rock band that I believe was from Wisconsin. Two of the members went on to form Wisconsin-based ambient music project Lights Out Asia, which leads me to believe that Aurore Rien was from the same state. At any rate, these are the unsung heroes of vocal post-rock (a bit oxi-moronic, but you get what I mean). They released a full-length album called 'Sedative for the Celestial Blue' in 1999, and then this EP in 2001.

"Hindsight 20/20" has always been my favorite song by this band. It's relatively long, as are all the songs on this EP (they're all about 8 or 9 minutes). There are a lot of sections with repeating phrases, and the first track on this album uses that most effectively in my opinion. There is a repeated guitar phrases that gets gradually more intense until it ends at 2:35. Later, there is a portion where the singer repeats a phrase that I understand to be "Let's stay here tonight". At the part where the guitar becomes distorted, the vocals become more reverberated, which helps to create quite a chilling atmosphere.

The rest of the album includes similarly repetitive musical phrases, but there's a subtle build and change with each time. The vocals are used more as an instrument than as a way to express lyrics or words. It's almost like a compromise between the original Bark Psychosis-esque "post-rock" and the then-new sound of bands like Explosions in the Sky. The track "Breakaway, Sydney" also includes a sample of a speech made by John L. Lewis, a former Head of the Union Mine Workers. The speech was made before the U.S. Congress in 1947.

Aurore Rien is a somehow forgotten band that exemplified the turning point for post-rock music by combing sounds of the mid-1990's to the new sounds of the early 2000's. This album is a really great one, and I would highly recommend it.

RIYL: Bark Psychosis, Jeniferever, Explosions in the Sky

Sleep Patterns - 'Parmi Les Rois' (2008)

Sleep Patterns - 'Parmi Les Rois' (2008)

*free here*

1) Colonies

2) Feeny

3) Christopher Talkin'

4) Sweat Fortress

5) The Useful Sound

6) Tell That Joke You Know

7) Revolutions

Sleep Patterns was a real screamo/post-hardcore band from Northwest Indiana/Southwest Michigan, the area where Merchant Ships and Midwest Pen Pals were formed and played. In fact, I found out about this band because Merchant Ships has a song called "Sleep Patterns", which includes a story that apparently was written by one of the members of the band Sleep Patterns. As it turned out, the band is ridiculously refreshing in a sea of emo/screamo revival bands.

The album opens with a clean guitar riff that is chilling to the bone. The guitar tone makes it very atmospheric, it's quite hard to describe, so you can listen for yourself! But this band was ultra-legitimate. You can hear in the singer's voice that he means everything he says very passionately. The vocals on this album are what really separate this from other bands like it. There are some controlled voice cracks along the way that make it more dynamic.

The album is 25 minutes long; it's only an EP and as far as I can tell it's their only release. To make the album even more legitimate, the band broke up due to their lead singer/bassist having nervous breakdowns. As much as that's a bummer, it makes the album even more emotionally dynamic to me. Oh, and did I mention that the album is free? All the more reason for you to give a listen to this amazing EP.

RIYL: Pianos Become the Teeth, My Heart to Joy, (old) mewithoutYou

The Steve Spiegl Big Band - 'Perspectives' (1982)

The Steve Spiegl Big Band - 'Perspectives' (1982)

1) Hot

2) The Sphynx's Lair

3) Mirage

4) Bacchanalia

5) Spanish Steps

6) Parfait

7) Willie

8) Together Again

9) A Day in the Life

10) The Late Great Planet Earth

This is a relatively old big band jazz album that sounds like Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band could have recorded it. Like the Big Phat Band, the Steve Spiegl Big Band is from California and they perform awesome swing and modern jazz music. Sorry if I compare the two bands too much, I'm not too familiar with modern big bands.

But I am familiar with this album. I first heard "A Day in the Life", which (fortunately or unfortunately) is not a Beatles cover. Rather, it's a really intricate piece that shows off all sections, from the trombone intro to the saxophone/flute riff that comes in later. The rhythm section is extremely tight, and even though that's expected from a studio recording, the groove is still really great.

After hearing just that one song, I had to hear the rest of the album. And after hearing it, it's a really great album and I was surprised that almost 30 years had gone by and there is such little recognition of this band. So I took the liberty of putting the entire album on YouTube. Check out "A Day in the Life" if you wanna be impressed!

