MOT'S MISC RECS

a lot of people overlook What Could Go Wrong in favor of Red Vox's newer albums, and i get that. WCGW is definitely different from what Red Vox is going for now, which is more of a psych rock sorta thing, while WCGW is moreso pure, distilled rock. but that's kinda what i like about it. don't get me wrong, i think RV's newer stuff is incredible, Visions and Afterthoughts isn't on this page yet simply because i don't know if im ready to talk about it yet. but i think the simplicity of WCGW is what makes it one of my favorites of all time. VAA might be objectively better, but i think i like WCGW more, if that makes sense. it has so many tracks that feel... homey, i guess? they feel like they were just made between a couple of friends, which is pretty much what they were. and even if it is mostly just pure rock, you can still sorta feel that psych rock starting to bloom in tracks like Hazy. also, In A Dream is probably my favorite song of all time. so take that as you will.

i first found Ken Ishii through his album Jelly Tones, which leans heavily into a more droning, atmospheric vibe, and i liked it quite a bit. so picture me a couple months later going through his discography, picking out Metal Blue America, and being blasted with a bombastic opening track that's just full on Big Beat. certainly a tone change, but definitely not for the worse. MBA is full of tracks that are gonna get you pumped up and make you wanna move. Actio Surrealismo sounds straight out of the N64 era and would be perfectly at home in a game like 1080 Snowboarding or Beetle Adventure Racing, which is the highest compliment i can give a song, trust me. MBA rocks, and is a wicked underrated album. if you need more action-packed electronic in your life, there's nowhere better to look.

im sad i dont really have any other place to talk about nelward on this page since im doing it by albums, but even so, nelward is actually one of my favorite music artists ever. found him through the mother 4 soundtrack, and his music has always spoke to me in its uniqueness and signature style. do yourself a favor and go listen to not only this whole album, but also listen to all of his singles. my personal recommendations are Raspberry Pie, Ghost, Run-Around, realife, and the 20XX EP. all of his music rocks though, and you really can't go wrong with any of it.

ignore the false info on the spotify listing, Believo was released in 2000, not 2007. they're thinking of the rerelease. being Enon's first album, this feels way different than stuff like High Society or Grass Geysers. this predates Toko Yasuda joining the band, so unlike every subsequent album all of the lyrics are done by Schmersal. it changes the atmosphere of the album a lot, and i think it adds a ton to its identity. on top of that, Believo leans more into the electronica aspects of Enon, and i think that makes it stand out a ton. tracks like Rubber Car, Believo! (the song) and Biofeedback are the best examples of this, using staticky, distorted sounds that sound more like broken machinery than instruments. don't get it twisted though, Enon's more traditional flavors are absolutely present here as well, with tracks like Conjugate the Verbs, Come Into, and World in a Jar showing that off with flying colors. these tracks feel a lot more melancholy and sensitive than their later work, the only thing that really comes close to this in tone is Candy from Hocus Pocus. there's also a handful of tracks that fully lean into a more gloomy, forboding attitude, such as Cruel, Matters Gray, and Elected. these are genuinely kind of uncomfortable to listen to, especially Elected, but that's kind of what i love about them. by far my favorite track on the album, however, is For The Sum Of It. the fast rhymes, the frantic drums, the humming synth, the distorted horns midway through... it's so completely different from anything else they'd ever done, and despite the chaotic nature of the track, it still manages to be very catchy and listenable. Believo is a really interesting piece of Enon's discography, it was done before they'd fully established their sound and it stands out a ton because of that.

despite being a four track EP, Loops of Fury has weaseled its way into my regular rotation of music, and i don't see it leaving anytime soon. i mean, come on, it has an extended and expanded version of my favorite track from my favorite Chem Bros album (Get Up On It Like This) of COURSE i'm gonna love it. what's interesting is that, despite only being an EP, the eponymous track made its way onto the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack, and is where most people heard the song first. Loops of Fury is a great track, i love its use of distorted guitars as a lead. i put (The Best Part Of) Breaking Up as my favorite track here, for its intense record scratches, electronic cuts, and breakbeat battle near the end. track three is an earlier, extended version of Get Up On It Like This, and it's killer. i always felt the DYOH version of the song was a little short, so it's nice to see it get to stretch its legs here, as it works extremely well in this format. the final track is a remix of Chemical Beats by David Clarke, a song off of Exit Planet Dust, the brothers' first album. definitely one of the most standout tracks from said album, and i think the remix absolutely does it justice. if you ever skimmed over Loops of Fury due to its EP status, you're doing yourself a huge disservice, it's excellent.

Tiger Trap is a recent love of mine, and despite their EXTREMELY shortlived presence (only making one album, doing one live show and then leaving the scene) their singular album is easily one of my favorites ever. they were started by indie pop legend Rose Melberg and are one of many small bands she was a part of. ive mentioned my love of plumtree before, and Tiger Trap feels like if Plumtree leaned a little more into the indie pop sound. Tiger Trap knows how to have fun, but also has a softer, sentimental side that really speaks to me. their sound gives me real "im out driving on a summer day without a care in the world" vibes, so if that sounds like your thing, i can't recommend them enough.

Self is a band i still have yet to really delve into, but the one album i have heard by them is certainly a good first impression. Gizmodgery is what happens when you give a late 90's/early 2000's rock band a kid's toybox and tell them to go ham. there's a lot of just completely out-there ideas and sounds that you ain't gonna hear anywhere else, while still having that insanely catchy 2000's rock sound. if you want something new you've never heard before, absolutely check out Gizmodgery, it's one of a kind.

