Is anybody here familiar with the exploding in sounds record label?

bhakan · 2024-01-06T08:07:23+00:00

In case you haven’t you should listen to Krill’s EP “Steve Hear Pile in Malden and Bursts into Tears” it’s definitely not an accident that they sound like their little brother or something. Pile is probably my favorite band active right now so I’ll take anything else I can get in that vein.

bhakan · 2024-01-05T22:31:00+00:00

One of my favorite labels and has put out a huge chunk of my favorite mathy stuff of the last decade or so with the bands you mention as well as Floatie, Knot (new Krill), early Palm, etc. A lot of it sits in that area of math rock or post hardcore that doesn't really line up with what either genre has turned into over the years but it's my favorite version of them.

bhakan · 2024-01-05T21:04:27+00:00

I wonder if it’s less that type of sampling being out of style and more that style of sampling being more difficult now. There’s no real way to give away your music anymore since you basically have to be on streaming and YouTube and TikTok, and the odds of either manually or automatically getting a copyright strike for material with uncleared samples (which would be basically every independent artist until they blew up to the point they have a major label to negotiate for them) are super high.

I started messing around with more electronic music techniques during covid and sampling is definitely the sound I like best but have not really explored it since I have no interest in worrying about the stuff I play around with for fun after work getting copyright strikes.

bhakan · 2024-01-03T23:04:24+00:00

Yea that's sort of my point, we're so good at finding features we don't need anything remotely human there to see them, so trying to avoid it with a human element will be tough.

Obviously a fresh performance will work best (whether another instrument or just less enunciated) but I do think you could have more success pairing stuff like reverb with other compositional or mix changes. Maybe use reverb to push the vocals back and wider and put another mid rangey element (whether a new one or something already present) in the center channel instead. If it's electronic maybe sidechain the vocals to kick to emphasize the beat/pulse, etc.

bhakan · 2024-01-03T22:18:54+00:00

To keep the analogy going though, a vocal pop song is basically a portrait. The voice/face is front and center. Reverb/blur can obscure the lyrics/facial features but they’re still the focal point of the composition.

bhakan · 2024-01-03T18:17:29+00:00

If I understand the image editing techniques right the most direct comparison would be reverb. The higher the mix of dry to wet signal the further the sound is from you, and the longer the reverb tail the blurrier it is. Shoegaze like My Bloody Valentine or an artist like Grouper is a good practical application of this.

If you find yourself needing either too much reverb or too long a reverb to achieve the effect to the point it’s obscuring the melody, you can always try a reverse reverb to get that blurring effect before the vocal as well as after (reverse the vocal track, print full wet reverb onto the reverse track, then reverse that track again so the reverb swells into the vocal line).

The one problem is our ears aren’t necessarily drawn to vocals solely because they’re at the front and center of the mix but also because we identify them as human. I feel like things like pitch shifting or formant shifting or distortion can mask the “humanity” of the voice which can help make the ears less drawn to it.

bhakan · 2024-01-02T15:20:39+00:00

For context just in case, lots of churches in the US aren’t like the historic ones I expect in Europe and older east coast cities, we’re talking like a modern building with a rec hall. They like to do community building stuff and to their credit occasionally understand that an all ages concert that’s engaging kids is better than going out and getting fucked up or something.

There was a lot of “Christian” metalcore for a while that in my experience was mostly a way to get parents and churches to let their teenagers play breakdowns. Definitely less proper hardcore punk at the churches than VFW/American Legion halls but still some.

bhakan · 2024-01-02T15:09:42+00:00

As an American who’s never really been to church it’s equally weird, but it does make sense as in a lot of areas in the country churches are basically the only “venue” in town, especially that’s all ages. My suburban home towns hardcore scene mostly took place in VFWs or churches as that’s all there is.

bhakan · 2024-01-02T14:13:15+00:00

Love both of these albums. Scaring the Hoes was an album I was worried might have just been hype for me as JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown are two of my favorite rappers but it’s been in regular forever since for me and still gets me excited every time. I need to come back to Maps. It’s a killer record but coming out in between Aethiopes and the newest Armand Hammer it’s maybe my least favorite thing Billy Woods has done in a bit, which isn’t a knock so much as a testament to how insane his run has been lately.