Basically, this big band is not big enough in my opinion. But I'm not exaggerating how great the album is. While there are (relatively) a lot of ballads on it, there are also swing songs, songs with a Latin feel, and a cool sound in all of the songs. So listen to this album, it's a hidden gem of modern big band jazz music.

Tunturia - 'Maps' (2007)

Tunturia - 'Maps' (2007)

1) Panic Attack
2) Echoes of the Unmoved
3) Silence is Consent
4) Cast Shadows on Clouds
5) October 4, 1957
6) Satellites
7) Tunturia
8) These are the Words
9) Robots Building Robots
10) Lost in the Hidden Forest

Tunturia is a Canadian instrumental post-rock band. 'Maps' is the only album I've heard by them, so keep that in mind when I talk about them.They tend to be focused on soundscapes but they can't really be described as ambient. They're repetitive, but not in a bad way. They do little things to change it around to prevent you from being bored.

I admit it's better if you aren't focused on the music (with a few exceptions like beginning track "Panic Attack"); otherwise the album seems to drag on very long, especially when you get to the later tracks. But the first two tracks are stunning. The reason I don't give this album the credit it probably deserves is probably I like the first two tracks so much that the rest of the album doesn't hold up to what I thought it'd be.

As for the actual music, the album is standard post-rock but with a laid back feel that is somewhere between Hammock and Explosions in the Sky. The drums are very prevalent, as well as clean guitar melodies that build upon keyboards/ambient sounds. It's overall a great sound that's great to relax to. The album starts off with an energetic-sounding guitar riff that repeats for a lot of the song, but it's a bit of a misleading start, because their songs aren't of the energetic type.

But if you're bored of your extensive collection of Mogwai and This Will Destroy You, give some of Tunturia's songs a listen on Youtube, you'll enjoy it.

RIYL: Daturah, Laura, This Will Destroy You

Kauan - 'Lumikuuro' (2007)

Kauan - 'Lumikuuro' (2007)

1) Alku

2) Aamu ja Kaste

3) Lumikuuro

4) Savu

5) Koivun Elämä

6) Syleilyn Sumu

7) Villiruusu

8) Syleilyn Sumu (Akkustika)

Kauan are a folk black metal band from Russia. Well, you could say there were a folk black metal band. Nah, they didn't break up, but their last album was most atmospheric folk/post-rock. I have yet to listen to it, but right now I'm very satisfied with this debut full-length.

It has the black metal elements mostly in the vocals. But don't take that as if they don't fit, because they do fit very well with the music. It's more towards atmospheric black metal, where the drums are much more laid back (almost like doom metal drumming) but with heavy distorted guitars with interludes of clean guitars, synthesizers, and other atmospheric sounds.

There's a ton of piano on this album which gives it a neat feel. You can just hear the heavy emotions in the song. It's really cool how they attain that with such little layering of music and sounds.

If you like post-metal like Agalloch that's melancholy, but also really heavy at times, check this album out. I might go so far as to say that it's the most unique black metal album I've ever heard. Of course I'm not too well-versed in black metal, but this still warrants a listen.

RIYL: Enslaved, Amesoeurs, Alcest

Betterment - 'Defined' (2010)

Betterment - 'Defined' (2010)

*free here*

1) Energy

2) Brotel Rwanda

3) Ded

4) Defined

Betterment is a cool emo/hardcore band from Florida (USA) that has this free EP out and are working on new material as well, to be recorded in April 2011. [As a side note, the new stuff is most like "Ded" on this album]. They have both clean guitars playing chords and distorted guitars putting the hardcore sound in.

They've also got some great vocals, I like them. They're harsh but you can understand a lot of it and hear the emotion in it. The band is tight, they all blend together well and get a great sound. The energy in the music is great - I'm sure they'd be awesome live.

They're showing that it takes a lot more than for some influential bands to break up to take down this genre. And the recording quality is not bad at all and the EP is less than 12 minutes. I actually made a list of my top 80 favorite emo/screamo songs and "Brotel Rwanda" was at 28, just above Cap'n Jazz's "Ooh Do I Love You". I hope that's a testament to just how awesome this band is. They're a fresh listen, and free at that, so definitely worth a listen!

RIYL: Sinaloa, mewithoutYou, Hightide Hotel

Yage - 'Anders Leben!?' (2003)

Yage - 'Anders Leben!?' (2003)

Tracks:

1) We Lost Beauty

2) Ohne Form

3) 128

4) Lange Luegenbeine

5) Anders Leben!?