Gaze is one of many, MANY bands started and spearheaded by indie pop legend Rose Melberg, and just like her other projects, it was short lived, yet produced many insanely catchy tunes that wash over you like a warm ray of sunshine. Melberg was also one of the founding members of Tiger Trap, another band on this page i've gone on record saying that im a big fan of. if you like Tiger Trap but want something entirely focused on being soft and smooth, Shake The Pounce is precisely that.

my friend Cate showed this one to me, and it's absolutely one of the best discoveries i've found all year. Milkman is filled top to bottom with weird, bizarre, and different sounds you're not gonna get anywhere else. it really pushes the boundaries of traditional "music," and steps into the territory of abstract soundscapes, while still having some really catchy tunes peek through every so often. if you want to hear something completely new, give Milkman a shot, it's gonna be a totally unique experience.

this is the oldest album on this page, but it's a damn good one. Head Hunters is jazz-funk incarnate, and despite it only having four tracks, it makes the most of its runtime by making each one of those tracks a totally unique listening experience. the opening track, Chameleon, has a whopping 14 minute runtime, and it uses every single second of that to make some of the most funky jazz you'll ever hear.

Long Tall Weekend feels like a strange sidequest in the lineup of TMBG's albums, but it's that exact attribute that makes me love it so much. its range in sounds, genres, moods, atmospheres, and subject matter, and all of it absolutely rocks. the giants always have something cool and unique cooking, and LTW is no exception.

Kitty Craft is a recent discovery for me, and her work really does sound ahead of its time. this is where that whole trend of "Lo-fi" started, and while more modern artists just sort of slap a record crackle filter over their music and call it a day, Kitty Craft knows how to do it right. BnBftFP has that sort of homemade sound to it that i cant get enough of, and really sounds like it was made in someone's bedroom just using what they have, and ends up bleeding more into Hip-Hop and Electronic than just using warbly pianos for every song. it has a lot more of its own identity than most of the "Lo-fi" music produced now. though maybe that's just me being a bitter old lady. please, check out Kitty Craft, her work is really good.

Cibo Matto is truly somethin' else. i first found them through the Jet Set Radio Future soundtrack, and they have a style like no other. Trip-Hop is the only way i can describe Viva! La Woman, it's so trippy and full of weird and wild sounds, mixing in organs, bongos, deep, droning synths, full on big-band style samples, and the vocals are the cherry on top. i think heavily accented english singing is so much more interesting than just fluent american singing, and Cibo Matto is the perfect example of that. check out VLW if you havent already, its an unforgettable listening experience.

i know, it sounds really weird saying this is a mix of Punk Rock and Lounge of all things, but when you listen to Butter you'll understand. formed by members of a couple of other bands to record exactly one album and then dip, Butter 08 was a lot of things. they had both members of Cibo Matto, percussionist Rick Lee (who was with Enon for the first couple of years of the band) and were produced by Beastie Boys record label Grand Royal, and it all mashes together into one weird album that picks up new ideas just as quickly as it drops them. you'll be listening to a song that sounds fit for an elevator, only for it to fade out and immediately pick up into a punk rock track with fast, yelly vocals and heavy use of an organ, which then leads into a slow burn rock song with a guitar riff sample being used as the driving rhythm track. Butter 08 is insane, and thats exactly why i love it so much.

Plumtree's music is light, bubbly, but still heavily rock focused and has a big emphasis on fun. their first album, Mass Teen Fainting, is full of fast paced, upbeat tracks, with a softer side showing near the end with tracks like Only in the Movies, Aquarius and Good Time to Tell Me. MTF is an album i find myself always returning to no matter what, and i hope it becomes a similar deal for you too.

Talking Heads is a band i really really love, and Speaking in Tongues is almost certainly my favorite album of theirs. a landmark in New Wave with hints of Funk and Soul, speaking in tongues is packed top to bottom with groovy beats and rhythms, with David Byrne's haphazard and unconventional vocals being the cherry on top. if you want something very indicative of the 80s new wave movement, there's no better example than SIT.

coming fresh off of Ill Communication, Beastie Boys were going into the late 90's with something new and fresh. Hello Nasty feels completely different from any album they did before or after, and while the main focus is still definitely Hip-Hop, it sneaks in some more laid back tracks such as Picture This and Song for the Man. and man, the atmosphere in tracks like Putting Shame In Your Game and Sneakin' Out The Hospital is straight up nasty, but in a way that makes them a ton of fun to listen to still. and then they just sort of sneak in some really soft tracks like I Don't Know and Instant Death, and you kinda forget Beastie Boys is even a Hip-Hop group for those tracks. Hello Nasty is super unique, and if you're a Beasties fan who hasn't heard it yet, you're doing yourself a huge disfavor.

between all of Plumtree's albums, i think the title of my favorite has to go to Predicts the Future, though it's a CLOSE race. for a long time my favorite was Mass Teen Fainting, but PTF has taken over in recent times. i think each track stands out just a liiiiittle more here, and it's got all the same qualities that MTF had that i really loved. a super fun and upbeat atmosphere, tons of bangers (Hang Up Baby, The Game's Over, Why Won't You Stop, Scott Pilgrim) and also a softer side when it needs to. if you liked Mass Teen Fainting and want more, Predicts the Future is the perfect followup and has even more to offer.