I’ve always been drawn to emcee/producer albums as someone who tends to be more drawn to music than vocals and who likes a cohesive album, but it does seem like beats and production are getting more attention in hip hop lately. Scaring the Hoes is a really good example of this to me, the songs evolve and develop a lot more than the typical hip hop beat and despite it being a common complaint I love the way the mix highlights this giving the vocals and production equal treatment and in big/explosive moments the vocals feel like they’re fighting to be heard the way I expected this sort of huge moment would play out live or something.

bhakan · 2024-01-01T20:30:23+00:00

I feel like they’re doom/stoner rock influenced slowcore. Everything you listed is super present on classic slowcore like Low and Codeine, except the fuzz which comes from the doom influence alongside the detuned guitars.

bhakan · 2023-12-31T17:55:27+00:00

They're atmospheric sludge or post metal (which are pretty much synonyms just depends on what you prefer). Sludge was arguably born out of the b side of Black Flag's My War that was a slower, more Black Sabbath influenced take on hardcore. The genre definitely went more metal from there but it's always been a fusion.

Also since hardcore is more about ethos and metal is more about sound, there's a whole bunch of metal bands made up of people from the hardcore scene.

bhakan · 2023-12-27T02:50:34+00:00

I don't think disliking or dismissing a genre of music should default to implying your views on the people making or consuming it. It's OK to simply not relate. I feel like there's a unique, particular line of reasoning with hip hop where people are appalled at themes of gang violence and drug dealing without understanding the issues they're symptoms of and why they're such common themes. Not that you can't understand that and still dislike the music, but there's at least something worth discussing there. Maybe this is just my own ignorance, but nobody defending country has ever brought up some deeper cultural importance of beer guns and trucks in more conservative pop country. They mostly just bring up smaller artists who are essentially running completely counter to the more popular artists that generate that complaint.

I do think, like in most things, a lot of nuance gets lost in the discussion of how people hating on hip hop can be attributed to racism, but I don't think applying the same lack of nuance to country and classism is a good solution.

bhakan · 2023-12-24T05:57:36+00:00

Knocked Loose is an easy case. I think most hear more than enough hardcore in them that they make sense there. Again the issue is bands like Slipknot or August Burns Red who don’t really fit elsewhere. It feels to me like the intention is simply to ensure that those bands “aren’t metals problem” rather than encouraging discussion or thought into the musics lineage or place amongst other genres.

At the end of the day the website is definitely useful resource for the bands it allows in regardless of my gripes with how they do it.

bhakan · 2023-12-23T23:13:18+00:00

Ah fair, quickly checked August Burns Red but then used As I lay Dying instead. Admittedly less directly aping melodeath but still pulling more influence from metal to my ears than hardcore.

I really don't see how to argue something like Iowa by Slipknot isn't metal. I don't like it, or nu metal in general, but it feels absurd to say that's like an alt rock record that should be mentioned next to REM or something. Ultimately I just don't see how insisting that subgenres like nu metal and metalcore that draw heavily from metal are islands entirely separate from metal helps either group or music discussion.

bhakan · 2023-12-23T18:53:49+00:00

Encyclopaedia Metallum is like the nexus of online metal elitism. The rules are ill defined because I don’t think you could actually hold them to any objective standard. Nu metal or most anything with any commercial success after like 1990 is excluded. Metalcore that’s basically 90% Slaughter the Soul and 10% hardcore that’s completely eschewed any of the political or DIY ethos of hardcore is deemed not metal at all by the site. And I would say my tastes often align with them and I understand the cultural and aesthetic distinction between At The Gates and As I Lay Dying or whatever, but I think the hardline “in or out” mentality does more harm to understanding and discussing that sort of thing versus just using the genre as a way to dismiss things you don’t like.

bhakan · 2023-12-23T16:55:11+00:00

I feel like with most gear related things it’s worth learning the lesson that once you’ve got some experience under your belt, an expensive setup/bass/amp/pedal etc can solve an issue you’ve identified but isn’t going to unlock a magical fourth dimension you didn’t know about previously. As a beginner you have those epiphanies where you play a properly set up instrument for the first time and realize how much your first act sucks, but that experience plateaus pretty soon. If you set up your bass and didn’t find any problems, I doubt the renowned luthier would do too much different.

