I don't know if this doesn't already exist, but we should get a math rock thread going.

Don Cab, Turing Machine, Lynx...

favorites?
overrated?

Lets get it started!

Philip Glass

Okay, maybe not Rock so much. But in my mind [Math + Music = Philip Glass]. I'm curious as to what other people have to add to the topic.

I've enjoyed this years Battles and Menomena albums.

i just saw some philip glass stuff being performed at UCSD (sadly, i cannot recall what). he was in attendance, and it was awesome.

honestly, most of classical music - even contemporary classical, has math elements. as far as that stuff is concerned, i have been pretty obsessed with steve reich lately.

on the math rock front battles has been my favorite album of this year (maybe of all music this year). but check out "growing" by sleeping people- pretty damn good as far as new math rock is concerned.

what is math rock?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Math_rock

i could try to explain this on my own, but it would probably pale in comparison to how much more clear wikipedia makes it.

to me the quintessential math rock album is don caballero's "american don", despite the fact that they have stated they hate the term "math rock".

I always think of Math Rock, as being musicians that play live instruments, but follow almost Techno patterned soundstructures.

I think Spoon could be considered, slightly "Math Rock".

i don't know about spoon or the techno thing. i think the key to math rock is a high degree of technical prowess as displayed by complex interlocking rhythms. usually math rock bands utilize atypical time signatures - i don't see much of that in spoon or techno. however, if you find a song that fits that bill from spoon or techno music let me know (sounds interesting).

Battles Mirrored could very easily be a techno album, if they just made the instruments electronic. I agree that Math rock has a great deal to do with technical prowess and complex interlocking rhythms though.

I say Spoon is "slightly" math rock because they rely heavily on patterns and the relationship between the mixing of these patterns. It's very calculated. Listen to anything on Kill the Moonlight especially something like Paper Tiger. Also, "My Mathematical Mind" from Gimme Fiction.

I consider Pinback as qualifying aswell.

i can see pinback as slightly math rock; rob crow writes the tightest wound pop songs. crow is associated with the math rock field because his earlier projects - while also pop groups - had a more pronounced math rock feel. he even guests on the last track of the new sleeping people album.

as far as pop and math rock go, i think minus the bear fits the bill even more so than pinback. they are ex-members of botch (math-core band)and they are getting pretty big at this point. while no album by them really blows me away, it is still amazing at how complex their music is while still maintaining a high degree of accessibility and utilizing general pop dynamics.

Omg, math rock.

My favorite would probably be Strange Warnings of Laddio Bolocko by Laddio Bolocko which is one of the genre's most original and important albums in my opinion (really I'd say that goes for music in general). It's not really your traditional math-rock album, borrowing just as much from the Avant-garde like This Heat as it does from Math-rock.

As for recent math-rock, I'd go with the very good Finery of the Storm by Muddy World. It's much closer to math-rock than than Laddio Bolocko, but it has this warm, jazzy feel to it that I hardly ever see in math-rock. Best math-rock album of the decade for me. Actually, one of the best albums of the decade period.

Polvo's Today's Active Lifestyles is also very impressive. It's definitely a great starting point for anyone trying to get into Math-rock and a pretty unique one at that. A lot of people complain about the production of this album, and it is a bit flat, but I don't really see it harming them at all.

For math rock more in the hardcore vein, Collapsar's s/t or Dillinger Escape Plan's Calculating Infinity should do. Collapsar is a bit more tame and catchy than Dillinger Escape Plan, they are also instrumental, but both still very good.

Then of course there are the post-rock guitar bands of the 90's that fall into the math category, like the Louisville band's Slint and June of 44. I like Slint, but I find June of 44 to be quite boring. For the best post-rock oriented math-rock, I go with Bastard's Radiant, Discharged and Crossed Off, which is an incredible album. I don't know how math rock I would consider it, but there are definitely some tenancies in there that are similar to a lot of those bands. It's a very dark album, ranging from crazy, hardcore freak out pieces like "Chinatown" to slow, building soundscapes like "Growing Daisies"

Overall, I think math rock is a very good genre that has produced a diverse amount of great albums. However, it is also a genre that produces a lot of cold, contrived bands that have more interest in make things sound cool and impressing people with musicianship than actually making good music.

Wow, I apologize.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: grabblegarrr,

I forgot about Slint. Good call.

I had heard of Laddio Bolocko before (their drummer was the drummer on Tremulant EP by Mars Volta), but had never given them a listen. Holy crap are they amazing. Thanks for the recommendation. Now if only I could find their album anywhere.

Is there any reason this isn't in the Indie Thread?

quote:

Originally posted by krugulitis:
I had heard of Laddio Bolocko before (their drummer was the drummer on Tremulant EP by Mars Volta), but had never given them a listen. Holy crap are they amazing. Thanks for the recommendation. Now if only I could find their album anywhere.

All of their albums were extremely limited and is sold out a long time ago. I had the fortune to see them back in the late nineties and buy an album then. But No Quarter Records released a compilation of all their albums a couple of years ago that should still be available on Relapses website.

Sleeping People's "Growing" is very nice. There are influences from King Crimson and early Yes. I was told this is a much stronger release than their debut which I haven't heard.

Rodan "Rusty"... This album is a masterpiece, plain and simple.
Crain "Speed" (or Heater, I prefer their debut though)... Brilliant.

maybe you should check the "Foals".

http://www.myspace.com/foals

there s a lot of hype around them these days in UK.their debut album is out next year ( it has been produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio!)they had some singles already out ("Mathletics" , "Balloons").

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
Sleeping People's "Growing" is very nice. There are influences from King Crimson and early Yes. I was told this is a much stronger release than their debut which I haven't heard.

their debut is not awful, but "growing" is certainly a step up.

I hate how people talk about Battles like they're math rock.

The only math rock band that truly matters right now is Tera Melos.

http://myspace.com/teramelos

Go there and listen to "A Spoonful of Slurry" and "Last Smile for Jaron."

Oh ya also these bands rule too:

Maps and Atlases - http://www.myspace.com/mapsandatlases
Twain Harte - http://www.myspace.com/twainharte
By the End of Tonight - http://www.myspace.com/bytheendoftonight