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Dyna Soar
Nov 30, 2006

quote:

Cats and Cats and Cats
Sharks Keep Moving
So Many Dynamos
This Town Needs Guns
Maps And Atlases
Rooftops and Pretend

gently caress these band names are just awful.

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-Atom-
Sep 13, 2003

Contrarian Dick

Bad At Everything
Maybe, but So Many Dynamos and Maps and Atlases are loving sweet.

the Bunt
Sep 24, 2007

YOUR GOLDEN MAGNETIC LIGHT
So many dynamos is at least cool because it's a palindrome

Business Raptor
Jun 3, 2009

Dyna Soar posted:

gently caress these band names are just awful.

I always thought Maps and Atlases was a pretty cool name. I see your point on the others, though.

Pogobubba
Jan 3, 2010

Primetime posted:

As mentioned before, one of the biggest problems with the 'math' label is it encompasses way too many bands, so you can rarely find what you want. I personally love 65daysofstatic, Minus the Bear, Maps and Atlases, and now thanks to this thread, This Town Needs Guns.

I've listened to most of what has been suggested in this thread, but it seems like a majority of the focus has switched to mathcore, and frankly I'm not a fan of metal or hard rock. Are there any other math rock bands at a Minus the Bear or Maps and Atlases level that I may have missed?

I just found Ghosts and Vodka a couple of days ago, and they really do remind me of Minus the Bear (mostly because of the guitar.) I have only been able to find one of their albums, unfortunately, but it's very good from what I've listened to.

Sophian
Jun 16, 2007
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I'm nothing.
There's a lot more of these bands than I thought. Maybe we need separate Math Rock and Mathcore/Math metal threads? More people would post if the topic was refined a bit maybe...

secondhand dog
Sep 10, 2009

Primetime posted:

I've listened to most of what has been suggested in this thread, but it seems like a majority of the focus has switched to mathcore, and frankly I'm not a fan of metal or hard rock. Are there any other math rock bands at a Minus the Bear or Maps and Atlases level that I may have missed?


ManifoldCuriosity posted:

90 Day Men

Although they were from St. Louis (not Louisville), they grew up in basically the same way as Slint and June of 44 as basically playing post-hardcore but with that mathy feel that eventually evolved into the Louisville math rock sound.

Aside from Slint's Spiderland, 90 Day Men's To Everybody is probably the most important (and best) album from that scene.

The album I suggested from them is low key, as well as Panda Park. Once you get into their early stuff though, it's more rooted in post-hardcore, so you might want to be careful.

Oh, and I'll just add my two cents about how much I hate the "mathcore" label. It just ends up encompassing "progressive" metal and metalcore bands. I feel that math rock actually has a distinctive sound at times.

d0grent
Dec 5, 2004

Sophian posted:

There's a lot more of these bands than I thought. Maybe we need separate Math Rock and Mathcore/Math metal threads? More people would post if the topic was refined a bit maybe...

If I had to guess I'd say that 1 out of every 4 bands recommended in this thread aren't "actually" math-whatever. That being said, I don't think there is enough interest to really merit two separate threads on this, especially if a separate Mathcore thread served only to suck posts away from the Metalcore thread. One reason I think they should stay combined in the topic is that many people that listen to one of the genres find it easier to get into the other.

Sophian
Jun 16, 2007
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I'm nothing.
Yeah you're right. The problem is defining what makes a band "mathy" as opposed to just "having progressive elements". If it's just a matter of having non-standard rhythms, we'd have to throw a couple of Dave Matthews Band and Metallica songs on there. And no one in their right mind would consider those bands math rock.

Dyna Soar
Nov 30, 2006
Here we go, goons analyze things to death.

Instantoxen
Apr 22, 2006

Dyna Soar posted:

Here we go, goons analyze things to death.

NMD would be the slowest moving forum if we didn't!

TheCircus
Feb 25, 2009
Sup this is my first post so YOU CAN START BEING MY FRIENDS STARTING NOW. I'm not so down with Protest The Hero being declared as the best songwriters of all time but each to their own. I think they have too little restraint, plus their vocalist is all over the place. Meshuggah are a great example of a super talented band that can also keep things simple and simultaneously radical, they know when to keep jamming a riff and when to change it up, Protest seem to crowbar alot of stuff into their song structure which is unnecessary.

Has anybody here heard of Meet Me In St Louis they are a UK Post Hardcore band with some pretty wild technicality whilst maintaining some beautiful melody. Check them out here:Youtube Myspace
Their album 'Variations On Swing' is probably my favourite record of all time. Everytime I listen to it I am literally dumbfounded with how beautiful some of the songs are. I can't think of many bands to help describe their sound but it's sort of like Dillinger Escape Plan playing indie.