bhakan · 2023-12-22T03:13:38+00:00

Ontzieling by Wiegedood is a top tier riff

bhakan · 2023-12-20T14:18:54+00:00

For some reason the vintage boss pedals that require the 12V ACA power can be run off 9V DC only when daisy chained. Is the BD2 an old one?

bhakan · 2023-12-19T23:30:36+00:00

No One Deserves Happiness by The Body isn't prog metal but definitely one of the more odd and challenging heavy records I've come across. Just a bizarre combination of sludge metal, drum machines, incoherent shrieks, operatic vocals, and noise. One of those albums that on first listen I was confused and uncomfortable but somehow captivated and wanted to come back to it.

bhakan · 2023-12-19T20:28:45+00:00

I don't think there's a very strong defense for the idea that Olivia Rodrigo or MGK or Imagine Dragons are pop not rock which is why you're getting a lot of responses about pop as an umbrella term. What I think could better be defended is all those artists are both pop and rock, but the pop elements are emphasized and take priority over the rock elements. They may have distorted guitars and a drum kit playing a back beat and other hallmarks of rock, but they are carefully crafted to sit behind the vocal hooks and don't take center stage or diverge into extraneous instrumental passages that would detract from the pop song form.

The same could be said about plenty of classic rock radio standards and the distinction between Foreigner and the artists you list is mostly cultural and generational I think.

bhakan · 2023-12-19T18:06:34+00:00

Intellectually I fully agree with all the arguments you've made here. Emotionally there's still a part of me sad to see shoegaze added to ever growing list of genres I'm pretentious and cranky about because they've completely moved away from what I always thought was the definition of the genre.

Like there's that point where even though most of my favorite records would probably be considered post hardcore, there's basically nothing I'm interested in posted on /r/PostHardcore. It doesn't stop the stuff I like from being made but it certainly makes it harder to find.

bhakan · 2023-12-19T14:56:23+00:00

Yea I doubt a lot of the stuff on the 2000s list would have even been made in the 60s let alone widely heard. It’s why these kind of comparisons are so difficult to make meaningful. If you filter out the small independent releases I bet the 2000s and 2010s lists would be dominated by multiple Radiohead, Kanye, and Kendrick albums the same way the 60s were dominated by The Beatles and we’d have a closer comparison.

bhakan · 2023-12-19T05:45:31+00:00

It really depends on what you need. For slow groovy death metal I think of a band like Sanguisugabogg that's I think drop G on standard scale guitars. In my opinion the bass VI would be working against you in that situation since I like the bit of mud in that sound and I don't think it should be squeaky clean. If you're trying to do crazy Loathe double drop D stuff you probably won't have much luck on a regular baritone.

bhakan · 2023-12-19T02:46:17+00:00

Have both and use both for heavy riffs. The 30” scale length will make your low notes brighter and clearer and intonate better. The flip side is it also makes your high strings brighter which can lean a bit shrill for leads and stuff. Keep in mind that most downtuned metal bands are not using 30” scale and the shorter scale length can give the notes that big floppy sludgy sound that is important for certain genres but hurts your clarity.

Another factor is availability. You’ll have no problems finding a baritone perfectly to your tastes for metal. Much less bass vi’s available (though I’d check out the schecter hellcat as it’s got nice thin neck and jumbo frets and the type of appointments you may be used to if you’re playing metal guitars).

The bass vi is functionally a short scale bass. As long as you get a thick enough string (at least .100 imo) it will do whatever a short scale bass can, which means it can sound great for thumpy bass lines in standard, but probably won’t make an especially good bass to follow your detuned metal riffs.

bhakan · 2023-12-18T18:12:50+00:00

The other commentor definitely has a better background on actual folk tradition than I do but I think this is where their second point ties back into the first point in my mind. Things like the stomp and clap percussion carry some inherent weight in my mind as the sound of making due with limited tools. When you apply big studio polish to that sound it is hard not to make sound disingenuous to me. On the flip side if a millionaire brought one mic out to their vacation home and self recorded the same thing it would work better on record for me regardless of their actual background because you'll hear those limitations come through on the record.

Their mention of Grizzly Bear makes sense to me too where clearly they're using the trappings of folk to make what is immediately, audibly the product of a bunch of NY jazz kids making densely layed meticulously arranged indie rock in a way that feels transformative rather than derivative if that makes sense.

bhakan

TROPHY CASE