Bullet to Binary, Pt. Two, WHAT!?

PLEASE RELEASE NOW!

New leakage… starring Kylesa!

Some good releases are shaping up for 2009; I’ve already talked about some of Merzbow’s (Somei), Napalm Death’s (Time Waits for No Slave ), and Cattle Decapitation’s (The Harvest Floor). But wait; there’s still more.

The Appleseed Cast’s new album has recently leaked. Titled Sagarmatha, it takes us through TAC’s ever increasing fascination with post-rock, coupled with their 90’s emo undertones. Oh yeah, it also has some killer xylophone like the cover promises, and it jumps through moods like a pregnant woman. Might review this soon.

Kylesa’s got a new one coming out that just leaked a couple days ago. It’s Static Tensions, 40 minutes of sludge/stoner rock at it’s best. There’s some good tribal drum beats going on, female vocals, and some of the heavy Kylesa riffs you know are modified to crunchy goodness. I just picked it up and am already a big fan, even when their older stuff was starting to wear on me.

Who else have I been listening to lately…

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead also released a new album, The Century of Self. I haven’t given the band too many listens, and all I know of their output is their last album, So Divided (which I wasn’t too huge a fan of), and this new album. I’m digging it a lot more, especially the early-to-mid portion of the disc, and it’s got some cool little ditties on there. Check it out.

Black Dice have made a good comeback in my book with their new album Repo. I was not an avid listener of 2007’s Load Blown, and while it was okay, it wasn’t anything spectacular, and certainly not as fascinating as some of the other noise rock that came out. It felt like they were doing Battles badly. But no… Black Dice have given us a new album full of rhythmic noise that, while returning to the same form as Load Blown, is executed a lot more successfully. I’ve been chomping on this one a little bit, though still not my favorite.

Also got some new Zombi, called Spirit Animal, that came out a little while ago. Dark synths, horror soundtrack-esque stuff coming out of the duo that comprise the band, and while I don’t feel this album is as good as their previous masterpiece Surface to Air, it’s still got some great synth sine waves going on. I really like it when Zombi’s pieces take on a darker vibe, but the lighter stuff is still working for them here.

I think that’s about it for right now. Cannibal Corpse released a new one as well (Evisceration Plague), and while it’s in the same form as other CC and it brings some heavy riffs to the table, it’s not varied enough for my tastes for me to give it more listens. Dude, give us some new drum beats too. The same old blasts for every song with barely any fills leaves a lot of us drummers wanting more.

In other news, Cursive will soon be releasing their highly anticipated new album (at least for me anyway) called Mama, I’m Swollen. I’ve heard a few songs off of it – two of them done live which I wasn’t that impressed with – but the other two that I’ve heard are promising mixes between Cursive and Tim Kasher’s other band, The Good Life. Some sweet, sweet sounds coming from Kasher’s mind that I can’t wait to implant into my brain.

Right now, I’ve got some noisy/free-jazzy Jazzfinger on. It’s my second listen, and I don’t know if I like it or not. It meanders and I can’t really grasp a direction. We’ll see…

Keep listening… Matt, I’m getting to your album, I swear! Going home this weekend to give it a listen on my stereo.

Current Obsession: Halloween, and it’s not even September

I am a fanatic for Halloween – not just the movie but also for the holiday. When the leaves start changing, the weather starts getting cooler, and the sunlight starts getting shorter and shorter, I start thinking in orange and black.

Recently, I picked up a couple of Halloween magazines to give some tips on how to make Halloween crafts without spending tons of money. They’re pretty useful, because all of those masks and props that use latex and animatronics are really, really expensive. I went into Spirit of Halloween yesterday at the mall and they had some really cool animatronic designs, but for a price – a good $150 each. I don’t know about anyone else, but I really don’t have that kind of change lying around to buy something that’ll only be seen by me and my roommates in my townhouse.

So I left it up to my magazines to leave me with some cool Halloween tips for treats and decorations. Halloween Food, Fun & Crafts has some pretty creative ideas for festive treats, especially a double-Bundt cake jack-o-lantern. Taste of Home’s Halloween Party Favorites serves up some treats like jack-o-lanterns made out of oranges, or some pumpkin carving tips. Both offer something different, and although the recipes won’t cater towards everyone (especially those not good at arts and crafts), they give ideas that you can throw around for Halloween.

So far, my girlfriend and I have made one recipe from Halloween Food, Fun & Crafts, and it wasn’t as easy as they made it seem. They’re called “Friendly Ghost Puffs,” a biscuit cookie filled with orange sherbet and shaped like a ghost. The biscuits are hard to mold, and they puff up a lot in the oven. Also, you must cut each ghost in half, to create two halves so that you can sandwich them together with the orange sherbet in-between, and cutting the ghosts is no easy chore. But they taste good, even if they aren’t quick and easy.

I also stopped at Yankee Candle and managed to buy the Yankee Candle 2008 Haunted House. It was well worth it, and I think most are sold out now. I also picked up some of the Boney Bunch crew, including the Skeleton Head, the Skeleton Hearse, and the Skeleton with Spider Web. In addition, I got a Halloween car freshener, plus a nice witch and some window clings from the Christmas Tree Shops. It’s going to be a mighty fine decorating year for me.

So that’s basically it of my obsession of Halloween right now – making crafts, searching out crafts. I’m always thinking about things for Halloween, and hopefully I can plan a really scary Halloween prank for kids that come trick-or-treating at my house.