Music

Below are some bands that I'm into at the moment.  They are either new favorites or old stuff I can't put down right now.  The bands and the babbling about them will change as often as I get the chance to update this page.

• The Jesus Lizard:  These guys just released a new album, Rack.  Yeah, it's an album after 26 years.  They were one of my favorites in the late 90's.  I seem to go through phases of listening to them often and then taking a break for a few months.  If it wasn't for that, they'd be 1st circle.  What about the album you ask?   After being cautiously optimistic for a while, the album is starting to grip my attention.  It's almost like they picked up where they left off.  It does sound "later", but not in any bad forms.  Some killer tunes, some that are okay.   I wouldn't call any bad, though some wouldn't be on my regular playlists.  In the end, almost entirely opposite of what most might expect of a band coming back after 26 years.

• The Sounds Of Animals Fighting:  I relented and put these folks on the Recent Hits list.  When I listen to the songs I like, they are in the genre in my head and are a door to my happy place.  There are a few songs on all their releases, but one, that have that patterns in/on patterns thing I love so much.  Both simple and complex at the same time.  That push/pull that when done right is an incredible ride.  The only album that hasn't much is "Lover, the Lord Has Left Us...".  One song is just okay to me, and the rest are so out there my brain won't visit the location.  Anyways, they were formed by Rich Balling of Rx Bandits, and other artists of note are Matt Embree (Rx Bandits), Anthony Green (Circa Survive), and Craig Owens (Chiodos).

• American Draft: Jeff Wojtysiak and Mike Baldwin from Volta Do Mar are in this group.  I've been listening to their album The Rescue from 2019.  I'm mostly digging it; one could say it's halfway between Volta Do Mar and Elder.  There is a bit more to it too; maybe some of The Jesus Lizard (which might be because I'm listening to them a lot more lately).  I'd say a quality best described when 70's rock became epic 80's rock, but with less cheesy-ness.  Anyway, I got all their albums and am now working my through them.

• Concertina:  Found these guys on bandcamp.com's little marque of bands.  There, the band says of themselves: "We are a Phoenix-based stoner rock/heavy metal band with influences including Black Sabbath, Down, Orange Goblin, and The Sword.".  Pretty accurate, though I'd add in a bit of Elder too.  Bu perhaps not so prog-y. To be funny, I'd also say if Dave Gilmour grew up in the 90's and started learning from Dimebag Darrell before starting out on his own; and the whole band was wrapped up in one body.  Heh!   Oh, the singer has some elements of Lane Stanley too.  Needless to say, I'm enjoying them.  

• mr. Gnome: One of the inner circle has released a new album!  Their last release wasn't as stellar as their previous catalog, but I felt it was solid.  How about this one?  Well both focus alot on vocals.  Which are good.  One of the things I like about the older albums is that all the parts are strong and intertwined.  On the latest release there is one song that nears that.  I like a few songs on both, but none are as solid of a rock tune as older tracks.

• Botch:  I came across an article that talked about Cave In, who I first encountered when I moved to the Boston area.  Anyway, Botch is compared to The Dillinger Escape Plan, and are called mathcore and metalcore.  So yeah, one would expect me to like them.  They are in that genre in my head, but have other stuff going on too.  A few tracks like Sudam and Transitions From Persona To Object are great.  Oh, and they do this awesome cover of Rock Lobster!  I have to figure out how to describe them better too!

• {More to come as I load/listen to my current playlists.}

In Rio's life that is.  :-P   This is stuff that is on my playlists right now.  Either I'm just getting to know them or they've recently resurfaced.  More will come and some will go.

• David Bowie:  I read an article in which Henry Rollins said Black Star was a happy place album.  Henry Rollins was an early punk rocker.  So that was interesting to me and I did not have that album.  Should make it to a new stuff playlist shortly.

• Joseph Spence:  I'm not all crazy loud music.  Joseph Spence influenced a lot of other folks.  Definitely take a listen.

• Cave In:  I first heard of them when I moved to the Boston area.  They had formed and started playing a few years before.  So, around 1998, they started experimenting and got signed to RCA.  They were interesting, but I lost track and was never motivated to go look them up again.   Recently, they came up in an article I was reading and it perked my interest again.  I picked up some new albums and am now relistening to all that I have of them.  Definitely interesting and I'll keep listening.

• Zozobra:  This is a branch from Cave In.  Caleb Scofield, the bass player from Cave In, started it.  It was his project, even though he had other prominent folks in Zozobra.  Sadly, Caleb passed away in 2018.  They are pretty cool, but I've got too much other stuff drawing me away.  I have a feeling I'll like them more if I find some quiet (lol) time to focus on them.