Also...Sikth anyone?

the Bunt
Sep 24, 2007

YOUR GOLDEN MAGNETIC LIGHT

TheCircus posted:

Sup this is my first post so YOU CAN START BEING MY FRIENDS STARTING NOW.

Also...Sikth anyone?

A good idea would be to not do this.

oh poo poo too late!

Sophian
Jun 16, 2007
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I'm nothing.

Dyna Soar posted:

Here we go, goons analyze things to death.

No, no, no. If you want to see people analyze music to death, go read a musicology journal. They got poo poo in there like "Goliardic Chant and it's affect on 12th century Trouvere songs." If they were to post in this thread, you'd see stuff like "We should explore the notion of poly-rhythm juxstaposed over 4/4 and its relevancy to the 'math' label. Perhaps a compare/contrast of 'New Millenium Cyanide Christ' and certain arrangements of 'Sacre du Printemps' are in order? :smug:"

The craziest part is I would read the poo poo out of that

Sophian fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Jan 22, 2010

Sophian
Jun 16, 2007
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I'm nothing.

TheCircus posted:

Sup this is my first post so YOU CAN START BEING MY FRIENDS STARTING NOW.

Constructive criticism: you should've left out this one sentence and your post would've been fine. It's not funny and nobody cares that one more sheep has joined our 100,000+ member fold. Posting valuable, interesting, and funny content will get your much farther than being "random" or "ironic". If you must get it out of your system, go post in BYOB then come back.


And welcome... I guess.

Spiral
Dec 20, 2003

TheCircus posted:

Meet Me In St Louis
This is loving awesome. Thanks!

EMZ998
Dec 11, 2007
x+x+

Spiral posted:

This is loving awesome. Thanks!

Hot cow this kind of reminds me of Bear Vs. Shark; I like it!

TheCircus
Feb 25, 2009

Sophian posted:

No, no, no. If you want to see people analyze music to death, go read a musicology journal. They got poo poo in there like "Goliardic Chant and it's affect on 12th century Trouvere songs." If they were to post in this thread, you'd see stuff like "We should explore the notion of poly-rhythm juxstaposed over 4/4 and its relevancy to the 'math' label. Perhaps a compare/contrast of 'New Millenium Cyanide Christ' and certain arrangements of 'Sacre du Printemps' are in order? :smug:"

The craziest part is I would read the poo poo out of that

Can I interest you in a thesis on Meshuggah's usage of rhythm and meter on the I EP and Catch 33? It's pretty dense but nonetheless a relatively interesting read if you have any interest in theory and stuff.

Sophian
Jun 16, 2007
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I'm nothing.

TheCircus posted:

Can I interest you in a thesis on Meshuggah's usage of rhythm and meter on the I EP and Catch 33? It's pretty dense but nonetheless a relatively interesting read if you have any interest in theory and stuff.

gently caress yes! I tried so many times to get my teachers to let me do assignments on so-called "non-erudite" bands and they pretty much laughed in my face. It's nice to see other people doing this stuff. :unsmith:

Biscuit!
Jul 20, 2007
Bands everyone needs to check out:

Piglet: Really good band. Melodic math rock. They only released one EP but I've probably listened to it a hundred times.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3HM9kcSXY4&feature=related

Cheval de Frise: Acoustic guitar and drums. They are like a French version of Hella.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXaA7Y8QuSE&feature=related

Ruins: Insane Japanese prog duo. They've been around since the 80's and they will consistently blow your mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysCeaED_6Eg

Yowie: Start and stop madness.
http://www.myspace.com/yowie

Planets: Really good bassist. They sound a little like early Hella.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVRy7Psy-fI&feature=related

Most of the stuff mentioned in this thread too

It's nice to hear OSO get mentioned. I don't think they are really known much outside of Santa Barbara, but they should be. The guitarist was in Volta do Mar if that peaks anybody's interest.

Hooplah
Jul 15, 2006


So does anybody like Zu?
Not sure what to call them genre-wise (like it matters), but they play some pretty crazy stuff. Someone originally posted them in the post rock thread a while back, but I think they definitely fit here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5kcIjarod8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hun8GlxGYus

Also, are we posting other bands that aren't really math rock, but appeal to the math rock crowd? I really appreciated that someone posted Dismemberment Plan; I hadn't considered them before now :)

Business Raptor
Jun 3, 2009

Hey, Buiscuit!. Planets are pretty good.

holdsteady
Nov 4, 2009
Glad to see I'm not the only one who likes OSO, they are consistently one of the best live bands I've seen and their passion for music is insane. Plus there are only like 25 people there when they play so its like a private show. The only problem is it makes other bands seem pretty bland, but I guess I gotta check out more bands in this thread.

Early Cuyler
Jan 10, 2006

Fruit don't talk. Fruit just listen.