6) Leben Leben

7) Situations are Like Cells

8) Save the Fear Slave

Yage is a hardcore emo/screamo band from Germany. But unlike some other bands I've heard from Germany that could be called "screamo" (like June Paik, for example), this band isn't as doomy sounding and has more clean vocals. It's like a medium in between Empire! Empire! I Was a Lonely Estate and Saetia if you can imagine it.

Actually, instead of imagining it, just listen to this album or some of the songs off of it that are on Youtube. It's not a long album, and although it can be background music, it's hard to listen to and not notice any of the interplay between drums and guitar. There are parts where there is unison, but there are other parts where the guitarist is playing a riff while the drummer is almost soloing. That's in a lot of hardcore music like this, but this band does it well.

The vocals are tough to describe, they're clean but raspy like Tim Kinsella (of half of all emo bands ever to exist) but when he screams it's more like most screamo bands, where it's not as understandable but it sounds emotional so you don't really care. Anyways, this is a great German band and I wan't expecting to find anything new in them but they were a pleasant surprise, and you'll probably think so too.

RIYL: Saetia, Loma Prieta, Raein

Il Cielo di Bagdad - 'Export for Malinconique' (2008)

Il Cielo di Bagdad - 'Export for Malinconique' (2008)

Tracks:

1) Stanno Tutti Bene
2) A Day of Wool
3) First Light of Morning
4) Export for Malinconique
5) Save Your Forest
6) Mr. Butterfly
7) L’ultimo Gesto
8) Magic Bus
9) Sunday Afternoon

This is a post-rock album by Italian band Il Cielo di Bagdad (translating to "The Sky of Baghdad" in English). I'll admit this album isn't avant-garde and doesn't bring any revolutionary ideas to the table, but that doesn't mean it doesn't give me goosebumps.

The band is a five-piece, with guitars, drums, bass, and piano/keyboards as well, that can't be described as ambient, but it has the same effect: it is soothing but at the same time isn't just background noise! There are also some vocals on the album. But the vocals aren't really lyrically focused, they're more for the atmosphere and what the sound of the human voice adds to the music. In this case the vocals fit really well.

The songs aren't very long, they're short post-rock tracks in the same vein of Moonlit Sailor or New Century Classics if you know either of those. The songs are simple, but not in a bad way at all. It's melodic, moving, and no three-minute buildups and quiet interludes are necessary for this band to catch your attention and touch your soul, they can do it from the very first listen.

RIYL: New Century Classics, Moonlit Sailor, Hammock

Blue Effect - 'Nová Syntéza' (1971)

Blue Effect - 'Nová Syntéza' (1971)

Tracks:

1) Má Hra

2) Směr Jihovýchod

3) Popínavý Břečťan

4) Blues Modrého Efektu

5) Nová Syntéza

Blue Effect is a jazz/progressive rock band from the Czech Republic, they formed in 1968. They were also known as Modrý Efekt, M. Efekt, Modrý Efekt and Radim Hladík, among other variations. Radim Hladík is their guitarist, a founding member, and arguably the most prominent member.

Anyways, this album is an instrumental jazz/rock album that the band recorded with the Czech Radio Jazz Orchestra (it's printed on the album in Czech). The album does run a bit long for five tracks at about 43 minutes, but I guess you could expect that from a progressive rock band.

However, don't let that deter you from listening, this album is fantastic. If you thought Jimmy Page was the best, check out Radim Hladík practically front both groups with his roaring guitar solos and riffs. This was released in 1971, and some of the stuff he is playing is so technically advanced when you compare it to other guitarists of the era like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Perhaps you could best compare the guitar on this album to Terry Kath, guitarist of Chicago until his death in 1978. He combined jazz, hard rock, funk and advanced technique but not without the emotion. Take out the funk and you've got yourself a good taste of what Radim Hladík is like.

There are so many sections in the album where the sound is so powerful and driving, with the bass and drums leading the way and the horns and guitar soaring with a huge sound that blows your mind. This album is so underrated, it's practically a crime. For any fans of jazz, classic rock, progressive rock, or good music, Czech this one out.

