Why is heavy music overlooked?

I want to address an issue that I see with many large blogs, radio shows, websites, and podcasts that claim to look at all genres of music equally; heavy music (hardcore, metalcore, thrash, d-beat, etc.) is overlooked. Is heavy music looked down upon by the music world? If that is so, why? I know things have gotten better, even as little as 5 years ago hip-hop was still treated as second-class, but still not much has changed. My main concern is All Songs Considered, hosted by Bob Boilen on NPR (National Public Radio). I absolutely love and despise this show at the same time. If it wasn't for that show, I never would have found some of the music that I now hold so dear to me. The issue is, for a show to be called "All Songs Considered," wouldn't that require playing all types of music? That show is a great place to go to find the latest trendy indie band, and listen to the new tracks from Bon Iver and The Flaming Lips, but if you want to hear something besides indie or jazz fusion, you can forget about it. Once in a long while some hip-hop or obscure techno finds its way into the mix, but not very often. Seriously, how can you name a show that without considering all songs. I don't think just metal and heavy music should be added to the lineup, but everything should be, all the way from classical to minimalist to shoegaze to horrorcore. I don't care what The Phenomenal Handclap Band is doing every 5 minutes of the day, tell me about some music I never would have thought to listen to. I absolutely love it when Carrie Brownstein is a guest on the show, and I know I have talked about this before, because I never know what she will pick to play next, whether it be Bikini Kill or Lightning Bolt. Bob Boilen is too predictable; he was great as host of All Things Considered, but is so biased towards certain genres of music that it makes for a boring and uneventful show. Now I am not saying that Bob should leave the show by any means, I love how much music knowledge he has (did anyone else pick out the Zappa sample in the beginning of Meatgrinder by Madvillain? Didn't think so), but he needs to branch out.

Now to address heavy music and heavy music fans being treated as less than equal. All the excuses used to throw aside heavy music that I have ever heard are garbage. "I don't like the screaming," "its too loud," or "its so violent." Bull-shit. Those are just excuses for not understanding. Its the same reason I used to hate hip-hop, I didn't understand it. If you don't like the vocals, oh well, try to find a way around it. A lot of people don't like Bob Dylan's voice, but listen to his music because it is fucking amazing. Do you really think that metal music, with its fast guitar riffs and pounding drums, would have as much intensity and meaning if Ani DiFranco was singing along? No. If the music is too loud, turn down the volume and turn up the loudness (if you don't have a loudness knob or function on your stereo, its time to get a new one) so you can still feel the intensity. And lastly, heavy music is not always violent. At the Drive In, considered one of the forerunners for post-hardcore music, once walked off stage because they got pissed at the audience for being too violent. Heavy music is not all about flailing your fists and beating the crap out of hippies and skinheads.

Give it a chance. There has to be something about it that you like. If anything, the drums should impress you. You can't have a good metal band without a solid drummer.

Once again, you have sit through one of my rants, and now its time to discuss the music I have been listening to this week.

1. Converge - Axe to Fall
Yeah, I feel kind of guilty for downloading this album, but I already preordered it so its not like I am not going buy it when it comes out. I think my friend Sean said it best with, "it is not what I was expecting; its way better." This album really is amazing. I was sooooo excited for it, but worried that I might be disappointed. I was not at all. 19 years into their career and this may be the best album Converge has ever put out. I highly suggest that everyone goes out and buys this album on October 2oth, and if you live in Wisconsin, check out their show at The Rave on the 18th.

2. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Worse Than Alone
This band continues to surprise me. This album is the best one they have put out by far. The first track hit me like a freight train. The gloves definitely came off for this record. It doesn't sound even remotely like anything they have ever done before. The first song sounds like it belongs on a Nordic Death Metal cd, while other songs straight up break into jazz fusion. Not a metal interpretation of jazz fusion mind you, but actual jazz fusion. The comparisons to The Blood Brothers no longer apply; The Number Twelve Looks Like You just completely annihilated everything I ever thought about mathcore.

3. Brand New - Daisy
I forgot this album was even coming out. Honestly, I haven't listened to that much Brand New since sophmore year of high school. This album is weird, really weird. I don't think I like it as much as Deja Entendu or Your Favorite Weapon, but it blows their last album out of the water. The first song sounds so much like The Blood Brothers its creepy. If I hadn't been warned about it beforehand, I would have wondered if I accidentally downloaded a long lost Blood Brothers single. Daisy is good, not amazing, just good. Don't expect them to win any awards for this album, but it is still better then a lot of music that has come out this year, and a lot has happened in the last 10 months.