• Unwound:  I haven't thought about these guys since college; thank god a friend from college brought them up!  And what an idiot I am for forgetting about them!  They are reminiscent of that nebulous idea in my head.  I'm not sure they are firmly in that genre, but time to work through their catalog!

• Ningen Isu:  Another random find from YouTube.  A metal band that has been around for a long time.  It is said they have a lot of literary references.  They dress in somewhat tongue-in-cheek costumes from Japanese culture.  I'm loving their Kuraku album.

• Otoboke Beaver:  They pack a lot in such short songs.  Definitely punk, but not like Aburina Town.  They are an all female group from Japan.  There are aspects that are almost Dead Kennedy like.  Not like covers, but energy and attitude.  The I'm gonna do whatever the bleep I want.

• Dark Angel:  I've since lost the article, but their Darkness Descends album is listed as Max Cavalera's third choice of albums that influenced him.  I think I've heard of them, but only just (in 2024) got anything of theirs.  

• Chat Pile:  Depending on your mindset or where you are from, the name could use an explanation.  The term "chat" is the, often toxic, waste of industrial mining.  Kinda crazy that there are piles of it still around in the world, especially Oklahoma.  Anyway, that's what these guys took their name from.  They say they play noise rock, others call it sludge metal.  I can hear similarities with Cop Shoot Cop and The Jesus Lizard too.   I don't know, maybe those bands will be re-genre-ized in retrospect.  😛   I love how Chat Pile has refined their sound/style over time and are still angsty and crazy.  

• (your f'ing) End:  These guys are related to Shai Hulud.  They are considered metalcore and grindcore.  Sometimes I hear some industrial influences as well.  Sometimes I'm more in the mood to listen to them than Shai Hulud.  They are composed of singer Brendan Murphy (Counterparts), guitarists Will Putney (Fit For An Autopsy) and Gregory Thomas (Shai Hulud), bassist Jay Pepito (Reign Supreme), and drummer Matt Guglielmo (the Acacia Strain).  The Acacia Strain was on my radar in the past, but not lately.  More to write as I listen more to them and re-acquaint myself with Shai Hulud.

• Sacrifice:  Another band I'm listening to because Max Cavalera said he liked it.  Hey, if I like his stuff, it's a decent bet to listen to his influences.

• Periphery:  I'm not sure if these guys are a recent hit.  There are a few different bands that go by this name, and these guys are the metal band.  I found them when exploring the concept (not genre) of Djent.   For what it's worth, Misha Mansoor, the guitarist, doesn't like the label.  They even called an album of their's "Djent Is Not a Genre".  Anyway, I do like the music & guitar work for the most part.  The vocals are bit in the realm of trying to be good and clean.  Though they accomplish that goal, they kinda miss the mark for me.  Put it this way, as good as Sleep Token's vocals are, the music is here.  And while the vocals aren't bad in Periphery, they are nowhere near Sleep Token's.  And sometimes, to be blunt, I find them a bit distracting.

• Gospel:  Okay, an "Emo prog band" sounds interesting to me.  Some on the list I know, and will go up here eventually (Coheed and Cambria, Circa Survive).  I tried Hail The Sun, and though interesting, they didn't grip me.  These folks, Gospel, on the other hand I'm digging.  They are proggy in the way I like, and emo/alternative in the way I like too.  They are in that genre in my head, so needless to say I'm enjoying them.  They will probably go up the list once I listen to them more.

• Portion Control:  This group is an industrial band that I heard when a colleague was listening to Sirius XM.  They definitely perked my interest and bandcamp.com had their entire catalog on sale.  

• Cacophony:  I was reading an article about Marty Friedman and I decided to look more into his stuff outside of Megadeth.  The description of Cacophony on wikipedia sounded pretty cool.  Excotic scales and guitar harmonies?  Gotta at least check them out.

• TesseracT:  They were already on my list from that area of prog metal that is called djent.  Though djent is more a guitar technique, ask Misha Mansoor from Periphery.  After reading that same article about Marty Friedman, I found out he played on track from TesseracT.  I know I'm listening to too much already, but they are on the active list now!

I used to keep a separate list.  But it got way too long.  Now all the stuff I've heard about or I want to check out is on this spreadsheet.  The point numbers are bands I have but haven't loaded yet.  

Okay, that's absolutely just a joke.  These artists are not falling off my playlists, so I'd guess the opposite!  They may have been new to me or just released an album.  Either way, I'm not planning to stop listening anytime soon.  ;-)

• Fin Del Mundo:  A band from Argentina with a sound that grabbed my attention.  I've been digging their vibe for a few months now.  And they just released a new album!  An Ursual Le Guin reference?  Some info/description ..... In an interview, they said they were going to be just instrumental until they heard the voice of their second guitar player.  Very ethereal kinda of sound.  When my 3 year old nephew asked why I like to listen to them, I said it was like floating comfortably in a warm lake on a beautiful summer day.  Even though he gave me a look of not entire comprehension I think he understood that it made me happy.

