Cerebral

BOOK REVIEW: No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred (by Klee Benally)

“A reverberating despair echoes through dry canyons and off distant concrete walls filled with ancestral subversions, it is the far crying conspiracy of anti-colonial dissonance. It is the conflict of Settler cognition in discord with itself, resonating against its contours and contradictions. It is the overbearing sound of desperation and failure weaponized into a pedagogy of negation. Our defiances, our subterfuges, our anti-colonial antagonisms all have a natural resonant frequency. This is the indelicate strategy of breaking glass with sound. This is part of how we make sense of this world, again. I offer that it is the responsibility of those who wage anti-colonial struggle to break the static infrastructures of settler colonialism.”

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The Flaming Lips – 7 Skies H3

Abridged version of a 24-hour recording from 2011

Style: Post-Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Experimental Rock, Progressive Electronic

Vibe: Cold, Apocalyptic, Desolate, Ominous, Mournful, Sombre, Mysterious, Existential, Rainy, Spacey, Melancholy, Nihilistic, Haunting, Hypnotic, Lonely, Dreamy, Cerebral, Meandering, Greyscale, Dystopian

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Henry Cow – Unrest

On their second LP, Henry Cow weaves together elements of eerie chamber music, free improvisation, and deconstructed prog to create something that seems like the missing link between the Canterbury jazz-rock of Soft Machine and Gong and the dissonant avant-rock of This Heat.

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ONO – Red Summer

Styles: Industrial-Gospel, Dub Poetry, No Wave, Experimental

Moods: Visceral, Dystopian, Disturbing, Haunting, Surreal, Aggressive, Mechanical, Heavy, Deconstructed, Vulgar, Cerebral, Conscious, Dark, Ominous, Shadow

Themes: Racism, History, Philosophy, Sex

Musical Qualities: Noisy, Spoken Word, Dub, Sampling, Rhythmic, Studio-as-an-Instrument, Dissonant

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Anguish – Anguish

Anguish is a collaboration between German improvisers Mats Gustafsson & Andres Werliin of the Fire! Orchestra, Hans Joachim Irmler of FaUst, and Will Brooks & Mike Mare of industrial hip-hop legends Dälek.

Style: Industrial Hip-Hop, Dark Jazz, Post-Industrial, Experimental

Moods: Dystopian, Aggressive, Urban, Poetic, Political, Revolutionary, Cerebral, Existential, Sombre, Dark, Depressive, Cold, Mechanical, Heavy, Apocalyptic, Moody, Brooding, Conscious, Abstract, Cryptic, Industrial, Nocturnal, Ominous, Raw, Philosophical

Musical Qualities: Beats, Dissonant, Noisy, Improvisation, Rhythmic, Studio-as-an-Instrument

Instrumentation: Rapping, Sampler, Tenor Saxophone, Synthesizers, Electric Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Electronics, Effect Processing, Vocal Processing

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Outkast – ATLiens

Style: Southern Rap, Psychedelic Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul

Vibe: Futuristic, Spacey, Philosophical, Surreal, Urban, Cerebral, Confident, Conscious, Storytelling, Determined, Conceptual

Musical Qualities: Technical, Progressive, Lyrical, Sampling, Group Vocals, Rhythmic

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Moor Mother – Circuit City

Style: Future Jazz, Free Jazz Theater, Jazz Poetry

Vibe: cathartic, cerebral, dystopian, energetic, futuristic, bombastic, intense, noisy, passionate, poetic, political, powerful, rebellious, urban, heavy, AfroFuturist

Musical Attributes: Complex, Conceptual, Dense, Dissonant, Spoken Word, Theatric, Progressive, Polyphonic, Improvisation

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King Crimson – Lark’s Tongue in Aspic [Steven Wilson Mix]

Style: Prog, Chamber Rock

Vibe: Mercurial, Menacing, Bombastic, Cryptic, Muscular, Cerebral, Epic, Medieval, Aggressive, Bipolar, Heavy, Headphone Album

Musical Qualities: Dynamic, Complex, Progressive Structures, Uncommon Time Signatures, Percussive, Riffs,

Instrumentation: Electric Guitar, Violin, Mellotron, Electric Bass, Electric Keyboards, Percussion, Drums, Vocals

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Irreversible Entanglements – Open the Gates

Style: Free Jazz, Future Jazz, Jazz Poetry, Liberation Music

Vibe: Ritualistic, Triumphant, Aquatic, Communal, Futuristic, Philosophical, Poetic, Anthemic, Cerebral, Confident, Conscious, Determined, Epic, Existential, Groovy, Healing, Heavy, Liberation, Political, Powerful, Rebellious, Evocative, Mystical, Intertwined