TheCircus posted:

Can I interest you in a thesis on Meshuggah's usage of rhythm and meter on the I EP and Catch 33? It's pretty dense but nonetheless a relatively interesting read if you have any interest in theory and stuff.

YESSSSS. I'm a musicologist who studies metal, primarily, so I'm actually probably the guy that Sophian was talking about earlier who is prone to making GBS threads up threads with musicology. Regarding this paper, Pieslak's theory work is great, but his transcriptions aren't all, umm, correct. Take what you will from it.

imonfireahhhh
Dec 28, 2006
AC/DC sucks.

Pogobubba posted:

I just found Ghosts and Vodka a couple of days ago, and they really do remind me of Minus the Bear (mostly because of the guitar.) I have only been able to find one of their albums, unfortunately, but it's very good from what I've listened to.

If you like them, check out Owls and Make Believe as well as any other band that came up after Cap'n Jazz broke up.

Also, a new Ghosts and Vodka song came out recently on the Joan Of Arc variety disc "Don't Mind Control"

It is very great.

EDIT: Might as well mention American Football while I'm here. I've seen them put under the label "math rock" before.

imonfireahhhh fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Feb 3, 2010

Business Raptor
Jun 3, 2009

I've heard Heavyheavylowlow described as math rock or mathcore or math whatever beefore.

wlokos
Nov 12, 2007

...
I love math rock. I actually just saw Giraffes? Giraffes! a week ago at a small venue in Boston, and they were incredible. The guitarist uses a loop pedal to do the different parts at once, and the drummer is insanely talented. They work really well as a duo and you could tell that they were really into it. If anybody gets the chance to see them, do it - they don't seem to play much, so don't miss out if the opportunity presents itself.

Also, I do a math rock radio show! 11pm-1am on Thursday nights at http://thebirn.com just click the 'listen now' anywhere during that time if you're interested in discovering some new math rock.

Biscuit!
Jul 20, 2007

holdsteady posted:

Glad to see I'm not the only one who likes OSO, they are consistently one of the best live bands I've seen and their passion for music is insane. Plus there are only like 25 people there when they play so its like a private show. The only problem is it makes other bands seem pretty bland, but I guess I gotta check out more bands in this thread.

Do you live in Santa Barbara? I probably see you all the time at their shows. Yeah, they are amazing live. I can't wait for the new album coming sometime soon.

more bands:

OXES: Cool band. Mathy instrumental rock music.

We Versus The Shark: Stupid name, but they have some pretty good songs. All over the place.

Swims: Like a more mellow Planets because they have the same bassist. The first bass-line in this song is just gorgeous.

EDIT: 31knots: Just remembered to add these guys. Really great songwriting and great live show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1V6zTp3GKo

It seems kinda silly that all these bands might be called math rock considering how different they all sound. I dunno. I always think it sounds stupid when I try to explain to people that I'm into math rock. I usually just say experimental rock music. It doesn't sound much better, but I think it often describes the bands a little better.

Biscuit! fucked around with this message at 09:22 on Feb 3, 2010

Sophian
Jun 16, 2007
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I'm nothing.

Early Cuyler posted:

YESSSSS. I'm a musicologist who studies metal, primarily, so I'm actually probably the guy that Sophian was talking about earlier who is prone to making GBS threads up threads with musicology. Regarding this paper, Pieslak's theory work is great, but his transcriptions aren't all, umm, correct. Take what you will from it.

Holy crap there's more than one of you studying metal? When I was in school a few years ago I had a hard time finding serious papers on any pop music except for maybe Frank Zappa or The Beatles. Is there a push these days toward serious analysis of the more "progressive" pop artists or was I not looking hard enough?

MindSplinter
Nov 4, 2003
If only I could turn pennies into Swedish Fish...
My old band The Alaya Conscious was pretty math-heavy (https://www.myspace.com/thealayaconscious). Their new stuff is pretty kick-rear end, too.

Matrix-7
Apr 29, 2007

Hey, bro, fade into the shade! You're bad news - obituary column style!
Psyopus are pretty decent at making music to melt faces with
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlDt-8pnYvA

Spastic Ink are awesome too, if you like them check out Blotted Science, its the same guy just alot heavier.

wlokos
Nov 12, 2007

...
It looks like there's already a new Bygones EP coming out in a few days! Considering that their debut was just put out ~8 months ago, this is awesome news. The new EP is only a bit more than 10 minutes long, and if the amazon previews are any indication it's gonna be a lot more punk rock than the LP was. I'm in love with their debut so this is awesome news for me.

For the unaware, bygones is an awesome two man band consisting of Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos's guitarist/vocalist) and Zach Hill (drum all-star, plays with Hella, Marnie Stern, CHLL PLL and about a million other bands). I hesitate to call it a Tera Melos / Hella sideproject because they both seem to be putting a whole lot of time and effort into it. Check them out immediately if you haven't yet.

silly mane
Nov 26, 2004
Came here to post Behold the Arctopus, Psyopus, Ahleuchatistas and Cheval de Frise, and was beaten on all, but allow me to second them because they all rule really hard.