RIYL: Chicago (early), Wishbone Ash, Jeff Beck

Der Weg einer Freiheit - 'Der Weg einer Freiheit' (2009)

Der Weg einer Freiheit -'Der Weg einer Freiheit' (2009)

Tracks (translations in brackets thanks to Genta):

1) Ewigkeit [Eternity]

2) Spätsommer [Late Summer]

3) Frei [Free]

4) Aurora [Aurora]

5) Zum Abschied [Farewell]

6) Welk [Faded]

7) Neubeginn [Restart]

This is actually a strange pick for me, it's an Atmospheric Black Metal band from Germany. I don't really listen to that much Black Metal, mostly atmospheric Black Metal kinda like Alcest or Amesoeurs if you know them. They blend post-rock and Black Metal vocals, which is really neat.

Black Metal to me has always seemed to be centered around emotion, whether sadness or anger. They screams from the vocalists really express that, and this band really offers that in a cool way. They are a vocalist and then another musician who plays guitar, bass, and programs the drums for the albums.

I don't understand the song titles or vocals, but I could really care less because the music is so captivating, especially the guitar parts, sometimes with the usual non-scalar tremolo picking of Black Metal like in "Zum Abschied", but sometimes in a more triumphant and positive manner like in "Ewigkeit".

If you like any Black Metal, then you should check this out. But even if you enjoy some post-metal or screaming vocals from time to time, it's still worth a YouTube search of some of their tracks, they're really stunning, and the album doesn't exceed 50 minutes like many Black Metal albums do.

RIYL: Enslaved, Alcest, Amesoeurs

Caravels - 'Floorboards' (2009)

Caravels - 'Floorboards' (2009)

Tracks:

1) Iceland

2) Greenland

3) Buddy System

4) Sixty Acres

5) Meat Wave

6) Safety Jobs

It may only be an EP, but this is a fantastic one. Caravels are a hardcore/real screamo band, described as a "loud band from Henderson, Nevada." They are highly energetic, and I'm saying this just based on their studio recordings.

They have roaring guitars that interact with awesome vocals that are screaming, but you can still tell what he's saying. It's not as emotional in a personal way that bands like La Dispute are, but the lyrics are actually pretty poetic.

It's the type of music that you would go crazy to when no one is watching but at the same time could make you think. It's an awesome blend of emotion and just awesome hardcore music, that a lot of "skramz" bands don't always have.

RIYL: Daniel Striped Tiger, Native, Sinaloa

Rare Bird - 'Rare Bird' (1969)

Rare Bird - 'Rare Bird' (1969)

Tracks:

1) Iceberg

2) Times

3) You went away

4) Melanie

5) Beautiful Scarlet

6) Sympathy

7) Nature's Fruit

8) Bird on a Wing

9) God of War

Every now and then you find a band like UFO or Rare Bird that could really play some awesome music back in the day, but never got the recognition of bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, or other "Classic Rock" bands. But let me tell you this: Rare Bird is no average album-oriented rock band from the 60s-70s.

The English quartet play a great mixture of hard rock and progressive rock. But it's not the annoying kind of progressive rock with four or five 9 minute songs on an album; these guys deliver a full set of tracks that adds up to about 40 minutes on this self-titled debut.

The keyboards on this album create a whole new atmosphere that just gives the music an edge over bands with the usual guitar/bass/drums/vocals lineup. You hear it from the beginning of the first track all the way through. Overall, this album is one of my favorites of the late 60s/early 70s era of music, which is one of my favorites.

RIYL: Deep Purple, Warhorse, Armageddon

They and the Children - 'Home' (2008)

They and the Children - 'Home' (2008)

Tracks:

1) Mechanical

2) The Madman

3) Exploding Inevitable

4) Invisible

5) Creatures Who Stopped Living

6) Exit Strategy

7) Stockholm

8) Gift

This was the last album by Connecticut (USA) band They and the Children. They were a hardcore band with D-beat influences, but they broke up in the same year that this album was released after 5 years of activity. Perhaps I'm going to be biased since they're one of the few good bands I have found from my state, but this album is great.

It is a bit long for a punk-influenced album (the average song length is 4:42), but it's well worth the time. I especially like "Invisible", which has an amazing spoken word passage of the song. It's the highlight of the album for me.

The screaming on this album is actually pretty addictive, it isn't really understandable but that doesn't matter for me, because it fits the loud and heavy guitarwork perfectly. The band is in general loud, but extremely believable in all that they do. I highly recommend this album, it's well worth the 38 minutes of your time.

If you really like this band, check out Iron Hand (and their blog). They're of very similar style, largely because they feature some of the same members as They and the Children.

RIYL: Bear vs. Shark, Touché Amoré, Killing the Dream, etc.