Musical Qualities: Thematic, Collective Improvisation, Acoustic Instrumentation, Spoken Word, Progressive Structures, Rhythmic, Polyphonic, Dynamic, Complex, Dub Fx

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Björk – Medulla

Style: Art Pop, Experimental Electronic, Trip-Hop

Vibe: Somatic, Primal, Sensual, Passionate, Winter, Ancestral, Complex, Imaginative, Surreal, Heartfelt

Musical Qualities: A’Cappella, Choral Vocals, Experimental Vocals (Throat Singing, Beat Boxing, Manipulated Vocal Production), Studio-as-an-Instrument

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King Crimson – Beat

Style: Art Rock, Progressive Pop

Vibe: Anxious, Eccentric, Romantic, Cerebral, Complex, Catchy, Bombastic, Dramatic, Surreal, Slick, Intertwined

Musical Qualities: Polyphonic, Uncommon Time Signatures, Polished, Progressive, Technical, Rhythmic

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The Underflow – Instant Opaque Evening

Personnel:
David Grubbs (Electric Guitar, Vocals)
Rob Mazurek (Piccolo Trumpet, Electronics, Wooden Flute, Percussion, Voice)
Mats Gustafsson (Flute, Fluteophone, Baritone Saxophone, Live Electronics)


Style: Electroacoustic Improvisation, Future Jazz, Experimental Songwriter (B1,

Vibe: Suspenseful, Futuristic, Abstract, Spacious, Cerebral, Eclectic, Exploratory, Open, Patient, Cathartic, Ritualistic

Musical Qualities: Collective Improvisation, Electro-Acoustic, Percussive, Noise, Atonality, Dissonance, Dynamic, Live, Atmospheric

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Wendy Eisenberg – Auto

Style: Progressive-Pop, Avant-Songwriter, Jazz-Rock, Math-Pop

Vibe: Whispery, Angular, Intimate, Heartfelt, Cerebral, Reflective, Love / Breakup, Restrained, Introspective, Contemplative, Anxious, Loner

Musical Qualities: Odd Time Signatures, Jazz-Influenced, Technical, Dynamic, Lyrical

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Anthony Braxton – Five Pieces 1975

Released in 1975 on Arista Records Format: LP Syle:  Avant-Garde Jazz Vibe: Cerebral, Complex, Exploratory, Impressionistic Musical Attributes: Improvisation, Innovative, Melodic, Technical Personell: Anthony Braxton (Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Flute), Kenny Wheeler (Trumpet, Flugelhorn), Dave Holland (Upright Bass), Barry Altschul (Drums)

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Anthony Davis – Epist?m?

Style: Poly-Free Improvisation, Modern Classical, Avant-Garde Big Band

Vibe: Complex, Hypnotic, Intense, Suspenseful, Cerebral

Musical Attributes: Polyrhythmic, Polyphonic, Odd Time Signatures, Acoustic, Poly-Free Improvisation, Repetitive

Instrumentation: Orchestral, Mallet Percussion (Marimba, Vibraphone, etc) Violin, Cello, Piano, Trombone, Drums, Flute, Bass Clarinet

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The Books – The Way Out

The Books’ music is simultaneously funny, innovative, catchy and enlightening. They use found sound and spoken word mixed with innovative recording techniques and acoustic instruments to create beautiful sound-collages that somehow create unity between all these disparate sources, as if they were all meant to be together. Everything these guys do, solo or together, is absolute genius.

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David Grubbs – The Thicket

On experimental musician David Grubb’s first dedicated songwriter outing, he synthesizes technical bluegrass banjo and fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing with imaginative arrangements, abrupt stylistic shifts, philosophical questioning lyrics, improvisation, and drones. Featured musicians include drummer John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake), bassist Josh Abrams (Natural Information Society), and drone violinist Tony Conrad.

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Mary Halvorson – Code Girl

Halvorson has been developing her own idiosyncratic and multi-dimensional language on guitar for almost two decades now (perhaps most clearly heard on her 2015 solo album, Meltframe). On Code Girl, this language is augmented by a dramatic and powerful quintet, featuring the symbiotic rhythm section of her usual trio Thumbscrew, as well as Ambrose Akinmusire’s expressive trumpet playing and Amirtha Kidambi’s intensely operatic vocals, singing cryptic lyrics penned by Halvorson. Together the band uses complex five-part counterpoint to weave intricate webs of melody, rhythm, and texture through progressive and dynamic structures.

Side note: It’s interesting how the number 5 is so prominent in all the album images (pentagons, fingers, toes, stars, etc)

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