Thats really all I've been listening to the last week. This year has been extremely exciting for music lovers. So much has happened. We have new cds from some of the biggest names in music. I can't wait to see what the next 2 months has in store for us, let alone the next week.

And if you want a few more perspectives on music, politics, and life, be sure to check out my friend Zach's podcast HERE, and my friend Eric's podcast HERE.

-Duke-

Whats on my Playlist

Okay, I know, it has been extremely long since I posted anything on here. The whole writing a blog every day fo 10 days clearly did not work, and now I don't feel like finishing a top 50 or 100 or whatever the fuck it was that I was working on. But hey, at I'm writing something now, right? Who am I kidding. Like you really give a fuck what I put on here.

But enough about me, how are you doing? Oh really? Thats cool?

Enough rambling. Since I am so much better than you (really, I am), I am going to share my 5 favorite albums at the moment with you to prove that I am so much better than you. FYI, I have used "I" 13 times so far. My 8th grade grammar teacher would kill me if she saw that (MOFO!!! [inside joke]).

1. Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound
I don't know wy I do it, but I always find myself listening to this album. I know this isn't necessarily considered Shellac's best album, but it is by far my favorite by them. It was the first Shellac album that I actually purchased, which by coincidence I picked up the day it came out, and I have listened to it at least once a week since then, which was like two and a half years ago, I think (runonsentencerunonsentencerunonsentence). If you haven't heard it yet, go fucking listen to it on youtube, buy it at The Exclusive Company, or straight up steal it (I'm sure Steve Albini probably won't give a fuck. The fact that his stuff is available in digital format at all probably pisses him off more).

2. Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights - Colossus
Yes, I understand this is not an album, but instead a single song from a yet-to-be released album. For once something good came out of my strange obsession will All Songs Considered podcasts. While I think Bob Boilen is a biases a-hole (who else is tired of hearing the same cookie-cutter indie bands every week?), sometimes a few gems do make it into the mix. Two shows ago, Carrie Brownstein, from Monitor Mix, played this new song from Lightning Bolt. Honestly, this band had pretty much fallen under my radar for the last couple years. I listened to them a little when I was going through my sludge phase, which is starting to resurface itself if you couldn't tell, but I never really payed too much attention to them. I just heard this song a few hours ago for the first time, so I haven't downloaded it yet and I can't direct you to a place to download it, but I can give you this youtube link to listen to the song HERE. Listen to it, tell me what you think. If you hate it, tell me that to, which I will respond to by telling you that you are a fucking moron.
UPDATE: I was able to find the rest of the album, and it is fucking amazing.

3. Converge - You Fail Me
I never really gave this album too much thought. By the time I had really gotten into Converge No Heroes had already come out, and it seemed to me You Fail Me kind of just became forgotten. Everyone remembers Jane Doe, the album that shot Converge into the spotlight, but many forget that there was an album between that and No Heroes. Whatever the reason, I have been listening to You Fail Me a shit ton lately. It seems to be a little darker than Jane Doe, but not as fast paced as No Heroes. With the new Converge album coming out soon (Oct. 20th to be exact), now is a perfect time to re-evalute the band and the changes they have gone through. If the two tracks released from Axe to Fall are any indication of the rest of the album, we are all in for a massive surprise.

4. Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come
If you have never heard this album and you are under the age of 30, you have probably been living under a rock for the last decade. If you have never heard this album and you like hardcore and punk, there is something severly wrong with you. If you have never heard this album and you like shitty nu-metal, turn off Razor 94.7 and get this album (trust me, you will thank me for this). This ablum needs no summary or explanation. It has become one of the most treasured hardcore albums of all time.

5. The Chemical Brothers - Come With Us
I really enjoy this album, and in my opinion it is the most solid Chemical Brothers album to date. The whole album is just absolutely brutal from start to finish. A lot of people say that the only way to enjoy techno and electronic music is on drugs; I disagree. Those fuckers need to learn to look past the psychadelic visions they think they have had while tripping and understand the pure musicianship that goes into making something as complex as this album.

Alright, I am done ranting for the time being. Enjoy the rest of your shitty-Wisconsin-weather day.

-Duke-