I did this back in 2007 on my last.fm account but I lost interest. Lately though I wish I hadn't stopped. For example, a week ago I wanted to revisit Nation of Ulysses but I couldn't remember the band name until yesterday. So these kind of blog entries really serve to help me get more mileage out of my digital goods.

So without further ado, here's what I picked up this month from emusic.

Ethereal Killer [1993]

by Hammerhead

A Minneapolis band on great Minneapolis label Amphetimine Reptile. They seem to be compared the most to Unsane. To me after hearing the samples I was reminded of bands like Jesus Lizard, and The Dazzling Killmen. In other words, more complex than your average punk band.

I suspect this fits nicely in a play list amongst bands like the above mentioned along with Young Widows, The National Acrobat, and Akimbo.

Dreaming Neon Black [1999]

Dead Heart in a Dead World [2000]

by Nevermore

A metal band based out of Seattle. I had checked out The Politics of Ectasy a couple of months ago, after hearing them on a satellite radio station, and I really dug it. So I'm continuing my exploration of the discography in sequence.

I should probably check out Sanctuary at some point too since that band gave birth to Nevermore.

Don't let the power metal references scare you, this is not cheesy pokemon metal like Dragonforce. Sure it's got melody, and the vocalist actually sings, the music is dense,technically proficient and interesting.

If these 2 albums are anything like "Politics", they reward on subsequent listens.

Polars [2004]

by Textures

This came up in my recommended last month. A metal band from Holland for fans of Meshuggah. So as you might expect, there's weird time signatures, twisting rhythms etc... they also seem to have the tendency to incorporate a little melody once in a while.

The Future of What [1995]

Repetition [1996]

Challenge for a Civilized Society [1998]

by Unwound

If you like the more raucous Sonic Youth of 20 years ago, you really can't go wrong with these guys from Olympia Washington.

I have been cherry picking this discography for a year or so. And this month I decided to fill in the holes. Every album I've heard is great and demands repeated listens.

Besides the Sonic Youth comparison, I'd probably throw in a hint of Gang of Four, maybe Mission of Burma. 2 bands I'm sure are counted among their influences.

From what I've heard, the song writing is full of unexpected twists and turns from mellow and melodic to loud and harsh and everything in between. But not in the Mr. Bungle sort of way, it's more subtle which hints at Unwound's ability to produce solid songs. For as diverse as the music actually is, they rarely slip up. I don't expect these albums to be any different.

So if you count the Sonic Youth SST years among your most treasured listens and have yet to discover Unwound, you are doing yourself a disservice. The bad news is they broke up, so all of us late-comers missed out .