But do you have to be good at maths?

I have a soft spot for math rock. And no, you don't have to be good at maths to dig it.

Math rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock; a broad term which covers pretty much any style of rock that pushes the boundaries of conventional rock music. 

It's no secret that I'm a fan of the unconventional and math rock certainly fits the bill. So called because of it’s unusual, frequently changing time signatures; math rock has tight rhythms with precise changes in style and tone. There's lots of stopping and starting and changes in tempo. This creates a jarring affect which can feel a bit frantic. Math rock has unusual time signatures which are technically complex and harder to play, so people who play math rock are really skilful.

Math rock became a notable genre in the late 1980s - early 1990s and some my favourite bands that are considered math rock, like Polvo and Shellac, started back then. There's also a lot of great Japanese math rock bands like Tricot.

                               

I discovered math rock in my early 20s. I always listened to a lot of punk and post punk music and the math rock sound is not dissimilar. It's noisy, chaotic and often interspersed with delicate melodies. And it's powerfully emotive. But what really got me about math rock is all that noise and chaos is actually very controlled in a masterful way. I love that.

So, do you want to hear some math rock? Because I've got you covered! I've put together the perfect playlist so you can dive head first into the sonically complex world of math rock. All you have to do is hit play.

I'm Back Baby!

I know most of you thought I was dead, but no, actually what happened was I got really, really quiet. For almost five years. And I know that's a long time between blog posts, but what is it they say? If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?

It's not really fair to say nothing nice has happened in music in the last five years. We've seen the runaway success of Amyl and the Sniffers and the debut of Silk Sonic. We heard the true story of Wham! resulting in vindication for Andrew Ridgeley (I freaking love that guy). And St. Vincent, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Janelle Monae, Public Image Ltd. and Blur all released new albums.

Post COVID, it seems every band and artist is touring, and even though I don't know anyone personally who was able to get tickets for Taylor Swift's upcoming Melbourne show, somebody somewhere must have snagged one. And the nicest thing of all? Guitar Wolf played at my local. Guitar Wolf!! At my local!!!

While it's true I have not blogged for many years, I have not given up making stellar playlists. You could even say it's a hobby of mine. I love to think about the way songs fit together thematically to tell a story, or express a mood or feeling. 

This playlist pulls togther a collection of tunes that span decades and musical styles; ranging from The Zombies' 1960's psychedelic rock and the lovely Yé-yé sounds of Françoise Hardy, to the smooth soul of Erykah Badu, the hard rocking Rollins Band and the drum n' bass stylings of Josh Abrahams. You know, to remind us all that it's complicated.