Anyway I have a bunch of weird poo poo to share anyway! These probably wouldn't be my first picks but they are all very unique and cool bands anyway.

https://www.myspace.com/edgeinband - I'd recommend "The Marlboro Man is a Douche Bag"
Ed Gein is ridiculous, really the only 'technical' thing about them is their rhythms and speed (i.e. more dissonance and power chords than arpeggios and dynamics), but they are definitely some of the more challenging structures I've heard... plus they're just intense as hell. Also all 3 members are vocalists + instrumentalists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaKLll7X7g4
John Zorn's Naked City is debatable, but it shares a lot of chaos and unpredictability with math rock/metal and puts it into more of a jazz/grind fusion thing.. and if you don't like weird poo poo like that you're probably not looking at this thread. Plus, Yamatsuka Eye from the Boredoms, on vocals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udP8Nc00R_0&feature=related
Ok, I wanted to point out Orthrelm, and this video isn't them, it's the guitarist's solo project, Ocrilim, which is essentially the same thing with a drum machine in place of a real drummer. Really hard for most people to get into, as there is very little harmony whatsoever and it is basically series after series of piercing 32nd notes with little to no repetition.. but to me that's awesome. Also, they have an album called OV which, on the other hand, is super repetitive but incredibly fast, which lends itself to an almost droney trance-state if you can get into it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJdSEmq-xVM&feature=related
Here's Sleep Terror, a now defunct band who was pretty much a one piece but went through various drummers for live shows. Really fast metal with a lot of weird parts and snarky jazz interludes here and there.

Major Burns
Jul 25, 2007

^ Sleep Terror are great

I just discovered Dr. Slaggleberry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JeXGw8IhpQ
They're a three piece instrumental group (2 guitars and a drummer) who play jazzy metal.
http://www.myspace.com/drslaggleberry

watermelon bar
May 4, 2009
anybody goto the sick tera melos show in LA last night?

they're getting punk as gently caress.

-Atom-
Sep 13, 2003

Contrarian Dick

Bad At Everything

wlokos posted:

It looks like there's already a new Bygones EP coming out in a few days! Considering that their debut was just put out ~8 months ago, this is awesome news. The new EP is only a bit more than 10 minutes long, and if the amazon previews are any indication it's gonna be a lot more punk rock than the LP was. I'm in love with their debut so this is awesome news for me.

Today!

http://bygones.bandcamp.com/

Buy this you cheap bastards.

Mellomeh
Jun 12, 2006
Landing on Land only did one EP but it was really good. One of the members is a goon whose username I have forgotten, and he posted it here several years ago. I can only find it on Last.fm nowadays.

wlokos
Nov 12, 2007

...
The new Bygones EP is pretty crazy thrash punk with a few math elements, it's pretty good. It's perhaps not as great as their debut, but it's a lot of fun. Also, "When A Vegan Eats a Vegan" is one of the best song titles ever.

Prog Doctor
Feb 28, 2010
To further answer Funbox's question:

Gavin Harrison & 05ric have two albums out ("Drop" and "Circles") that are chock full of odd time signatures. I'm a drummer, and I would love to play to this if I was able to imitate Gavin...but alas, not yet.

Also, no one's mentioned Don Ellis yet. His bands have put out some crazy tunes. For instance, on the album "Tears of Joy" there's a song called "Bulgarian Bulge". It's in 33/16. Basically anything you pick up from Don Ellis will be mathematically challenging and fun to listen to.

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Prog Doctor
Feb 28, 2010

d0grent posted:

They're definitely very closely related, but I think prog rock tends to have mostly really long drawn out songs and "math rock" tends to be more energetic. Prog Rock is an actual genre of rock though so you have a point.

I'd say Math Rock is a type of Prog Rock. Prog can be long and drawn out, or a bunch of shorter songs with a constant theme throughout the album (concept albums), or it can just be songs with crazy time signatures.

Dream Theater, for example, does have many longer songs, but they also have a bunch of shorter ones with odd time signatures.

"Dance of Eternity", for one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dSztjpJNNk (6:14 is only "long" by pop standards)
or perhaps "Ytse Jam":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5OmzUEm504

But yes, the bands you'd tend to label "Math Rock" tend to be more aggressive than, say, Yes, or King Crimson (for the most part), the godfathers of Prog, in general. Though The Power To Believe has some of their "heaviest" stuff on it:

"Level Five"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujVNpbyImzU
"Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8xLsZh2v2g (albeit, the "crazy stuff" is just alternating subdivisions of 5's and 6's to make a phrase of 11/8)
or "Elektrik"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wd3NUrBm_I

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