STREAMING // (Album) Sad Frosty – “Playground”
Listen Here – Soundcloud/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
Featuring: 1TakeJay, DC The Don, Glory Santana
Producers: Astroboy, Guala Beatz, MathiasTyner, Mike Gonsolin, Nape
Misc. Day – Surgical Diagram
Whether the audience believes in the phrase powerviolence as a genre or not, Wound Man is a concrete parallel definition to the immense dread and utter hurt that spawns from the rapid-fire tracks. Abstraction is the 2017 release under the New Bedford, Massachusetts wings of fire that spawns seven-tracks in only six-and-a-half minutes.
As Abstraction marches down the field in a sullen but foreboding way, the opening build-up to the sucker punch on “Believe” is rather calming for such a violent record. Or at least the first minute is before the strings and percussion kicks up with vocals from the beyond the grave. With lyrics like “Hell comes from within, believe in yourself” that is barely audible through the sudden shift of sound, there is a new stage set for the audience.
Instead of participation, Abstraction is a cult-esque stance on systematic pulverizing. Each track continues to form into the frame and Wound Man continues to strike a deeper and deeper fear into the listener without even realizing. The black-and-white cover art is a significant aesthetic to the basement beatdowns and horrid uprisings that form under the blanket of hardcore. Following along with “Stand,” a 26-second onslaught that creates more headbanging than ear-shattering deafness which is often the side effect of short, but effective violence records.
Often times, such a cut runtime means that bands have to cram as much sound into the output as possible, but Wound Man is a little different. They can create and enjoy a melody like on “Tax Man” where the one-two step is more approachable for heavier styled music and even though the tracks are short, they are begging to be replayed. After hearing the record near 10 times in around an hour, it is easier to see why Abstraction continues to flow so well. The tandem style of each track just pushes the momentum along and is barely even considered to be separated. Abstraction lives better as a single, six-minute entity rather than being split up for individual listening.
The shortest track on the record is “Swamp” which is a feat only racking in 21-seconds but has these poetic lines that are extinction-centered, but reflective. Describing, “We peel ourselves from the mud to grin in death’s image,” as the floodgates let through these bass lines that are riddled with mire. Each time the words are spoken, the audience sinks uncontrollably into the Earth before finally seeing the light of the world completely close off into utter darkness.
With the final self-titled track “Abstraction,” the longest piece on the record feels like a merciful push back from all the quick and shattering grasps that surround. Wound Man is more about getting in and getting out rather than building up an ego or presence. The enigma of the machine that is Abstraction wants to open the mind up for dissection in the New Bedford way. Before fading into the everlasting black end, Abstraction gazes further into the illustrative and phantom touches on pain.
Listen To Abstraction Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
New Music – Familiar Foe
During the years of bedroom lo-fi work that surged across the internet through forums and music clubs of the underground world, Black Marble has appeared again and again for his ability to create beauty through a synth. His work that is ultimately simple, but memorable and catchy is a one-man machine drum-machine and bass that works to tightly grasp a crisp, newer and poppy sound on Bigger Than Life.
The sound overall is familiar; this is Black Marble at the core with the synth chords that spawn a dirty foundation and the string work that orchestrates bliss. But something is much different from the previous releases, the vocals have changed and are now fresh with less of a fog that surrounds them. The entire record actually has more of this clairvoyance that at times, can almost illustrate a new atmosphere even if unintentional. No matter the time, Bigger Than Life is the quicker-paced younger brother to the more sluggish, almost pained work of It’s Immaterial that spawned an initial love for Black Marble.
But as the opening track of “Never Tell” breaks the Earth, the hip new-age 80’s soundtrack moves into the frame just as it had before. With these pushes of snappy snares and punchy bass that acts as the muscle to the track which creates flesh. Even if they are shifted for better or for worse, the change is welcome and can better distinguish a tone within the record. Bigger Than Life is still an independent and one-man-band sound under the wings of cracked harmony, but now there is an expectation that follows the record and is delivered perfectly.