• Marmozets: I read this article, threw their releases into my "Random" YouTube playlist, and figured I'd listen eventually.  For some reason, I put their debut album on in the background as I read one evening.  Wow, it had more of a punch than I expected.  Yeah, the article said elements of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Muse, and Paramore; all good reasons to listen.  But I often take those comparisons with a grain of salt.  (I don't care that I do it too! Shut up!  😛 ).  It wasn't just my mood, Though my initial awe has died down a little bit, I've been listening to them quite regularly now for a while.

• Rodrigo y Gabriela:  This duo from Mexico does some incredibly inventive two-guitar music.  They've released some varied compositions, and you can hear the "Spanish guitar" style.  That is an over broad term in my opinion.  Even with the "New Flamenco" that they are labeled.  They really should not be pigeonholed at all.  It is hard to describe exactly how they veer off.  That point leads to putting out albums with heavy jazz and metal influences.  I now own all they've released on Bandcamp.  They are so cool that they are still on my playlists after a few months.

• Elder:  After only listening to their first and last (as of 2024) albums, I bought their entire catalog.  After a week of listening to them (a lot), they've "moved way up" on the Rio-like-o-meter.  My sister called them "stoner, prog, psychedelic, dreamy, beautiful".  I couldn't agree more and so glad my sister gave me their latest.  Their earlier stuff is more crunchy/punchy and their latest is cleaner/dreamier.  It feels like they approach that "genre in Rio's Head", but coming at it from a different angle than those firmly seated in that genre.  They have those prog qualities, and are psychedelic, but more jammy then mathy, I guess.

• Meshuggah:  A friend mentioned these folks to me years ago.  I wish I had paid attention.  They made it on my list to check out because they are known for "their innovative musical style and their complex, poly-metered song structures and polyrhythms." (I lost the link).   Some of their songs are like "wow" and, for most, each listen reveals more to it.  They also work listening in the background (meaning hearing on the surface).   They are a band that I'm keeping around. 

What, favorites aren't first?  And on a simple list?  I guess the journey is as important as the destination.  That, and you don't know me well.  😜

I do put artists/groups into Circles; it is different "levels" of liking bands. There are a ton of artists that I listen to regularly.  A lot of different qualities influence where things land too.  I can't say I have a favorite mood.  And my brain is stimulated by many things in addition to causing different kinds/qualities of pleasure.  Now you know why lists might seem quite extensive. 

Check out the Circles lists for more bands and how they fit into my listening habits.  Below are bands that I've found on my journey since starting these pages.  I wouldn't read too much into the order.  I used to tack on bands to the end of the list, but now I'm doing the front.  Also, you don't know when I first started listening!  

2024: Open City, By the End of Tonight, Into It. Over It., Shai Hulud, Human Impact, Babymetal, Aburina Town, Killer Be Killed, Nailbomb, 1349, TTNG (This Town Needs Guns), Sleep Token, 3TEETH, Riverside (from Poland), Daniel Johnston, Three Days Grace

2023:  Stuck In November, Covet, Punch Face Champions, Soulfly, Hail The Sun, Tomb Mold, HANABIE., Atic, Ataxia, Nuclear Assault, Al-Namrood, Crown Lands, Tubelord

There is just so much music on YouTube.  So I have playlists on my YouTube channel, mostly for exploring.  Those are all the "GP" and "AR" lists.  They will come and go, basically on my whim.  

The Circle 1 - Tracks playlist it self won't come and go.  Songs on it don't usually either.  It's (or will be) stuff I listen to when YouTube is all I have at the moment.  😉 

There is also a Next Stage playlist that has songs that I like in more than a "let's throw these guys in the queue" way.  They will, probably, eventually, make it to one of the circles; not 5, and probably not 4 either.  You never know, sometimes songs get tiring after a while.

I've gotten rid of the "Currentlly Trending" playlists.  It is just too hard to manage the tracks on them.  Now you will find bands/artists that are in regular rotation for whatever reason.  

BTW, a little rant.  I might use YouTube more, but for two reasons.  The second one is the ads, OH MY GOD, they are just way too often and often too long.  The main one though is that playlists are such a pain to manage.  Also, large playlists on YouTube act weird.  The shuffle doesn't feel like it's shuffling; the shuffle gets turned off at the oddest times.  And each time I return to a playlist, it feels like it plays the same songs.  I don't like overplaying songs, even ones I love.  Oh, number three is the "similar videos" algorithm isn't that good either.  Okay, rant-off.