Cloudkicker

Greetings everybody. I’m sorry I haven’t finished the second post for MoH yet. I had to take my Xbox home in order to focus on my finals. Yup, I’m just that lame. Sorry folks, scholarships are a little more important than Xbox. (Don’t get me wrong, I wish I could put videogames at the top of my list).

But today, I’m doing a different kind of post (*GASP* NO!). Instead of rambling about my favorite video games, I’m going to talk about a new band I discovered recently. In case you forgot, it is video games and other vices. Emphasis on the other vices part. Well, music is a vice of mine, and if you try to tell me it’s not a vice of yours, I will punch you in your dome and call you a liar.

Anyways, violent threats aside, I’d like to talk about the band I discovered. Ironically, it was a Facebook sidebar advertisement for a group by the name of Cloudkicker, and their newest release, Beacons. I liked the name of the band, so I visited the page. As it turns out, the group Cloudkicker, is really just a one man band. Literally. This guy’s name is Ben Sharp and he is from Columbus, Ohio. He does all of the mastering on his own computer, and other than using drum-programming software he plays all of the other instruments. Because he does all of this himself, he actually has the vast majority of his music available for free on his website. Some of his newer releases he is selling, but he just asks for donations to keep cranking out his albums.

He currently has out two full-length cd’s: The Discovery and Beacons. He has out three EP’s: The Map Is Not The Territory, Portmanteau, and A New Heavenly Body. These are all available on his website, posted below. I really urge you to check it out if you are interested in instrumental progressive metal.

The reason why he has three EP’s instead of a few albums is because: “I prefer putting out shorter releases more frequently. I get bored listening to an hour of instrumental music, and this way I always have something relatively new out.”

He mainly comes up with his music from noodling around on the guitar, which is actually surprisingly effective. Since I play the cello, I noodle around on it for fun, and I’ve come up with some pretty catchy melodies. But, since I don’t really care enough to put in the effort, I’ve never written them down.

A few suggestions for songs are: “Push It Way Up!” “It’s Bad, We’re Hit, Man, We Are Hit” “Avalanche” or “Everything Mirrors.” These are the good songs that I can remember, but I’ve been impressed with his work. But what this man is doing (for mostly free too, since he has a full-time job) is amazing. So, be sure to give him a chance.

You can check out his website here:

http://cloudkicker.bandcamp.com/

And the interview here:

http://www.theinevitablenose.com/2010/02/interview-cloudkicker/

Until next time friends,

Killinglights