With Black Marble, there are now these fast-paced, creative race tracks that speed along with the listener as they sit in tandem through the 40-minute journey. Surrounded by a cascading wall of neon lights and darkened streets, Bigger Than Life uses “One Eye Open” to paint a futuristic but still nostalgic sound. Somehow coinciding with raw power and invoking the energy that protrudes from every second. The 11-tracks here are distant 
from each other and with the exception of two tracks, have much longer run-times than previous works. Each track is lively and seems to be built for this club setting where the tracks can be mixed in with the towering crowds of people and the rhythm is what matters.
As Black Marble dives deeper and deeper into Bigger Than Life, the record continues to harness these surprises with interlude styled tracks like “The Usual” and “Hit Show” which are instrumental segues that are calm but never displaced. Everything on Bigger Than Life appears from reason and the lucid dreams that become these interludes better prove a progressive stance towards ambiance and setting-building.
With a move into the future, Black Marble never strays too far from the past and keeps a formula that works well. It is adventurous, but never drags the listener too far out of the realm of possibility as everything clicks into place once more before falling back into the concrete realities.
Listen To Bigger Than Life Here – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
STREAMING // (Video) Show Me The Body – “USA Lullaby”
Listen/Watch Here – Youtube
Directed By: Show Me the Body + Landon Yost
Filmed By: Landon Yost, Andrea Gavazzi + Asha Maura
Edited By: Matt Schaff
Classic Day – Desert Daze
Classification on music from track to genre becomes harder and harder as the pieces and players adapt to break lines and form their own styles. The Meat Puppets were far ahead of the curve with their 1984 release, Meat Puppets II that combined a love for desert dazes, square-dancing foundations, and punk rock power into one single digestible piece. From the fast runs or the graceful turns, Meat Puppets capture this desperado nature that runs from tranquility rather than the law.
As the story begins on Meat Puppets II, the record could be mistaken for a Californian punk band consisting of surf rockers and skate fools. Instead, the Arizona-based natives are a departure into the sunshine and Cactus Jack’s with “Split Myself in Two.” They are nearly impossible to understand lyrically as the shrills and shrieks from Curt and Cris Kirkwood on the vocals and string aspects while Derrick Bostrom covers the percussion. It is this three-piece from country roots that tap into the fast play and avant-garde profiling of punk that form more high-brow illustrations of ability.
The second track, “Magic Toy Missing” is strictly instrumental and acts almost as an interlude that spices up the madness rather than toning it down. The fierce scratches of guitar that stands neck-to-neck with the bass as they battle back and forth is this sibling rivalry born from love. One thing that is noticeable from the first seconds on Meat Puppets II is the airtight togetherness that shines like a fiery-orange opal. There are several instances where the instrumental tracks are giving the audience a well-deserved break on the 19-track, 48-minute long journey through twisting hills and revolting natives.
Especially shining on the cascading performance of “Aurora Borealis” which dances in this freeform nature just like the Northern Lights would. The use of psychedelic capacity that stirs along with the dreamy guitar is almost heaven-sent. All three members of the Meat Puppets rely on each other to progress the record forward and to push this lightweight-instrumental onto the listener. Every second on Meat Puppets II is fascinating whether disguised and laid back like on “Oh, Me” or on the frontiers with “New Gods,” there is something delicious that lies in the corners of the world in the Meat Puppets’ eyes.
This strange but friendly nature is what makes returning to the record such an accessible process. As soon as the vinyl stops spinning, Meat Puppets II is ready to be spun again, taking the listener up the mountain once more. The sound can be jarring at first glance, but they are just different enough to stand out like a blooming saguaro amongst a dry climate.
Listen To Meat Puppets II Here!!! – Spotify/Amazon/iTunes
THIS IS A LIST OF THE MOST RECENT STREAMS...
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)
MATT'S MUSIC MINE - MERCH FOR SALE
VIDEO REEL 2
LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY – JESUS PIECE AT BABY’S ALL RIGHT, DECEMBER 6TH, 2022
SUNDAY SAMPLER // (Playlist) “12/04/2022″
(Track) Jake Mason Trio – “Rib Eye”
(Video) Lightning Bolt – “Dead Cowboy @ TAICOCLUB 2014”
(Video) The Velvet Underground – “After Hours”
(Video) Mac Miller – “10 Years Of You”
(Video) A$AP Rocky – “Same Problems”
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)